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ollieinoue · 7 months ago

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M O L L I E VOL. III

for @montyrichler listen to [ volume i ] + [ volume ii ]

[ IT'S GONNA BE OKAY, RIGHT? ] Cami Petyn — [ This Side of Paradise ] Coyote Theory — [ On Your Mind ] Noah Floersch — [ Curls In The Wind ] Mark Ambor — [ Freckles ] Kevin Atwater — [ Indigo ] Kississippi — [ How'd You Know That ] Junyang — [ Self Distruct ] BETWEEN FRIENDS — [ Low AF ] Olen — [ could you love me while i hate myself ] Zeph — [ ILYIS pt 2 ] Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers — [ I Really F**ked It Up ] girli — [ No One Dies From Love ] Tove Lo — [ Call Me Up ] daydreamers — [ u can still come over ] BETWEEN FRIENDS — [ Don't Delete The Kisses ] Wolf Alice — [ Kaleidoscope ] Chappell Roan — [ Astronomy ] Conan Gray — [ Jealous ] Labrinth — [ Before You Go ] Lewis Capaldi

+ lyrics

IT'S GONNA BE OKAY RIGHT? by Cami Petyn

'Cause I wish I saw it coming I wish I didn't numb it But here I am Getting high off of pain that I created But babe, we're all the same in the dark

Want you to know me, hold me, love me Even if love is all fake, if nothing's okay Too far gone already Just tell me it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay, right?

This Side of Paradise by Coyote Theory

Are you lonely? (Are you lonely?) Our fingers dancing when they meet You seem so lonely (Are you lonely?) I'll be the only dream you seek So if you're lonely, no need to show me If you're lonely, come be lonely with me

On Your Mind by Noah Floersch

I know for a fact I'm on your mind, like all the time And when you get back to being fine, then I'm your guy

Curls in the Wind by Mark Ambor

A little bit of Heaven on the weekend Ocean full of sequence Curls in the wind like (ooh) A little bit of sun out when it's freezing I don't need a reason Tell me what you want to do

I like the way I feel with you Said I like the way I feel with you I like the way I feel, and I don't know much But I like the way I feel with you

Freckles by Kevin Atwater

So tell me something 'Cause you're becoming the only one I want to see I don't want to force it out or put pressure down About what you really want from me Never given it much thought But now I can't help thinking 'bout the fact that I just wanna be The only one who touches you at night And if you cannot give me that, then baby, give me nothing Give me nothing, give me nothing, babe

Indigo by Kississippi

I can't stop thinking about how nice it would be To be bothered by your breath reclaiming mine To wake up in the morning half dead to you Unable to find a place to rest your arms

How'd You Know That by Junyang

How'd you know that this is real? How'd you know that I am crazy? I'm just gonna wing it still You broke these walls I've built

Self Destruct by BETWEEN FRIENDS

I never thought to tell you anything you did right The way you held my hand when we were too high Hope you know it was good, it was perfect In the back of a cab and I'm thinking that

I can't be better for you Say that I miss you, it's true I can't be better for you But I wanted to

Low AF by Olen

Will you love me when I'm sad, done, overwhelmed low as fuck, or high as hell?

could you love me while i hate myself by Zeph

If you can't answer, "Yes, " just go I'm more trouble than I'm worth Could you love me while I hate myself? Because I don't know how this works I never learned how this works

ILYS pt 2 by Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers

I love you you're so selfless I'm sorry I'm so selfish I love that you're so gentle And I'm sorry I'm so hellish I love it when you hold me Cause I'm sorry I'm in pieces But you put me back together And you make me feel what peace is

I Really F**ked It Up by GIRLI

I wanna cause a scene just to feel alive Maybe I'm only mean 'cause I know you're mine And I hate myself for making you cry I know that I really fucked it up this time Hurricane blowing through your town I know it's hard for you just to stick around And I hate myself for making you cry I know that I really fucked it up this time

No One Dies From Love by Tove Lo

No one dies from love Guess I'll be the first Will you remember us? Or are the memories too stained with blood now?

Call Me Up by daydreamers

If you still want somethin' else to do Let me meet you on the dark side of your bedroom

If you get low and you're needin' my touch You can call me up, honey, you can call me up If you need a rush, call me up, call me up I'm a little drunk and I don't need that much You can call me up, honey, I can sober up If you call me up, call me up, just call me up

u can still come over by BETWEEN FRIENDS

You should tell me all I need to hear But I don't really want you to Tried to give me all of you, it's clear That I went in and lost my cool

Kaleidoscope by Chappell Roan

And love is a kaleidoscope How it works we'll never know And even all the change Is somehow all the same Turnin' to the left and right Colors shining in your eye And even upside down It's beautiful somehow It's never just a shape alone Love is a kaleidoscope

Astronomy by Conan Gray

We've traveled the seas, we've ridden the stars We've seen everything from Saturn to Mars As much as it seems like you own my heart It's astronomy, we're two worlds apart

Jealous by labrinth

I'm jealous of the rain That falls upon your skin It's closer than my hands have been I'm jealous of the rain I'm jealous of the wind That ripples through your clothes It's closer than your shadow Oh, I'm jealous of the wind

Don't Delete the Kisses by Wolf Alice

When I see you, the whole world reduces To just that room And then I remember and I'm shy That gossip's eye will look too soon And then I'm trapped, overthinking And yeah, probably self-doubt You tell me to get over it And to take you out

But I can't, I'm too scared And here's the night bus, I have to go And the doors are closing, and you were waving And I like you, and I'll never let it show And you won't wait, and maybe I won't mind I work better on my own And now I'm home, a little bit drunk And I ask myself

What if it's not meant for me? Love

#playlist .#my things .#y'all I tried so hard I've never made a manip before it's not great lmao

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digital-chance · 1 year ago

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URL Song Tag Game

RULES: spell your url with song titles and then tag as many people as there are letters.

ooh boy this is going to be interesting. thank you @anonymousfoz for the tag! all songs are in my liked songs list on spotify.

d - do i wanna know? by arctic monkeys

i - i don't miss u by carobae

g - grace (acoustic) by lewis capaldi

i - i know the end by phoebe bridgers

t - touching yourself by the japanese house

a - afraid by the neighbourhood

l - let you break my heart again by laufey and the philharmonic orchestra

c - creatures of light and darkness - information society

h - heavenly by cigarettes after sex

a - achilles come down by gang of youths

n - not the 1975 by knox

c - cry by mblaq

e - extraction by fusi0n

letters: 13

here we go!

gently tagging: @deadhunter-series , @careful-fear , @palebdot , @asterhaze , @leisoree , @tea-and-mercury , @flock-from-the-void , @late-to-the-fandom , @squarebracket-trick , @wingedcatastrophe , @ruinmegently , @wrenofthewords , @holdmyteaplease

#me #tag game

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persephonyed · 8 months ago

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“of course i like it,” callie bit down on her bottom lip, wondering if she could contain her raw desire in favour of doing what most people would say was the right thing. “that’s why i shouldn’t encourage it, oz. i shouldn’t like it…” the moral struggle she was stuck in had become very nuanced in the modern age, but the grey lines solidified callie in her wary headspace. she wasn’t the kind of person who purposefully put herself in trouble, and this interaction with oz was inching towards quite dangerous territory. still, she didn’t move away. “what if i vanished off the face of the earth? what- what if i just stopped coming around, going places i knew you’d be? there are ways you’d be able to forget me, oz. i mean, it’s not like we’re more than friends. even that feels gratuitous.” it was a little harsh, but she was half convincing herself she’d be able to forget them, instead of the other way around. except there was some fucked up, fixated part of her brain that focused on the way oz’s touch felt on her skin, and callie knew she’d never be able to forget a spark like that. “of course you were,” she muttered under her breath, but didn’t turn them down. leaning in closer, drawn in naturally, a smirk played in the corner of her mouth. “sounds more like a want than a need, oz.”

"WHY NOT ? YOU DON'T LIKE IT ?" oz asks honestly, their brows pinching together in a mix of confusion and concern . callie says their name again and it kind of dizzies oz all over again . some part of them wants to blame it on the alcohol, but the truth is that since they met oz hasn't been able to look at callie and not feel something to this level . to not feel like their blood is fizzing or maybe their lungs are a bit too small or like maybe they need to kiss her, not want to, but need to, for some reason beyond them, beyond both of them, really . "callie ," oz replies softly, their smile growing crooked as it widens, as they swallow hard and almost breathlessly say, "i don't think not wanting you is an option for me . easy or not, i —" they shake their head candidly . "... i don't think i can do that ." oz drifts closer enough for their noses to brush . they know they should probably pull back . they don't . it truly feels like gravity has shifted in that moment . like maybe their feet are still solidly on the bar floor, but there's also something else pulling them forward, pushing them together . oz has to momentarily wonder which force is stronger . oz certainly feels weaker for trying to fight it, their thumb stroking over callie's skin for just a moment as they look up, see her eyes on their mouth, and feel their brain buzz with static . "i was gonna invite you in anyways ." oz takes a shaky breath, leaning in close enough for their lips to almost brush as they admit, "and i really think you should stop trying so hard because i really, really need to kiss you right now, callie ..."

#okay not to mention idk what happened but i think my wife was playing a game or watchinga video of something LIKE the weeping angels and i #couldn't help but thing of them. rip. <3 my bbs forever i luv them both sm wow #someone who gets it #i stopped mid capaldi so i'm rewatching and then trying to watch what i missed bc i wanna see ncuti's doctor so bad #oz pls u can be big losers with callie bc she is def too WEAK FOR THIS FR #angclnumber #callie ortiz / convo; oz.

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overnightheartbeats · 6 months ago

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— FIVE SONGS TO DESCRIBE LAUREL THORN

The Bolter by Taylor Swift — And I can confirm she made a curious child, ever reviled by everyone except her own father. With a quite bewitching face, splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless. Excellent fun 'til you get to know her. Then she runs like it's a race. Behind her back, her best mates laughed and they nicknamed her "The Bolter"

Love Is A Game by Adele — All your expectations of my love are impossible. Surely, you know that I'm not easy to hold. It's so sad how incapable of learning to grow I am. My heart speaks in puzzle and codes I've been trying my whole life to solve. God only knows how I've cried. I can't take another defeat, a next time would be the ending of me. Now that I see that love is a game for fools to play and I ain't fooling, what a cruel thing to self-inflict that pain

Starting Line by Luke Hemmings — I wake up every morning with the years ticking by, I'm missing all these memories, maybe they were never mine. I feel the walls are closin', I'm running out of the time. I think I missed the gun at the starting line. Tell me, am I broken? I can never leave, biting on my tongue and checking if it bleeds

making the bed by Olivia Rodrigo - I'm so tired of bein' the girl that I am. Every good thing has turned into something I dread and I'm playin' the victim so well in my head, but it's me who's been making the bed. And every night, I wake up from this one recurrin' dream, where I'm drivin' through the city and the brakes go out on me. I can't stop at the red light, I can't swerve off the road. I read somewhere it's 'cause my life feels so out of control. And I tell someone I love them just as a distraction, they tell me that they love me like I'm some tourist attraction. They're changin' my machinery and I just let it happen.

She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel — She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes and she can ruin your faith with her casual lies. And she only reveals what she wants you to see, she hides like a child but she's always a woman to me. She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you. She is frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel. But she can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool. And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree. And the most she will do is throw shadows at you, but she's always a woman to me.

Bonus songs

The Ancient Art of Always Fucking Up by Lewis Capaldi — So, tell me, are you runnin' scared 'cause you know that I'm beyond repair? Well, baby, I'm a master of the ancient art of always fuckin' up. Everything I've ever loved 'cause I wrote the book, the study of the ancient art of always fuckin' up

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart by Taylor Swift — 'cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit. They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make it" and I did. Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die.

tagged by: @ruinedsoulsrp (ty, love u <3) tagging: @cursivebloodlines, @saavcns, @martieshub, @whataxwonderfulxday + whoever sees this on the dash! :)

#dash games #me and music are like this🤞🏽🤞🏽 so this was super fun!#About Laurel; musings #does this count as exposing her...yeah maybe #should be working on drafts but here I am instead

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butchtwelfthdoctor · 8 months ago

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got carried away writing a book review of the day of the doctor so here u go i guess

the episode itself is. fine I guess. there are some good moments & its fun seeing ten & eleven interact and there's some good angsting etc. like the episode is fairly solid even though it does that typical moffat retroactively-changing-massive-parts-of-canon thing that he liked doing. its not perfect but whatever, there are lots of good bits! The Novelisation. Is. Dare I Say Kinda Bad.

(also I should point out that this is written by steven moffat who was the showrunner and wrote the script for the episode like he should know what he's doing)

it starts off with the doctor narrating in a typical slightly silly pretentious fourth-wall breaking kinda thing and you're like okay this is sort of cool yup very eleven that feel like him. the narration switches between the doctor talking about himself in third person cos a) that's how books work and b) he's just Like That but will slip into first person in select moments to show he's getting caught up in remember events or his feelings and the idea is that you're reading it on psychic paper & it's being beamed into your head telepathically or whatever and that's cool!! that's a good idea!

HOWEVEr. there are three (mainly) versions of the doctor in the book the war doctor the tenth doctor and the eleventh. and YOUD THINK THEY JUST CALL THEM WAR DOCTOR TEN AND ELEVEN like normal people but noooooooo depending on whose pov you're in he gives them all silly nicknames based on how various characters perceive them which is really hard to follow, or just call all of the The Doctor, which is their name yeah but like ??? which one is talking???? you kinda have to guess sometimes??? added to that is that there are shapeshifters in this one so there's another layer of 'is this the real guy or the Copy Guy' as well as BAD WOLF being there (who isn't rose, its bad wolf, but it isn't her either because it's a sentient superweapon that's talking to him that just LOOKS like rose.), there's just all in all a lot of Multiple Versions Of The Same Few People which can be hard to keep track of. like it's just confusing to read sometimes. not too hard even if the endless silly nicknames for ten & eleven get annoying a bit.

and there's a bunch of inconsistencies too (and yes I know I know this is the who needs continuity show) between this and the episode and I guess moffat can do what he likes adapting his own stuff but he kinda missed out some good bits? doesn't even have the 'this is his grunge phase' line and some of the stuff that makes ten and eleven's dynamic so funny but has all these random extra scenes of kate lethbridge-stewart and osgood that are just ?????? we didn't need that there??? it wasn't reeeeally adding anything??? and in the episode ten and eleven cant see bad wolf/rose/the moment ar all but here they see it for a bit?? but like no reaction really from either of them even though ten at LEaST should have had a visceral moment of loss there or something. idk.

and then at the end where there's that curator guy who is tom baker and its kinda I think supposed to be ambiguous as to whether its really four or not or some kind of coincidence but in the book it's like 'ahah! i was really narrating as four all along!' but like how is that even possible sorry I know this is the time travel show but why is he there and what is the implication? i think it's cos 11 says 'oh I could retire and be a curator' and then four is all old n stuff and Is the curator but like???? he regenerated?? is this a ten/fourteen type situation of the far future like a decade before they came up with that and then why is four in 2013??? what?? idk did they just really really want tom baker in it?

and then there's more foreshadowing of peter capaldi as twelve and then ten says 'i don't want to go' again which you're supposed to find sad but is fitted in in the most awkward way possible like. he would not say that no one would have said that sentence just then sorry guys. the ending feels kinda rushed more so in the book cos the narrator (four?? eleven??? is literally Not Paying Attention to the last conversation and then there's a page that says HELP ME over a bunch of tally marks ?????? idk man????? also there's all this stuff in the comedic chapter interlude narration that's referring to 'chapter nine' 'stop trying to find chapter nine' is he just saying 'yeah ok the ninth doctor's not in this one sorry guys'???? i think so??

cos it starts with chapter eight which is the eighth doctor getting regenerated into the war doctor (a soldier in the time war, the very thing he was saying he'd never become) (more of Moffat retrospectively Majorly Altering Canon) which was uhm. quite the scene cos in the episode he chooses it?? but in the book it says he was forced to by the sisterhood of karn???? what???????????? if that's so then why isn't that made Very Clear in the episode???? girl what???? there's lots of references to classic who which is fun but then he goes and says 'oh yeah btw one and two were actually colourblind that's why 1963-69 was in black and white' like okay. that's a slightly stupid writing decision which every other author has managed to ignore because it doesn't matter that they were in black and white cos the show started airing IN THE SIXTIES you can accept the limitations of historical content into canon!! he did the exact same thing in twice upon a time when he made One make sexist jokes so he could point out how progressive the show was Now which actually backfires Majorly because it makes The Doctor sexist instead of making The White British Colonial Men Who Wrote It In 1960s England sexist like ausgnauhgnshansghn CMON! and on that note Why Is This STuff So Sexualised like????? there was no need to say that the doctor found clara pretty, or rose/bad wolf/the moment/whatever, ten ends up marrying queen Elizabeth I which is kinda funny ngl but some of the things eleven says about that! is so weird! and unnecessary! and theres the fuckinhnsaa scene with the comparing the size of the sonic screwdrivers which is SO BAD LIKE YUCKKKK WHAT WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT IN THERE ITS A FAMILY SHOW DUDE and like all the women at some point have a Comment on their appearance except for maybe kate lethbridge-stewart but idk. ahjsajnsajnsan. ick. and moffat just changes canon around all the time! gallifrey is gone again! but not really! but now it's back for real! the hybrid! (still don't know what was up with that) the impossible girl! mels/melody/river song! why!

and like some of it was so good!! the three doctors who are all the same person but not the same person, and some of the character writing was really really good & the interactions between different regenerations and like i Knew sometimes when ten was speaking cos the way he reacts to his own issues is so predictable (good predictable. like he has A Way He Acts its fascinating) and how they talk to each other (themself) as a representation of what the doctor is always struggling with about the decisions he's made. and i love the 'time lord art is bigger on the inside' bit that's really cool & when the war doctor starts the calculations and then eleven can finish them cos its four hundred years later even though they're in the same room together, like that's cool! moffat understands how to use timey-wimey stuff in the time travel show and he does it very well, a lot more (and better) than russell t davies does. but i watch this episode and think what no i really like this one and then i think about it and There Are Problems!!

anyways. uhm. haha. my favourite show 👍

#day of the doctor #doctor who #i wont tag this as moffat that feels mean. i dont vehemently dislike him i swear i just have Questions

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deadcactuswalking · 8 months ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 06/04/2024 (Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER)

Welp, as one would expect, she gets the double, the #1 album with COWBOY CARTER and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” is back up top. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we shall start with our notable dropouts - songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the chart or a peak in the top 40 - and this week, we bid adieu to some big deals: “FRI(END)S” by V (more BTS on the way), “BURN” by Hitler and Goebbels, “Coal” by Dylan Gossett, “Grey” by Yung Filly, “Selfish” by Justin Timberlake, “redrum” by 21 Savage, “Nothing Matters” by The Last Dinner Party, “Strangers” by Kenya Grace and finally, “Escapism.” by RAYE featuring 070 Shake.

As for our returns, we see “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi back to bottom-dwell at #75 and #74, alongside “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo at #71, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac, they’re basically all in the same boat. Notable gains on the other hand… we see boosts for “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift at #67, “if u think i’m pretty” by Artemas at #52, “FE!N” by Travis Scott featuring Playboi Carti at #50, “Never be Lonely” by Jax Jones and Zoe Wees at #41, sigh, “Been Like This” by Meghan Trainor and T-Pain at #40, SIGH, “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners at #38, “Slow it Down” by Benson Boone at #27 (likely even further next week thanks to the album), “Happier” by The Blessed Madonna and Clementine Douglas at #26, “Back on 74” by Jungle at #25 (what a great new run this is having), “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor at #22, and finally, Artemas gets his first top 10 with “i like the way you kiss me”. I mean, at least it’s interesting.

Now our top five should look pretty familiar: “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” by Ariana Grande at #5, “Too Sweet” by Hozier at #4, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #2 and of course Bey knocks Benjamin Boonerang off the #1 to #2 with “Beautiful Things”. Now to talk about - let’s be real - Beyoncé and some minor cameos.

New Entries

#64 - “NEURON” - j-hope, Gaeko and YOON MIRAE

Produced by Pdogg

So, j-hope of BTS released an album - or it seems more like a mixtape - that landed at #38 on the albums chart thanks to the classic BTS sales. Whilst there doesn’t appear to be a clear single on the project, especially considering j-hope was always more of a rapper in the group, but this got the video treatment and is very much what I expect from j-hope, at least from the very little I’ve heard of his solo work. It’s got a set of blissful pads against a vocoder sample and surprisingly heavy-hitting boom bap drums, as well as sing-songy rap flows in a nasal, almost J. Cole-like delivery that could be about love but keep it vaguer in the verse, it might be more conscious and spiritual, especially considering the focus on neuron activation. Gaeko is a lot more explicitly introspective, looking back on his life and how he’s not as aggressive as he used to be in his youth, finding more solace in playing ball with his son that “embracing the bomb” - some of the Genius translation could miss out some detail or context here. Now YOON MIRAE, a female rapper, really brings the heat here, as the intensity of the pianos ramp up, the beat gets a tad more minimal and she raps bilingually in a deeper yell than either of the guys here can cough up. She speaks somewhat generically of the rap game and motivation to grind, but her riffing on the final chorus is what convinces me, as well as her acknowledging that she’s granted the beat drop in the song, it shows an awareness of the structure of the song and not just being a guest rap verse, it’s clever and interesting, really puts the verse into perspective. So I ended up really liking this - it’s a bit fluffy, as K-pop often is, but it’s got grit and meaning to it this time around, and with the variety in flows, focused content, I can dig this.

#62 - “Jump” - Tyla, Gunna and Skillibeng

Produced by Sammy Sosa

I quite liked Tyla’s self-titled debut, currently at #33 on the albums chart. The South African singer brings a reassuring, youthful joy to detailed production and it’s all a light, feathery bliss that’s just a delight to sit through, even if the record is clearly not for sitting. I have a full first-impressions review on my RateYourMusic listening log (the account is exclusivelytopostown) if you want more thoughts on that, but my favourite moments on the album are when guest features with a little more smolder are brought in to balance the sweetness, like with Tems on “No. 1” and with Gunna and Jamaican deejay Skillibeng on this track, “Jump”, which has a subtle sprinkling of Afrobeats guitars and keys over the very unsubtle rhythm section, a great deep bass and busy drums that can counter the choir vocals in the verses as well as Tyla belting a tad on the chorus. There’s little substance to it - it’s just about being hot and having fun, with a hilariously repetitive post-chorus, but both Tyla and Gunna shout out her native Johannesburg and if you were expecting anything of further depth, you’re just listening to the wrong album. This is a lot of fun and I hope it catches on.

#61 - “I LUV IT” - Camila Cabello featuring Playboi Carti

Produced by El Guincho and Jasper Harris

Sometimes I wish this show was a video series. For this entry, I would probably just point and laugh at the calculated attempt to be interesting, for a demographic I’m a part of, and failing so catacylismically that no-one is buying it or bothering to listen more than once. I don’t mean to be harsh, and I’m not blaming the artists, more so the label and marketing teams: when releasing a pop single, you first have to consider - who is this for? Who can you appeal to and how? Here, Camila has her own fanbase already, so she’s going to try and appeal to them, naturally. Also, it has a very edgy, cinematic video for fans of say, The Weeknd or people who watch Euphoria. Sure, okay, that could work. Oh, and the song sounds like Charli XCX - though she recruited ROSALÍA’s producer - so she’s trying to appeal to her hyperpop crowd, that’s fine, you’re stretching yourself a bit thin there though, it could be a bit too camp for the edgy crowd if you do that, and a bit too dark for the hyperpop crowd if you get Playboi Carti on board, because I guess she needs a rap crossover audience… or at least an experimental rap crossover audience in this case. At least she’s not using a nostalgia-bait sample of a Gucci Mane song from… oh, she’s using a nostalgia-bait sample of a Gucci Mane song from 2009. Okay, so I guess the target demographic is everyone now, but hyperpop fans like authenticity, and this clearly doesn’t have it. Carti fans hate women, Camila’s own fans, if her old comments are anything to go by, hate… “rappers”, let’s say that. And really, what person who would be nostalgic for Gucci’s “Lemonade” - never charted here, by the way - would even be keeping an eye out for Camila Cabello? This is just a travesty of a lead single… and the song’s brilliant, all of that context just makes what the eventual end product is completely hilarious.

I’ve always been an advocate for mess in pop music - not necessarily the discourse, but the music itself and the rollout surrounding it - because it is exciting and part of the reason I do this show. There are more fascinating stories to be told with music when it reaches a mass audience, it’s just natural, and that’s especially interesting when the song is a Goddamn trainwreck that’s catchy as sin and does everything wrong. There are rage synths that don’t last the entire measure for no reason - and they don’t try and hide it - whilst the synths on the chorus play the role of a theremin. Cabello not being able to sing all that well means that her playing staccato, hyperpop robo-girl over a pretty rote Jersey club groove actually goes really well for her, even if she inexplicably decorates the song in breathy ad-libs as if she herself was Playboi Carti. Speaking of ad-libs, they leave in Gucci’s original “brr”s in the chorus, seemingly out of either laziness or refusal to re-record the choir hook, and given both hooks are just mantras, there are basically two choruses instead of an active chorus/post-chorus dynamic, especially since there is no considerable change sonically or tonally between the two. This lack of structure culminates in a “bridge” that is JUST multi-tracked ad-libs, and features Cabello saying “slow down, baby”… the tempo remains the same entirely and the drums don’t go into half-time like they probably should for a Playboi Carti feature. He goes for his deep, richer voice and the song just kind of… ends with his verse? Barely catching up to the beat, Carti rambles as usual, even less coherent in his mumbling than usual, and eventually, Cabello tries to insert herself into his orbit, it’s so painful. It’s telling that when I search for this song on Spotify, the artists recommended to me are Carti, Charli and then Ken Carson and Lancey Foux. Camila herself is nowhere to be seen in that list of artists and whether that’s because there’s none of her personality in this song or she didn’t have any to begin with is a question for another day. For now, this is garbage. I love it.

#60 - “Outside of Love” - Becky Hill

Produced by PARISI

Now Becky Hill kind of has something to prove to me now, she’s been on increasingly better production that fits the places she wants to go with her voice a lot more as of recent and it’s been pretty promising. Also promising are PARISI, a duo who I mostly connect with Fred again.. but have also worked extensively with Ed Sheeran, and particularly on some of his most interestingly layered songs vocally like “Afterglow” and “Visiting Hours” which may be a coincidence but had me really excited for what the boys could do with Ms. Hill. Turns out it probably was a coincidence, the vocal mixing is kind of mediocre actually, they don’t really contain her belting very well, not that it really needs containing given this is fully in festival mode. Everytrinkling synth pad, house kick, it feels like it’s a constant light fluttering under Hill’s desperate attempt to jigsaw this relationship back together. I know it’s an EDM-pop track so the lyrics are little to write home about but it should still be said that the description of herself as on the “outside of love” is interesting imagery, it makes me wonder what could be done with that concept by a more poetic writer who has a bit more time and, let’s be real, a fitting sonic palette for that kind of lyricism. Whilst this hasn’t immediately clicked with me as much as the past two, I feel I’ll appreciate this one for just being a maximalist bop with terribly-mixed gospel-like vocals on the final drop, it goes for an onslaught of everything in a very admirable way. It’s cute, it reminds me of when 2000s Eurodance hits would go way harder than they needed to simply to raise the dramatic stakes. So yeah, another Becky Hill song I like. World’s crumbling.

#9 - “II MOST WANTED” - Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus

Produced by Beyoncé, Shawn Everett, Michael Pollack, Miley Cyrus and Jonathan Rado

So, there’s a Beyoncé album, I think? It’s got a country and western tinge to it. Heard it’s long, heard it’s pretty good. Haven’t heard it. I probably will not listen to it and I’m not saying that to be “cool” or contrarian because if I were, I’d have listened to it and pretended to hate it. Realistically, I don’t have a dog in the Beyoncé does country argument. I’m not a country fan, or a country hater, I’m not a big Beyoncé fan, or Azealia Banks, so I have nothing valuable to contribute to the discourse as well as no reason to hear a damn near feature-length record. When Beyoncé did house, firstly, she did it well, and secondly, I’m a fan of house music! I know more about it than other genres, I’m quite educated in certain subgenres and I recognised a few of the samples and cultural references she was lifting from on RENAISSANCE. I feel like most of them may be lost on me or not fully resonate when discussing her pivot to country music, and I wish that wasn’t the case. Part of me just wants to say that I listen to Weezer and future bass so leave me alone. Thankfully, the British public has given me the easiest plate of two tracks from this album: a Dolly Parton cover and a mid Miley duet. It’s about being a ride-or-die, it’s got soaring guitars and both ladies have an audible rasp and grit to their voices, even if Miley ends up like a backing vocalist at times to Bey. They’re trading lyrics or in harmony nearly all the time, and Miley plays it a lot calmer than Bey, naturally, who probably wants and needs to prove herself in country pop more than the seasoned player. Hell, I actually think their chemistry here is awkward and not accentuated by the vague western-soundfont lyrics that don’t play into any notable angle, and in the bridge, just kind of give up on themselves. It’s a bit disappointing, to say the least.

#8 - “JOLENE” - Beyoncé

Produced by Beyoncé, Khirye Tyler, Jack Ro and NOVA WAV

Dolly Parton’s iconic 1973 jam “Jolene”, begging desperately for this beautiful woman not to cheat on her husband, is pretty undeniable, right? Well, I’ve never really liked it, sorry to say. My taste in country is pretty horrific, I’ll be the first to admit, but I’ve always found the instrumentation underwhelming and going for sinister when Dolly is selling it with a long of strength and desperacy, like she’s at her last tether. The sapphic elements are compelling of course, but they collapse in the third verse, then it fades out having sonically done nothing much at all. There’s always been something breezy about it to me that I never really understood, and that’s no disrespect to Dolly, she’s easily my favourite part. Regardless, this is one of those times where I have to give a chart history, so flashback to 1976, when “Jolene” first lands on the UK charts and peaks at #7, when “Combine Harvester” by the Wurzels was #1. I know that one because of my dad, if you haven’t heard that song… you know what, don’t.

“Jolene” was Dolly’s first top 10 over here and ended up re-entering a few times in the 2010s. Before that came many re-imaginings. First, in 1985, we had Glasgow’s Strawberry Switchblade cover the song, in a weird mix of new wave, freestyle and western elements that really show what performative country aesthetics can be, because this has more to do with darkwave than anything from the Deep South. It peaked at #53 and it is terrible. The 2000s is where the covers really ramped up, firstly in 2000 with the #100-peaking cover by London alt-rock outfit Queenadreena. Seemingly not on streaming, it came with their original, “Pretty Polly”, and fully goes into the dark cabaret aesthetic, especially in that... choice of a music video. I think I might prefer it to the original, it makes Jolene sound like an evil woman who I would like to step on me. We also saw a #99 peak for a song in 2007 by folk singer Ray LaMontagne also coincidentally called “Jolene” - it’s not a cover, but it’s a pretty great, tragic narrative ballad if you’re interested. Good accidental discovery to make. My favourite cover of “Jolene”, however, and the only version to get close to Dolly’s original peak until Queen Bey was the version recorded by the garage rock duo, The White Stripes, specifically a 2004 live version that peaked at #16. Now, am I biased because I love Jack White? Yes. Yes, I am, and so does Beyoncé, so shush. Everyone and their mother has covered Dolly, but out of all “Jolene” renditions I’ve heard, Jack just sounds the most devastated, and the eventual crash into distorted, hapless guitars and Meg White’s ugly-ass snares after that rushed, chaotic percussion panned exclusively to the left throughout, is incredibly cathartic. And that’s just the studio version - the live version that charted is even more dire and Jack is downright pathetic on it, worsened by the audience wooing, cheering and clapping on occasion, it eggs on Jolene in a way and publicises his angst “Jolene - Live Under Blackpool Lights” might honestly be one of the greatest cover songs of all time.

So how does Beyoncé fare? Well, she changes a lot of the lyrics to act more as a warning to people attempting to take JAY-Z instead of desperately begging Jolene not to get with JAY-Z, mostly because I don’t think Beyoncé could easily sell being helpless, especially in the context of her husband - we all heard Lemonade. I’m not sure how effectively you can sell the warning shot either considering, well, there was a Becky with some good hair who did all of this a few years ago. Sonically, I’m not head over heels for what sounds like a pretty rote rendition, even if Beyoncé’s vocals and some of the lyrics add a lot of character that simply isn’t in the instrumental. The backing vocal repeating “Jolene” at sporadic intervals, I can’t figure out exactly who it is, probably The-Dream, but he reminds me of Wyclef Jean on “Hips Don’t Lie”. That’s my intellectual observation. I just used a review of a song from the biggest black female country album ever to talk about a guy whose last name is literally White. When she releases a pop punk album, I’ll be more in tune, but for now, leave it to Azealia Banks and Spectrum Pulse, I’m sure if you combined the two, you’d create Frankenstein’s cultural critic.

Conclusion

Fascinatingly enough, this was a great week outside of Beyoncé, who takes away Worst of the Week for “II MOST WANTED” with Miley Cyrus and the Dishonourable Mention for her cover of “JOLENE”. Neither song are terrible, but I think I established in both reviews that my general disinterest for the album doesn’t entirely cover a lot of the flaws I believe are present in these tracks, I’m sorry. Again, I like Beyoncé, just not these particular records. As for the best… oh, God, it’s Camila Cabello’s “I LUV IT” featuring Playboi Carti, isn’t it? Honourable Mention goes to Tyla, Gunna and Skillibeng for “Jump” but I think I’ll have to spend a few days in rehab recovering from picking the other song as my Best of the Week. As for what’s on the horizon, more insufferable discourse as J. Cole drops a surprise diss record. Other than that, Charli XCX links with Gesaffelstein, Benson links with Boone and there’s new tracks from Bryson Tiller, Ava Max and the Imagine Dragons. All of it could chart, none of it could chart, we’ll see. For now, however, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #beyonce #cowboy carter #miley cyrus #dolly parton #white stripes #becky hill #camila cabello #playboi carti #tyla #gunna #skillibeng #j-hope #gaeko #yoon mirae

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