The Monday Playlist 07.06.21
Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Pixie Labrador and 12 other new songs to start your week off right
Monday again is it? Lucky for you I’ve rounded up the fifteen best songs from the past week to wake you up and get you excited about being alive again.
A real mix of genres this week, so I’m sure there’s something in there for you. Playlist at the bottom. Happy Listening!
Oliver Twist by ArrDee - now I know what you’re thinking: ‘one of these things is not like the others’ and yes, true, an 18 year old white British TikTok rapper isn’t what I’m usually giving you here, but I’d say this lands on the commercially accessible side of grime so here it is. Love the pirate-y strings he’s used, it’s very Wellarman, isn’t it?
American Dream by Baby Queen + MAY-A - ‘Like an American dream, you're only in my head/And totally out of reach, but I can still pretend’ is yet another great line from pop’s most polished poet
Lost Cause by Billie Eilish - the video for this is so incongruous with the song itself, so don’t bother yourself with it if you haven’t already. Signature Billie sound, unsurprising how good this is really
God Save this Queen by Bimini - shouldn’t be surprised, but this is a genuine banger? and this is positively d r i p p i n g in character and story - don’t let anyone tell you Bimini isn’t a working class poet: ‘I grew up a gender bender in the working class/I didn't learn much, except no one likes a grass/Wasn't always easy but that's all in the past/But I still get filthy looks when I pop to Spoons for a cheeky half’
By Your Side (feat. Tom Grennan) by Calvin Harris - mad at myself for enjoying this, it’s been sunny though so give me a break
How Not To Drown (feat. Robert Smith) by CHVRCHES - first play could hear this was good but was unconvinced I would want to revisit a 5+ minute emo-rock song from such a polarising vocalist, six plays later and I’ve gotten over myself and accepted this is just a very good song. ‘That was the first time I knew you can't kill the king’ is such a good lyric
(I should) take better care by Cody Frost - this one is very sad and maybe goes on a wee bit longer than you want it too, but that’s just because it’s so good at getting under the skin. The ‘Call me cliché, call me a blag/Call me a child, but please call me back’ refrain is so raw and good, as is the chorus, as is every other part of the song really
The Good by Cynthia Erivo - Have been a fan of future EGOT holder Cynthia Erivo since this incredible scene in Bad Time at the El Royale [please watch the clip, please, it’s so good] her voice is classic and this is just a lovely bit of soul pop. Stoked that she’s announced a whole album
The Rhythm by Drew Sycamore - after a string of really good disco pop singles, Drew Sycamore has given us a full album of it, including this little banger which it is very easy to imagine having come off Dua Lipa’s record last year
Hot N Heavy by Jessie Ware - speaking of really good disco pop songs, queen of disco pop Jessie Ware also has this huge new banger that I just spent my last break having a monday morning boogie to
THINK ABOUT ME by jxdn - pop punk really is back, and jxdn is among those leading the charge, think it’s time to get the black hair dye out
Thank You But Fuck You by Maddy - Maddy has one of those Amy Winehouse / Duffy white RnB voices, so if that’s not your thing I urge you to give it to the chorus because she lands it so well, I promise
Reckless by Madison Beer - is it me or is this just a slowed down lyric-changed cover of Ava Max’s So Am I? Will let the lawyers have at that one, in the mean time I’ll be belting out this really good pop ballad in the kitchen for the cat
Granted by Olivia Rodrigo - thought we might get one week without Rodrigo didn’t you? This was at the tail end of the most recent overly-sentimental episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and whilst it’s a slight gear shift and not quite as good as most of the songs on SOUR (likely because neither Rodrigo nor Dan Nigro was involved in its writing or production), I still woke up with the the ‘Am I takin' it for granted?/Everything that I've been granted’ hook rattling round my head, so I’d say it’s still a solid angst-pop song from pop’s angstiest star
Varsity Crush by Pixie Labrador - stumbled on this one skimming through the Philippines nmf playlist and it’s probably my song of the week. A simple, beautiful queer love pop song that sounds like an early Taylor Swift demo version of All To Well, with that lyrical turn for the final chorus? Inject this directly into my veins.