New Music Friday: Imagine Dragons, jxdn & More!

New Music Friday: July 2, 2021

Yeah, so it's been a few weeks since I've come out with one of these posts, but luckily, I won't fall behind, because it's not really something that I feel pressured to catch up on. All that being said though, there was an obvious reason why I got enough drive to get this one out. So let's jump into it.

Our first song this week comes from my absolute favourite artists of all time, Imagine Dragons. They're releasing their third single from their upcoming album, Mercury - Act 1 this week. This song's called Wrecked. Have a listen below.

Wrecked - Imagine Dragons

Wow, this might actually be my favourite Imagine Dragons song of all time. It's just... unbelievably good. First, I'll break down a bit about the lyrics. It's about Dan Reynolds' sister-in-law, who passed away after battling cancer for about a year. The emotional intensity of the song is insane and you can hear Dan's emotions just seeping through his vocals. His falsetto in the verses and the pre-chorus is very good, then you get to the chorus, and his vocals there are just insane. This song switches between being a little calmer, and then being pretty heavy rock. I doubt this'll be much of a radio hit, but I still hope it is. I really love this song, and I would highly recommend that you give it a listen. This is 4:04 of pure perfection.

My Opinion: 10/5 = Absolutely Outstanding

I was originally going to include a new Bebe Rexha song here, called American Citizen, but I started listening to it and I really didn't want to keep listening to it, so I'm choosing the Cash Cash remix of AJR's Way Less Sad instead. Have a listen below.

Way Less Sad (Remix) - AJR/Cash Cash

This is a fun remix. I love the original song, but Cash Cash make it a little more upbeat and add a pretty decent drop. I do like the original production quite a bit, so I'm a little sad that Cash Cash didn't keep any of it, but then again, that's what makes it fresh. The one downside is that it removes the bridge, which is fantastic. Overall, I'd say that the original is better, but this a fun alternate version that I might revisit from time to time.

My Opinion: 5/5 = Great

So, Taylor Swift has a new song, but it's actually not a single from Red (Taylor's Version). It's a collaboration with rock band Big Red Machine called Renegade. Have a listen below.

Renegade - Big Red Machine/Taylor Swift

I'm not 100% sure that Big Red Machine has a vocalist, as Taylor Swift's really the only one that sings here, and it sounds like a solo song from folklore/evermore. Oh, okay, I just looked it up, and apparently Big Red Machine is a band consisting of Justin Vernon (from Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner, both of whom worked on folklore and evermore. Overall, this is a solid song. I like the production here, and Taylor sounds great as always. The song's not too memorable, but I don't really care.

My Opinion: 4/5 = Good

Finally, we have a new song from jxdn, a collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly, WANNA BE. Have a listen below.

WANNA BE - jxdn/Machine Gun Kelly

I've been enjoying pop-punk a decent amount lately, so I got kind of excited when I saw that this collaboration was coming out. Both jxdn and Machine Gun Kelly sound really good here, and the instrumentation is also really good. The chorus is decently catchy and I enjoy the verses. I'd like to see this on Hits 1 sometime, and I have almost no doubts that it'll make it there.

My Opinion: 4/5 = Good

My favourite new release of the week is easily Wrecked by Imagine Dragons. There's no contest.

My pick of the week this week goes to Dua Lipa, who just keeps milking her album Future Nostalgia, as it seems that she's pushing Love Again as a single. Have a listen below.

Love Again - Dua Lipa

Yeah, this is just another great Dua Lipa song. I'm not sure what that sample is, but it works really well with the song. Dua sounds great here, and the song is ridiculously catchy. Both the hook and the verses' melodies are really well-constructed and I love them. I really hope that this song can manage to become another hit from Dua, because it's really good.

Well, that's it! I'll try to get one more New Music Friday post in next week before I leave for a few weeks. Kwaheri, everybody and see you all in the next one.