Each week, I go through Genius’ album lists and listen to anything I find interesting. Then, at least twice a month, I’ll go through their singles list, updated daily, and make a playlist of a bunch of new releases. I also find music through Spotify, on Twitter and on music blogs
With standard non-holiday releases for the year wrapping up within the next few weeks, this will be my last commercial music list for the year. Next month’s will be, appropriately, a Christmas list since I tend to listen to nearly every Christmas album that comes out. Of course, I’ll have to include two or three commercial releases (like, oh I don’t know, a re-release of a song that happens to be 10 minutes), but the holidays are my favorite time of year and I try and soak as much of it in as I can.
With that being said, I enjoyed some of the big releases from the month of October, such as my #1 here and a few I didn’t include such as “Taking Me Back” by Jack White, “The 90’s” by Finneas, “Moth To A Flame” by The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia and, of course, the entirety of Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s collaborative album Love For Sale.
I also really enjoyed great new tracks like “Movie” by Blake Rose, “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by The War On Drugs, “in my head” by thuy, and “Flawless” by Euroz. Other highlights included a previously-unreleased Hunter Hayes song called “Tell Me” that I’ve been obsessed with for years and, genuinely, Andrew Garfield’s rendition of “Louder Than Words,” alongside Vanessa Hudgens and Broadway veteran Joshua Henry, from the now-released film version of the beloved Broadway musical “tick, tick…. boom.”
Top 10
10. “Sinners, Saints and Fools”- Brandi Carlile
Carlile, like Sara Bareilles, experienced a surge in “late career” popularity just before COVID. Highlights included a fantastic performance of “The Joke” at the 2020 Grammy Awards, easily the best of the night, and a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in support of her last record By The Way, I Forgive You.
Now, Carlile is back with In These Silent Days. While I thought the record’s opening track “Right On Time” felt like an attempt at a retread of “The Joke,” the album closer, “Sinners, Saints and Fools” proved she can go big….REALLY big, without referring to past material. She didn’t say it, but this may have been her unofficial entry into the running for the next lead singer of Soundgarden (or whatever they want to be called going forward). In the song, she condemns a Christian man for failing to practice what he preaches by refusing to help the poor. Her anger and frustration in what is clearly a very real-world issue is perfectly captured in the intensity of her vocals and the Led Zeppelin-like orchestrations and instrumentation. One of my favorite album closers in a long time.
9. “She Knows It”- Maggie Lindemann
Lindemann encompasses Paramore, musically, with this new release (and isn’t getting trashed for it like Olivia Rodrigo did), exploring her sexuality and daring this girl to leave her boyfriend. Lindemann sells it well, confidently staking her claim; “She knows it should be me in her bed. Yeah, she knows it.” She sounds significantly younger than that of Hayley Williams or Izzy Hale of Halestorm, but isn’t at all overpowered by the punk-rock guitars and drums. Definitely one to look out for.
8. “Friends That Break Your Heart”- James Blake
James is the one male on this list, but I had to include him for this song all because of that damn chorus. You don’t always write songs about friend breakups; you write them about relationships that end or don’t work out or whatever the case is. But friend breakups are even worse. You don’t know who knows what. You walk with your head down hoping no one is staring daggers at you. You hope you don’t run into them, so you have to make a game plan to avoid the routine you had with them in it. It hurts. And of course James would be the one to sing about it.
The repetition of the three words, “in the end” and the way he accents the d-consonant every time he does it is what gets me. It’s haunting. Just like his photographs, apparently.
7. “Red Flags”- Chelsea Cutler
A few years ago, my best friend and I took a day trip to Dallas, TX from his place in Little Rock, AR to see Quinn XCII at a cool little venue called Trees. Chelsea Cutler, who I had never heard of, opened for him and gave a decent but not particularly memorable set that included a pretty meh cover of “I Fall Apart” by Post Malone. Fast forward to now, and not only is Cutler more consistent musically than Quinn, but she has easily become more popular. Her work with my sad boy king Jeremy Zucker has only made her even bigger. She has come a LONG way.
“Red Flags,” off her recent project, When I Close My Eyes, sounds like one of my favorite Jessie J cuts from 2015’s Sweet Talker, but Cutler keeps it light and atmospheric rather than brash and belty. She sings about missing the signs that something is wrong in a relationship, then feeling blindsided when the other person wants to break it off; “Red flags, you look for red flags. I never see em.” Cutler, clearly always the giver, knows what the outcome would be if she tried to flip the script; “Cause if I left tomorrow, I don’t think you would follow me.”
6. “Skinny Dipping”- Sabrina Carpenter
This was a September release, but it didn’t hit my radar for a while and now I can’t get it out of my head. First of all, I could have told you Julia Michaels co-wrote this before I even looked at the credits. Sabrina is a good writer on her own, but no one writes that many words in verses with such picturesque detail like Julia does. Of course it’s not just a coffee the barista calls out, it’s an oat milk latte. Of course she’s not just standing there waiting, she’s on her phone waiting. Of course she manages to find her way back into the “arguments in your garage” pre-chorus with a different set of lyrics in the second verse than she did in the first. And of course, she used the phrases “nonsensical chatter” and “we’ll keep it beau acratic.” Like, who else would possibly do that?
Sabrina gets all the credit in the world for this, too. It’s easily my favorite song of hers thus far. She doesn’t do too much, she keeps her delivery conversational and her vocals light and airy, like she’s really nervous to ask this guy, who she has history with, to jump right back into the deep end with her. It’s SO cool. And so is that trumpet. Total breath of fresh air.
5. “Little Things”- Big Thief
A complete and unabashed alt-rock jam from the Brooklyn-based group off their new EP, Change. Lead singer Adrianne Lenker details all the good and bad of a relationship, but is almost worked up into a frenzy that the bad doesn’t even begin to deter her. Despite her pleas for attention and even feelings of being used, she can’t get enough; “New York City is a crowded place, I still lose sight of every other face.”
4. “Ben Franklin”- Snail Mail
“Ben Franklin,” a really captivating cut of alternative pop from Snail Mail’s new record, Valentine, has the visual aesthetic of someone like David Bowie with the modern sound that have propelled some of her contemporaries to mega stardom. She sings about coming out of a stint in rehab but still having to clean up the mess she made before she went in. When coupled with the wave of emotions caused by the pandemic, it was an uphill climb; “I deserve it, I’m crazy. But don’t act like you’ve never met me.”
3. “Wild Jasmine”- Joy Crookes
Easily one of the most unique voices in pop music right now, Joy Crookes, a singer/songwriter of Bengali/Irish descent, offers a plethora of tones and styles on “Wild Jasmine,” a cut from her album Skin. The track encompasses elements of pop, jazz, R&B and neo-soul, all centered around Crookes’ silky vocal delivery as she seemingly tries to convince herself to stay away from a toxic partner; “Why you do me like that? Wild Jasmine, don’t love him.”
2. “Soaked”- LEON
Genuinely, one of my favorite pop songs of the year. LEON, a singer/songwriter from Sweden, sings of wanting to completely rid yourself from someone and start over. To just wash all of that person away; “I just wanna get soaked, and rinse it all off.” The instrumental is so bouncy and modern, but with those stunning strokes of the guitar that could have come right from the beginning of “Purple Rain” to give it a little edge. Crowds will be jumping in complete unison to this one anywhere she plays.
- “Easy On Me”- Adele
I mean…..how could it not be this? While I wish she had just kept the “snippet” of the ENTIRE first verse and nearly the first full line of the chorus off of her Instagram Live to keep the whole thing a surprise, it was as breathtaking the first listen as it is after 100 listens. “Easy On Me” is, for a lead single by Adele standards, restrained, but I think it’s what we all wanted and needed her from her.
It is the first single from a divorce album, but I think some were expecting her to pull an Ariana Grande “No Tears Left To Cry” type trick out of her bag. Maybe go a little deeper into a vibe similar to “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” from her last record. While she’ll likely hit that territory again with the album tracks, the first single HAD to be the emotive, introspective piano-led thing that it is. However, just because it’s a piano ballad doesn’t mean it’s boring and drippy. The beat kicks in for the second verse to give it a little flavor, she puts a little soulful stank on it at the 2:35 mark and in other spots, and Greg Kurtstin’s piano playing is intimate yet totally singable by itself.
The fact of the matter is, this song is Adele’s plea for her son, Angelo, to not resent her for ending things with his father. For shattering that normalcy. If he’s not old enough to understand now, he will be in a few years. I just think that the look she gives the camera at the end of the music video says it all. It says, “I’m tired. I’m done. I did all I could, but I need to move on for me, too.” It breaks my heart every time, but if I know Adele like I think I do, I KNOW that this very big challenge she has had to overcome will not take her out of the game. She’s way too strong for that. And the world loves her for it.
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