I couldn't stand Ava Max's first two hits "Sweet But Psycho" and "Kings & Queens," but I thought her album was alright outside of those tracks. And now she's finally got a single on the radio that I really like, "My Head & My Heart" is just a classic four-on-the-floor Europop banger with a great vocal melody. Here's the 2021 singles Spotify playlist that I add 10 songs to every month throughout the year. 

It feels like it's been a while since a dark menacing gangsta rap song was on the radio and performed on "The Tonight Show" and stuff like that, it's kind of refreshing even if the DMX era is never coming back. 

I really liked Blackpink's "Ice Cream" last year, which was very much the familiar K-Pop mold of kind of sounding like turn of the century hi-tech R&B. But Blackpink member Rose's debut solo single is something else entirely, although it sort of evokes the same era, a jangly pop/rock song that sounds like it could've been recorded by Natalie Imbruglia, written by U.S. hitmakers Amy Allen (Harry Styles, Halsey) and Jon Bellion (Justin Bieber, Maroon 5).

Following up a song as big as "Drivers License" is a mixed blessing, and Olivia Rodrigo took the route of something that feels a little like a sequel, with some of the same woozy synths and a lyric that feels like it's about the same breakup from a slightly more angry perspective. That said, the way the drums and synths hit after the first chorus sounds fucking amazing and I hope this song becomes ubiquitous and doesn't kind of get lost in the shuffle like follow-ups to megahits sometimes do. I love the way the video ends looping back to the intro, I kind of wish the song did that too. 

When I wrote about the Bettie James EP last year I singled "Freedom Was A Highway" out as my favorite track, so I'm glad they released it as a single, their voices sound great together and Paisley knocks out a great guitar solo.