If you have spent any amount of time on TikTok this year, you have certainly encountered Cookiee Kawaii’s breakthrough hit “Vibe (If I Back It Up).” It’s a song accidentally tailor-made for TikTok fiends: a sharp earworm full of playful sounds (bed creaks and snare cracks) and a stop-start Jersey …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Christine and the Queens, 'People, I've Been Sad'
The most endearing thing about Christine and the Queens‘ new single, “People, I’ve Been Sad,” is the fact that frontwoman Chris feels the need to tell you that she’s been sad. She’s never really ever had to tell anyone she’s been sad before; it’s in the way she sings, the …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Rodrigo y Gabriela's Brutally Acoustic Metallica Cover, 'Battery'
With its breakneck-paced galloping riffs and James Hetfield’s snarls about weaker people being “ripped and torn away,” Metallica‘s “Battery,” off their magnum opus Master of Puppets, is the apotheosis of thrash metal. The song starts with Spaghetti Western flamenco guitar, and that’s the most clearly defined thread that connects it …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Lil Baby, 'Woah'
The genius of Lil Baby’s new track lies in a simple ad-lib, “Woah.” For three minutes that single word punctuates bars and provides stabs of momentum, as if Baby is simultaneously acting as his own hypeman. “None of you guys get fly as me, woah,” he raps across the chorus. …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Mason Ramsey, 'Puddle of Love'
Yodeling meme baby Mason Ramsey has been on a wild ride ever since a video of him performing Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” in a Walmart went viral last year. Now, at age 12, he has released his second EP Twang, and songs like “Puddle of Love” may finally be what …
Read More »Song You Need To Know: Deb Never, 'Ugly'
At its outset, Deb Never’s “Ugly” is a straightforward sad song. The up-and-coming L.A. (via Washington) artist opens the track with somber pianos, and a simple sentiment: “You don’t want me, I don’t you.” Then the drums kick in. Produced by Dylan Brady, “Ugly” builds on itself, introducing a stuttering …
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