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I’m a huge fan of Harry’s House (2022). This album sounds incredibly expensive; there are so many layers and yet all the elements are clear and present right up front. It’s delicious and summery and sexy, Harry Styles in his fresh and flirty era. This song in particular is incredibly horny, presumably for his milf girlfriend, actor-director Olivia Wilde. They’re cute! I have no qualms with this record or its muse.
I’ve been listening to Primavera artists in preparation for the festival in a few weeks, so I was already consuming a lot of Remi Wolf. I was also shopping in preparation for said festival, and when I walked into the vintage store the cashier clocked my vibe incredibly hard and put on Juno (2021). While it’s embarrassing to me that I’m read so easily, I had a much more pleasant browsing experience because of the soundtrack.
My friend and idol UPSAHL released this banger last week, a salute to the women in the generation before ours that were unfairly dragged by the media. I’ve written before about the heinous treatment of women by tabloids and news outlets, and it’s good to see pop artists reclaiming this history. “Monica Lewinsky” walks the line of fun and smart perfectly.
This song has me by the neck. I saw Jenny Hval last night, and although she didn’t play “Spells,” I was enchanted the whole time. She has a way of transitioning strange, off-kilter verses into euphoric, consonant choruses. Her newest album Classic Objects (2022) is a strange and beautiful meditation on gender, sexuality, and power. It is one of the most effective pieces of work I’ve heard in a long time, almost interdisciplinary in its breadth and depth. The show was accompanied by really incredible visuals that added dream-like stimulation to the auditory experience. Rather than distracting from the music, they fleshed out the thesis, another dimension of the same project. I’m still processing the show, still reeling from the genius.
Oh baby! This song goes. I started listening to Ben Folds when I was a tween, freshly departed from my musical theatre endeavors. There is something deeply cinematic about piano ballads like this one, and it served as a stepping stone to the rest of alternative music. My favorite part of this song is the insane build up from the bridge to the last chorus; it brings this almost imperceptible notion of rock to the song that really leans into the Ben Folds ethos in a delightful way.
This new MUNA album is going to break me into a million little pieces! I’m ready! They mastered writing songs about queer longing, and now they’re taking on queer regret—a pipeline, perhaps? This song is really well-written and cuts deep. I love pop music for its power to absolutely annihilate you with a drop or a synth line when you’re not expecting it.
I saw Grace Cummings open for Ezra Furman this weekend. I’d never heard of her before but I was enthralled by her performance, her unique voice and presence. She’s Australian, and she said that this song is about the 2019-2020 bushfire season, when most of the country was in flames. Having lived through a few fire seasons in the Bay Area that got nowhere near me but were awful nonetheless, I felt quite emotional listening to it.
The first time I ever heard this song, I was a teenager and I thought I was in love. Needless to say, it hit me like a ton of bricks and stuck as one of my favorite sad love songs ever after. I have always been very much in awe of Karen O, who was one of the first and only Asian American women in the rock scene. She inspired artists like Japanese Breakfast to pursue music, who in turn is inspiring my generation of Asian American female musicians. Representation is so important, and people like Karen O are proving it.
Currently trending in my brain: biking more and driving less, ice water, playing covers, the salute emoji, green grapes, peonies, capsule wardrobes, wine bars, wireless headphones, saving articles for later, the Primavera lineup, the farmers market, this perfume, matches as opposed to lighters, telling my friends I love them.
Great set Amaya. Spells went straight to my Liked list. Wow!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a new album coming out June 1st. I pre-saved it today. Love your posts. Thank you.