The best music since July

(By Melody Werner)

This isn't really in an ordered list, I like these songs about as much as each other.

This song, "Buss" from Rico Nasty--it's not the most contemplative or badass rap song, but it's not attempting to be. It's aiming for addictive banger. And it's an incredibly spinnable cut, for sure. Super fun.

Women in classic heavy metal tend to get the short end of the stick. Lots of bands with women leads don't get enough label support, or end up busting elsewise. And ones like Warlock which do succeed in cementing themselves as a popular, beloved act still don't get brought up in discussions of classic heavy metal (Doro has to be in the same convos as Ozzy, Dio (R.I.P.), Rob Halford, etc.). And that just sucks.

All of this nonsense preamble is to say to my fellow metalheads: let's not fuck this one up, eh? Lucifer here kick major ass, between this single ("Bring Me His Head") and some others I gave a bash.

Zeal & Ardor's self-titled got a release date, y'all, and somehow we earned a new kickass teaser track ("Bow") to go along with that good news. Not nearly as hardcore as "Run", but it fucks just as hard. That sick laser beam of a riff though. Best thing I can say about this song is that it's so good, I forgive it for having that "wah-oh" background chorus towards the end.

My largely unspoken rule when it comes to these round-ups is to home in on what my personal favorite song that I heard from a given artist. I don't want to just dump 20 great deep cuts from one album if these are meant to be possible introductions into a bunch of artists you may not be so familiar with. I make exceptions for features, covers (there's a huge difference between doing a great job recontextualizing a classic tune and crafting your own original track), and situations like this, where you could be mistaken for thinking this is an entirely separate musician when compared to "Buss" or her feature on "Art of War". Who knew Rico Nasty could do a lovely romantic pop rap track and stick the landing? I wasn't doubting her abilities, it's just surreal to go from "Rage" to this and not mind the change in direction. Rico's eccentricities are still there, but toned down, though I can't imagine her going down this sonic road completely--her stage name is Rico Nasty, after all.

This is a track I learned of through theneedledrop's Reviewing Your Music segment, from afropop artist Sam Opoku--who, going by "Energy", deserves to be as far from obscurity as can be. This is a delightful tune.

 

This is an incredibly sensual cut from Ari Lennox--who not only has a gorgeous voice, but some lyrics that are mega sexy and a fun personality, which are good to have for a song as horny as "Pressure".

Remember how I glowed over that Chloe x Halle album last year? Yeah, now Chlöe is doing her own thing and still killin' it. "Have Mercy" is a top-tier bop. Not as scintillating as "Pressure", but still pretty damn hot.

I'm not sure if the reason why Fivio Foreign's "Story Time" impressed me so much is because it's my first real exposure to drill, or the recent dearth in storytelling in rap (honestly music in general, tbh), or just cuz it's a fucking fantastic song on its own. But it's probably that last one, cuz this is a song with no chorus whatsoever that keeps you listening because of the man's uncontestable conviction in every word he's spitting. The beat owns too.

Outside of that tease towards a rocking solo that whiffs, "Rumors" by Lizzo, featuring Cardi B, is an incredibly fun song on par with Lizzo's Cuz I Love You material. Is it the new "WAP"? No, it isn't as hilarious and it doesn't have that stellar Meg feature, but it's got its swagger, humor, and phenomenal horns all the same.

Word on the street is that The Metallica Blacklist (a compilation of Metallica covers from dozens of artists assembled by Metallica) is a mixed bag. I don't care personally, since I got this kickass cover of "Enter Sandman" by Ghost.

Remi Wolf is an inventive musician with some fantastic production. Good on her for escaping American Idol and its stink. Anyways, "Guerrilla" is terrific.

I already gave Meet Me @ the Altar some shine yesterday, but I needed to take a separate spot to glow about "Never Gonna Change" as a particular highlight from Model Citizen. Every single hook soars, leading to the song having this propulsive energy that I just cannot resist. Can't wait for sycophants to call this band a Paramore ripoff for using the same chord progressions that every pop punk act since ever has.

Fun reminder that these round-ups aren't new music round-ups per se--they're new discovery round-ups. And I dug back to the Before Times of 2018 for this fucking firebreather from Arsis. If you want face-melting deathened heavy metal, you should have some ears Arsis-ward. I'll highlight this ripper, "Fathoms" in particular. It's grown on me exponentially since I first listened, so cataclysmic and fist-pumping.

I try to keep these round-ups to a kinda strict limitation of one song a year, so that I can give some love to a greater variety of musicians. Sometimes, I break that rule to include two very sonically different tracks ("Buss" vs. "Magic", "Run" vs. "Bow") and sometimes I break that rule so that I can tease a banger review of the intriguing album that is Eternal Blue by Spiritbox. Can you guess which one of those has me chatting about Spiritbox's "Hurt You" now?

Or is it the fact that the instrumentals are so lush and groovy, that Courtney LaPlante effortlessly blurs from stunning clean vocals to devastating growls, that the chorus has been ingrained in my brain and the only thing I can do about it is to spin this like 7 times a day?

If I didn't break my one musician per year rule thrice this time already and didn't want to just finish this thing instead of going to find five more songs to justify four repeats, I would so be giving "So My Darling" and "If Only" by Rachel Chinouriri both their due respect. I'm opting for "If Only" since it is such an affecting listen, shot into the stars by Rachel's angelic vocals. It's such a beautifully crafted, conceptual song, so personal, and completely removed from the "cOnTeNt" slop we get shoved into our maws like Drake or Sleep Token. Anyways, I'm gonna have to listen to every song Rachel's ever done, cuz she is outstanding.

The monkey's paw curled a finger the last time I did one of these and hoped for even more astounding music, so let's see if another finger will curl? Cuz why not?