[new] The Weeknd – “Sacrifice” (122bpm Bmin)
[new] Hana Vu – “Aubade” (131bpm C♯min / Bmin)
[new] Anderson East – “Madelyn” (90bpm Bmin)
St. Vincent – “Pay Your Way In Pain” (63bpm Bmaj Bmin)
St. Vincent definitely brings it on this one. It’s got a sick down-tempo groove with a fat analog synth bassline, terrific multi-layered vocal harmonies that kinda slug you in the gut, (the chords used are reminiscent of Prince’s style,) and lead vocals that are fun, over-the-top and portray a drama-queen caricature that’s both fun to listen to and punchable. Love the video too with its “shot on video” motif complete with tube cameras that show comet tails. Nice!
[new] Anderson .Paak – “Jewelz” (109bpm Bmin)
Another oh-so-funky hitter from the incredibly tall-toothed Anderson .Paak with Timbaland producing. The Rhodes really make this record shine.
[new] Dua Lipa – “Levitating” (103bpm Bmin)
Hard not to get up and dance to this one. Great track, great groove, and a solid disco dance-floor filler. Its weakest part is DaBaby’s rapping which is uninteresting and goes on way too long. Its stock would go up if there was a nice break too. WHERE’S THE BREAK!?!?!
[new] Paloma Faith – “Better Than This” (69bpm Bmin)
Here’s British singer Paloma Faith with a terrific vocal performance and a well-crafted song. I’m much more into music than I am music videos, so I rarely comment on music videos. But WOW this one is bad! She’s standing in front of a bunch of old TVs singing. The first thing I notice is how ugly her mouth is. Then I’m treated to random stock footage of civil unrest. Neat! Why? I guess the director didn’t think that was quite bad enough, so about half way in, her nose starts bleeding. She just continues to sing while blood trickles out of her right nostril and down into her mouth. Gross. I’m not sure what point they were trying to make here, but whatever it was I did not get it and have no desire to. I sure hope Palmoa Faith does a lot “better than this” on her next music video.