NEW MUSIC
Pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on notable new songs and videos.
Juice WRLD and Benny Blanco—“Real ___”: Next week marks one year since the death of Juice WRLD, one of Soundcloud rap’s most promising luminaries. In honor of what would have been the Chicago star’s 22nd birthday, producer Benny Blanco released “Real ___,” a previously unheard collaboration.
Juice’s music often luxuriates in gloom, but this track finds him at his most ecstatic: “Life’s good so I’m living great,” he proclaims, singing the earnest praises of vacations, healthy eating and leg day. But that unbridled joy makes the song even more poignant than his more straightforwardly sad material; he sounds so teeming with life he wouldn’t get a chance to live.
— Lindsay Zoladz
The Weeknd featuring Rosalía—“blinding Lights (Remix)”:
Rosalía lends her electrifying presence to yet another sure-thing collaboration: a year-later remix of the Weeknd’s a-ha-meets-michael Jackson blockbuster, “Blinding Lights.” By taking the first verse, in Spanish, she turns it into a lovers’ duet, far more tense and romantic than the original. And it’s the Weeknd’s best revenge for being snubbed by the Grammys. But where is Rosalía’s next album?
— Jon Pareles All Time Low featuring Demi Lovato and blackbear—“Monsters”: With this theatrical poppunk collaboration, Demi Lovato inches ever closer to the dreams of her teenage years, when she sang throaty Disney teen-pop and harbored a fascination with heavy metal.
— Jon Caramanica Beach Bunny—“good Girls (Don’t Get Used)”: “I’m tired of dumb boy talk,” Lili Trifilio sings, pulling no punches on “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used),” the bouncy new single from
Chicago indie-poppers Beach Bunny. Trifilio’s lyrics are incisive, delivering a pent-up torrent of hard truths to the noncommittal guy who’s been sending her mixed signals: “Stop saying ‘it’s my bad,’ you’re acting like your deadbeat dad.” But the song, which will appear on the band’s upcoming “Blame Game” EP, is grounded in her triumphant sense of self, shaking off the insecurities she so endearingly confessed on Beach Bunny ’s breakout song “Prom Queen.” “You’re not a ghost,” Trifilio shouts this time with hard-won confidence. “I’m not afraid of you!”
— Lindsay Zoladz Lil Wayne featuring Drake “B.B. King Freestyle”: Drake is an (emotionally) anxious rapper. His mentor Lil Wayne is an (energetically) anxious rapper. So it’s refreshing to hear them opt for a winning calmness on this collaboration, over neo-soul production that sounds like it could have been an interlude from one of the “Lyricist Lounge” compilations. Drake ambiently muses on the usual stressors — “I may not be good for her but I’m real to her / Got no time for her but give Richard Mille to her.” But it’s Lil Wayne who’s truly zen, afloat in a vortex of internal rhyme and syllabic cha-cha.
— Jon Caramanica Britney Spears—“Swimming in the Stars”: Released on Britney Spears’ 39th birthday, “Swimming in the Stars” is an outtake from “Glory,” her 2016 album that will be rereleased with additional tracks. Written by Matthew Koma, Dan Book and Alexsei Misoul, it’s a gleaming, booming, step-by-step Edm-pop buildup, a pulsing crescendo that opens a vast, echoey synthetic expanse as Spears promises “We’ll glow and shimmer in the diamond lights.” With big-room dance floors closed and empty, it feels like a relic from some distant pop universe.