1. Harry Styles - "Lights Up"
I enjoyed the period of 2017 when the first wave of One Direction solo singles was everywhere, so I'm happy that, whether there was any coordination between them or not, there appears to be another cycle starting up -- 4 members of 1D have released new singles in September or October (the only exception is Zayn, who released his last album at the end of last year). And the only one that I don't like is Liam's Ed Sheeran-penned single that just sounds like a Sheeran song. But the biggest surprise is that Harry Styles, who gambled big on a debut album that was good but didn't have any radio-friendly singles, putting a nice little programmed beat under his new single and really sounding like he's in it to win it on album #2 without completely overhauling his sound or coming off desperate for a hit. Here's the 2019 favorite singles playlist I update every month.

2. Niall Horan - "Nice To Meet Ya"
"Slow Hands" is still my #1 One Direction solo single and this is a good kickoff for his next record. It kind of has a Robbie Williams vibe to me, though, which makes me wonder if it's destined to not do as well in the U.S. as his previous singles. 

3. Mustard f/ Roddy Ricch - "Ballin'"
I kinda roll my eyes at Mustard droppig the DJ, just as I used to roll my eyes at his ambitious label name 10 Summers. But he's almost definitely going to back up that name now -- he's been all over the radio for 8 summers in a row now, and although "Pure Water" featuring Migos was his biggest hit to date as an artist, "Ballin'" seems to have the momentum right now to become even bigger. Roddy Ricch really has a way with a hook and this is kind of faster and lighter than his other stuff in a way that really pops. 

4. Normani - "Motivation" 
It's depressing to watch Camila Cabello's bland new singles outperform Normani on the charts, but I'm glad that Normani finally rolled out a full-on solo track and it's doing decently. The video's homage to mid-2000s "106 & Park" hits kind of underlines how the cultural space Normani's solo career should be occupying, of a black girl doing pop crossover R&B, no longer exists. Instead, the only R&B-ish music on Top 40 radio is white artists like Ariana Grande, who co-wrote "Motivation," which makes this song and its video, whether intended or not, kind of a canny commentary on the situation. 

5. Kygo & Whitney Houston - "Higher Love"
Whitney Houston was, of course, for a long time the standard bearer for how black women cross over from R&B to pop, though at the time the R&B scene was probably inclined to not really look at her as part of it. But it's kind of fun lately to hear her biggest posthumous hit in the form of a 1990 Steve Winwood cover remixed by a modern dance producer, her voice is really perfect for that chorus and the shiny modern EDM sheen suits the vocal pretty well. 

6. Twenty One Pilots - "The Hype"
Even if Trench wasn't the crossover phenomenon that Blurryface was, Twenty One Pilots have kind of solidified their grip on rock radio -- only the second band to ever have 9 consecutive top 10 hits, just off of those two albums and a soundtrack single. And I kinda feel like they earned it since they could actually hold off "The Hype," to my ears probably the catchiest song on the album, for the 4th single. 

7. Incubus - "Into The Summer"
I remember before I even knew that Incubus had a new song out, my brother told me that it sounded exactly like David Bowie's "Let's Dance." So I don't know if that would've struck me immediately if he hadn't pointed it out ahead of time, but I definitely can't unhear it now. But I like it, I enjoy when Incubus let their '80s pop side out, like when they covered "Let's Go Crazy" on their best-of comp a decade ago. 2019 was definitely the summer of everyone releasing their summer-themed singles too late to maximize the impact, though, from "Hot Girl Summer" to this, which came out in late August.

8. Jeezy f/ Meek Mill - "MLK BLVD"
Jeezy's supposed final album TM104 kinda came and went already, and I feel bad, because it was a decent album and he can still turn out these big loud anthems that are a ton of fun to hear in the car, I hope this song continues to pick up steam and maybe end his career on a high note. It never gets old to hear a couple shouts of "FUCK TRUMP" in the middle of the song, more rap singles could use that thrown in.

9.  Ellie Goulding & Juice WRLD - "Hate Me"
I think I kind of rolled my eyes at this song when it first came out and didn't really give it a chance, just the combination of artists seemed kind of forced. But the chorus is great and the Juice WRLD verse fits in there pretty well.

10. Illenium & Jon Bellion - "Good Things Fall Apart"
Jon Bellion had a single do well about 3 years ago that I found irksome, but this one has really grown on me, kind of combines EDM with a rock power ballad sound in a way that's a little more subtle and melodic than the popular Imagine Dragons version of that formula. I kind of mentally associate this song (with the chorus lyric "tell me what you hate about me") with the Ellie Goulding one (with the chorus lyric "tell me how you hate me").

The Worst Single of the Month: Lana Del Rey - "Doin' Time"
I think that Norman Fucking Rockwell is a good album and I respect that a lot of people think it's a genuinely great album, but I really have no idea how many of those people actually like the Sublime cover and think it's an enjoyable part of the album or if they're kind of ignoring or tolerating it or kind of acting like they're 'in on the joke' of this one very weird outpost of Del Rey's very unique sense of retro camp. But man, it's not good, and it being a huge #1 hit on alt-rock radio is just so aggravating.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 10:08 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.