The Archive’s Songs of the Week: 2/5/2024

Each week the Archive will shine a spotlight on our (my, I’m the only one on staff here) favorite songs. All songs are welcome, from swooning ballads and plucking folk ditties to pounding club bangers and sugary pop confections.

Genre(s): Pop, rock, dance, electronic, alternative R&B

1. “What’s Love” by Empress Of ft. MUNA: One could argue that the thematic root of all music is love, so exploring it is as pertinent as reveling in its spoils or aching at its absence. With Empress Of’s newest single, “What’s Love,” the singer ponders the malleable and mysterious nature of the titular subject. With the help of MUNA, one of my favorite bands ever, she layers beautiful vocals and cosmic synths over a galloping beat that both rocks like a heart in witness of its crush and the pattering trot of time. Though the song does not reach any fevered pitch or orgasmic climax, what it does exude is a consistent beauty through its metered pace, suggesting that the search for love and all its secrets is not some climb to the top of a mountain, but a race across a plain.
2. “Hustle that Cat,” by RuPaul: RuPaul enters my orbit at interesting and inconsistent times. With the release of her newest compilation album, Essential Vol. 3, comes her newest single, “Hustle That Cat.” Partnered with her latest collaborator, Skeltal Ki, the two have once again expressed a winning musical formula for the Queen of Drag. With smooth, funky production, twinkling violin scrapes, and a chorus made of RuPaul singing, whispering, and calling to action, “Hustle That Cat” mirrors certain elements of my favorites, from Janet Jackson to Renaissance. However, the piece does not occupy the realm of pastiche, as so much of Mama Ru’s discography has done over the years. Acting as the promo song for the trailers announcing RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, “Hustle That Cat” is sure to become a RuPaul staple for years to come.
3. “Landslide (Live)” by Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 live album The Dance is quickly becoming one of my favorite albums ever, though I was only two years old at the time of its release. Besides personal Fleetwood staples such as “Everywhere” and “Silver Springs,” which both receive excellent renditions for this performance album, few of the tracks shine as bright as this album’s version of “Landslide.” It’s a classic in its own right, of course, but this version breathes newer, wiser life into the already wise and incredibly resonant song. Amidst the legendary lineup for the album, “Landslide” echoes with its own life, bringing the crowd to stillness as Stevie Nicks sings out, with only a guitar to guide her, reducing the song to a brilliant concentration of beauty. If this song hasn’t struck a chord with you before, it might just do so with this rendition.
4. “Bipp” by SOPHIE: SOPHIE’s talent for combining genuine human emotion and machine-like sonics became not only her staple but the staple of an entire subgenre of pop music, aptly named hyperpop. Though often imitated, her sound has never quite been duplicated, despite numerous attempts. What hyperpop lacks in her absence is a distinct emotional core, which bridges the gap for many in terms of understanding the genre’s often sharp, cold, futuristic production style. “Bipp,” one of her breakout solo tracks and a staple of her discography, bursts with life despite the wholly synthetic arrangement. “I can make you feel better if you let me/ I can make you feel better if you want to,” a squeaky, processed voice repeats, over and over, welcoming the listener into this realm with the promise of deeper understanding a la the computer narrator of the Kate Bush track of the same name. The strikingly corporeal lyrics contrast with the immortality of machines, allowing SOPHIE to construct a world in which the beating heart of humanity lives in near-perfect union with the digital. Then, we can ponder the question: if we mere mortals could live forever within machines, how would our personalities grow, and how would our love grow too?
5. “Gomenasai,” by Kelela: What Kelela does well in spades is craft a sex banger. It’s a unique and wonderful skill of hers, and one that comes out beautifully on “Gomenasai,” from her EP Hallucinogen. Titled after the Japanese word for “I’m sorry,” our narrator apologizes for the teasing of her partner: “I don’t let you take off your clothes, now you’re not in control/ Hopin’ and you’re beggin’ for more/ Put you on your back/ You playin’ dumb but you know what’s next.” I recently rediscovered this song, as Hallucinogen came out in 2015 and I had listened to it on repeat then, and I’m back to listening to it on repeat now. Though this track did not stick out as a favorite back in college, with maturity I can fully appreciate how hard this song goes. With a thundering beat, excellent vocals, and a varied rhythmic delivery, Kelela finds a peak on this track, mimicking how sex, and its buildup, changes its flow as energy exchanges, even if one partner seems to hold the reigns.