This week in pop, Charli XCX dropped her “Guess” remix featuring Billie Eilish, and then she celebrated her 32nd birthday with Lorde after they “worked it on the remix” of “Girl, So Confusing.” Brat summer is eternal. Elsewhere, Maren Morris teamed with former Uproxx cover stars Muna for a bisexual anthem, and Suki Waterhouse fueled the anticipation for Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin.
Check that out and more in Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.
Charli XCX Feat. Billie Eilish — “Guess”
Charli XCX scoffed when anyone dare suggested Brat summer was played out, and she proved why Brat has no expiration date by revealing a “Guess” remix featuring Billie Eilish. The Aidan Zamiri-directed video catches Charli dancing at a house party DJed by The Dare, who co-produced the song with Finneas, when Eilish plows through the wall with a bulldozer full of panties. It rains underwear while Eilish delivers her verse and tweaked chorus (“Kiss it, bite it, can I fit it? / Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it”) with ease and immense confidence.
Suki Waterhouse — “Blackout Drunk”
Suki Waterhouse holds the trump card in “Blackout Drunk.” The single from Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, Waterhouse’s forthcoming 18-track double album, finds Waterhouse foreshadowing how her trash partner is going to try to explain away his night of infidelity. She briefly wonders why she tells him she loves him before remembering she deserves better: “Sweet dreams can’t sleep it off / Wait till I wake you up / ‘Cause I can hardly wait to tell you all the sh*tty things that you’ve done.” Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin is due out on September 13.
Maren Morris — “Push Me Over”
Maren Morris’ newly released five-track Intermission EP only needs five tracks to assert the powerful transformations she’s endured over the past year, including a divorce. “I decided to hit the scariest reset I could have ever conceptualized, and there’s no looking back,” the multi-platinum-certified country-turned-pop star said in a statement. With “Push Me Over,” Morris embraces what she described to Billboard as her “bi-panic.” The charged, sultry song was co-written with former Uproxx cover stars Muna and produced by Muna’s Naomi McPherson. “Sittin’ on the fence / Feels good between my legs / The more that you come closer / Want you to push me over,” Morris sings in the chorus. She surely has never sounded better, and it sounds like she’s never felt better, either.
Mimi Webb — “Erase You”
“I have been playing ‘Erase You’ out on the road live since my last North American tour, and the reaction from the crowd is always so incredible,” Mimi Webb said in a statement. “It’s such a perfect song for the summer. Carefree and fun, just like the music video!” Period. Co-produced by Alexander 23 and Ryan Tedder, “Erase You” empowers upon impact with an exuberant soundscape and uninhibited lyrics.
Kacey Musgraves Feat. Leon Bridges — “Superbloom”
Kacey Musgraves is going to drag you deeper into that emotional well, whether you like it or not. Deeper Well: Deeper Into The Well arrived last week to add seven songs to her March album. “Superbloom” featuring Leon Bridges is a sweet song about finding safety in another person when everything else feels terrible. Feel free to add it to your “Help Me Feel Sane” playlist as the election draws nearer, and the world continues to come unglued.
Jessie Murph & Teddy Swims — “Dirty”
If you miss the early 2000s, you’ll love Jessie Murph and Teddy Swims’ “Dirty” video, directed by Erik Rojas. Murph appears on a fictional game show tasked with catching “all the most dirty douchey douchers in all of LA.” Murph’s vocals are much softer and soulful than the premise, making for an intriguing contrast. Two minutes in, Teddy Swims joins to defend himself, and his mesmerizing voice makes you want to believe him. Until Murph reminds everyone, “I got no mercy / You don’t deserve me, no / And you might be hurtin’ / But damn it, you hurt me.” Murph and Swims’ voices are infinitely more compatible than the relationship depicted in the song.
FLO — “Check”
In 2023, FLO won the BRITs Rising Star, becoming the “first-ever group” to earn the award. The R&B savants soared to another stratosphere with “Check,” their harmonious, uptempo “lover girl anthem.” Renée, Jorja, and Stella are each in thriving relationships, and their chemistry as a group is stronger than ever.
Khalid — “Heatstroke”
Khalid returned with Sincere, his third studio album and first LP since 2019. Simultaneously, the video for “Heatstroke” dropped, capturing a world on fire. Khalid told Zane Lowe that “Heatstroke” came from “a very, very, very passionate place through the years — becoming re-inspired by my music again.” In the upbeat song, the multi-platinum-certified genre-bending artist sings in his familiar melodic, silky cadence: “Even if we’re fakin’, even if we’re fakin’ / Thinkin’ maybe we can save us / Maybe we can save this, maybe we can save this / Maybe we can save this / Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” With Sincere, Khalid is done catering to what the industry wants from him, and it is wonderful.
Michelle — “Mentos And Coke”
“‘Mentos and Coke’ is for the person you can’t help but lose yourself to,” said Michelle, the New York-bred collective comprised of Sofia D’Angelo, Julian Kaufman, Charlie Kilgore, Layla Ku, Emma Lee, and Jamee Lockard. “The one you just can’t stand, and can’t stand to live without.” The breezy song contains explosive lyrics, using the real-life results of mixing Mentos and Coke to describe the addictive rush of a relationship: “You and I like Mentos and Coke / Stable if you like when we explode / Highest highs and lowest of lows / Better that than what I don’t know.” It’s a promising offering from Songs About You Specifically, Michelle’s forthcoming album due out on September 27.
Bazzi — “Anything”
Bazzi made “Anything” with Kevin White and Roark Bailey and wrote on Instagram, “I honestly don’t know what this song is or what genre it is. Like most things I make, I am just following where the feelings are taking me. they def took us somewhere crazy on this one.” The ethereal, feel-good tune finds Bazzi promising, “You could have the world ’cause it’s all for you / Anything you want.” His fans probably want a new album, which would be his first since 2022, and he seems aware of that.
