Every week, Vulture and friends highlight the best new music. If the song is worthy of your ears and attention, you will find it here. Read our picks below, share yours in the comments, and subscribe to the Vulture Playlist for a comprehensive guide to the year’s best music.
Ariana Grande, “Be Alright”
I begged and begged for a “Be My Baby” sequel, and wouldn’t you know it, I got my wish. This is the second song we’ve heard from Dangerous Woman — premiered, with voguing, on SNL — and it’s better than the title track. We all know Ari can sing her face off; she doesn’t have to actually go blue in the face to prove it. I prefer when she dips into her small Mariah whistles and less-busy vocal flourishes to make that point. Also, this is just pure bouncy Kidz Bop deep house — and it works, minus that unfortunate title. (The only “Alright” we acknowledge is Kendrick’s.) —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)
Hundred Waters, “Show Me Love” (Skrillex remix)
Skrillex’s remix extends Nicole Miglis’s original journal entry turned song by nearly three minutes and employs Chance the Rapper, Moses Sumney, and Robin Hannibal to make the already-alluring prayer for positivity even more addicting. The video, below, also marks Skrillex’s directorial debut. If you like what you hear, you can snag the song via Loveback — the platform lets you download after leaving a donation, which will go directly to artists collaborating at Hundred Waters’ forthcoming free music festival, FORM Arcosanti, and will give you the chance to win hang time with HW, Skrillex, and Moses. —Sean Fitz-Gerald (@srkfitzgerald)
Mark Pritchard ft. Thom Yorke, “Beautiful People”
You can probably count on one hand the amount of features Thom Yorke has done in his expansive career. Now he’s lent his voice to a new song from producer Mark Pritchard’s new album — Pritchard also once remixed Radiohead’s “Bloom,” if you’re wondering the connection — that is absolutely stunning. It’s built atop a tranquil instrumental that’s later layered with synths and Yorke’s own muffled, lovelorn vocals. There’s no telling when that new Radiohead will drop (they’ve announced a tour and started a couple companies, so stand by), but this is some damn fine filler until then. —DL
SBTRKT ft. The-Dream, “Good Morning”
How The-Dream and SBTRKT’s respective production circles ever overlapped, we’ll probably never know, but the British producer couldn’t have picked a better collaborator for his first offering since his last album. I love The-Dream over a beat that soars higher than his falsetto (like, literally, remember the song “Higher”?). And not to start more EDM Twitter beef, but “Good Morning” borrows heavily from Hudson Mohawke’s (the horns!) and Flume’s last albums, owned here by SBTRKT’s flair for the ultra-cinematic. —DL
Lil Yachty ft. Quavo, “No Hook”
For whatever silly reason, I tried to tell myself I wouldn’t get on with Atlanta rap newcomer Lil Yachty’s debut mixtape, Lil Boat, but, fuck, it’s good. Like spring-into-summer anthem good. This is the kid with the red braids whom you may have seen “modeling” at Kanye’s Yeezy Season 3/TLOP debut. He’s something of an internet star, whose “1Night” went viral what feels like yesterday. “No Hook” didn’t make the mixtape’s cut (though Migos’s Quavo does still make an appearance), but it could’ve. It’s a woozy rap-sung trap-ish, poppish confection that you’ll either really like or really loathe. I’m kind of in neither camp; all I know is I’m finding it harder and harder to resist Lil Yachty. —DL
TRACE, “Honey”
I’d never heard of L.A.’s TRACE until today (shout out to Stereogum), but what an introduction. Any song named honey has to sound like it, and this “Honey” gets it right. It’s not obviously sweet, given she’s singing about a relatonship gone sour and trying everything in her power to save it. But that’s sweet in its own way, isn’t it? At one point, she exhales in desperation, “give me something I can keep,” and I can’t help but be reminded of Adele singing “give me a memory I can use” on “All I Ask.” Both songs are about love that’s come undone — each handled with the same delicate reverence. —DL
Baauer ft. M.I.A. and G-Dragon, “Temple”
The happiest accident of Baauer’s life is also probably the one that’s cursed him the most. I’m talking, of course, about his controversial viral hit “Harlem Shake”: It experienced success unlike any song of its kind had ever seen before, but it also painted him into a strange corner, setting him up to become EDM’s next one-hit wonder with not much else to offer. And yet, Baauer continues to exceed expectations. Last year’s “One Touch” and “Promises” were delightful dance-rap-pop bangers; now his debut album is here, and it’s wholly satisfying. We’ve previously highlighted the Future- and Pusha T-assisted, “Kung Fu,” but we have to talk about “Temple.” This. Song. Bangs. M.I.A. apparently reached out to Baauer directly to make it happen, and it has her and K-pop prince G-Dragon’s influence all over it, from their flow to the Asian instruments and sample. —DL
