The Monday Playlist: YUNGBLUD, Imagine Dragons, Michael Bublé and more!
The best songs from the past seven days right here in your inbox
Hello and welcome to your weekly blast of the best new music, right here in your inbox to help make your week a little better. I’ve lovingly picked thirteen perfect songs from the past seven days for you to check out, some real good ones this week I tell ya! And yes, you read that headline right - one of them from Mr Christmas himself, Michael Bublé.
There’s one omission I want to flag, and that’s Ella Henderson’s long-awaited second album - only eight years in the making. I like Ella and I listened it all through - a solid pop effort, but nothing super standout. If you want a well-sung breakup pop record then I’d highly recommend it.
Also, I watched both seasons of Euphoria in the past week and it’s safe to say I am not ok, but I love the Labrinth + Zendaya song x10 more than I did last week, some truly stunning vocals from both on that, some significantly less stunning vocals from me singing that all around the house all week as my flatmate can testify to.
Anyway, how about some songs? Here’s last week’s finest, plus some words about them from yours truly - hope you find something you like!
The Monday Playlist on Spotify | Week 10 2022 Archive Playlist
Pressure by April - there’s a lot of pretty instrumental here, something about the gentleness of the opening piano really grounds the emotional core of this song about falling back into old habits when you know you’re better off apart where April sings ‘I don't mind falling into your arms again/But know you're afraid of living outside yourself’
Love We Lost (with R3HAB) by Armin Van Buuren + Simon Ward - there is truly nothing better sometimes than a big senseless EDM tune, the progression of the melody goes exactly where you think it will and it’s hugely satisfying
When You Say My Name by Chandler Leighton - the hook on this one: ‘I like the way your mouth moves, the way you say my name/cos when it’s on your tongue, you’re in love, what a shame’ is so low key and so good, a bit of Billie Eilish about it
stuck on us by Claire Rosinkranz + Aiden Bissett - the opening guitar line is so close to doing Dancing In The Dark you can practically taste it - instead it’s a solid bit of indie-pop, Rosinkranz and Bissett’s vocals fit together so nicely
This Is How My Voice Sounds by Ferris & Sylvester - really enjoy Ferris & Sylvester whose debut album Superhuman is finally out, and includes this soaring vocal masterpiece: the way it builds up and the way Ferris’ vocal pulls it along is so good
Bones by Imagine Dragons - it’s no secret that I’m an Imagine Dragons fan, and this one delivers - that vocal distortion is unbearably good
Losing You by James Arthur - James Arthur released a deluxe version of his album and Losing You was the focal point of its additional songs, and just this to say that I properly quite liked it
hate to be you by Lexi Jayde - a little bit of country guitar on this song from pop up-and-comer Lexi Jayde, which features some of my favourite lyrics this week, particularly the opening verse: ‘You promised me that you'd marry me and/We'd have a house in the hills with five kids and a dog/If that was true then why'd you sleep with/My fucking best friend and lie to me and your mom?’ - ouch
Sweetest Pie by Megan Thee Stallion + Dua Lipa - sick to death of Dua Lipa at this point, but only because she keeps on delivering the goods
Higher by Michael Bublé - sorry, SORRY, but Michael Bublé did not need to go this hard? I cannot explain to you why or how but I swear my soul left my body for a second the first time I heard this song. Am I ok? Probably not!
Rich Kids Ruin Everything by MOD SUN - a tasty little bit of well-executed pop punk, the little pre-choruses of ‘I saw your new TikTok/Oh my God, you're so punk rock’ and ‘I saw your new IG/Oh my God, you're so edgy’ are real fun
It Gets Dark by Sigrid - Sigrid has really been hit or miss for me recently, but I’d definitively put this one in the hit pile: a huge, glittering, ethereal pop tune
The Funeral by YUNGBLUD - there’s a lot to be said for Yungblud who could easily have leaned entirely into the very familiar pop-punk renaissance that’s going on and lose his distinctive theatricality, yet he continues to look both forward and back in this almost Springsteen-esque anthem with his signature dark edges, the rush of the guitar is so so good