April 7, 2023 8:09 PM
Songs I'm digging right now
The other day my friend asked me what I've been listening to lately. The answer to that is usually a lot of Top 40. I like pop music. I've liked pop music ever since I was in high school, when I became obsessed with American Idol. So I've always wanted to write about music that I enjoy listening to. I miss the days when people would put what they were reading/watching/listening to in their blog posts or status updates. That was just part of the blog engine. (Maybe I should make that part of my blog engine. One day)
Anyway, here are six songs that I've been enjoying lately.
Yaffle - Reconnect（feat. Daichi Yamamoto & AAAMYYY)
Did you know Pokemon put out an album for its 25th anniversary? It happened in 2021, but I only learned about this last month. Dan and I spent a late night listening to every song in the album, trying to rank which ones were "most Pokemon" and "least Pokemon". This one may have been one of the most Pokemon songs, and I think it's probably my favorite on the album.
I read over the lyrics, and honestly, it just sounds like they tried to add as many Pokemon references as possible. "I pickachu'ed it / Shock them all / Like breaking news" It's a little silly, but I don't really think about the lyrics when I'm listening to it. Maybe I just really like the fact that Pokemon are dancing in the music video.
Miley Cyrus - You
Miley Cyrus is one of my favorite artists, but I've tended to like her covers more than her original music. So when I first heard this song, I thought "wow, this is a good song. I wonder what the original sounds like" only to realize that this IS the original. According to the youtube comments, many others had the same thoughts.
I really like hearing the slight twang in her voice when she says "I want to drive down to Texas, flip off my exes". I like that it's a love song, but the lyrics are fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously. And I always want to sing along when she builds up to "I don't need Jesus 'cause baby you saved me." Also, I realized it's in 3/4 and I feel like it's always a treat to find a song is in that time signature.
Jax - Cinderella Snapped
Jax was on American Idol in season 14, and by that time, I wasn't really paying too much attention to it. But I remember that she auditioned with an amazing cover of I Wanna Hold Your Hand and that she wasn't afraid to take risks. I remember her talking about how people like to complain about how bad current, mainstream music is, but she wasn't afraid to embrace "pop" music.
Cinderella Snapped is her latest song, which is a slightly edgy, but fun anthem about female empowerment. I love that it was inspired by her grandma. I think the snaps after she says "Cinderella snapped" are a nice touch, and I like the extra grit in her voice when she sings the line "Jasmine made out with Mulan". I also think it's cute that she says "I'm a dog damn CEO" in the clean version of the song. (It's a lot better than what they do in I Write Sins Not Tragedies)
Tori Kelly - missin u
Speaking of people who were on American Idol, Tori Kelly was on season 9, but she didn't quite make it to the live rounds. Last month she dropped missin u, which has a late 90s, early 2000s vibe, and I love music from that era. Musically, it's actually not too different from the stuff she's put out before, but it was a bit of a shock because she changed her look and gave the music video a different style. In a good way.
I have watched every single video that she has put out for this song, and then some.
beabadoobee - Glue Song
I listen to the Today's Top Hits playlist on Spotify a lot. It's my go-to when I'm doing some chores and I just want some music on in the background. I just like to know what's hip. And a lot of the time, the songs kind of blur together, and I'm hearing the same songs over and over, but every once in a while something sticks out.
That's how it felt when I first heard Glue Song. I had to stop what I was doing and take a look at my phone to see what this song was. I was also really happy to see the music video and how it shows her Filipino background. And I also enjoy this Kids Choir version of the song.
Macklemore - NO BAD DAYS feat. Collett
This is a song that showed up in my youtube feed, and it looked cute, so I checked it out. It's a feel good song, which is my favorite kind of song, and the music video is adorable. I love the line "stay in your lane, you ain't on my road trip" as well as the shouts of "no bad days!" in the chorus.
When I was driving back from visiting family a couple of weeks ago, I was getting super sleepy (as I always do) and no amount of coffee was helping. But I was listening to one of those Spotify playlists, and this song came up and it just pumped me up for a little bit.