Silk City ft Dua Lipa
Electricity
“Falling into you” is a thing that only happens in pop songs and giving electricity to people is only a thing if you are NPower (and, even then, we’d need to have a chat about the meaning of “giving”), but facts have never stood in Dua Lipa’s way before. Defying the regular conventions of language, this song is a 90s piano-house dream to the point where Livin’ Joy probably deserve a credit. Silk City is Mark Ronson and ol’ dippy Diplo who – say what you like about them – both know their way around a hit. A Bop with a capital B.
Thom Yorke
Suspirium
Did you ever have to compose something for GCSE music but didn’t really know what you were doing so ended up somewhere between My Heart Will Go On and Chopsticks? Yeah, same. I think what I was aiming for back in 2000 was something like the piano part in this song, taken from Thom Yorke’s soundtrack for upcoming frightfest Suspiria. I probably wouldn’t have thought to get Thom in to provide some gorgeous ghostly wailing over the top or to whack in a bit of flute, but give me a break, it was only GCSE and he was probably busy.
Dizzee Rascal ft Skepta
Money Right
It’s Skeppy and Raskit back with a brand new track, yeah! The two grandmasters of the genre together at last on what could become an anthem for payment-chasing freelancers everywhere. They make complex verses sound so easy over a spicy, brooding beat, and the whole thing is slow and considered in a way that only bosses can be. “We don’t talk for the sake of talking,” Dizzee raps. “We just get it done.” Pay the men.
Lauren Aquilina
Psycho
Reading receipts, the Following tab, Twitter faves, location-tracking, bin-rifling, trenchcoats and newspapers with eyeholes cut out of them: heartbreak has made creeps of us all. Lauren Aquilina is leaning into it with this invitation to a restraining order that sounds like a natural successor to New Rules. In a backwards turn of events, she quit music on the day her debut album came out two years ago. Very happy to have her back.
Ashlee Simpson & Evan Ross
I Do
The Pieces of Me singer and Diana Ross’ son have chosen the least interesting song ever written to publicly declare their love for each other. In an alternate reality, perhaps I Do is a Drunk In Love style celebration of marital bliss; in this one, it’s just a boring song released to promote a reality show.
