songs of the week

6 Best New Songs of the Week

Every week, Vulture highlights 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.

Bon Iver, “22 (OVER S∞∞N)”
A friend of mine once asked me, with no context, “Who is that musician that literally everyone likes?” I paused for a few beats before offering up, “Maybe Bon Iver?” I was right. He was asking about Bon Iver, and knew nothing about the band besides the fact that everyone liked them and he wanted to find their music. And at that moment I realized I actually didn’t know anyone with a dissenting opinion on Bon Iver. Surely they exist, but considering everyone’s a critic, it’s shocking how beloved the group is. Kanye West has even called front man Justin Vernon his “favorite living artist” and “one of the baddest white boys on the planet.” Maybe it’s because Bon Iver’s music produces the same sonic vibrations as actual human feelings, so when they hit you it actually feels like the sounds came from you as opposed to from the hands of a bunch of musicians you’ve never met. Or maybe their music is just really pretty. At the very least, that’s exactly what “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” is, and really pretty music is always welcome. — Jordan Crucchiola (@jorcru)

Danny L. Harle ft. Carly Rae Jepsen, “Super Natural”
Carly Rae Jepsen and PC Music, together at last! Rumors of a collaboration between the Canadian bubblegum-pop sweetheart and the enigmatic avant-pop collective have been flying for awhile, and the first official track, Danny L. Harle’s “Super Natural,” is a buoyant marriage of CRJ’s sincerity and Harle’s winking nods to traditional pop and EDM tropes. Like the lovers with an instant and easy connection that Carly describes in “Super Natural,” this collab is a perfect match: It’s saccharine enough to please all of Carly’s hopeless romantic fans, yet it’s injected with enough levity and self-awareness to make it a sugar high without the draining comedown. —Samantha Rollins (@SamanthaRollins)

GRiZ, “Before I Go” ft. Leo Napier
Grant Kwiecinski (a.k.a. GRiZ) makes “future funk” and, for seven minutes, that’s just what you get on “Before I Go.” The producer rains down horns and keys and saxophone around the soulful vocals of Leo Napier, who has previously collaborated with GRiZ on tracks like “A Fine Way to Die” and “Turnin.” “Before I Go” swings and thumps and it should be listened to very loudly. Move all the furniture out of the way so you can dance properly to this one. –JC

Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane, “Black Beatles”
If ever you’re feeling inadequate, take a moment to scroll through Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi’s tweets and get empowered from the dozens of memes of the brothers Sremmurd inserting themselves into iconic Beatles photos. I can’t think of two more opposite worlds colliding and, yet, they gel nicely. Swae and Slim don’t even have to sample the Beatles or mention them, really (though kudos to Swae Lee for this: “Rockin John Lennon lenses like to see ‘em spread eagle”); it’s the mere idea planted so firmly in Rae Sremmurd’s head that they already compare to the greatest band ever that make this song such a revelation. From the dudes who made “No Flex Zone” comes their biggest flex yet. We should’ve known it was coming after Swae Lee had a hand in writing the line “I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making” for Beyoncé. —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)

Whethan ft. Ashe, “Can’t Hide”
 “Can’t Hide” is a kicky pop track about new romantic beginnings from 17-year-old producer Whethan, with vocals from Ashe, that sound like summer nights and Halsey. Imagine a sad-faced boy at a party, milling about in a corner with other things on his mind, when a curious girl walks up to him and says, “Hell, I know how it is sometimes. You’re holding on trying to forget them all night. Till you’re drunk and you text that other ex, the one that said they would be there when you needed them.” He looks at her sheepishly, then she says, “Don’t waste your time with looking back. They’re broken pieces of past. Come here and make some love that, make some love that lasts.” Girl then escorts Boy to the dance floor and they groove to indie-pop jams until the sun comes up. Bonus points to Whethan on this one for excellent use of whistling. —JC

Leon Bridges, “Ball of Confusion” (Temptations cover)
I’ve always felt Leon Bridges was a man well beyond his years — finally, it’s confirmed. For Netflix’s The Get Down, he’s covered the Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion,” a quintessential ‘70s protest song. It was produced by Kendrick Lamar collaborator Terrace Martin, and it’s a dream. The song choice itself could not be more prescient for this summer of chaos (“So, round and around and around we go/Where the world’s headed, nobody knows”), and the arrangement gives it just enough of an update so as not to tamper with the genius of the original but still make it feel like Leon could’ve written it himself yesterday and you wouldn’t tell the difference. All covers should live up to this standard. —DL

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