1. Kane Brown - "Good As You" 
I've liked some of Kane Brown's singles and disliked some of them, but I've been waiting to hear one that really won me over and made the best use of his voice, and "Good As You" is the one for me. Such a lovely relaxed guitar-driven groove with just a little banjo in the mix. Here's the playlist of my favorite 2019 singles that I update every month. 

2. NOTD and Felix Jaehn f/ Captain Cuts and Georgia Ku - "So Close" 
In 2015, two of the most inescapable songs of the summer were German DJ/producer Felix Jaehn's remix of OMI's "Cheerleader" and Walk The Moon's "Shut Up And Dance," which was a breakthrough for American production trio Captain Cuts. And I'd love it if "So Close" was as ubiquitous in the summer of 2019. It's funny to think that it took Jaehn, the Captain Cuts guys, plus a Swedish production duo and an English singer to put together such a simple dance pop song, but however it came together, I like its shamelessly sugary hooks. 

3. Of Monsters And Men - "Alligator"  
I wonder if anyone ever shouts "Judas!" at folky acoustic alternative hitmakers like Mumford And Sons and Of Monsters And Men when they plug in amps and unveil a harder rocking sound. I like this way more than any of the previous Of Monsters And Men singles, though, it almost reminds me of The Joy Formidable.

4. Ciara - "Thinkin Bout You"
This song is pretty delightful, and the video enhances its breezy blissed out atmosphere. It's weird, though, a song that sounds like this would've done great on R&B radio or pop radio or both at different points in the last 30 or 40 years, but at this particular moment, it doesn't quite fit in with either. 

5. Beyonce - "Before I Let Go"
The original "Before I Let Go" is such a stone cold classic that I'm wary of anybody touching it, even someone of Beyonce's caliber -- I was especially annoyed a few years ago when Vivian Green sampled it and then sang a mediocre new song over it. But this is a worthy cover, Tay Keith's previous work on hit singles has been pretty minimalist so I was pleasantly surprised by how much he threw into the pot here, from the Cameo interpolation to the horn section that helped tie this studio track to the Homecoming live album it appeared on. I also have to wonder if Beyonce was really doing a whole clever tribute on another level with how this track was released, since "Before I Let Go" was first released as a new studio track towards the end of Maze and Frankie Beverly's Live In New Orleans album. 

6. Eli Young Band - "Love Ain't"
Country music rules because you can rhyme "ain't" with "cain't." This song hits a lot of the familiar notes of a song addressed to someone who's in a bad relationship, but I like the particular way this lyric comes at it, telling them that the way they're being treated doesn't sound like love, it's kind of over-the-top but touching, makes me think of people I knew who were in shitty relationships but excused the mean or possessive behavior as acts of love. 

7. The Revivalists - "Change" 
The Revivalists are one of the more faceless bands getting regular play on alternative radio these days, even though they should be kind of easy to set apart with their horn section and bluesier sound, half the time when I hear a song besides their big hit "Wish I Knew You" I have no clue who it could be. This song has really grown on me, though. Also, I don't know if they're tipping a hat to Q-Tip with that "she's such a vibrant thing" part of the song. 

8. Pink f/ Chris Stapleton - "Love Me Anyway" 
In the dubious world of pop stars dipping their toe into country music, Pink was never somebody I really looked to for that kind of crossover, but she certainly has the voice to pull it off, and this nice acoustic track from Hard 2B Human has gotten a little country radio airplay. 

9. Martin Garrix f/ Macklemore and Patrick Stump - "Summer Days"
It's petty, but I often wish that Patrick Stump had the kind of ubiquity that his old Decaydance understudy Brendon Urie currently enjoys. After the brilliant flop of Soul Punk, I don't dare hope that he makes another go at a solo career, but I'm glad that he's still doing some hooks and stuff outside Fall Out Boy, this slap bass-driven EDM track would be a pretty ideal summer jam if it wasn't for all the unnecessary Macklemore parts of the song.

10. Marshmello f/ Chvrches - "Here With Me" 
My 9-year-old son who doesn't know who Beyonce is has a much higher awareness of Marshmello, which is a good indication that making dance music while wearing a big ridiculous costume that makes your head look like a marshmellow or something is a smarter move than it may seem. Marshmello, to an even greater degree than the other big names of crossover EDM, has mastered the art of making hits with every conceivable kind of popular artist, from top 40 singers to rappers to R&B singers to alt-rock bands. But this also means he works with people who'd never work with each other, which inevitably results in some culture clash, as when Marshmello followed up his very catchy Chvrches collaboration with a Chris Brown collaboration, and Chvrches got a lot of antagonistic bullshit from Brown and his fans for saying they were disappointed that Marshmello would work with an abuser.

The Worst Single of the Month: DJ Khaled f/ SZA - "Just Us" 
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people re-record the beat of a classic rap song instead of sampling it (and one of my other pet peeves is that half of people don't hear the difference or don't care and call it a 'sample' anyway). Even when the effort to replicate all the little details of the track are kind of impressive, I still get this kind of awful uncanny valley feeling listening to these remade beats. And the reconstructed beat for Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" on the new DJ Khaled record is like nails on chalkboard to me, I hate it so much. It's a shame, because it was a great idea for him to have a showcase for SZA while she's between albums and I like her vocal just fine, but the execution of the beat just irritates me too much to enjoy the track. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 12:34 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.