Happy Cowboy Carter day– oops, I mean Friday — to all who celebrate. Yes, it feels a bit sacrilegious to work on Opening Day, Beyonce’s Release Day, and Good Friday, but I digress. Some of us have to stay strong and power through the workday while others are enjoying the singular sunny day we’ve had all week.
But, I’m not bitter. No. Because every Friday I jump out of bed and open my Spotify app, where I’m greeted by a plethora of new music that just makes the day go by quickly. And even better, I get to make a fresh playlist for everyone to enjoy throughout the weekend.
With Easter coming up, we all have our plans to travel home and that entails tons of music. Whether you’re trying to ignore your family members, need something to pass the long hours traveling, or simply need some new tunes to fill your playlist with, I’ve got you covered. Because we all understand how difficult it can be to comb through every single playlist on Spotify, I do the work for you!
While you may be streaming Ariana Grande’s Written By playlist on Spotify, which includes some of her own smash hits like “7 Rings”, “Positions”, and “Into You”, and also features collaborations with Missy Elliott (“Borderline”), Lil Wayne (“Let Me Love You”), Nicki Minaj (“Bad to You”), Pharrell Williams (“Blazed”), and The Weeknd (“Off the Table”), among others…it’s time for new music.
It’s a new weekend filled with brand new music from artists like Beyonce, Becky Hill, and more. While Cowboy Carter has been all the rage as Beyonce makes her country debut, I took the time to shoutout a few songs you may have missed. I’m super excited, so let’s get listening!
Becky Hill- “Outside Of Love”
As her album inches closer, Becky Hill proves time and time again that she can push boundaries in the dance community. She can make a heartfelt ballad feel like a dance party- having a unique ability to isolate her vocal abilities while uplifting her lyrics. “Outside of Love” is one of her best to-date, which means it only gets better from here. Becky says,
“I’m so proud to present my latest single ‘Outside Of Love.’ This song is a big anthemic dance ballad with fresh underground production and is one of the stand out moments of the new album. I wrote it with my long time collaborators Mike Kintish and Charlotte Haining ,and producers Parisi. I really hope people connect to this frustrated and isolated love song and still feel like they wanna dance their way through the shared sadness.”
Anyma- Genesys II
Anyma is a dynamic character in the electronic dance music world. Not only a record label founder and performer in his own right, but a visionary in production and creating music. Following up his debut album, Genesys, Anyma continues to dazzle listeners with Genesys II.
Exciting and refreshing, Genesys II is exactly what you want from a sophomore album.
Louis The Child- “Falling” with NJOMZA & Daniel Allen
My favorite thing about Louis The Child is that they can take any track and turn it into something solely their own. With “Falling”, you get a perfect melancholic vibe that masks sad lyricism behind catchy beat drops. Louis The Child delivers yet another banger in their already impressive discography. They add,
“We have this thing we love to do when we make music with NJOMZA. We’ll write a song super slow based around some emotional chords, then strip the production, speed the whole song up, and reproduce with the song in mind. This was originally written at 128bpm and sounded like a slow ballad, nothing like what you hear now. We loved the songwriting, and when we got together with Daniel Allan, we played it for him and it was like ‘oh for sure let’s do this.’”
Quinn XCII- “Pasadena”
His first song post-fatherhood, Quinn XCII returns with “Pasadena”- a reminder for all of us to just live our lives, because we’re too old to care. It’s about living in the moment, doing things for no reason just because you want to. Quinn XCII gives us the reminder that we don’t need to wait to do the things we love.
Whether it’s going to Pasadena, or eating breakfast for dinner, this song is a great reminder to live for yourself.
YUNGBLUD- “Abyss”
Written as the opening track for the new anime series, Kaiju No. 8, YUNGBLUD traveled to Japan to write the song. What makes “Abyss” stand out is the attention to detail- how it perfectly encapsulates the struggle of the main character while remaining relatable. YUNGBLUD says,
“I think there are times when we feelthat the world is cruel and not necessarily made for us. I think that’s expressed very beautifully in the story, and it’s really in line with what I’m trying to achieve myself. Tofind my place in the world, to find my friends. Don’t suppress your hidden talents andpower, even if you can’t be proud of them yourself. Because everyone is beautiful”