Going Steady: New Singles 2-11-22 – 2-17-22 Reviewed

Hate Me If It Helps – Alexander 23 – the sound of bedroom pop is all over the place years later, like this break up song – B-

Greed – Ann Wilson – the talented half of Heart with a business as usual hard rocker – C

Desafinado (Version for Violin, Guitar, Piano, Bass Guitar and Orchestra) – RIO DE JANEIRO -Antônio Carlos Jobim, Georg Mel, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra, Lasha Deisadze, Levan Deisadze, Lisa Batiashvili, Newton Mendonca, Nikoloz Rachveli – Bossa Nova great rearranged for orchestra – B+

War – Arrdee, Aitch – I wouldn’t fuck with him, he has the arms to dub himself Armz Korleone – B-

MAMIII – Becky G, KAROL G – not unpleasant Latin pop pitter patter by two of the genre’s biggest purveyors – B

Billions – Caroline Polachek – she is opening for Dua Lipa at MSG later this year, an odd mix for a woman who is tiptoeing around hyper-pop variant, though this track drags – C+

Khabib – Central Cee – this English guy can rap, his flow here is incredible, he reminds me of Stormzy without the muscle, though on this excellent self portrait he certainly emerges into that exact world – A-

Light Switch – Charlie Puth – nice little metaphor for the pop singer songwriter performer with a very catchy return – B+

Nightfall – Dark Funeral – ear bleeding, death metal screamo horrorshow – B

Don’t Forget My Love – Diplo, Miguel – Dipolo returns to EDM on this proforma house track, Miguel adds remarkably little – E+

Celebrity Skin – Doja Cat – Celebrity Skin is to Live Through This what Siamese Dreams is to Nevermind, and if that sounds like an insult it is more like a positive reassessment, and if I didn’t think so Doja Cat’s finding the hook and repeating when necessary on the title track is great and continues to place her nowhere as bland as EDM pop cross faded, apparently it’s for a commercial – A-

Love Died in Our Arms (Lee Scratch Perry Remix) – Dot Allison – the original EDM singer on a peaking reggae riddim take on deep electronica beats by the late great Lee Scratch Perry – B+

The Joker And The Queen (feat. Taylor Swift) – Ed Sheeran – Ed continues to prove himself a King of MOR and on his later single “The Joker And The Queen” he pours clotted cream mixed with maple syrup and has us gargle with it on a variant on “The Rainbow Song”. The video is just waiting on an exchange of gifts to award it the John Lewis and Partners commercial bathos of 2022. But before you can get too milky and milquetoast, please note that bestie needed a writing credit that wasn’t there on the album before she added her voice – MUST TO AVOID – E+

Q4 – Father John Misty – welcome to 2015, now go home – C

City of Gods – Fivio Foreign, Alicia Keys, Kanye West – Ye is right, we love him in New York and Fivio is on his game but Fivio is to Pop Smoke what Eddie Vedder is to Kurt Cobain… having said this, the song is going to be HUGE and yet another New York anthem – B+

2am – Foals -bravo on the wonderful disco guitar riff for a terrific party track and a success for the UK band who have been known to suck – B+

Worst Day – Future – this is how do you do trap on a track where Future finds Valentine’s Day, well, taxing, it’s good enough though all eyes are on his upcoming production for Donda 2 -B+

Options (feat. 24kGoldn) – Internet Money – with a ten piece posse, why did Internet Money get 24KGoldn? Not a bad idea, just weird – B-

Fear Of The Dawn – Jack White – I bit my tongue and bought a tix to the Jack White “no cell phones” (note to self: bring paperback) Barclay gig after the first song on his upcoming album, “Love Is Selfish”, blew me away, the second song is a more typical blues workout “Fear Of The Dawn” – B+

Rock And Roll Cowboy – Jason Aldean – as the women in country evolve and change out of daisy dukes and heels, male country singers are still fighting for a toxic culture that also needs to evolve. This is a hard rock dog with fleas – E+

Jenny – Barrie – very pretty and low key love song for her wife – B+

Imperfect – Kate Nash – In 2007 Kate should have broken US and instead she peaked, her erudite, amusing, pop perfect songs remain good, and though her next three albums were terrific they weren’t as good. I could say the same thing about “Imperfect” except, come, fifteen years after, Kate can call it bubblegum or tween pop if she wants, she still has the – SINGLE OF THE WEEK – A

Background Music – Maren Morris – I know her from one of the best songs in the 2010s, “The Middle”, here as well she allows Greg Kurstin, taking a break between sending his tux to the cleaners as the awards for 30 arrive, to give her a veneer of pure pop – A-

Layliyi – Maya Diab – Lebanese pop through and through, the beats sound manufactured but everything else in analog, however this sort of pop takes Fairuz as its framework and Maya should exercise her pipes more – B+

mona lisa – mxmtoon – sweet and smart tune with an upcoming popster – B

Bussin – Nicki Minaj, Lil Baby – part two of a rat-a-tat rap and hard and yet tinny beats, part three will find them in Cuba! – B

Back in Time – Olly Dobson – The UK musical has been around for two years but, well, not the best two years. I don’t expect much from the musical but this is almost alright and let’s hope they don’t mess “The Power Of Love” up – C+

What, Me Worry? – Portugal. The Man – one hit wonders and this ain’t it… produced by the dreaded Ryan Tedder – C

Diet Coke – Pusha T – pretty good and well rapped but Pusha is not at his best here – B-

Caprichoso – Rauw Alejandro – ordinary Latin trap, Rosalia co-wrote it – B-

Love Tastes Like Strawberries – Somi, Gregory Porter – an electronic cover of Miriam Makeba’s first rate romantic classic and Somi ups the jazz elements – A-

Closer (feat. H.E.R.) – Saweetie – Saweetie has yet met a hook she can’t burrow under and this is her third great song in a row, H.E.R. is perfectly suited to it as well – A-

Break Me Open – S. Carey – the Bon Iver drummer sounds like Justin Vernon on this lovely and stirring but a trifle dozy Electronic Americana – B

Porta – Sharon Van Etten – I actively dislike Sharon, she should buy a one way ticket to Lilith Fair – D+

Songs Like This – Sloan Brothers -fuzzed out guitars on a classic sounding soft rocker with the brothers harmonizing – B

Por Su Amor – Sting – please don’t let there be a full album of this to come – C-

Who Put You Up To This? – Sunflower Bean – a brooding, poppy track that signals a new chapter in their story. I certainly hope I miss it – D+

On the Floor – Superchunk – a mid tempo bop with Mac’s nasal singing and a half baked melody – C

AB Bride – The Rural Alberta Advantage -roots Americana from Canada, livelier than usual and the guitars just chimmer – B