Going Steady: New Singles 10-15-21 – 10-21-21 Reviewed

Easy On Me – Adele – a lukewarm “Hello” – C+

Faking Love (feat. Saweetie) – Anitta – the Brazilian superstar with a winner (co-written by Ryan Tedder), Saweetie adds her voice and a bilingual rap – B+

D.O.A. – Baxter Dury – Baxter claims the influence is Cosmo introducing him to the likes of Frank Ocean… but he has nothing to add to the neo-hip hop brave new world -C+

Babys – AIR Studios – 4AD/Jagjaguwar Session – Bon Iver – wait a second, his middle name is DeYarmond? – B+

Beth/Rest – AIR Studios – 4AD/Jagjaguwar Session – Bon Iver -a beautiful version of a great song, the box set should kill it dead – A

Gone Rotten – Bummer Camp – catchy (is there any other kind) pop punk electronica – B

Running Away – Cate Le Bon – I used to consider her goth lite, then goth dark, now goth nothing special – C+

Scarcity Is Manufactured – Deerhoof – the terrific art rockers discover samba and add an imaginastic kiddie dreamworld – A-

Unforgettable (Tommy’s Song) – Demi Lovato – blown up ballad dedicated to a friend of hers who got caught in the web of addiction that nearly killed Demi herself, and failed to make it out alive – B

Angel – Dion, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa – Alright, I’m done with Dion until he goes back to doo wop – C+

Dance Magic – Foxes – modern day, child of Dua, disco pop electronics – B

Rips Me Up – Fruit Bats – Eric D. Johnson’s 20 year old folk Americana band is made by his voice on this indie 00s sounding track, stick around for the guitar break – B

Boyz (feat. Nicki Minaj) – Jesy Nelson – UK rapper goes blackfishing (pre-empting black culture at least in their appearance) but both Jesy and Nicki are on top of their game so who cares on this sexy little romp – B

Just One Look – Julia Michaels – Julia covers Doris Troy in aid of a Campbell’s Soup commercial, which is kinda funny and not a terrible cover either – B

Killing The Rats – Kodak Black – The one time I saw Kodak on stage, before his stint in prison, he was impressive and so is this OG trap violence song, with a smart hook, “smoking a roach, killing a rat” -a projects claim if ever there was one – B+

Undeniable (feat. X Ambassadors) – Kygo – the verse sounds like Greg Kurstin, the chorus is unbearable synth uplift – C

Moment Feed – Land Of Talk – bedsit as ambient backing track singer songwriter – B-

Give Me Back My Loving – Leo Nocentelli – recorded in the 1970s as part of a folk album by the Meter’s guitarist recorded that is only seeing the light of day now, that is Allen Toussaint on piano and a rollicking folk track that sounds like Paul McCartney’s early 70s be bopping vibe as covered by the Meters. And I mean that in the best way imaginable – SINGLE OF THE WEEK – A

Pissed Me Off – Lil Durk – Durk isn’t big time, though he is big time featured, and here he growls his way through another chest thumping saved with a good flow and fast spots that highwire over the beat – B-

White Dove – Marissa Paternoster – Or Screaming Females goes Americana on a surprisingly effective song built for a gorgeous electric guitar that glides like shards of soft cells throughout a cemetery – A-

All My Life – Michael Kiwanuka – the overrated folkie drags his feet again – C-

Beautiful Life – From The Netflix Documentary “Convergence” – Michael Kiwanuka – “In this song I wanted to focus on the feeling that there’s a real strength in the human spirit when you try to look for beauty even in difficult situations. Of course, in some situations that becomes more and more difficult. But I just wanted to ponder on that and wonder what life would be like if I lived it like that. Ultimately whatever people feel from hearing the song is ok with me. But what I was trying to emit through the music was a feeling of defiance. A feeling of strength through adversity.” What I feel from hearing the song is that I would love a nap – D+

If I Was a Cowboy – Miranda Lambert – awful, especially the whistling – MUST TO AVOID – D

Song Of The Seasons – Neil Young, Crazy Horse – Here is how it works: Neil solo, “Harvest”. Neil w/Crazy Horse, “Psychedelic Pill” -This NYw/CH and it is “Harvest”. Sorry, no dude – C+

Lemurs, Man, Lemurs – Live – Minus the Bear – the art rockers as experimental indie and this is a later take on their first song – B+

Sleep When I’m Tired – Poetica, Rachael Sage, Russ Johnson, Will Wilde – gothic Americana bore – C

Do Me Baby (Demo) – Prince – This is a demo? The song is finished but Prince was still working on the arrangement – A-

Density – Same Side – I’m not crazy about the singer songwriter song in theory, in practise the arrangement makes it a gorgeous surprise – B

Down Nuh River – serpentwithfeet – already owns one of the top ten albums of the year (here) and “Down Nuh River” is a joyful, r&b singalong song of the highest order – A

Gay Agenda – Shamir – soulful song of homosexual acceptance, “I’ll see you in hell,” Shamir claims. “I’ll bring the heat”! – A-

Call My Name (feat. Robyn) – Smile – a goodie from one third of Peter, Bjorn and John, plus electro-popper Teddybears and Robyn singing lead on a Swedish superstar conglom – B+

Ben Franklin – Snail Mail – Lindsey Jordan ,another lesbian teen, and though her chosen group monicker suggests misandry par excellence she is less the hushed lustiness of Julien Baker Jim Crow for samesexers, and more a 90s style wall of sound though in a lo fi manner – B+

The Dead Of The Night – Sondre Lerche – we don’t blame the intense and tuneful Lerche for trying something new, we blame him for doing it for ten minutes – C

The Viaduct Love Suicide – Springtime, Chris Abrahams, Gareth Liddiard, Jim White – they consider themselves a tonal experiment, but they mean an atonal drear – C

Ex For A Reason (with City Girls) – Summer Walker – a glitchy, phasey neo-R&B – B

Name of the Game (feat. Aimee Mann) – Susanna Hoffs – Hoffs covering Badfinger – C+

I’ve Had Enough I’m Out – The Boo Radleys – returning after 20 years, and without leader Martin Carr, Boo Radley’s have managed a good one and a clear DNA for what Britpop should be – B+

Spies – Tori Amos – tuneful Tori, and while she will never write another “Talula”, it ain’t bad – B-

A Dream I Have – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs -jazzy ambient takes a left turn to dance- C+

Starlight – Westlife -former boys, Irish band, pre-1D changing the game, this is a voice raised anthem out of time – C