Editors Note: Each month a surplus of new music is released- leaving fans of varying genres well fed with content and new artists to discover.

However, this also means that we aren’t all always able to stay up to date on every new song that is put out- often causing us to miss out on some major rising musicians that are well deserving of the hype. Which is why it’s so great to hear from different listener’s about what music has caught their attention and get their thoughts on some of the latest releases.

Today we’d like to debut a new content series by our contributor Noah Wade, who will be sharing some his favorite tracks of the months for fans to discover what may become their new favorite songs.

Please check out the first edition below, and as always, let us know what your favorite songs are in the comments.

This list is a collection of my favorite tracks from the month of January. You’ll find these, and others, in my Spotify playlist linked at the bottom. Enjoy.

1. “Anyone” – Justin Bieber 

2021 started off with a bang. Well, a delayed one. Justin Bieber’s New Years Eve livestream was riddled with issues from the server and started well over an hour past its advertised 10:30 p.m start time. In a perfect world, the 90ish minute set would have concluded just after midnight, in which Bieber would have premiered “Anyone,” totally live, just after the ball drop and fans could swarm streaming services directly after. Instead, the song dropped, as planned, at midnight, but got off to a slow start as most fans were engrossed in his live performance. Even the best laid plans sometimes don’t always come to fruition.

Anyway, “Anyone” is the fifth phase of Bieber’s “flood the market” strategy following “Stuck With U” featuring Ariana Grande, his appearance on a remix of 24kGldn’s “Mood,” “Holy” featuring Chance The Rapper and “Lonely,” featuring Benny Blanco. And it is, without a doubt, the best one. By far. It may even be his best song yet.

It may not be as radio-friendly as 2015’s smash hit “Sorry,” nor has it had that kind of chart success, but, musically, it is as big of an arena-anthem as he has ever had. Euphoric, bold and emotional, Bieber confesses, “looking back on my life, you’re the only good I’ve ever done.” For those who have followed him throughout his career, that is a chill-inducing statement. 

2. “drivers license” – Olivia Rodrigo 

Olivia Rodrigo is 17. Yep, read that again. 17 years old. She’s not even allowed to vote. Yet she has the #1 song in America and one of the top songs in the world for three straight weeks now.

“drivers license” is her first official single, not including those included on the soundtrack for the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” in which she plays Nina. Rodrigo has, repeatedly, expressed her love for artists like Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams, hinting that her original music would reflect the singer/songwriter-type pop that both of those ladies bring to the table, but I don’t think anyone expected what came with “drivers license.”

The track is over four minutes long- an eternity in modern pop music. Not only is it long, but it’s also a ballad. And a great one at that. Strong, emotive vocals and raw lyrics are the dominating force here, but she did everything right.

Rodrigo mixes musical theatre-style dynamics with pop vocal inflections and possibly the best bridge since Swift’s “Getaway Car.” She plucked it right out of Jack Antonoff and Lorde’s bag of tricks, with moody, layered vocals and crackling synths, but added her own spin to it, doubling back and giving it a full 16 bars. The last chorus is light and airy, a total contrast from the frustration and anger she exuded earlier. You can almost hear a pin drop within your own mind, as it forces you to think about the person in your life whose street you drove down, crying along to whatever was on the radio. I think, for the next decade or so, it’ll be this song. 

3. “Used To (Acoustic)” – NBDY

While the original version of this slick R&B track came out in 2019 on NBDY’s debut project, Admissions, but I was not aware of it until I stumbled on his Admissions (Acoustic) EP, released in January.

The young New Jersey-born singer demonstrates his vocal prowess, showing off his wide range and easily transitioning into a rap-like vocal flow midway through. He can easily hold his own, and probably even outdo, at least in a live setting, contemporaries of his genre like Chris Brown and 6LACK. Accompanied by a singular soothing guitar, he sings of the mental struggles he has faced after parting ways with a lover; “I ain’t suicidal, feel like I’m stuck in a you asylum. I don’t deserve you, till I get through to you.”

4. “Good Days” – SZA

Cheating a little with this one, since it came out on Christmas Day, but I couldn’t bring myself to not include it here. “Good Days” has the unfortunate responsibility of being the first solo single of SZA’s new era after what could be considered a game-changing record with 2017’s Ctrl, but it does not disappoint. In fact, it exceeds expectations.

SZA sings of giving too much of herself to one person and the negative effects it has caused her mental psyche, but no matter what, she’s looking to a better future; “All the while, I’ll wait my armored fate with a smile. Still wanna try, still believe in good days, always. Always inside, good day living in my mind.”

Though not a typical radio single by any means, and even a little disjointed in terms of overall song structure, it’s nothing short of electric. “A vibe,” if you will. While that could be credited to SZA’s signature inflections, tone and intrinsic lyricism, Jacob Collier’s stellar contributions as an additional vocalist and composer are a major factor as well. 

5. “Holy Feeling” – Greyson Chance

With 2019’s portraits, Greyson Chance reintroduced himself to a world that had likely long forgotten about his preteen fame as the artist he had always wanted to be and knew he could be. That record set the tone. One-off single “Boots” followed closely behind it, and it was clear he was continuing to build on his new mature, bravado-driven sound.

On “Holy Feeling,” Chance takes an introspective turn. Sound wise, the song is far from the alt-pop of portraits, opting for gospel influences and even hints of country. Lyrically, it tells the story of a young man fully capable of grasping onto the concept of love, the good and the bad. He himself is engrossed in it, but senses hesitation from his partner; “Your body is here but your eyes are wandering off,” and professes his desire to give everything he has, whenever it is wanted; “You can wait another year, another five, another ten, another night. You can stay in your books and all the old songs up in your mind.”

For Chance to want to provide feelings of comfort, security and love in that wat, “the type your God can’t give” is a powerful and bold promise, but it is one I think he’ll be able to keep. Beautiful song, beautiful vocal. 

6. “Summer 2009” – Alycia Belle 

Muse may be Alycia Belle’s first solo album, but that doesn’t mean she’s new to the music industry. She’s worked with some huge names like Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo and as a featured vocalist on Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange.

“Summer 2009” is a groovy R&B cut from the record that Jhene Aiko fans would eat up. Full of nostalgia and tinges of regret, Belle sweetly sings of a past lover, seemingly from, of course, the summer of ’09; “We can’t relive those days, late afternoon grey. Polaroid shake, not digital. Something tangible to remember these days.” 

7. “Sleep Forever” – LOVA

Let’s be honest, there’s no shortage of pop music to go around. I try and listen to all of it. Some of it hits right away, some of it doesn’t hit at all. For LOVA, a young new pop artist who hasn’t even hit 10,000 followers on Instagram, her album Grown-ish hit from the very first track. A voice similar to (but better than) Anne-Marie and Alma and production along the lines of Betty Who and other pop contemporaries, she’s one to watch. 

I really enjoyed the comically self-aware opener “Own Worst Enemy” and even “Lonely Ones,” a standard little ditty about lifting up the kids that get left out of everything, but the closing track, “Sleep Forever” is the standout. This could have been a quarantine anthem had it been released just a few months earlier, as she sings about “Staying here forever until things get better.”

Usually at the end of an album you get some sort of “A-ha!” moment, but not here. She’s not ready to face her problems yet. When she gets to the last chorus and sings, “Sleeppppppp forevvvvvv, ever and ever,” it just makes me want, so badly, to be screaming, “HEY!” after every line. Cool track, cool artist. Check her out. 

8. “For Your Love” – Sammy Johnson 

Covering Stevie Wonder isn’t easy. Normally, most people take the basic approach to Wonder’s music and walk away unscathed. Sammy Johnson, a Reggae singer from New Zealand, may be one of the rare exceptions, putting his own island-flavored spin on the cut from Wonder’s 1995 record, Conversation Peace. Johnson comes close to matching Wonder vocally, nailing each key change at the end of the track and delivering a number of soulful runs and riffs that span his range.

9. “Minefields (Hook and Sling Remix)”- Faouzia and John Legend

John Legend just might be the most giving artist in pop music. He gave huge assists to both Meghan Trainor and Sam Smith early in their careers, expertly mentored contestants on The Voice and now, even after a tumultuous year for him and his family, is elevating Faouzia on this new track.

Faouzia, a Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter, at just 20 years old, displays her vocal prowess on the powerful power ballad. On “Minefields,” the pair acknowledge taking the other for granted; “I didn’t notice what I lost until all the lights were off” but profess the extreme measures they’d take for each other; “These minefields that I walk through. Ooh, what I risk to be close to you.” 

10. “Red Wine & Jodeci” – Lil Skies 

I’ll be honest, 6ix9ine really put a bad taste in my mouth. His antics made me want to avoid the rest of the new crop of rappers altogether, but I couldn’t hide from Lil Skies forever. He’s the real deal. 

The sentiment of drinking red wine and listening to Jodeci, the iconic rap group from Charlotte, NC, after dinner is kind of endearing to me and I didn’t expect it to come from this kid. The verses don’t go as hard as the chorus, but, as cordial as he can apparently be, Skies can also get petty and I dig it; “I think I’m done with this girl, she controllin’ me. She think she out of this world, she known locally.”

You can stream all of the above tracks, as well as the rest of the Noah’s best picks of January in the Spotify playlist below.