This week in pop music saw a number of exciting releases. Ariana Grande and The Weeknd got together for a soaring remix, Jorja Smith announced an anticipated new project, and Chvrches made a grand return.
Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.
The Weeknd — “Save Your Tears (Remix)” Feat. Ariana Grande
Seven years after their first collaboration “Love Me Harder” was released, Ariana Grande teamed up once again with The Weeknd to rework his After Hours track “Save Your Tears.” Grande saccharine vocals melt seamlessly over the song’s serrated synths and adds the illusion that the two musicians are singly directly to each other in the track’s lovelorn lyrics.
Chvrches — “He Said She Said”
Returning for the first time since their 2018 LP, Chvrches make a thundering comeback to tease their next album with the fiery track “He Said She Said,” which details the exhaustion of being a woman. “‘He Said She Said’ is my way of reckoning with things I’ve accepted that I know I shouldn’t have,” Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry said. “Things I pretended weren’t damaging to me. […] All the verse lines are tongue-in-cheek or paraphrased versions of things that have actually been said to me by men in my life. Being a woman is f*cking exhausting and it felt better to scream it into a pop song than scream it into the void.”
Jorja Smith — “Gone”
After ushering in a new era with her hypnotic track “Addicted,” Jorja Smith officially announces her upcoming project Be Right Back with the snappy tune “Gone.” “There’s something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others,” Smith said about the track. “I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening. This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us.”
Porter Robinson — “Unfold” Feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
After a period of creative turmoil, Porter Robinson‘s sophomore album Nurture finally saw the light of day this week. The polished effort includes the touching song “Unfold,” which showcases the album’s hopeful sound. “This album came about during a period of intense creative and emotional struggle,” Robinson said of Nurture. “I had structured my life around the expectation that the only thing that made me happy was writing music. But it was exactly that obsession and imbalance that made writing music an impossibility for me for years.”
Kero Kero Bonito — “Well Rested”
Kero Kero Bonito dropped the three-track EP Civilisation II this week. Their track “Well Rested” is bright and airy, a distinct juxtaposition to it’s theme. “Well Rested” (future), our longest track yet at over seven minutes, addresses The Resurrection and humanity’s distant future,” Kero Kero Bonito said. “It’s a humanist manifesto for the Anthropocene in several parts incorporating chants, an insistent four-to-the-floor and field recordings of natural sites.”
Rebecca Black — “Personal”
Rebecca Black’s hyperpop comeback is already well underway. After featuring on a handful of tracks, reworking her infamous song “Friday,” and sharing the anthem “Girlfriend,” Rebecca Black is getting more “Personal” with her latest single. “’Personal’ represents this reckoning with a consequence of heartbreak I hadn’t really ever understood, which was the guilt and heaviness that comes with being the one to put an end to a relationship when that is not what the other person wants,” Black said. “I’ve learned you can’t really stop two people on roads heading in opposite directions, and it can feel so difficult to consciously make a decision that you know will hurt someone you love, while at the same time knowing it’s the necessary choice for yourself at the end of the day.”
Amber Mark — “Worth It”
Sharing a healthy dose of empowerment, Amber Mark makes a shimmering return with “Worth It,” her first new single in over a year. “We are our own worst critics, and I feel at times we are the hardest on ourselves,” Mark said about the song. “I wrote this song as a mantra to myself in order to lift my spirits in situations where I feel worthless. Whether someone has put you down or you’ve done it to yourself this song is meant to help you pick yourself up again and remind you just how worthy you are of happiness.”
Deadmau5, Rezz — “Hypnocurrency”
Two of the biggest producers in electronic music, Deadmau5 and Rezz, came together to serve up the expressive single “Hypnocurrency.” The track, which the two musicians have been teasing for some time, teeters between bass-heavy beats and bouyant synths.
Ashe — “When I’m Older”
After gaining a following through a handful of singles and EPs, Ashe officially announces her forthcoming debut album Ashlyn with the introspective track “When I’m Older.” “’When I’m Older’ is a record about saying ‘I had all these moments with you and all these memories, and you took up such a big part of my life, that God, I hope that when 10 years from now, 15 years from now, I hope that I don’t miss you anymore,’” she says. “‘I hope that I’m not still telling stories about you or still thinking about you, which ultimately, I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s a good hope.’”
Sasha Sloan — “When Was It Over?” Feat. Sam Hunt
Following up on her 2020 debut album Only Child, Sasha Sloan teamed up with country star Sam Hunt to share a new collaboration. Detailing how the song came about, Sloan said: “‘When Was It Over?’ is about not being able to let go of someone even when you know there’s nothing left. [Co-writer Shane McAnally] brought the title into the room and Sam and I both loved it. The rest fell into place from there.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.