Best Songs of the Week

Didn't see this one coming. Haim's album is full of pop songs that wouldn't be out of place among a bunch of '70s and '80s pop hits, or on the soundtrack of an old workout video tape that you find in your mom's box of dusty shit. Each song is relentless with retro pop vibes and exceptionally catchy hooks. And then there's "My Song 5." The production is the centerpiece here, stomping its way through almost four minutes and sounding unlike anything else on the album. It's still catchy and melodically sound, but it's got teeth—sharp teeth. And the little breakdown at 1:05 that cuts right into that mean guitar? Shiiiit. "My Song 5" might be my favorite new song. - Confusion

I am a sucker for that lovely, nostalgic, retro-tinged sound. It reminds me of a time, pre-internet, when things were truly romantic, when hope was rampant and people kept things simple. MØ's latest, "Never Wanna Know," sees the singer/songwriter very naturally adapting that sound, channeling that era perfectly. I hate myself for drawing this comparison, but there are even moments when she sounds a bit like Lana Del Rey. Because I like this song so much, I'm going to go ahead and believe that it's a good thing. It's never tiring to hear fresh-faced artists tackling new sounds, and MØ completely bodies it—a singer after my own heart. - Joyce

20 SCANDINAVIAN POP ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

L.A. singer Kelela hugely impressed me, and attempted to crush my head, with "Enemy," a futuro-R&B banger that was driven along by producer Nguzunguzu's relentless beat. It was awesome, although not hugely accessible, but with the second drop from her forthcoming CUT 4 ME mixtape, she's made something that successfully mixes sultry R&B vocals and adventurous production. When this mixtape drops, minds, and speakers, will be blown. - Constant Gardner

Is Ta-ku making music because he knows I fuck with him musically? I hope so. I don't care if he's going for the straight-up Dilla-influenced hip-hop, the more moody electronic beats, or something like "Krule Love," which calmly dwells somewhere between the two. The fly way he doubles up on the kick drum. The looped, screwed vocal. The jazzy way he has the keys riding over this bed that's a bit off, but flows so perfectly. Shit you can bounce to, but also lay back and sit still to. Ta-ku's just on-fucking-point. - khal

SONGS THAT NEED TO BE REMIXED BY RAPPERS

If there was even the tiniest, slightest doubt about Lorde's potential to make an impact on alternative-pop music today, she erased it with the arrival of her debut album Pure Heroine. Streaming a week before its official release, the compilation possesses the material of an artist much wiser and more confident than the singer's mere 17 years. And while this was not an unknown fact to us—it's clear with only a few listens of her previously released singles—it perhaps doesn't come across so effectively as it does on "Ribs." It isn't the best song on the album, nor is it an impressively intricate one, but it's incredibly moving. Where Lorde's other offerings displayed a perfectly crafted alt-pop production, "Ribs" fills an emotional void that doesn't come across so strongly in her other tracks. It builds and falls, repeating itself both musically and lyrically in just the right places to mimic the unpredictable nature of the very subject she's singing about: love. And if hearing someone croon about Broken Social Scene's "Lover's Spit" doesn't make you feel something, you might not ever feel anything. - Katie K

British singer OFEI has the sort of inimitable voice that sounds as though it were raked over coals as a lesson on the harsh realities of life. That grit gives extra gravity to admonition of the opening lines to new single "Beautiful": "Now go be on your best behavior/I see the mischief in your eyes." Cast against a sparse, deliberate arrangement, OFEI's words take on the weight of a life lived harshly, or at very least observation informed by experience. Gorgeous and succinct, "Beautiful" feels timeless in sentiment and sound without ever seeming stuck in anachronism. - Jon Tanners

Many current rappers nod to Houston as a prime source of influence, capturing elements of the sound that makes the largest city in Texas such a special destination in the hip-hop cosmos. By and large, one element that gets over looked is the ethos of the mournful hustler, knowing what he does is wrong, but also knowing he does what he must to survive. It's a philosophy central to the music of Houston legends UGK, Scarface, Z-Ro, and Trae, and a concept deftly adapted by Chicago emcee T.Gaines, whose excellent "Players Prayer" puts a modern sheen on the country rap tune sound and channels the ghosts of Houston past to sing of sacrifice in the name of dreams. It's part homage, part application to specific circumstance. - Jon Tanners

These Frenchies, man. They've got electronic music on lock. Brodinski twists The Magician's vocals over a techno-meets-electro beat that feels more like a sweaty march than something you'd be going ham to in the club. Oh, you'll go ham to this, but it'll be the weirdest romp, like an awkward one-night stand. You know, the one where you bump foreheads and say something really stupid, but you're drunk and the flesh has needs so you say "fuck it" and, well, you know. All of that aside, Brodinski could make one beat like this a week and have me satisfied. - khal