By: Ana Maria Mejia Morales, Sera Akdogan, and Neil MacAlister
“Night Call” – Steve Aoki, Lil Yachty, Migos
Ana Maria Mejia Morales: This song makes me wanna shoot myself in the face. Growling and grunting should not be considered an art form. I wonder how much the post production cost.
Sera Akdogan: There should be a law against using so much autotune in one song. What happened to actual ability when it comes to music, or anything, for that matter?
Neil MacAlister: Oh my God, what is this? Steve Aoki got Migos and Yachty to cover/remix a Travis Scott song? This is way better than it has any right to be. I actually totally forgot Steve Aoki existed.
“Walking The Wire” – Imagine Dragons
AMMM: It’s not bad, but it’s also not one of their best songs. It’s kinda boring, and you can tell they only care about making it to the top 40 now.
SA: I don’t doubt that Imagine Dragons can produce a good song every once in awhile, but they’re starting to sound a lot like One Republic. I feel like they’ve lost a lot of their own sound and they’re just not sure what kind of music to make anymore.
NM: This is a band that’s just gotten progressively less interesting as they’ve gone on. Not that they were terribly interesting to begin with.
“Life’s About To Get Good” – Shania Twain
AMMM: OMGGGGGG SHANIAAAAA MY GIIIIIRRRLLLLL. I would play this song at my son’s (if I had a son) birthday party while he was jumping in a bouncy house with his friends. Nothing will ever be as good as “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!,” but it’s great to see Shania back at it.
SA: Shania Twain should probably just stick to doing Greatest Hits albums from now on. The random comeback with this terribly cheesy song doesn’t do it for me.
NM: Yes. This is the content I’m looking for. It’s about time we got a new Shania Twain single. I saw her live a couple of years ago and I had the time of my life, shout out to Shania Twain. She’s mellowed out quite a bit, but this is still excellent.
“All I Can Think About Is You” – Coldplay
AMMM: I would actually listen to it. I like how different it is to their other stuff. It takes you on a calm, relaxing journey across the field.
SA: I actually don’t mind this Coldplay song. It’s interesting, draws you in, and gives you a cinematic, grandiose performance, that’s both like and unlike Coldplay. I approve.
NM: Didn’t Coldplay say they were going to retire after their last album? Why didn’t they? Even by Coldplay’s standards, this is incredibly boring.
“Supercut” – Lorde
AMMM: When she first came out, I loved her. She was herself, doing what she wanted to do. And then Taylor Swift got a hold of her and she became this poppy thing. She can say that this is all her own stuff, but it’s so poppy, it’s the industry that killed her. “In your car, the radio up.” What does that even mean!? Please write a proper sentence.
SA: I really like Lorde’s music, I’ll admit it. I like her raspy voice, and it used to suit her older music. I feel like her new songs have been less dark and mysterious, and more bubbly and pop-y.
NM: I’m really into this new Lorde album. She’s taken a somewhat poppier route than she did on Pure Heroine, but it really works here because she’s also matured quite a bit. Her songwriting keeps getting better, too, and she paints whole scenes with her words. I dig it.
“The Man” – The Killers
AMMM: Take me back to the early 2000s, because the Killers are here. I like it. It’s the Killers meet disco.
SA: Welcome back, the Killers. Welcome back, my teenage crush on Brandon Flowers. This sounds very much like Phoenix and I’m enjoying it shamelessly.
NM: This is alright, but the Killers are way past their peak. They’ve lost the unique, cinematic, small-town-Americana chic that made their first two albums such classics.
“Feels” – Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Big Sean
AMMM: I like this. I’m not particularly fond of Katy’s voice, but I’ve accepted it. Big Sean is FANTASTIC. I would listen to this song on my way to the beach.
SA: There’s so much going on in this song, I love it. The mix of voices is fantastic — minus Katy Perry, of course. It’s a lot of fun and has a funky, catchy beat to it.
NM: Honestly, the whole ska feel is kind of fun, Pharrell is great, Big Sean manages to not ruin the song, but I just don’t enjoy hearing Katy Perry on anything. Lately, all of Calvin Harris’ singles have been mind-blowing, but this one might be a hard pass.
“Glorious” – Macklemore, Skylar Grey
AMMM: I think all of Macklemore’s songs sound the same. It’s catchy. ¯ \_(ツ)_/¯
SA: This sounded a lot like the beginning to “Can’t Hold Us.” I wish it could just be different from all of Macklemore’s previous songs. I haven’t heard Macklemore or Skylar Grey in quite some time, though, and I did miss their voices.
NM: Ryan Lewis was really the only good part of Macklemore, and now that they’ve parted ways, I’m somehow even less interested than I was before.
“Mera Flooz” – HXB, Nimo
AMMM: I’ve heard this before on the radio, sang by everyone else ever.
SA: How are these guys supposed to make a name for themselves if they sound so generic? And no, you still aren’t original if you sing in a different language.
NM: I don’t know how to feel about this. I like Nimo’s voice, the vibe’s kinda neat.
“One I Want” – Majid Jordan, PARTYNEXTDOOR
AMMM: My head started bouncing by itself. It’s an easy song. I like it. It’s chill, y’know?
SA: Kind of boring due to lack of chord progression, but it’s still an alright song to have playing in the background of a social gathering or something.
NM: I love a good OVO collaboration. Majid Jordan deserves way more attention, their album last year went under too many people’s radar. PARTY’s great on the hook, but Majid’s verse is glorious. I’m into this.
“Sleeping Powder” – Gorillaz
AMMM: I’m so glad they’re back. I like it A LOT. The best thing on this week’s playlist. Good job, Gorillaz. If someone was going to make a comeback, OF COURSE IT WAS GOING TO BE YOU.
SA: This is amazing. It sounds so much like old Gorillaz. I am delightfully pleased by their comeback now.
NM: This went from a harpsichord ballad to an electropop jam real quick. Damon should take more Gorillaz songs to himself. Humanz suffered from too many features, and this is just further proof of how well he can carry a song on his own.
“Cobrastyle” – The Boom Shot Squad, Pamputtae
AMMM: You can tell what kind of song this is going to be by the name of the band, you can say something along the lines of “that’s such a the Boom Shot Squad song.”
SA: I’m not really sure what I just listened to, actually. It sounds like they just put a bunch of random clips from various electro songs together and meshed it into one speedy, intense, super strange track.
NM: This is just a lot of fun. It’s easy to screw up when you mash electronic music with dancehall, but these guys did a dope job.
