#venbee

[lvcifvr]

venbee - gutter (ren remix)

[daily-coloring]

Best of 2024 - Songs

Go ahead and listen my favorites from 2024. Even more on the playlist, more techno, drum'n'bass and even industrial ambient. Enjoy!

01. Lola Young - Messy - "Listen to me, I took your nice words of advice About how you think I'm gonna die lucky if I turn 33 Okay, so yeah, I smoke like a chimney I'm not skinny, and I pull a Britney every other week But cut me some slack, who do you want me to be?Because I'm too messy, and then I'm too fucking clean You told me, "Get a job", then you ask where the hell I've been And I'm too perfect 'til I open my big mouth I want to be me, is that not allowed?"

02. Mahmood - Tuta Gold

03. Tove Lo - Busy Girl

04. FKA Twigs - Eusexua

05. The Irrepressibles - Yo Homo - "And I love you from my heart down to my tippy-toes Yeah I love you from your head down to your tippy-toes You lift me up, I lift you and we make each other free!"

06. Tsatsamis - Faith

07. Allie X - Weird World

08. FKA Twigs - Perfect Stranger

09. Fontaines D.C. - Here's The Thing

10. The Blessed Madonna featuring Clementine Douglas - Happier

11. Oklou - Family and Friends

12. Mahmood - RA TA TA

13. The Irrepressibles - Will You?

14. Lola Young - Wish You Were Dead - "Can you come around, fuck me nice Pull my hair, sing me lullabies? And we can pretend that we're in love When you come around, I'll wear red I'll forget all the awful things you've ever said And, oh, we can pretend that we're in love We can pretend that we're in love"

15. Mind Against featuring TSHA & NIMMO - OnlyL

16. Nadine Shah - French Exit

17. Allie X - You Slept On Me

18. NewDad - Sickly Sweet

19. Joywave - Scared - "I wanna touch you, but I'm scared I really love you though, I swear I dread the moment you're not there I need your hands in my hair"

20. ionnalee - Not Your Cherry

21. Kesha - Joyride

22. Jamie xx & The Avalanches - All Your Children

23. Dua Lipa - French Exit

24. Willow - bigfeelings

25. Kaleida & Robot Koch - Choises

26. Tsatsamis - Misunderstanding - "It's over And I misunderstood How something that means so much to me Could mean nothing at all to you And it's easy For me to speak too soon When something that means so much to me Means nothing, nothing at all to you"

27. Emiliana Torrini - Miss Flower

28. TSHA & Rose Gray - Girls

29. Crystal Murray - STARMANIAK

30. Orville Peck featuring Noah Cyrus - How Far Will We Take It?

31. Nilufer Yanya - Just a Western

32. Nicolas Jaar - Aqui

33. The Irrepressibles - The Desert

34. Crazy P - Human After All

35. Bright Light Bright Light - Boys etc. - "I'm not like all the other boys I'm giving you music, they're giving you noise I'm not like all the other boys I'm giving you magic, I'm giving you joy Don't be shy, come and try your luck Or do I have to be my own boyfriend cos you can't keep up?"

36. The Smile - Bodies Laughing

37. Gui Boratto & Darren Emerson - The Shell

38. Jayda G - If We Only Knew

39. Porches - Itch

40. The Irrepressibles - Destination

41. Telenova - Teardrop

42. Archive - Times To Kill

43. Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes

44. Joan As Police Woman - The Dream

45. Orla Gartland - Late To The Party

46. Rebecca Black - TRUST!

47. Banks & Doechii - I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend

48. Gavin Friday - When The World Was Young

49. venbee - Dark Place

50. Mahmood - SEMPRE/JAMAIS

[poprocklyrics]

He gave his all and now he's breaking You can see it in his eyes

messy in heaven, Venbee ft. goddard

[ashyblondwaves]

Was obsessed with this song for a little while a couple months ago, now I'm back on it.

[pedropascalunofficial]

When you get this, you have to put 5 songs you actually listen to and publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)

5 Songs I'm listening to this week

Venbee – Messy in Heaven. I cannot get this out of my head.

Otis Redding - Mr Pitiful.

George Ezra - Shotgun. My kid learned to sign it, so it’s on repeat on the school run. If out of focus hot Irish male teachers do it for you and you’d like to learn some “lamh”/basic Irish sign language, then here you go.

Self-esteem - Fucking Wizardry.

Prince - Let’s Go Crazy. My baby is obsessed with this song because it featured on the soundtrack for Sing. We listened to it so much last year my Spotify account was in the top 0.5% of Prince listeners in 2022.

*Bonus video of my little foundling rocking out to her own reflection last summer😊

Seems cool til you see the rest. In 2021, we were top 1% for Dove Cameron. Can't win them all🤷‍♀️

Thanks for including me @dornish-queen 💜

[stealingpotatoes]

tagged by @its-kinda-snowy!!

Rules: shuffle your repeat playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag ten people!

Renegade - Kavinsky

Messy in heaven - Venbee

Melody - Sigala

Motions - Cassia

Tek it - Cafuné

Temporary Love - The Brinks

Sublime - Slenderbodies

Afraid - No Wyrld

In the Dying of the Light - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

&burn - Billie Eilish

tagging: @highladyofdusk @nitewrighter @kishuszar @sphyrne @mysticalfg @yufiit @flightlesskiwi @constellation-skirmishes @astraldrake @vagorsol

[thanksforthedinosaur]

lappy - ass lyk tht

shelhiel - kisskisskisskisskiss

ethanuno - tld

kuudere - talk to me

tatsunoshin - two hearts

omar+ - body language

the chainsmokers - don't lie

atura - whenyousayit

mashinomi - star status

perfume - ラヴ・クラウド

dark cat - bubble tea

pretty patterns - ffffff

kenshi yonezu - plazma

young franco - going on

baobei - fkin my friends

venbee - this one's different

negative shawdy - dancing with the lights out

mac wetha - born vacant

annie-dog - the feeling in my fingertips

will sass - string theory (feat. catching cairo)

rituals of mine - head on

guru doug - undressed

knock2 - my melody

claar - police horse

tessa dixson - highspeed crash

anatole muster - wonderful now but it's fast

paica - beautiful shapes (feat. pasocom music club)

mahalia - life size

ky vöss - angelicode

reyanna maria - wish u well

danny dwyer - system overload

sim - happy

horsegiirl - material hor$e

ang3l - in my head

ohrwurm - i want u there 2

mymy - listen

jugem - itaiy0.feat shachi

cafune - internet crash

picco - fake theory

oklou - take me by the hand (feat. bladee)

sono - yēa

757shai - falling backwards (sped up)

ch!kub! - gyuuu

stella the pixie - dancing on my own

2adore - different land

lil crimes - regal

miraie - stargaze by myself

d1v - back to life

757shai - why would i stop

masta ace & marco polo - certified

ilajide - live from jump

logic - not a game - feat. lucy rose

shane kidd - bushido

duane's primo - mallrats

savon araeo - lick

darrell cole - .meet the vultures

mega ran - it must be

logic - intergalactic icons

layfullstop - did i stutter

kodie shane - watch me burn

savannah cristina - it's a wrap

jolianne - afterthought

lauren sanderson - superstar

monogem - lemon tree

hope tala - survival

sunday moon - down

l.ucas - out of love

su lee - wabi sabi

morgan saint - blazing

mallrat - pavement

berryblue - blue

charlie houston - pink cheetah print slip

king mala - hypothetical

minnie - drive u crazy

joy oladokun - good enough

kelsea ballerini - first rodeo

kacey musgraves - deeper well

isabel pless - shirley temples

samia - bovine excision

kirnbauer - siento lento

macseal - easily undone

esme emerson - together

leah dou - california baby

easha - xoxo

lucy dacus - ankles

june henry - daylight

lighthearted - borrowed

laur elle - killjoy

housewife - work song

annie dirusso - back in town

junior varsity - new york

olivia o'brien - memory lane

land of talk - as me

momma - i want you (fever)

mana garden - love to death

neanderthal - spiders

boilermaker - ladyfinger

saetia - tendrils

luby sparks - broken headphones

yuragi - for your eyes only

tokyo tea room - if you love her

lights & motion - tidal wave

jyocho - strong body and rich future of macho minimal fairy

hiromi - balloon pop

[lazorcrab]

Finally Friday | New Yearz Mix 2025 (Part 3/5)

We are halfway through Finally Friday New Yearz Mix 2025! Stay tuned for part four and five to complete the NYE experience!

Part one: https://www.tumblr.com/lazorcrab/771241820233613312/finally-friday-new-yearz-mix-2025-part-15

Part two: https://www.tumblr.com/lazorcrab/771253191276953600/finally-friday-new-yearz-mix-2025-part-25

Watch the visualizer for this and all my past and future mixes on YouTube or listen on SoundCloud, and be sure to subscribe or follow to join the Finally Friday Gang!

Tracklist:

1. Disco Lines - BABY GIRL (Extended Airport Mix) 2. Becky Hill - Swim 3. Tove Lo & SG Lewis - HEAT 4. A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God (Down Pat House Edit) 5. 3LAU - Happy / Sad 6. Kiro Prime - Upside Down 7. R.E.M. - The One I Love (Joman Remix) 8. RAFFA GUIDO - Famax (Franky Rizardo Remix) 9. deadmau5 - Re_Jaded 10. Pizzaman & Lexa Hill - Sex On The Streets (Fatboy Slim Edit) 11. Martin Garrix & Third Party - Carry You (feat. Oaks & Declan J Donovan) 12. Nora en Pure - Pretoria 13. Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Sgt Slick ReCut) 14. Sia - I Forgive You (Chromeo Remix) 15. Ariana Grande - yes, and? (The Blessed Madonna’s Godsquad Mix) 16. Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me (Jake Shore Edit) 17. Steve Angello - Hooligans 18. MEDUZA & HAYLA - Another World 19. Tim Berg - Seek Bromance (Dunisco Remix) 20. Bingo Players, Disco Fries, & Fatman Scoop - Our House 21. Frank Ocean - Self Control (STRAWBRY DUB) 22. John Summit & venbee - palm of my hands (Odd Mob Remix) 23. Laidback Luke & Chris Lorenzo - Break The House Down 24. KREAM - So Hï 25. BURNR - Back Again 26. Duck Sauce - Fallin In Love 27. Mau P - On Again 28. Alok, Gryffin, & Julia Church - Never Letting Go (Club Mix) 29. Jungle - All Of The Time (Chris Stussy Edit) 30. Diplo & Mau P - Receipts (feat. Gunna) 31. Fred again.., Lil Yachty, & Overmono - stayinit 32. Dom Dolla vs. Tinashe - Nasty Girl$ (Netgate Mashup) 33. Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack (Ango Edit) 34. Gaskin - Closer 35. Duke Dumont & Clementine Douglas - Ain't Giving Up 36. Dom Dolla - Saving Up (Odd Mob Remix) 37. Brainwreck - Body & Soul 38. Disclosure - She's Gone, Dance On

[tobacconist]

its alright to joke because GOD IS NOT MOCKED and also literally everytime jesus comes down from heaven to sojourn on the earth he never comes as the Jesus people expect him to be all bearded and beautiful. well probably sometimes but only to certain elect nuns, but usually he appears like a tramp or a thug or a tranny or some other despised creature. he is come to test you. and angels are alike; because all of those who come from heaven to earth and back again are called angels. and they have horses to ride, and those horses have ankles, because they are angelhorses. its important to know this.

and i heard jesus did cocaine on a night out. eyes wide open dilated but hes fine now. like just a few years back. theyd run out, so he took a salt shaker off the table and turned it into coke for them. but he told us not to talk about it. i think im allowed to though because venbee goddard did a song about it already so like

[softguarnere]

Ten Songs. Ten People.

Thank you @cody-helix02 and @hxad-ovxr-hxart for the tags!

Rules: Put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, then tag people.

jealousy, jealousy - Olivia Roderigo

First Rate Town - Good Kid

Midnight Rain - Taylor Swift

Stick Season - Noah Kahan

messy in heaven - venbee, goodard

crashing down - Arlie

Hollywood Baby - 100 gecs

Me Myself & I - 5 Seconds of Summer

Are You Okay? - BEL

Call Me What You Like - Lovejoy

Tagging: anyone who would like to do this! :)

[daily-coloring]

venbee - dark place

[courtenayhunter-blog]

[poppingtop30]

January 13, 2024 (181)

Top 30

1. Little Big & bbno$- IT HAPPENS

2. Mae Muller- Me, Myself, & I

3. Tyla- Water

4. Hemlocke Springs- sever the blight

5. Arcángel & Grupo Frontera- ALV

6. Rema- Trouble Maker

7. Fireboy DML- Oh My

8. Galantis & Neon Trees- Dreamteam

9. Dillon Francis & REI AMI- Rainy

10. The Veronicas- Perfect

11. ENHYPEN- Sweet Venom

12. PinkPantheress & Central Cee- Nice to meet you

13. Milky Chance- Feeling For You

14. Kenny Mason- FACTS

15. Bebo Dumont- Ninguna

16. J. Balvin- Amigos

17. Galantis & Hannah Boleyn- Little Bit Yours

18. Myles Smith- Solo

19. Holly Humberstone- Into Your Room

20. Playboi Carti & Travis Scott- BACKR00MS

21. Robot95 & Lucho SSJ- ICEY ICEY

22. PinkPantheress- Mosquito

23. Tiësto & FAST BOY- All My Life

24. BEL- Are You Okay?

25. Green Day- Dilemma **DEBUT**

26. Kali Uchis & Peso Pluma- Igual Que Un Ángel **DEBUT**

27. iann dior- You Don’t Even

28. Cannons- Bad Tattoo

29. Crash Adams- Sugar Mommy

30. K.Flay- Carsick **DEBUT**

Close Calls

1. Lil Nas X- J CHRIST

2. Ariana Grande- yes, and?

3. Marshmello & venbee- No Man’s Land

4. Future Islands- Say Goodbye

5. KAROL G- QUE CHIMBA DE VIDA

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 29/07/2023 (’Barbie’ Soundtrack, Stormzy/RAYE, Travis Scott/The Weeknd/Bad Bunny)

Content warning: mentions of death and violence

For an eighth week, Dave and Cench grab the #1 with “Sprinter” once again, but the rest of the chart… it’s not as stable. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

Okay, but did Oppenheimer chart seven songs this week? I don’t think so. The Barbie soundtrack is not the only story here, but it is the main one in a busier week than expected - and kind of a chaotic one - but as always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I’ve always covered - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we say farewell to a bunch of old songs like “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses, “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John - “Cold Heart” (PNAU Remix) with Dua Lipa as well - then slightly newer songs like “Waffle House” by the Jonas Brothers, “Escapism.” by RAYE featuring 070 Shake, “messy in heaven” by venbee and goddard. and “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran, and then actually new songs, those being “Dance Around It” by Joel Corry and Caity Baser, “Say Yes to Heaven” by Lana Del Rey and “Masculine” by J Hus featuring Burna Boy, which was swapped out for another J Hus song this week.

Then we have our returns and notable gains… and well, there’s a lot going on here. Firstly in our returns, we see again the three-song rule swap out “Karma” by Taylor Swift for “Anti-Hero” at #41 and the return of “Dial Drunk” by Noah Kahan all the way up at #32 thanks to the pretty great remix with Post Malone. Additionally, due to her passing on Wednesday, we see “Nothing Compares to U” by Irish singer Shuhada’ Sadaqat, better known of course as Sinéad O’Connor, return to #45. She was brave and revolutionary in her criticism of the Catholic Church and constantly stood for what she believed in which, great music aside, is incredibly honourable, and it’s a damn shame she was never really able to find peace. “Nothing Compares 2 U” originally hit #1 for four weeks in 1990, and despite an array of charting songs in the UK from 1987 to 2007, she would never make the top 10 again aside from another #1 as part of Band Aid. On a lighter note, whilst I have yet to see the Barbie film, I have heard the soundtrack, which whilst nowhere to be seen on the albums chart, tops the compilations chart, with many a song from the film crossing over to the singles chart. The songs that are not new and not gaining into the top five are both returns: Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” at #19 and a song technically not on the album, the original “Barbie Girl” by Aqua resurging to #40. It also hit #1 for four weeks, yet in this case in 1997.

As for our gains, there aren’t many but most are interesting - sure, there are rote, kind of inexplicable boosts for “Closer” by Bou featuring Slay at #27 - the best-selling USB stick release ever, seriously - and “Disconnect” by Becky Hill and Chase & Status at #17, but we also see NewJeans’ album release boosting “Super Shy” up to #52 and a remix with Burna Boy brings Byron Messia’s “Talibans” up to 12. The remix doesn’t exactly help the song be any less gross or more interesting.

This week’s top five on the UK Singles Chart has three songs from that Barbie soundtrack in it - the three-song rule was not applied to it - so we start with “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and Aqua at #5, “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa at #4, her 13th top 10 hit, and Billie Eilish at #3 with “What Was I Made For?”, a consecutive Barbie three-streak. The top two, of course, is all standard - “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Sprinter” at the very top. Now we have a… questionable stretch of new arrivals, so let’s get into them.

NEW ARRIVALS

#67 - “Highs & Lows” - Prinz featuring Gabriela Bee

Produced by ME13 Beats

So you might remember Prinz for contributing verses to “Beautiful Day (Thank You for Sunshine)”, a cute if saccharine Christian drill song that peaked at #63 earlier this year. He’s back for a follow-up single and he’s doing… this nonsense. Okay, so Gabriela Bee was a Canadian Vine star as a child who’s grown up into a singer-songwriter - naturally - gathering some viral cover videos across the way. Here she is reciting a 2019 non-mover by similarly Canadian indie pop group Walk off the Earth - Canada Day was at the start of this month, Prinz - titled “I’ll be There”. It only ever charted in Canada, and never particularly high, largely because it’s a sappy boring love song with about as much teeth as “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 without its denchers. So naturally, sample drill, right? He even harmonises with the pitch-shifted chorus, before going into verses that are sing-songy when he wants to and needlessly staccato and aggressive when he wants to do that, with the rattling percussion and sliding 808s always present. This just sounds ridiculous. I didn’t know there was a market for wholesome Christian drill but this really just sounds like a cheap children’s version of the genre. I really ponder how we got this point.

#61 - “Asking” - Sonny Fodera and MK featuring Clementine Douglas

Produced by MK and Sonny Fodera

Marc Kinchen is no stranger to the chart but here, he teams up with two fellow non-Canadians: Australian-born DJ Sonny Fodera, who makes his first entry since he last teamed up with MK on 2019’s “One Night”, which was a very minor hit the year after, and Clementine Douglas, the British singer providing raspy vocals on yet another 90s throwback house tune. It really just follows a standard house-pop progression with a particularly ugly staccato backing synth line, and decidedly not catchy vocals from Douglas, wherein the vocaloid drop is so ever-present, it ends up drowning whatever refrains or harmonies she can come up with… and then really bizarrely impactful drums come in that seem way too big for what this song actually is. When it plunges into the deep bass, it makes a lot more sense, but kind of has me wondering what this song was actually trying to do compositionally. I like the glitchier synths and orchestra hits in what I think is the chorus and drop, but they’re still over a very stiff production here that is monotonous as all Hell, its biggest talent being its stillness. So, yeah, not a fan at all, which is kind of a shame coming from MK.

#58 - “Man I Am” - Sam Smith

Produced by Mark Ronson and Ricky Reed

Whoever decided to give the non-Canadian Sam Smith a song about being a man knows what they’re doing and I don’t think it’s all that pleasant. To be fair to them, they definitely embraced the less-than-flattering title and subject matter, which is actually in the character of Ken, not that it’ll matter to certain people. This actually ended up being one of my favourites off of the soundtrack, with Smith’s gravelly delivery sandwiched in between a garish electroclash synth and the airier synths surrounding them, as they indulge in the hedonism fully, to the point that they almost reject Barbie altogether and hint at preferring the company of men. Homoerotic Ken is obnoxious, sure, but the wacky synthwork in the pre-chorus bursts into a back-of-the-mix bleep during that anthemic hook and whilst there’s not really much to it outside of being fun, I’d prefer that mode from Sam Smith than a ballad, and actually bordering on the transgressive is more fitting for the film from what I’ve heard than any of the cookie-cutter crap that’s also present. We’ll get to that after these violent messages.

#53 - “Massacre” - J Hus

Produced by Marco Bernardis and P2J

I fully expect songs to swap in and out from big albums thanks to silly chart rules, and non-Canadian rapper J Hus doing so with Beautiful and Brutal Yard - dropping from #1 to #4 on the albums chart right now thanks to Blur - was only slightly a surprise. The reason this song in particular raised enough traction was probably due to its A COLORS SHOW performance, but the original version has a lot of merit itself. This is probably the most gruff and menacing J Hus has ever sounded over these sprawling acoustic and typical Afroswing rhythms. Sure, some of the rhymes are forced and his flow is a lot less stable than usual on the verses, but there’s a decent amount of detail in both his past of gang violence and mental health issues that arose as a result of them and prevent him from moving on. It sadly doesn’t go too deep into that, because J Hus just can’t help himself but make the rote second verse about having sex with this woman and I really don’t know why he couldn’t have just written an on-topic verse here. It’s otherwise a great song, with the strings that send it off splitting the song’s tone somewhere between violent and reflective in a really open-to-interpretation way that ends up succeeding on both of its potential fronts thanks to a strong chorus and first verse, I just wish it kept up with its own theme throughout the entire track is all. The COLORS SHOW version also replaces some of the quiet, murderous cool for more manic energy and it probably depends on the day which version I prefer because otherwise there’s very little that stands out as all that different but overall, still a good song regardless of version.

#39 - “Pink” - Lizzo

Produced by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt and Ricky Reed

I was initially kinder to this one when first listening to it, and sure, Lizzo - not Canadian - still has charisma and soul in her voice that not many of the other features on this project do, and in terms of being able to co-inhabit Ronson’s 80s synth-funk palette, you can’t really get better than Lizzo… so naturally, this is a children’s song. I’m sure it makes a lot more sense in the film but knowing that songs like “Barbie World”, “Man I Am” and “butterflies” are in this same film makes this particular track feel like it’s appealing to the broadest possible horizons whilst simultaneously not making any worthwhile arguments for its own existence. It’s barely even catchy, it wouldn’t make a good theme song because it’s not nearly as compact with its “ideas” despite only being less than two and a half minutes. So, realistically, we just have Lizzo spelling out words over 80s radio slodge. The sax sounds good, it always will, and I guess everything complements quite well, but that’s not exactly hard when you don’t take any risks. Complete snooze.

#36 - “Love Like This” - ZAYN

Produced by Jon Bellion and The Monsters & Strangerz

Welp, ZAYN’s back - and he’s not Canadian, nor ever has been. I feel like we do this song-and-dance with ZAYN album cycles a lot, and it’s of no surprise to me that the returns are decreasing. He releases a lead single that debuts high and is pretty accessible before a delayed and/or completely ignorable album cycle that comes and goes, with very little of the vague ambition ZAYN ever showed on his earlier solo work actually showing up, especially not on these lead singles. In this one, Jon Bellion continues on his weird 2-step streak, which is probably the only genre wherein Bellion doesn’t out-sing the actual singer through his signature writing… so why give it to ZAYN of all people? He drones on in the repetitive verses like he’s completely sedated over a kind of promisingly lo-fi garage beat, and then ends up somehow off-beat in the pre-chorus that lacks an actual coherent melody, before an anti-climactic, awkwardly-written chorus that makes unnecessary use of a piercing siren sound. This feels like a vehicle for Jon Bellion’s worst ideas rather than anything that can give ZAYN that last push he might need to actually impress me, but alas, if he’s not trying, then we don’t have to listen, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the general public follows the same logic.

#25 - “I’m Just Ken” - Ryan Gosling

Produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

Now this is the viral show tune sung by the decidedly Canadian actor Ryan Gosling in character as Ken, and I feel like this one ESPECIALLY hinges on your viewing of the film because of how explicitly tied to the plot it is. The film’s use of Ken seems to comment on how Ken was made post-Barbie, purely to serve the initial doll, with director Greta Gerwig pointing this out. Therefore, we have this idea of a man functioning without true comprehension of its emotions and instead just as a worker with a fake tan and toned body. Naturally, Ronson spares us the subtleties, as the show tune ends up going full rock musical, with a muddy filtered synth and electric guitars crashing in after the first chorus and from when on, the song kind of goes off the rails. Gosling already sounds like an AOR vocalist, so the shift makes complete sense… but then it gets really propulsive and Gosling’s asking if I can feel his “Kenergy” and I mean, it is supposed to be a comedy, so I guess throwing away a chunk of this song to a flailing meme makes complete sense. The abrupt transition back into the actual song just accentuates how tacky everything about that second verse and bridge is; it really just isn’t necessary in an otherwise pretty impactful self-questioning. This has a lot of promise to it, but sadly, probably due to narrative reasons, squanders that midway through. Much of the soundtrack album felt like that too, good ideas squandered by not taking risks, with the bad, risky ideas ending up being the most fascinating and honestly the best songs. My favourites were the aforementioned “Man I Am” and “What Was I Made For?” as well as GAYLE’s Crazy Town flip “butterflies” and Khalid’s adorable “Silver Platter”. Now let’s get back to actual music.

#24 - “K-POP” - Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd

Produced by BNYX, Boi-1da, Illangelo, Jahaan Sweet and DVLP

Oh, hey, look at that. A Canadian. Odd running gag aside, this is the lead single to the long-anticipated UTOPIA and I’ll save my thoughts on the album for next week - they’re not pretty - but I do have to ponder. Travis Scott actively promoted himself to children through McDonald’s meals and Fortnite appearances, and gained some really young fans, including one Ezra Blount, whom his father said was stoked to see Travis at the Astroworld Festival. He was nine years old. After two years of pain from the victims’ friends and family, and a grand jury conveniently and incorrectly declining to indict him and the corporations involved of any wrongdoing just about when he’s going to release a record, we get our first work from Travis as a lead artist in years. When I hear this barely coherent and crappily-mixed attempt at dancehall from Yeat’s producer, seemingly void of any understanding of the genre mish-mash on display, wherein Bad Bunny is the only person here not on complete auto-pilot, The Weeknd embarrasses himself with career-low lyrics that not even Drake would let go past the reference track, and Travis Scott lazily whining in mumbling Auto-Tune some vague platitudes about a drug-fuelled nostalgia, it sticks in my mind: he was just nine years old. Rest well, little buddy, because your idols definitely couldn’t care less.

#23 - “The Weekend” - Stormzy and RAYE

Produced by London and RAYE

And from The Weeknd to “The Weekend”, yet we’re a lot further from Canada here. It is pretty cool that despite all of the American pop culture nonsense that was thrown at us this week, the highest debut is from two British artists, one of which is independent. The song’s pretty sweet too, with RAYE’s ghostly harmonies and melodrama sliding pretty acutely under the stiffer, effortless cool of Stormzy. I was actually surprised the two had this much chemistry and they work off of each other pretty effortlessly, even if the mix on this fudgy, bassy funk-pop isn’t all that clean. There’s not much of a focus on sex or Stormzy himself other than some silly references, with the song mostly just being an appreciation of his partner, played by RAYE, and his deadpan delivery works as almost portraying him as slightly awestruck by her. The little trade-off in the refrain where they try and figure out a good day to hang out is adorable, and the entire song, despite my issues with the production, is a pretty little jam I definitely wouldn’t mind sticking around.

Conclusion

Well, this sure was the week that was, and not particularly a stand out week quality wise, in fact, this one was kind of a struggle. Best of the Week goes to Sam Smith of all people for “Man I Am”, but the Honourable Mention is a tie, given that the other two good songs here are just expectedly solid songs from UK acts that both may end up growing on me, with “The Weekend” by Stormzy and RAYE and “Massacre” by J Hus being my other favourites this week. As for the worst, Travis Scott takes it handedly with “K-POP” featuring Bad Bunny and The Weeknd, but I don’t think ZAYN is all that far behind as he gets the Dishonourable Mention for “Love Like This”, though that very much could have gone to Lizzo and absolutely could have gone to whatever Prinz was doing. As for what’s on the horizon, we had a big release week with albums from Anne-Marie, Post Malone and Travis Scott, and Calvin Harris is raring for his big “Miracle” follow-up, so expect more craziness to come. Thank you for reading, rest in peace to Sinéád O’Connor and I will see you next week!

[ashyblondwaves]

This song has been stuck in my head and if I start singing it out loud one more time my husband is probably going to scream. It’s been hours now lol. Sorry, Stinky.