Monthly Report: December 2020 Singles
1. Ariana Grande - "Positions"
London On Da Track has been one of my favorite producers for years, partly for how he's brought out the melodic side of rappers like Young Thug, so it's been cool to see him really move into R&B and pop well with Summer Walker's album and now this, his first #1 single. It's also a good, natural sound for Grande to move toward now that she's big enough that she doesn't need the Max Martin and Ilya productions that always seemed a little like an obligation for her. Here's my 2020 singles playlist that I've updated all year, proper year-end lists coming soon.
2. Corey Taylor - "Black Eyes Blue"
I've never really followed Sliptknot or Stone Sour or had any opinion about Corey Taylor's work, but his first solo single really grabbed me the fist time I heard it on the radio, huge chorus, great groove. The whole album is pretty good too.
3. Sam Smith - "Diamonds"
I think Love Goes is by far Sam Smith's best album to date, they've really landed on an ideal halfway point between the sound of their EDM guest work and their sad British balladeer stuff, I think all the singles should've been bigger but especially this one.
4. Harry Styles - "Golden"
Back when Fine Line was released and "Adore You" and "Watermelon Sugar" hadn't dominated radio, I was worried that the only way Harry Styles would finally get played on U.S. radio was if "Falling" turned him into the typical sad British balladeer that America usually demands. So I'm pretty pleased that the uptempo singles have thrived, and "Golden" isn't resonating in the same way, but again, I'm glad they sent it to radio, it kicks off the album so well.
5. Lewis Capaldi - "Before You Go"
Lewis Capaldi is a classic example of the sad British balladeer industrial complex, and I was pretty annoyed with his first transatlantic chart-topper "Someone You Loved." But his second U.S. hit, while not hugely different, has a livelier pulse and makes use of his raspy voice.
6. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin f/ Drake - "Mr. Right Now"
I was pretty to excited to see that Baltimore's own Tate Kobang has a writing credit on a big top 10 hit featuring Drake, really hope it's a sign of more big things to come for him. That Drake verse where he brags about dating SZA is pretty embarrassing, though.
7. Dua Lipa f/ DaBaby - "Levitating (Remix)"
I wasn't thrilled about "Levitating" becoming a single, it might be my least favorite album on Future Nostalgia. But it's still a jam, that's just how good the album is.
8. Jason Derulo - "Take You Dancing"
I have a soft spot for Jason Derulo's big goofy shameless approach to pop music and find myself rooting for him, and kind of I wish I liked his big comeback hit "Savage Love," but it just sounds a little too absurd and saccharine for me. "Take You Dancing" is much much closer to what I'd like to hear from Derulo, but it isn't doing as well sadly.
9. Brothers Osborne - "All Night"
Skeletons isn't the best Brothers Osborne album but they remain a pretty consistently great band, and the lead single is growing on me. I always laugh at the line "If you got the raisin', I got the hell" though, it sounds like he's asking me if I have a box of raisins.
10. Jon Pardi - "Ain't Always The Cowboy"
Great chorus, a song like this could sound so schmaltzy and dull if most of Pardi's contemporaries recorded it, but he's got that nice neotraditionalist sound that puts the fiddle and pedal steel upfront and really sells it.
The Worst Single of the Month: Jack Harlow - "Tyler Herro"
For all the talk about Jack Harlow logging a Malcolm Gladwell-inspired 10,000 hours to become a great rapper, he's not that great at writing hooks or structuring songs. "Tyler Herro" begins and ends with a hook with one long verse in the middle, which worked well enough on "Whats Poppin," but it really sags here, mainly because the chorus feels like an arbitrary 16-bar stretch he decided to repeat. He should just drop the album or some more songs instead of letting this song kill the momentum he had going.
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