Music
New Music We Love: A post-Thank U, Next World
We take you on a guided tour of the best, the good, and the quite good's of the week
James Gilmore
Published 16 February 2019
Zedd & Katy Perry / Interscope Records

Now that we are in a post-Thank u, next world, the state of pop music has changed slightly. For example, Katy Perry’s are now collaborating with Zedd’s, JUICE WRLD’s are being accused of Robbery and Bebe Rexha is getting prepared to sing her last hurrah. It’s a lot, really.

Featured Song: Zedd & Katy Perry – 365

Honestly, this is one of the least expected collaborations that could have been released. When we first heard rumours of the single a few weeks ago, we honestly thought it was just a vicious rumour. But, the result of this mega collaboration, is a surprisingly good song which sounds like it could be either a Zedd
song or a Katy Perry song, which we guess is what a collaboration is meant to be, but for a moment we thought it was going to be Katy singing ‘Starving’ or ‘The Middle’ and we didn’t quite know what to expect.

The collab came about when the two pop sensations toured Australia together. Zedd made sure the “ticking” noise which was so essential in ‘Stay’ and ‘The Middle’ was kept in ‘365’ and Katy Perry brings a vocal performance unlike anything we’ve heard on her previous albums. Did we hear the word… progression?

this big collaboration will hopefully help to put him on the platform he deserves to be

Other Good Ones

Bebe Rexha – Hurrah: There’s something about hearing Bebe Rexha singing the word ‘hurrah’ which is just quite pleasing to the ear. We’re just over 2 months into 2019 so we were due a new single from Bebe (she released more frequently than most) and hopefully this can be the massive, unashamed breakthrough that she’s due?

YUNGBLUD – 11 Minutes (with Halsey feat. Travis Barker): YUNGBLUD (real name: Dom) has been on our radar for a while, his single ‘Loner’ from earlier this year is a favourite of ours, and this big collaboration will hopefully help to put him on the platform he deserves to be. He’s been seen hanging out with Halsey a lot lately, so that was expected (although, at times, it does sound more like a Halsey feat. YUNGBLUD song) and to get Blink-182’s drummer on the track too is cool. Very rock and roll!

Normani – Waves (feat. 6LACK): This release serves as a reminder that, contrary to popular belief, Normani is actually doing better than any of her Fourth Harmony members. This is her first single as the primary artist and gives an exciting insight into what it sounds like when she leads a track. The vibes are infectious, she’s so much cooler than everyone else, and pairing up with 6LACK was a classy move. We’re excited about this one

We’re confident that CXLOE is going to be one of the biggest pop breakthroughs over the next 24 months

OK, you want more?

CXLOE – I Can’t Have Nice Things: We’re confident that CXLOE is going to be one of the biggest pop breakthroughs over the next 24 months; last year’s ‘Show You’ is one of the best pop songs we’ve heard in a while and this new single is a decent follow-up. Not as good, but very enjoyable never the less. She’s got a BIG sound and we’re excited for BIG things.

Why Don’t We – Cold In LA: We’re going to say it: This isn’t as good as their previous music, and it won’t be a big hit, but we appreciate the boy’s effort. Would it even be a New Music Friday if we didn’t have a new single from one of the handful of boybands competing for dominance?

Kehlani – Butterfly: Not as good as ‘Nights Like This’ (don’t even try to fight us on that) but it’s a nice night-time groove, if you get what we mean? Her vocals shine as always

Avril Lavigne – Dumb Blonde (feat. Nicki Minaj): Hold our Orange Juice, WHAT IS GOING ON?!

To listen to all of our favourite new releases, check out the New Music We Love playlist on Spotify, below.

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