When was the last time pop failed to stimulate? Spoiler: Never. This week, Madison Beer delivered a Jennifer’s Body homage, Lauv honored his sexuality, and Myke Towers name-checked Zendaya.
And there are seven more songs where that came from.
Check out the rest of Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.
Lauv — “Potential”
“I just can’t keep my hands to myself,” Lauv sings on the bridge of “Potential,” but the song’s more significant triumph is its existence signifying that Lauv can’t and won’t keep the truth to himself any longer. Lauv teased his latest single last month as “the first one I’m gonna put out about a boy,” and, around the same time, posted an Instagram video in which he opened up about realizing and accepting that he’s “into men.” The caption notes, “idk where it goes or what I really am, but that doesn’t really matter cause labels aren’t always necessary.” Hopefully, he doesn’t mind my labeling “Potential” as magical.
Cat Burns — “End Game”
Cat Burns’ “End Game” is ripe for placement during a devastating scene in a rom-com. The guitar ballad’s pace, sparsely swelling in all the right places, mirrors the immensely relatable indecisiveness when grappling with whether to stay or go in a relationship because “we could have been end game.” Burns’ debut studio album, Early Twenties, is due out on July 12, and “End Game” joins the melodically existential “Alone” as singles.
Jxdn — “STRAY”
Jxdn is preparing to release When The Music Stops, his sophomore studio album, on June 28. “STRAY” and “SAD OCTOBER,” which were co-written and produced by Travis Barker, arrived together as singles from the album. “STRAY” is a rock-charged, vulnerable vignette into how Jxdn experiences quiet moments alone and the guilt associated with perceiving himself as coming up short. “I would say I hate myself,” he sings, “But there’s nothing left to hate.” Oof.
Madison Beer — “Make You Mine”
The best songs supply a dopamine hit. What’s better than dopamine? Nostalgia! Madison Beer checked off both with “Make You Mine,” a pulsating song about crushing and lusting. The Beer- and Aerin Moreno-directed video is an expertly executed recreation of the 2009 cult classic Jennifer’s Body. Megan Fox should be proud.
Luke Hemmings — “I’m Still Your Boy”
5 Seconds Of Summer lead singer Luke Hemmings released Boy, his second solo project. The EP’s opener is “I’m Still Your Boy,” and Hemmings’ hushed, wistful vocals accentuate his lyrical romantic gestures (“I wish I was younger, so I knew the end / I’d move to Orlando and I’d be your friend”) and admissions of fallibility (“I can’t have tequila without half a gram”) — punctuated with the promise that, through it all, “I’m still your boy.”
Dominic Fike — 14 Minutes
I’m breaking the rules of this songs-only column in honor of Dominic Fike breaking the rules. He surprise-dropped 14 Minutes, a batch of, as he said, “eight of those songs that I really can’t stop listening to, and I can’t live without.” Those sounds soundtrack a simplistic yet cinematic 14-minute video. “I just get tired of holding it back,” Fike added. “I think that sh*t is wack. […] And so, here’s this. It’s just me running, and it’s just me making music, and that’s it.” It sounds like something Elliot would say on Euphoria.
The Chainsmokers Feat. Fridayy — “Friday”
So, The Chainsmokers still know how to make a banger. Plainly, listening to “Friday” featuring Fridayy feels like waking up on a Friday morning and remembering it’s Friday. “Friday” is not a sister song to “Closer,” but it does feel like maybe a cousin twice removed (and eight years apart) — indulging in the ephemerality of youth and giving over to impulse in the name of feeling good. Plus, it arrived with a video starring Alex Pall, Drew Taggart, and Fridayy absolutely vibing during an idyllic, snowy mountain getaway.
Hailey Knox — “What Do You Need”
Hailey Knox spoke with Uproxx last month and defined a great song as one in which “you could feel whatever the artist is telling you.” Mission accomplished with the acoustic “What Do You Need.” The delicate sonic palette perfectly contrasts Knox’s sharp lyricism about feeling disposable (“Two-two-three-two, I still know your password / Or did you trade it in like you did me?”) and harnessing that to redefine her worth (“It seems like you need a reminder that you’re not the best, you’re not the best I can do”).
Myke Towers, Bad Bunny — “ADIVINO”
April 26 had long been circled as International Zendaya Day due to the theatrical release of Challengers, but Zendaya was also name-checked in “ADIVINO” by Myke Towers and Bad Bunny. The reggaetón single is the first from Towers’ upcoming album and Bad Bunny’s first release of any kind in 2024.
Teddy Swims — “Growing Up Is Getting Old”
Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1.5) already housed his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Lose Control,” but he sweetened the pot by adding four new tracks to the project: “Apple Juice,” “Growing Up Is Getting Old,” “Hammer To The Heart,” and “Tell Me.” Each one captures Swims in his usual soulful bag, but “Growing Up Is Getting Old” is particularly visceral because who can’t relate to having the metaphorical wind knocked out of them when reminded of inevitable aging and mortality? And who would disagree that looking into a lover’s eyes is perhaps the only antidote?
