All The Best New Pop Music From This Week

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This was a great week for the pop girls. Some major icons returned, like Jennifer Lopez, who has a new song with Bad Bunny. Regina Spektor released her first new track in two years. Little Mix dropped their best cut off LM5 yet. And if you don’t know who LÉON and Ella Vos are now, you’ll be hearing them everywhere soon. Every Monday, Uproxx will round out the very best pop releases from the week. We’ve got some really great ones this week, so listen up.

Little Mix, “Told You So”

The bold dance-pop of “Woman Like Me” and “Joan Of Arc” is great, but Little Mix shine brightest when they can show off their voices. The UK girl group sound absolutely gorgeous on “Told You So.” The song is a tender dedication to a heartbroken friend. It’s a love song about truest love of all — your girls who are there through everything. “Girl, just come round mine tonight / I’ve got wine and make-up wipes / I’ll hold you, I’ll hold you,” the girls sing in lovely harmony. LM5 doesn’t come out until next Friday, but “Told You So” is already an album highlight.

LÉON, “Falling”

LÉON’s “Falling” is absolutely infectious. The Swedish singer-songwriter has been compared to Robyn — like the other mononymous Swedish pop icon, LÉON couples danceable beats and thoughtful lyrics. “Falling” sees LÉON returning to old habits with an old lover, falling back in even though she knows it’s not good for her. “Falling” is great, and don’t sleep on her other new single, “Baby Don’t Talk,” either.

Ella Vos, “Cast Away”

Ella Vos is back with more gorgeous, mellowed-out electro-pop. Her 2016 single “White Noise” was a breakout streaming hit, and her 2017 debut LP, Words I Never Said, was a collection of soft and lovely indie pop. “Cast Away” is downbeat, but intricate and compelling despite its melancholy. Vos wrote “Cast Away” while undergoing treatment for cancer, in an especially difficult place in her life, but she was able to turn the experience into something beautiful.

Sasha Sloan, “Older”

Sasha Sloan is an accomplished pop songwriter — she’s written for Charli XCX, Camila Cabello, Steve Aoki, Odesza, and many more. Her own solo material is quiet and contemplative, but still catchy. “Older” is the rare pop song about family. Sloan sings about that weird grownup realization that your parents are imperfect and struggling, just like she is (and just like we all are). From her “older” and more mature perspective, Sloan takes a step back and thinks about her parents’ relationship and what she can learn from it. Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, but Sasha Sloan is blessing us with the coping mechanisms we need to get through the holiday.

Regina Spektor, “Birdsong”

I wrote a whole 120-page Master’s thesis on Mad Men, so it’s pretty disappointing to learn that writer-producer Matthew Weiner’s new show, The Romanoffs, isn’t very good. But at the very least, the Amazon original’s soundtrack gave us a new acoustic Regina Spektor track. “Birdsong” is gentle and lovely. I just wish it were longer than a minute and a half.

Jennifer Lopez, Feat. Bad Bunny, “Te Guste”

Bad Bunny is everywhere these days — “MIA” and “I Like It” are both enormous hits, and he’s followed up his collabs with Drake and Cardi with Jenny from the Block herself. Lopez has released a handful of Spanish-language singles this year, including the woefully underappreciated “El Anillo,” and although she hasn’t released a full-length project since 2014, Lopez seems to be gearing up for an announcement (we can hope). “Te Guste” is catchy and club-ready, and Lopez is a true pop icon.

Sabrina Carpenter, “Diamonds Are Forever”

Former Girl Meets World star Sabrina Carpenter has been busy this fall. Apart from co-starring in The Hate U Give, she has just released her third LP, Singular Act I. If you checked out at “former Girl Meets World star, reconsider for a minute — Ariana Grande was a kids’ TV star a couple years ago. Singular Act I is Carpenter’s strongest work yet, and while the whole thing is worth listening to, “Diamonds Are Forever” is a highlight. In under four minutes, Carpenter compares herself to a diamond, a Rockefeller, a cruise, and about a dozen other expensive things. It’s dramatic and fun, and Carpenter’s sense of self-worth is something we can all aspire to.

Madison Beer, Feat. Offset, “Hurts Like Hell”

After being discovered on YouTube by Justin Bieber, Madison Beer’s career has been a whirlwind. The exposure from being promoted by Bieber helped her land a record deal at First Access, and Beer is managed by Scooter Braun, who manages Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Carly Rae Jepsen, among others. “Hurts Like Hell” is a tiptoeing, vengeful song. Over an infectious dance-pop beat, Beer wishes pain upon the guy who broke her heart. (He regrets leaving her, but she has no sympathy for his hurting.) The 19-year-old is already huge — half of her EP, released earlier this year, has racked up 90 million plus streams on Spotify. If you don’t know who she is yet, she’ll be everywhere soon.

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