(via Shutterstock)
If you’re anything like me, you don’t want pop that simply sounds good, though that is absolutely optimal, you want it to also say something meaningful too.
So, sound and lyrics in perfect, compellingly listenable lockstep.
These five songs, by a diverse array of artists, deliver just that, and while some strike deeper into the heart than others, they also give you something to feel and something to listen to, proving once again that pop can be so much more than just a good tune to pass the time …
“Talk on the Hill” by WILLOW
(courtesy official Insta page)
Being the child of super-famous celebrities can give you a leg up in the competitive entertainment industry but it can also weigh you down with all kinds of expectations about who you’ll be and what you’ll do.
One celebrity scion who has danced merrily about this kind of dead weight is WILLOW aka Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who pretty much from the start of her career, has crafted a distinct if ever-evolving artistic persona.
Her growth as an artist is evident in “Talk on the Hill”, a deliciously luxurious slice of pop which feels organically rich and alive, evincing the rich, highly unique creativity that WILLOW has had from the get-go.
Artist Track beautifully captures how the song feels but also what it represents about this unique artist’s music.
“Talk On The Hill” feels like a deep breath. It’s a track that leans into the pressure of being in the spotlight—the feeling of being watched, analyzed, and talked about—without losing its sense of melody.
While so many pop tracks today feel a bit too manufactured, WILLOW manages to keep things feeling intimate. The production is tight and modern, but her vocals are what really drive it home. She has a way of delivering lyrics that feel like a secret shared between friends, even when she’s singing to a stadium-sized audience. It’s that balance of “big pop energy” and “bedroom diary entry” that has always been her superpower.
“Rain” by Dagny
(courtesy official Dagny Insta page)
Norwegian singer-songwriter Dagny, who has been performing since 2009, is the sort of music artist not content to rest on her laurels.
Each song she releases, while clearly identifiable as a Dagny track, feels like a new adventure in pop and “Rain” is no exception, offering both immensely catchy music and lyrics that cut right to the heart of the issue which addresses the aftermath of romantic relationships.
“Rain” started out being about how in most relationships that have run their course – whether they’re platonic or romantic – there are always two sides to every story … For me, the song evolved into something more. It became less about looking backwards and more about looking forward. Simply about not letting the past consume you, but instead letting it go. (DORK)
Lifted from her forthcoming album, Dancefloor Erotica, the track has a passionate feel to it, urging a onetime partner to simply be honest and stop spreading lies around town (“We’re the talk of the city”) and clear the air so they all move on and embrace whatever the future has to offer.
The music is buoyant, the lyrics confessionally emotive and the song wraps you up in a sense of how the truth really can set you free.
“Noah” by Emei
(courtesy official Emei Insta page)
Emei, an L.A.-based American alternative pop musician is one of my favourite musical discoveries of the year.
Her music and performances carry a theatrical vivacity to them which bring alive songs rich with compellingly catchy melodies and poetically incisive lyrics which simply and powerfully tell it like it is.
The latest track to demonstrate her sophisticated, fun artistry is “Noah”, a bouncy pop song, lifted from her Night at the Opera EP, which acts as a salient warning against the eponymous serial womaniser who manipulates and uses and leaves emotional damage in his wake.
He’s best avoided, cautions Emei with a danceable sheen and lyrics which don’t mix words, and by the end of his hugely infectious, if you aren’t running in the opposite direction to the often mentioned titular romantically toxic guy, you’re not listening to this enormously clever and super repeat listenable song.
“Meet Me in Love” by Blossoms
(courtesy Soundcloud)
Hailing from musically fertile environs of Greater Manchester, Blossoms is a five-piece English indie rock band consisting of Tom Ogden (lead vocals, guitar), Charlie Salt (bass guitar, backing vocals), Josh Dewhurst (lead guitar, percussion), Joe Donovan (drums) and Myles Kellock (keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals).
Active since 2013, the band had their debut album nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2017 and if their track “Meet Me in Love” is any guide, then they haven’t slackened off on the award-worthy musical quality.
Accompanied by a playful clip, “Meet Me in Love” which The Songbird describes thus:
Frontman and chief songwriter, Tom Ogden, has a habit of producing unconventional love songs and relationships viewed from unusual angles. ‘Meet Me In Love’ is no different.
Blossoms take Myles Kellock’s glistening synth-driven rhythms to the next level with skyward melodies. Strap in for a feel-good summer vibe.
“Camilla” by Jude York
(courtesy YouTube)
I adore the theatricality that Australian singer-songwriter Jude York, who hails from the Sunshine State of Queensland, brings to all his music and performances.
His songs have so much energy and emotion to them with “Camilla” being a gloriously uplifting case in point, the track brimming with a luscious sense of ever-building occasion and falsetto lushness.
There’s also a heartfelt urgency to the song which builds and builds with an epic musicality that turns it from just another pop song into something almost euphorically alive and all-encompassing.
Accompanied by a highly theatrical clip, “Camilla” has an ’80s-vibe but also a sense of a reckoning coming, one that York keeps begging the subject of his song to embrace, his need for this to happen never letting up song and resulting in a song that begs for repeat listens.
SONGS, SONGS AND MORE SONGS EXTRA!
The new Madonna album Confessions II, the follow-up to 2005’s massively popular Confessions on a Dancefloor, is out next Friday 3 July. In case you’ve somehow missed this, the artist has a near-14-minute film which gives a visual and song taste test of what’s in store.