Can Lady Gaga Heal You?
Your guide to this weeks biggest singles.
Welcome to Bops of the Week (3!)
I hope you have your streaming service fired up because this week had some of the best pop releases of the year so far. Unlike last week’s messy group of songs, these artists are sounding more unique and polished than their competitors.
Here are links to Week 1 and 2!
Without further adieu.
There’s No Fault In These Stars
When you think of music, you probably — almost certainly don’t think of Ansel Elgort. If you know him, you’ve seen The Fault In Our Stars, a long time favorite book and movie of mine. I caught wind of Elgort’s music career almost a year ago with “Home Alone”. In my opinion, had this song been released by any other artist, it could’ve been huge.
Fast forward to this week and Elgort is back with a song that might just be better. It’s a smooth, essential pop release. With an excellent build up and a satisfying chorus, everything works so well here. The up-tempo, drum-heavy music not only compliments the song, but elevates the lyrics. Everything here works surprisingly well. If you’re a pop fan, don’t count out Elgort.
Grade: A
Getting Lucky With The Irish
Like it or not, it seems like One Direction’s biggest year might be 2017. Even when separated, these boys have released a hefty amount of music. I spoke last week about how much I loved Harry Styles’ recent album. “This Town”, Horan’s first single, was gorgeous. It was safe, but it was on-brand. Most importantly, it worked well as a single.
I’m less convinced on “Slow Hands”. Trading in a guitar for a heavy beat and much more promiscuous lyrics, it seems far more fitting for pretty much any other member of One Direction. It’s not that the song isn’t catchy or smooth, it’s just off-brand. Ultimately, it sounds like a scrapped Sam Hunt song, which leads me to think Horan needs more time to find his own sound.
Grade: B-
Seriously, Call Her.
Cut to the Feeling - Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepson’s rise to pop stardom may just be one of the most excruciating. After mega-hit “Call Me Maybe” played enough times to drive everyone up a wall, Jepsen has been making a lot of music. Unfortunately for the public, who has completely written her off, Jepsen’s recent music is fantastic. After E-MO-TION’s extremely weak album sales, it soon began to form a slow, but steady, comeback.
“Cut To The Feeling” is so good, it’s a little sad that the song isn’t a full-blown single. Instead, it is on the soundtrack for Leap!, a movie I still know absolutely nothing about. Oddly, it’s a testament to how well Jepsen’s song writing has held up over time. The song was written for E-MO-TION but was similarly scrapped for E-MO-TION: side B (another excellent EP).
The song is a downright infectious, 80’s-inspired bop. Fueled with a strong, brilliant beat and a chorus that begs for dancing, there is no doubt that Jepsen is as strong as ever. She’s found her style and might just be back for pop domination in 2017. Watch out.
Grade: A
Bisexual Has Never Sounded So Good
Strangers (feat. Lauren Jauregui) - Halsey
Halsey is an interesting artist. Her debut release Badlands was met with critical praise. The alt-pop singer managed to go platinum, but while her albums sales soared, her singles never really took off. Fast forward to 2017 and Halsey is inexplicably tied to one of the most overplayed songs of the past year (“Closer”). Fortunately, the name recognition has helped her sales and “Now or Never” is climbing the charts, albeit slowly.
On “Strangers”, Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui and Halsey are playing lovers. It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry that pushes LGBTQ messaging but continuously churns out regressive, cliched and hetero-normative music. Neither the chorus nor the verses bring a massive lyrical punch, but they don’t have to. Their voices eloquently capture their relationship’s turmoil over a smooth, electric beat.
Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom is out this Friday and if the promotional singles are any indication, we’re in for a treat.
Grade: A-
Gaining Traction
Full disclosure: Lady Gaga is one of my all-time favorite artists and celebrities. That being said, her career has been quite erratic since the 2016 release Joanne underwhelmed pop radio and fans. I found the release unique and powerful at times, but was left uninspired by the singles. From seemingly left field, Gaga released “The Cure” at this years Coachella to much fanfare.
Somewhat of a course correction, Gaga moves back to a more traditional pop sound. Her vocals are gorgeous, the chorus builds beautifully and the pay off is huge. The biggest problem, unfortunately, is how shockingly off-brand the song is. When Lady Gaga emerged into pop music almost a decade ago, she was reinventing a genre. Her lyrics weren’t awe-inspiring, but they didn’t have to be. And that’s this song’s biggest problem. It blends far too well to what mainstream pop music already has: EDM dance breaks, a big chorus and hard-hitting beats.
Here’s hoping she changes the game again in 2017.
Grade: B+
