Charli XCX is preparing for her Brat girl summer. The album is due out on June 7, and Charli wet fans’ appetite with “360,” an effervescent single that arrived with a video in which she and a dizzying number of celebrities band together to “fulfill the prophecy of finding a new hot internet girl.”
Elsewhere, the internet was set ablaze by Camila Cabello collaborating with Lil Nas X, Post Malone releasing his long-teased, Morgan Wallen-assisted “I Had Some Help,” Stray Kids recruiting Charlie Puth, and The Chainsmokers returning to their dance-pop roots with their No Hard Feelings EP.
Check out all of that and more in Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.
Charli XCX — “360”
Charli XCX’s “360” video co-stars the likes of Julia Fox, Chloë Sevigny, Gabbriette, Emma Chamberlain, Rachel Sennott, and more. Charli is called to a dinner, where they have all convened to identify “a new hot internet girl.” Charli is peeved because she needs to perform her new song, but she upholds her duty by bestowing the honor on the unsuspecting waiter. Then, Charli starts singing “360,” which directly references Fox, Gabbriette, and A.G. Cook.
“360” picks up where “Von Dutch” left off, with Charli asserting her star power (“Internationally recognized / I set the tone, it’s my design”) and bragging on the chokehold her mythology has on everyone (“I’m your favorite reference, baby”). Brat cannot drop soon enough.
Camila Cabello Feat. Lil Nas X — “He Knows”
Last week was especially busy for Camila Cabello. She announced C,XOXO, her forthcoming fourth solo studio album, attended the Met Gala while holding a block of ice as her purse, and released “He Knows” featuring Lil Nas X. It would also appear that she and Lil Nas X (and Ed Sheeran?) filmed visuals for “He Knows” at the Met Gala. And what is more pop than frolicking around the Met Gala? Perhaps only the aforementioned dinner to christen the new hot internet girl. Anyway, in the club-ready song, Cabello sings about her keen awareness that she is utterly mesmerizing (“He’s wrapped around my pinky finger / Watchin’ the way I move / More drunk on power than on liquor / And he knows it’s true”), and Lil Nas X delivers a provocative verse to double down on their sex appeal.
“He Knows” follows “I Luv It” featuring Playboi Carti — Cabello surprise-performed it at Coachella 2024 — as singles from C,XOXO. The album is due out on June 28.
Stray Kids Feat. Charlie Puth — “Lose My Breath”
Stray Kids and Charlie Puth don’t need any validation from inclusion in this column that “Lose My Breath” is a hit because the song’s video is closing in on 17 million views, and Stray Kids’ reaction video to the music video attracted over 932,000 views. So, yeah, people responded in kind to the extremely catchy love song that checks all the boxes of a classic pop song.
The Chainsmokers — “No Shade At Pitti”
An embarrassing and unsolicited admission: I agonized over whether to feature “Tennis Court” or “No Shade At Pitti” from The Chainsmokers’ No Hard Feelings EP, but “No Shade At Pitti” slightly won out. The entire six-song project is a vivid callback to The Chainsmokers’ early days — when Alex Pall and Drew Taggart first established themselves as dance-pop connoisseurs. “No Shade At Pitti” exemplifies the return to their most worn artistic pocket, meshing their original sound with a matured perspective, which results in a potent nostalgia rather than a stale retread.
RM — “Come Back To Me”
BTS’ RM is quickly forging a viable solo career. “Come Back To Me” arrives as the first single from RM’s previously announced sophomore solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person, due out on May 24. The acoustic-backed, lulling, alt-pop song showcases RM’s artistic range outside of his undeniable stature as a K-pop icon.
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
All anybody can talk about is Post Malone going full send into country music, and that’s fair. If a song features Morgan Wallen, it has to be categorized as country. Country is the engine propelling their heavily teased collaboration, “I Had Some Help,” but more than that, the inevitably ubiquitous summer anthem is the latest example of Post’s generational talent to genre-bend and craft pop-adjacent smashes.
Loreen — “Forever”
Loreen described “Forever” as “spiritual pop” to Billboard, and it certainly suits the ascendant pop banger. The Swedish singer-songwriter performed “Forever” at Eurovision — a competition she won in 2012 and ’23 — over the weekend, and she will surely incorporate it into the setlist for her newly announced 2025 tour.
MILLENNIUM PARADE — “GOLDENWEEK”
MILLENNIUM PARADE dropped “GOLDENWEEK,” and the song’s hybrid, unconventional structure is an appropriate introduction to the emerging Tokyo-based collective’s multidisciplinary artistry. Lead singer Daiki Tsuneta, who also fronts J-Pop rock band King Gnu, sings, “I’m wide awake / But I’m stuck in a dream / Feels like I’m dreaming.” Fittingly, the song’s hypnotizing sonic makeup transports listeners inside of a hazy dreamscape — an insulated, safe space for Tsuneta’s blunt confessions (“Monsters in my head / Don’t take me alive / They all want me dead / I don’t wanna die”).
Role Model — “Deeply Still In Love”
Last fall, Role Model (real name Tucker Pillsbury) endured a very public breakup from longtime girlfriend Emma Chamberlain. He alluded to that in a December Instagram post, writing in the caption that it had “been a pretty rough few months,” but he “rewrote the majority of the album in September.” The album is Kansas Anymore, due out on July 19. The wistful March single “Oh, Gemini” thematically pairs cohesively with Role Model’s latest single, “Deeply Still In Love,” while “Deeply Still In Love” offers a contrasting upbeat sound. Role Model pulls off the acrobatics of delivering lyrical vulnerability in a flirty, playful tone. He’s trying his damndest to move on, but try as he might, he recognizes he can’t speed up the healing process.
Olivia O’Brien — “Glimpse Of Me”
As explained in this Instagram caption, Olivia O’Brien wrote “Glimpse Of Me” about two years ago in Nashville, but the song’s narrative is evergreen — one of bold reclamation and self-esteem. O’Brien recalls a past in which she was a people-pleaser to illustrate her personal growth since then. “I’m the girl of your dreams,” she sings. “But you’ll never know her / Now that she’s older / You’re a mistake she won’t repeat / You’ll never know her / She’s wiser and bolder / You only saw a glimpse of me.”
“Glimpse Of Me” follows “Blip” as singles from O’Brien’s forthcoming five-song project, Love And Limerence, due out on June 21.
