Now that we are approaching to the end of the year, you would think that the amount of dope music would slow down a bit. I mean with everyone gearing up for the holidays and all of that mumbo jumbo, typically artists to not have enough time to create or promote their art. But in the online world of 2019, the world never sleeps or rests, and people will be creating content at the same level and pace as any other time of the year. For someone like me that is obsessed with finding new music and loves writing about it. the fact that new music is still coming out at a rapid-fire pace at the end of the year is totally cool with me. I can’t wait to listen to thoroughly and review the new 03 Greedo album put soon and that new LiZ album which just dropped. It is so cool that we get the opportunity to immediately listen to such opposite kinds of music from each other literally in an instant because of streaming. With of that being said, here is my list of songs that I have really been digging on the last week. Let me know which one of these tracks you love the most in the comments below!

DON’T START NOW – DUA LIPA

Every time there is new Dua Lipa music out to listen to, the music world is a better place because she is so supremely talented. ‘Don’t Start Now’ is the first song with Dua Lipa in it that has come out in a while that is not billed as a collaboration with a big DJ or something, which makes me believe that this track is a single from an upcoming Dua Lipa album. If that is indeed the case, it sort of makes sense that the premise of the song has Dua Lipa in her feels, as her solo music has typically been very heartfelt and emotional. This song has a similar dance-funk vibe to the song ‘Electricity’ that she made with Silk City, which I really love because that is probably my favorite song that has her in it to date. I love how the husky and deep nature of her voice really adds to the emotion to the meaning of this song. On ‘Don’t Start Now,’ Dua is telling her ex-significant other that she is sick of their shit, and she does not want to hear their excuses or their apologies or whatever else they have to say. If you are having some icky times with your own significant other at the moment, this is a track you need to hear.

MUSIC WITH YOUR DAD – NASTY CHERRY

Charli XCX’s favorite band is back with another awesome bop. If you do not know about Nasty Cherry yet, they are a band that Charli formed Making the Band style; there is actually a show out on Netflix right now that ya’ll should check out that shows the band’s brief history. The show is hectic and hilarious and super rock n roll just like the ladies who make up the band are, and I really recommend it. ‘Music With Your Dad,’ as you can probably tell from the title, has that silly tongue in cheek vibe that all of their music has had so far. My favorite thing about Nasty Cherry is that even though they are usually singing about sort of emotional or touchy subjects, they never take themselves or anything too seriously. ‘Music With Your Dad’ has that sort of 70s psychedelic funk-rock vibe that you would probably listen to with your dad, which is kind of awesome and hilarious considering the premise of the song. Nasty Cherry in the short amount of time that they have been in the public eye has made music in multiple kinds of new and old alternative pop-rock music so har and have killed it every time, which is making me pumped as hell to hear their upcoming debut album.

SO HEAVY I FELL THROUGH THE EARTH – GRIMES

People who know me or have paid attention to this blog at all for a while should probably know by now how much I love the art and music of Grimes. Everything about the art she creates is so immersive and cool, and this new album cycle is obviously no different. ‘So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth’ follows the post-apocalyptic vibe that the music that Grimes has made over the last year has continued to have; the atmosphere of this song is so scary and ambient and it is awesome. There is not a ton going on lyrically in this song; I mean, I know that it will obviously fit into the narrative of the album very well when it comes out, but in the meantime, this song is very minimalist and random and it is tough to determine what it actually means. I personally love this because it makes me want to hear it in the context of the album so much. This song has a super industrial and electronic metal feeling that is very unique for Grimes and in general. Although the tempo of the song is slow, the vibe of the track is super heavy and foreboding; the instrumental of the song matches up so well with the feeling of the lyrics. The song almost feels like a warning of something big to come. I can not wait to see what that big thing is, so please drops Miss Anthropocene, soon, Grimes(because she is obviously reading this, right?).

4TOUNCE – JOHNNY UTAH

In true internet age fashion, I actually originally found out about Johnny Utah after seeing him hanging out all the time with Doja Cat on Instagram. Since I dig her music so much, I figured I should check his out as well, and I am very glad I did. ‘4Tounce’ has a completely different vibe from Johnny Utah’s viral hit ‘HoneyPie’ (which I have guarantee you have heard and did not know it was him), but trust me it is just as good. This song has a slow easy listening pop-rock vibe with a nice little beat to make it feel hip hop. This track is about Johnny realizing that he has become exclusively a booty call for the girl that he wants to be with. Whereas most guys would probably be pretty straight with getting that text at 1:15 every single morning with no strings attached, but Johnny Utah is a romantic and he needs more than that. This song is just super pretty and the premise of the lyrics is rad.

MANIAC – CONAN GRAY

It is pretty crazy how fast YouTube has risen to the top of media over the last few years. It used to be taboo to say you got famous from YouTube or if you tried to branch off into another type of art or medium after becoming big on YouTube, but that just is not true anymore In my opinion, this is a pretty awesome thing, because if it was not the case we would not get to hear and find out about multiple cool artists on this list, including Conan Gray. After getting big on YouTube from 2013-2017, Conan moved to LA and decided he wanted to start making music, releasing the album Sunset Season last year. ‘Maniac’ is the latest single from Conan Gray, and if ya’ll like indie-pop or alternative synth-pop, you gotta check this song out. Conan Gray puts so much emotion into his songs, and it is really obvious from the lyricism and the way he sings. On ‘Maniac,’ Conan is singing about a lady that he broke up with that tells everyone that they know that he is a psycho, but she calls him every single time she is sad. I feel your pain, there. Conan. Stay strong my dude. I hope the indie-heads out there love this one.

BLOODMONEY – POPPY

So I guess Poppy has become the Nu-Metal queen that the world needed in 2019. If you follow the actual story arc of Poppy’s online character it really does make sense. She started out making glitzy and super robotic pop music that seems like it was literally made by a computer algorithm, but she has seemingly been trying to break this mold. We have seen through some of the creepier videos she has released and the random metal songs that have been popping up in her discography lately that the facade surrounding her was about to crack, and now it seems like shit has fit the fan in Poppy’s world. Poppy seems to be done with all of the bullshit; she seems to be it literally banishing all of her music executive bosses to hell. I freaking love this whole vibe for Poppy; the whole concept of a little sweet-looking blonde girl singing devilish and hard as fuck nu-metal music is so weirdly satisfying to me. I mean you are crazy if you like rock music and are not into the idea of seeing Poppy smash and break shit while screaming lines like: KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT YOU’VE BEEN PLAYING NICE AND BEG FOR FORGIVENESS FROM JESUS THE CHRIST!!

DICTATOR – REI AMI

If you read my last edition of this series, you would know that Rei Ami is easily one of my new favorite artists, so it is a pretty awesome thing that I already have a new song by her to listen to. The vibe of the beginning half of ‘Dictator’ is even more hectic and hard than her previous music that I have heard, which probably shouldn’t be possible but I love it. The beat on the first half of this song goes so damn hard; it is like this weird mix of by step, country, and hard ass trap, and Rei Ami flows so effortlessly over it. If you can not imagine what that would sound like, just click that link below so your ears can be blessed. The second half of the song after the beat switches is just as good as the first half, and once again shows another side to her as a person and artist. The instrumental kind of switches into this super chill and floaty cloud trap vibe, and Rei vibe switches up as well. In the first half of the song, she is very aggressive and in your face, and the second half shows this more vulnerable and sweet side to her which is a great juxtaposition to the first half. Please listen to this song because Rei Ami is just so damn good, ya’ll.

MALADY – HOLY PINTO

I am sure ya’ll know by now that I will always immediately jump on the chance to write about a new Milwaukee based artist that I am into, and Holy Pinto fits that bill nicely. Holy Pinto is an indie/emo pop-rock artist that actually hails from Canterbury, England, and recently just relocated to Milwaukee because they like the music and art scene here. I find this so damn rad because it is about time for the art and music in this city start to get recognized on a more national and international scale. ‘Malady’ is the latest single from Holy Pinto. It is just as emo and it is indie; this sound is totally unique and very cool. It literally sounds like to me if the Arctic Monkeys or Modest Mouse decided they wanted to make emo music, but could not quite get rid of the spacey indie riffs that they are known for. ‘Malady’ also has a bit of a psychedelic funk element that one would probably usually never expect to hear in emo pop-rock like this, but it fits in so well that it is almost as if Holy Pinto is creating his own new sub-genre or sound. Please check out this song because it is a Milwaukee based artist and we need to show Milwaukee more love, and also because it is totally different from anything else you will hear today and that is really cool.