1. Sam Smith and Normani - "Dancing With A Stranger" 
I've heard people say that Normani should be gearing her music more towards R&B radio, but in a weird way she's way too much of a traditional R&B star with a big voice who came from the world of girl groups and choreography, like an early Beyonce throwback, so it's hard to even situate her in the SZA era of female R&B stars. And her duets with Khalid and Sam Smith have been good pop/R&B fusions to plant her foot in Top 40 radio, while "Dancing With A Stranger" has actually wound up on the R&B radio chart before Normani's song with 6lack, which surprised me. Here's my favorite 2019 Spotify singles playlist that I update every month.

2. Megan Thee Stallion - "Big Ole Freak" 
The mainstream climate for women is the best it's been in a long time lately -- the Nicki versus Cardi stuff has died down and I think people are ready to just accept them both as established superstars while City Girls, Saweetie, literally 4 people whose names end in Doll, and a number of others elbow their way into the conversation. In this crowded field, Megan Thee Stallion still manages to stand out as one of the most talented as well as having some of the most commercial potential. But what I really like is how well she wields that classic Houston drawl, it's been a minute since there's been a rapper on the radio with that accent and practically never a female rapper. 

3. Summer Walker - "Girls Need Love" 
I haven't even heard the Drake remix yet because I'm sure I will and it will inevitably replace the original on radio playlists. But for now I'm just enjoying the original song when I hear it, which I thought was totally fine as it was, in fact I thought it was more striking for being this quick 2 minute 21 seconds track since the trendy brevity in rap hasn't really carried over to R&B much yet. 

4. Eric Church - "Some Of It" 
"Some Of It" was the immediate standout for me on Desperate Man. I put it on my Eric Church deep album cuts playlist last year, but I probably should've guessed it would eventually be released as a single, so once it was I swapped in a different song from the album for the City Pages version of the playlist. 

5. Pink - "Walk Me Home" 
I'm pleasantly surprised that Pink is releasing an album just 18 months after the last one, and aside from the fact that it was co-written by the same person as her last #1, Nate Reuss, this feels like a surprisingly low key lead single, folky and tender. But what I really like about it is the weird modified waltz rhythm with a really involved, like, 13/8 time signature, really unusual for a major pop star to put out something like that. 

6. Alice Merton - "Funny Business" 
Alice Merton's album didn't blow me away, but this song gets better every time I hear it, I just adore that bleepy little synth hook. I really wish it was getting as many radio spins as "No Roots." 

7. The Blue Stones - "Black Holes (Solid Ground)"
I thought this song might be Royal Blood the first time I heard it, but it turns out it's a different bluesy guitar/drums duo, which I guess is a pretty sturdy formula long after the breakthrough of the White Stripes and the Black Keys (and wow, all these bands have colors in the name or at least evoke a color with the word 'blood,' weird). 

8. Ro James - "Excuse Me" 
Ro James has released quite a few songs since El Dorado almost 3 years ago, and I'm glad that one of them is finally gaining some steam on R&B radio, he really doesn't deserve to go down as a one hit wonder for "Permission." 

9. Kelly Rowland - "Crown" 
I always root for Kelly, she's got the loveliest voice and her solo catalog is better than she usually gets credit for. This is a nice song to dip her toe back in with, hopefully there's more coming with Harmony Samuels, they're a good combination. 

10. Halestorm - "Do Not Disturb" 
I've always liked the kind of throwback sleazy Lita Ford hair metal pinup vibe of some of Halestorm's songs, and this is the best one they've had in that vein in a while. And the totally different direction they took the video in is pretty entertaining too. 

The Worst Single of the Month: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - "Shallow"
Listen, maybe when I eventually watch A Star Is Born and see this song in context it'll make more sense to me and I'll change my mind. But for the time being, this is one of my least favorite songs on the soundtrack. And her using a live TV moment to power this dull power ballad to #1 on the Hot 100 where she couldn't with "Million Reasons" just annoys me, Bonnie Tyler outtake Gaga is my least favorite Gaga.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 18, 2019 at 10:03 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.