Best Songs of the Week

When I was a little kid, Michael Jackson was my favorite artist. There is a deep-seated love for pop music in me, but for years, it was suppressed because of what I had come to associate pop with. So much of what we consider "pop" music today is boring and manufactured, but there are some new things happening that have me excited to sing along with bubbly verses and unashamedly catchy hooks. Plenty of indie pop stays experimental in obvious ways (weird timing, abrasive production, meandering melodies), but others are figuring out how to do it a little more subtly. Australian artists Swick, Lewis Cancut, and Tkay Maidza follow in the footsteps of PC Music with an overblown pop song brimming with an exaggerated in-your-face pop attitude and electronic style.

Some are probably going to listen to "Wishes" and PC Music and lump it in with mindless radio pop, but eventually, the distinction will become clear. Eventually, hopefully "pop" won't be such a dirty word to some people, because a lot of young artists are taking it into fun new directions. This one's from Ryan Hemsworth's upcoming Secret Songs compilation, coming later this month.—Confusion

Jessie Ware hasn't left much room for doubt about the strength of her second album. Between "Tough Love," "Share It All," and "Say You Love Me," she's shown that she's capable of producing material just as good, if not better, than Devotion. Her latest is "Want Your Feeling," and it's a song that only strengthens this sentiment. Teaming up with Dev Hynes, the track is noticeably more upbeat than her previous, with a groovy, funk-filled sound. Ware's Tough Love is due out in six weeks, and if this is the level of music we've already heard, it's hard to imagine what's still in store.—Katie K.

See, not only am I DAD in URL, I'm a dad IRL. That means I know what the hell is on Nickelodeon, and when that little girl Ariana Grande started murdering the Billboard charts, I wasn't surprised. I knew she could sing, and had that '90s R&B tinge that everyone is infatuated with right now running through her material. I correctly predicted that her single with Zedd would blow up, and it did, but I still wasn't prepared for the proper '90s R&B homage "Be My Baby" that she worked on with Cashmere Cat, Lido, and Benny Blanco.

It's one of her most Mariah Carey moments, and is perfect for Cashmere Cat, who's obviously influenced by that entire vibe. This week, he unleashed what feels like a proper VIP edit of "Be My Baby," which ditches conventional drums while taking the #feels from 0 to 100 (you know the rest). What are we left with? Some shit that might make you leave your current bae for bae you see on the train everyday, looking all pretty in those thigh highs. You know the one.—khal

In today's Odd Couple files we examine Octave Minds, an unlikely pairing consisting of electronic producer Boys Noize and classical piano composer Chilly Gonzales. The two blend Chilly's piano heavy, rhythmically complex compositions with the booming synths and drops of Boys Noize.

For "Tap Dance," the two added Chance The Rapper to the mix. Chance has been busy since his monumental Acid Rap mixtape, but none of his features or songs released since (with the exception maybe of "Wonderful Everyday: Arthur") have reached that same virtuosic level. Until now. "Tap Dance" becomes Chance's song the second he belts out that chorus—the bed of pianos and synths is a perfect trampoline for his bouncy flow and storytelling, and the song swells to meet Chance, climbing higher and higher until you think the whole thing might burst from sheer overexcitement. But Octave Minds are experts in dynamics, and the ship holds beautifully.

Hopefully this is one of many collabs between the three.—Graham

The coolest thing about this new Party Supplies song is how low-key they were about releasing it. No hype, other than a few tweets 10 minutes before they actually dropped the thing, which is a nice breath of fresh air from hyperbolic promises. Instead, they joked about how it's comparable to a country song, how they were "on some Crash Test Dummies shit" on this song, evidently not taking themselves too seriously, and allowing listeners judge for themselves.

Thankfully for them, the judgements were most likely not harsh; this sidestep away from their usual funky, electronic sound (and towards an '80s power ballad à la Bruce Springsteen) resulted in a song that's infectious and feel-good in a smart, nuanced way. That's when music is the best—no expectations, but still excellent.—Joyce

Of all the songs from Key! and iLoveMakonnen that have dropped this summer—and there's been a lot of them—"I Understand" may be one of the strangest, in the best way possible. Key! pops up singing, which is rare in and of itself, and both he and Makonnen spill their deepest regrets about relationships gone wrong. It's always refreshing when rappers show a slice of vulnerability, and that's just what the pair of rising stars do here.—Tim Larew

13 years is a really long time, no matter how you look at it. Richard D. James, the ever-elusive man behind Aphex Twin, has a lot of expectations to meet. Whether his upcoming album SYRO will meet those expectations is yet to be seen, but "minipops 67" makes it seem highly likely that it will. Dropped as if no time has passed since his last full-length 13 years ago, "minipops" sounds every bit as cleverly composed and programmed as his music did at his peak. It's not quite the grandiose return many may have hoped for, but it's good to have him back, however understated his return may be.—Joe Price

TV On The Radio have gone through various iterations across the four albums they've released since 2004, but "Happy Idiot" sees them showing off a spiky, rock sound that is as vibrant and full of life as if they were a new band just bursting onto the scene. With Tunde's vocals front and center, and a blistering chorus, "Happy Idiot" opens another chapter in the history of one of the most consistent bands around.—Constant Gardner

Of course Jeezy's "Holy Ghost" doesn't have the next-level creativity of a FlyLo collaboration, but this is another masterful display from Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick delivers his verse in the most deliberate way possible here, syllable by syllable, and shows off the exquisite balance between intensity and control. If you're still arguing that Kendrick Lamar isn't the best rapper alive right now, this week's contrasting efforts from the 27-year-old put a big dent in your argument.—Confusion

The Derevolutions’ music can be categorized as many things but it’s hard to settle on just one genre to describe it. Founding member Brett Boucher tends to use elements of surf rock, psychedelic rock, pop and more, blending them all together. However for their latest single, “When The Radio’s Gone,” an extra layer of dub reggae was thrown into the mix that immediately caught my attention. This mid-tempo track is a little bit more relaxed then the rest of The Derevolution’s music but the fun energy can still be felt.

“When The Radio’s Gone” seems to embody the feeling we all get as summer begins to come to an end. Classes may be back in session but in our heads we’re still stuck on the beach, sipping an ice cold drink. The Derevolutions make music for the dreamers that wish summer could be endless.—Adrienne Black

For all of the talk of Jersey club over the last year, there are only a few heads from Jersey that have blown up on a bigger level. One of those producers, DJ Sliink, has two homies from his Cartel Music crew, Dougie F and DJ DJ Fire, that are straight out of Newark and hitting Mad Decent with a radio-ready Jersey club number, "Back Up On It (Jasmine)." You know what "it" is, and you won't get this song out of your head after you hear it. Lyrics aren't blowing minds, but they don't need to. This one is all about feeling, and will damage whatever club/festival/house party you find it playing. Or you can just take your new bae home, turn off the lights (well, all except the red one), and let them do as the song instructs.—khal

When an artist has mastered a clear aesthetic as well as Bones has, slight changes in the formula become all the more apparent. His new mixtape Skinny doesn't exactly reinvent Bones' sound, but it does offer an skewed, slightly higher fidelity take on his singular brand of menacing misery. The closing track, "WhereTheTreesMeeTheFreeway," is perhaps where this reconfiguring is most evident, showcasing considerable ambition across three different cadences, and a sly beat change as it reaches it climax.

His strongest asset is still the vivid imagery his dingy atmospherics evoke, and "WhereTheTreesMeetTheFreeway" is the type of melancholic beauty only Bones could craft.—Joe Price