New Music Friday: Doja Cat, Lorde & More!

New Music Friday: June 11, 2021

Hey guys! I'm gonna be away this weekend, so my regular Saturday posts will actually end up coming out on Sunday, but I'll be leaving you guys today with my New Music Friday post. Now, I'm aware that I've been falling behind a lot on the 2020 Ultimate Rank and the 2021 Weekend Countdown Olympics, but I promise, I'll start getting that stuff coming out more often (y'know... until I leave for three weeks in July). But enough about that, we had a very interesting New Music Friday! There were tons of big releases this week, so I'm not actually able to talk about all of the songs that I want to, but it's alright.

We'll kick this off with Doja Cat's second single from her upcoming album Planet Her. This song's coming a few months after the first single, Kiss Me More was released. This new one's called Need To Know. Have a listen below.

Need To Know - Doja Cat

Right off the bat, one of the first things that I notice is that this song follows a bit more of an R&B sound than, say, Kiss Me More. I've never been a huge fan of R&B, and this really isn't too much of an exception. Doja sounds good, but for the most part, I find the song kind of uninteresting. I really can't see this doing too well on radio, which I'm fine with, because none of this sticks out to me very much.

My Opinion: 2/5 = Mediocre

Ava Max had a pretty good debut album, as four singles from it did pretty well on radio. Today, she returns with yet another single, EveryTime I Cry. Have a listen below.

EveryTime I Cry - Ava Max

Quick note: this song was actually released on Wednesday for whatever reason. Anyways, right from the bat, this is just another bop from Ava Max. It's got a solid dance beat, which has been a trend for nearly all of her singles so far, but I would say that this has the best beat so far. I know Ava has a good voice, and personally, I don't think she showcases it very well in this song, but it's okay, because the chorus is definitely catchy. Overall, this is just a really solid Ava Max song that I think will do well on radio, even if it takes a bit to start gaining momentum.

My Opinion: 5/5 = Great

So originally, I was gonna feature Maroon 5's new single from their new album, JORDI, Lost, but upon further reflection, I realized that I would probably end up reviewing it again very soon, so instead I've chosen a new one from Topic and Bebe Rexha. This song's called Chain My Heart. Have a listen below.

Chain My Heart - Topic/Bebe Rexha

I'm pretty glad with the choice I've made. I really enjoyed Topic's previous top 40 hit, Breaking Me and he hasn't really changed his production style, which is good. Bebe Rexha's voice is great and I think it works with a lot of different production styles, which is also good. The pre-chorus in this song is really well-constructed and is easily the best part of this song. The drop isn't the best that I've ever heard, but I don't care that much. I think this'll make for a good radio single, and I hope that it can make onto Hits 1.

My Opinion: 4/5 = Good

Our last new song this week comes from Lorde, who hasn't had a big song in a really long time. But, today, she's returning with a new single, Solar Power. Have a listen below.

Solar Power - Lorde

This song starts off pretty slow, and you expect it to pick up after the first chorus... then it doesn't. But don't worry, it does pick up. I like Lorde's voice and once the song picks up this song's actually kind of enjoyable. But, the issue is that I find it kind of boring for the first half of the song. I don't know, this might grow on me. I guess we'll see.

My Opinion: 2/5 = Mediocre

My favourite new song this week is easily Ava Max's EveryTime I Cry, and I look forward to being able to hear more of it in the future.

Now it's time for a new segment, the throwback pick of the week. Working through that giant list of Hits 1 songs that I published to my blog as a tab about a week back, I realized that there are tons of great songs that I've never talked about before. So right here will serve as my solution to that.

My first throwback pick goes to none other than Taylor Swift. I loved her album 1989, and most of the singles to come from it were great, but sometimes, your song just needs a remix to make it an absolute masterpiece. So today, I present to you Bad Blood by Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. Revisit the song below.

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift/Kendrick Lamar

Now, I loved this song originally. It was just a really solid old Taylor Swift song with a great hook a fantastic bridge and some really solid production. But Kendrick Lamar just took all that and completely elevated it. He changed up the production a bit to make it more trap-like, which I love, he handles the verses instead of Taylor, which I thought were the weakest parts of the song anyways, and he adds a fantastic line to the bridge: "You forgive, you forget, but you never let it... go!". Overall, this just an amazing song and I really enjoyed hearing it again.

I was kind of struggling with what to put as my pick of the week this week, so I took a stroll over to my most listened to songs of the month. There, I found way too much AJR, so that wasn't very helpful. Then, I took a stroll to my release radar, (where I found a version of The Way You Felt by Alec Benjamin in mandarin, I'm pretty sure, and a remix of Peaches by Justin Bieber with Usher, Snoop Dogg and Ludacris like it's fricking 2009) and I found it. Ty Dolla $ign, Jack Harlow and 24kGoldn on I Won. have a listen below.

I Won - Ty Dolla $ign/Jack Harlow/24kGoldn

The production on this song is kind of slower and creepy, which I really like. Ty Dolla $ign does a really good job with the hook and both Jack Harlow and 24kGoldn have great verses here, with Jack's being a bit better. Yeah, I don't really have much else to say about it. It's from F9, and it's doing decently on streaming, so it might be a hit. Who knows?

Thanks for reading this edition of New Music Friday, everyone! Kwaheri, and I'll see you on Sunday!