On April 26th, three of my favorite artists dropped new music. Needless to say, the second I woke up that morning I opened Spotify to check things out.
First, I listened to Taylor Swift’s new single “Me!” featuring Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie. The song is bubbly, upbeat, and downright infectious. It’s everything I could’ve wanted and more. Swift is moving away from the edgy electropop of Reputation and ushering in a new era of dreamy, whimsical pop tunes that I can’t help but “shake it off” to. The “Me!” music video is just as wonderful—the pastel colors, costume changes, and cameo of Swift’s cats made me feel like I was in a reverie of cotton candy and self-love. At the beginning of the video, a pink snake exploded into a family of pink butterflies (possibly thirteen, Taylor’s lucky number?). I think the metamorphosis represents the new direction Swift is taking her music this year. You go girl!
Next, I switched genres entirely and headed to Danny Gonzalez’s EP, Bump This. Gonzalez first gained fame on Vine, filming and posting short comedy videos. When Vine, unfortunately, met its demise (#ripvine), he switched to YouTube and now films commentary videos, the occasional vlog, and comedy hip-hop music videos. He sometimes will rap under the name “Young Face,” but for his first-ever EP, he’s rapping and singing under his real name. All the songs on Bump This are hilarious and quick-witted, each parodying things like the party lifestyle (“Rollin’”), modern slang (“The Tea”), and the habit of buying fancy cars (“Train”). The songs aren’t just funny, though—they’re also really, really good. I can’t help but dance and rap along when I listen, and Danny is able to capture the tone and sound of top-tier hip hop songs while lowkey roasting everything stereotypical famous rappers stand for. I can already tell that I’ll be bumping Bump This for a long time, and I hope Danny releases a full album sometime soon!
Lastly, it was time to listen to AJR’s new album Neotheater. This was the 4/26 music drop that I was most looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. AJR is a band primarily made up of brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met. Their music is a fusion of indie pop and electropop with lyrics that feel like they’ve come straight from your soul. The use of horns and synths give AJR’s music an addictive, unique sound, and it’s not quite like anything I’ve listened to before. The songs on their newest album range from slower, love and falling-out-of-love songs (“Turning Out Pt. ii”) to upbeat dubstep tunes that you could play at a party (“The Entertainment’s Here”/“Wow, I’m Not Crazy”). Neotheater is one of AJR’s most ambitious projects yet, and they asked fans to listen to the album in chronological order for at least the first listen-through. The band takes great care to craft really awesome songs and albums for their fans, and they put their whole hearts into the music they create. Even if you’ve never listened to AJR before, Neotheater is a great introduction to their sound. Before you know it, you’ll be playing their songs on repeat and their age-old claim of “I’m Not Famous” will no longer apply.
Happy listening!
– Rachel