Monthly Report: October 2022 Singles
1. Kelsea Ballerini - "Heartfirst"
I'd liked but not loved plenty of Kelsea Ballerini's earlier singles, but I hadn't gotten around to hearing the lead single from her 4th album, Subject To Change, until it'd been out for almost 6 months and it really grabbed me more than anything she's made before. Not surprising that Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town co-wrote this one, I love her stuff, but Ballerini's voice suits the song well and the whole album is pretty solid. Ballerini's the third female country star I can think of in recent memory who's gotten divorced from her less famous country singer husband, after Kacey Musgraves and Carly Pearce -- watch out, Maren! Here's the 2022 singles Spotify playlist I update every month.
2. Beyonce - "Cuff It"
I don't think Renaissance is Beyonce's best album ever, but it's one of her most consistent, because it's refreshingly devoid of songs I'd be as irritated about becoming a big hit as I was about "Drunk In Love" or "Hold Up." And one of the songs I singled out as a favorite early on was "Cuff It," so I'm pleased that seems to be the follow-up to "Break My Soul." And the fact that Nile Rodgers, Raphael Saadiq, Sheila E., The-Dream, and Beyonce all worked on this song is incredible, that's like three generations of Black music greatness.
3. Jackson Dean - "Don't Come Lookin'"
Even though Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon line and a lot of people love country music here, the state hasn't generated many mainstream country acts, which is partly why I've been excited about the rise of Brothers Osborne over the last few years. And lately another Maryland singer, Jackson Dean from Odenton, has broken through with his first top 10 country radio hit, and "Don't Come Lookin'" is a a great rocker that really stands out on the radio. I looked on Facebook recently and realized that Sean Mercer, a Baltimore producer and musician I've known for years who's played in bands like Us And Us Only and Teen Suicide, is in Dean's band and mixed the recently released live version of "Don't Come Lookin'."
4. Brent Faiyaz - "All Mine"
Wasteland is a frustrating album because 1/6th of the album is skits with no replay value, but when Brent Faiyaz stops with all the cinematic scene-setting and just lets the songs play, they're pretty great. It's weird to think that it took about 5 years after "Crew" for Brent Faiyaz to become a real R&B radio fixture, it seemed so obvious that that was inevitable when the Goldlink song first hit.
5. Ella Mai f/ Roddy Ricch - "How"
This song definitely should've been bigger, but then, I can say that about just about everything Ella Mai and Roddy Ricch have done over the past year. I don't know why the last two artists that Mustard really helped launch have both had these very pronounced sophomore slumps, I think they're music is about as good as it ever was.
6. Harry Styles - "Music For A Sushi Restaurant"
Back when Harry Styles released a portentous 6-minute piano ballad as his debut solo single, I did wonder if he'd ever loosen up enough to be a great pop star. But that did happen, and he did an excellent job of very gradually leaning into brighter, catchier sounds while still sticking to a vaguely indie, vaguely dad rock aesthetic. Harry's House opening with a song as zany and funky as "Music For A Sushi Restaurant," full of falsetto and horns and scatting, was still a bit of a surprise, though, perhaps even moreso that it became a radio single. The name sounds like one of those coy descriptive song titles, but he actually says the words "music for a sushi restaurant" three times in the song's loopy second verse.
7. Pharrell Williams f/ 21 Savage and Tyler, The Creator - "Cash In, Cash Out"
Over the summer, Pharrell had a big rollout for a new solo single with an expensive-looking video and a GQ cover, although instead of P being back in the spotlight with something like "Happy" or "Frontin'" it's really just his beat with a couple of stars rapping over it. The push for the track felt strange and it prompted a lot of people to start talking shit about Pharrell's recent productions, but I think it's a great beat and the song has really grown on me as it's turned into a radio hit over the last few months. I really could not stand 21 Savage for the first couple years he was out there, but I have to admit that I was wrong, dude can really rap and it's cool to hear him rip a slightly leftfield beat here.
8. The Killers - "Boy"
Each of The Killers' first 6 albums had at least one top 10 hit on alternative radio, and then they didn't release any singles at all from last year's Pressure Machine, even though I think it was one of their best albums to date -- maybe they just felt it wasn't a commercial album or that it was kind of a bonus record they made during COVID touring delays. But they've already started releasing singles from the album coming in 2023, and "Boy" was #1 for 6 weeks. I don't necessarily prefer the more overtly '80s Killers to the Sam's Town vibes, but it feels notable that this is maybe the most New Order-esque song they've ever released, considering that the band got their name from a New Order video.
9. Jelly Roll - "Son Of A Sinner"
Jelly Roll is a white rapper from Tennessee who was in a group with Lil Wyte on Hypnotize Minds a decade ago. But his latest album crossed him over to rock radio with last year's "Dead Man Walking" and now to country radio with "Son Of A Sinner." And while that white rapper to rock to country career arc brings Kid Rock to mind and makes me roll my eyes, "Son Of A Sinner" is a really good song, its success is deserved.
10. Burna Boy - "Last Last"
I always thought of Toni Braxton's last top 10 hit, "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me," as kind of a middling song that signaled her commercial decline. But they really made it sound awesome with that little snippet of the intro with the chiming synths and Braxton's little vocal ad libs on "Last Last," totally gave me a renewed appreciation for the original.
The Worst Single of the Month: DVSN - "If I Get Caught"
DVSN have been one of those boring Instagram caption Canadian R&B groups signed to Drake's label for a long time and it seemed they'd just remain inoffensively hitless forever until they released "If I Get Caught," which was immediately greeted by everyone as a new nadir of the 'toxic' R&B trend. But I guess that big awkward Jay-Z sample is a good gimmick, because it's started to become their first real radio hit lately, but it definitely just continues to sound worse and worse.
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on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 10:21 AM.
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