1. Sam Smith - "Too Good At Goodbyes"
Sam Smith always seemed like a one trick pony who's at his best when he gets away from his core sound on stuff like "Latch." Like, really, a gospel choir? Fuck off. But this song is really the best case scenario or what he could do with that sound, I'm not surprised that Stargate was involved, they really have a magic touch. This is their biggest U.S. hit in a while, too. Here's the favorite 2017 singles playlist I update every month.

3. Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso f/ Florida Georgia Line and watt - "Let Me Go"
This song really feels like the strangest grab bag collaboration on the pop charts in recent memory: the girl who won an Oscar for True Grit, a Swedish DJ, a member of a country duo, and a blues singer/songwriter. It's really a beautifully bittersweet song, though, it has such a strong little melancholy hook that kind of transcends the trendy production, I hope Steinfeld finally gets to release an album off the back of this song, I feel like they messed up by not following through on the success of "Starving."

3. X Ambassadors - "Ahead Of Myself"
As much as I was initially skeptical of X Ambassadors, they really won me over with "Unsteady" and my wife played their album around the house a fair amount. And this new one is another really strong showcase for Sam Harris's voice, which is really the thing that makes them worth a damn.

4. Rich Homie Quan - "Gamble"
I really enjoyed the Back To The Basics project that Quan released a few months ago, but nothing on it leapt out at me as an obvious hit that could bring him out of his dry spell. But once this song started getting some spins I realized how catchy it is, it kind of has the "Flex" tempo but a darker palette.

5. U2 - "You're The Best Thing About Me"
I think my least favorite aspect of 21st century U2 is their tendency release these big loud chest-thumping lead singles like "Vertigo" and "Get On Your Boots" that seem to totally misunderstand what actually made them one of the biggest bands in the world. So "You're The Best Thing About Me" is refreshing just by virtue of scaling back and letting the melody and texture and emotion that really drive the band's best moments lead the way. It's still a little slight and flawed, but it's really grown on me.

6. Brad Paisley - "Last Time For Everything"
It makes me sad that Paisley's batting average has fallen off a bit, both commercially and creatively, in recent years, because he really is one of the sharpest guys in Nashville. And this is a classic example of those songs he used to make all the time where he just comes up with a premise and fills it with as many clever and funny or poignant riffs on the concept as he can fit. The video added some other layers to it really well, too.

7. Rita Ora - "Your Song"
Rita Ora's status as some kind of music industry charity case that U.S. labels keep trying to make into a stateside star is kind of a running joke now, but she has an appealing voice, she really just needs decent material and rarely gets it. But Ed Sheeran wrote her a good one here, I kinda wish he gave away his clubbier songs more often even if it's obviously beneficial for him to keep the occasional "Shape of You" for himself.

8. Cold War Kids f/ Bishop Briggs - "So Tied Up"
I was disappointed that Bishop Briggs wasn't able to keep up the commercial momentum of "River" and get an album out, so her label just tossed out an EP of all the singles she'd been releasing. But her new single "Dream" is very good and her presence really livens up the latest hit by middling indie crossover act Cold War Kids.

9. Queens Of The Stone Age - "The Way You Used To Do"
Queens Of The Stone Age is one of those bands that most people seem to love or at least admire that I find off-putting even when I like the occasional song. I think Mark Ronson is kind of a hack too. But that's an interesting artist/producer combination, I applaud it, it's kind of appealing to hear Ronson put his plastic funk sheen on a QOTSA groove. And it's interesting that this came out around the same time as the Foo Fighters/Greg Kurstin record, I like this trend toward heavy guitar bands hiring producers who don't usually make heavy guitar records and finding some kind of fusion of styles.

10. Kodak Black - "Patty Cake"
Painting Pictures was kind of the point where I gave up on any hope of Kodak Black becoming a great rapper and accepted that he's just kind of a mediocre MC who will never improve. But this song stuck out as one of the album's few bright spots, and I was happy to see it break out as a minor hit, even if I was uncomfortable with the video where schoolchildren joyously celebrate a cartoon version of a shitty dude with an open rape case.

Worst Single of the Month: Quality Control f/ Quavo, Takeoff and Offset - "Too Hotty"
The artist credit for this song is such an eyesore, it's so funny to think that Quality Control needed to rebrand a Migos song as a posse cut 'featuring' all 3 members of the group and nobody else in order to promote the label's upcoming compilation. But it's also really just by far the weakest Migos song on the charts in a year in which they've totally saturated the airwaves, and I'm glad it's being outperformed by a much better track, Gucci Mane's "I Get The Bag," even as Migos keep working it with performances on "TRL" and the BET Hip Hop Awards.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 1:03 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.