This week in the best new pop music saw a number of album announcements. Troye Sivan teamed up with Tate McRae for a sparkling tune, Bebe Rexha made an emotional return, and Julia Michaels officially announced her debut single with a vulnerable track.
Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.
Troye Sivan, Tate McRae, Regard — “You”
Following up on his 2020 EP In A Dream, Troye Sivan teamed up with Tate McRae for the effervescent synth-heavy number “You.” Over cascading keys, the two singers harmonize about having difficulty moving on from a past relationship.
Bebe Rexha — “Sabotage”
The last we heard from Bebe Rexha, she was a vampire on the hunt for some fresh blood in her “Sacrifice” video. But with her new track “Sabotage,” Bebe is taking a page from her diary with the personal tune. “‘Sabotage’ is one of the most vulnerable songs on my new album, Better Mistakes,” Bebe said in a statement. “It’s just as beautiful as it is painfully honest. I admit to getting in my own way when things are going well. I know I am not alone in experiencing self-sabotage during life’s most precious moments, and this ballad is an acknowledgment that sometimes we are our own worst enemy.”
Julia Michaels — “Love Is Weird”
Julia Michaels may have started her career as a songwriter for other artists, but with her new track “Love Is Weird,” Michaels officially announces her debut album Not In Chronological Order. For Michaels, the LP follows her journey from heartbreak to new love. “I’m not bitter about love anymore,” she said about the album. “I know what functional love is like and being in love and being hesitant about that love because it feels so perfect.”
Ingrid Michaelson, Zayn — “To Begin Again”
Ingrid Michaelson tapped ex-One Direction member Zayn for “To Begin Again,” a love letter to the resilience of New York City dwellers. In a statement about the track, Michaelson said she originally penned the track the night Joe Biden won the election and it felt like everyone around her was rejoicing: “I wrote ‘To Begin Again’ the night that Biden won,” Michaelson said. “There was so much joy in my neighborhood. Pots and pans being banged out of windows. Horns and whistles. Clapping. Singing! The collective sigh of relief resonated with me in such a way that I had to get it out musically.”
Girl In Red — “You Stupid B*tch”
Offering another taste of her upcoming album If I Could Make It Go Quiet, Girl In Red shared the head-spinning track “You Stupid B*tch.” According to the singer, the track is about a complicated friendship. “I was always there for this person who would get their heart broken, and I would just come running,” she said. “I would drop everything just to be there for them. That person would never see me as anything else than just a friend, even though I feel like I could’ve made her so happy…”
Marina — “Purge The Poison”
Another album announcement arrived this week, this time from Marina. The singer had previously teased her upcoming LP Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land with an empowering single and now, Marina shared the charged track “Purge The Poison,” which warns against the impending affects of climate change.
Baby Queen — “Dover Beach”
Following her 2020 debut EP Medicine, Baby Queen has been expanding on her anti-pop sound with a handful of singles this year, “Dover Beach” now being her latest. “It’s about being infatuated with somebody and seeing them everywhere you look,” Baby Queen said about the track. “I was kind of pissed that I went to look at the beach, all I could think about was this person, hence the lyric “you stole the view of Dover Beach.” It’s another internal struggle with my own insecurities and a sort of acceptance of the fact that I can’t escape my daydreams of this person, even if I go to a different place.”
Cautious Clay — “Karma & Friends”
After making a name for himself through a handful of EPs, Cautious Clay officially announced his debut album Deadpan Love with the bouncy single “Karma & Friends.” “Deadpan Love explores the ways I cope with the worst of what humanity has to offer,” Clay said in a statement. “It’s about opposites—having an outer layer that’s tougher, this ‘deadpan’ state, and an inner layer of compassion, where you’re open to being there for the people you care about. It’s this warring compassion and cynicism that has empowered me to express myself through this medium.”
Chet Faker — “Whatever Tomorrow”
It’s been nearly seven years since Chet Faker, moniker of musician Nick Murphy, released his 2014 album Built On Glass. He previously teased a return with the resonating singles “Low” and “Get High” but now, Chet Faker makes his comeback official by announcing his upcoming album Hotel Surrender with the track “Whatever Tomorrow.” “It’s a rebellion to this idea that you have to wait for the things you need,” Murphy says of the new track. “It felt like we were being sold tomorrow and we were paying for today. I was saying, ‘F*ck your tomorrow, we deserve our lives now.’”
Two Feet — “Flatline”
This Friday saw the release of the anticipated album Max Maco Is Dead Right? by Two Feet, which arrived with the driving track “Flatline.” “With Max Maco I’m trying to bring my stage persona to life,” Two Feet said about the album. “The character existed already as someone I would pretend to be when playing on stages in front of thousands of people, it always helped my nerves. Sharing his story has been a crazy experience, it largely wrote itself.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.