Trey Songz, whom you may know as “a young man with a whole lotta cash, just looking for a lady I can spend on,†has a new song that’s perhaps even more seductive than “I Need a Girl.†It’s called “Invented Sex,†and it’s a state-of-the-art, shamelessly literal R&B ballad that, despite its title, does the very opposite of reinventing the wheel: The ingratiating mini-hooks and dreamy whooshing effects are about the most familiar sounds a person acquainted with radio could hear right about now, and isn’t sexual appeal deeply invested in comfort and familiarity? (Though we have to admit the punning promise of a “magnum lifestyle†— magnums of Champagne, magnum-size Lifestyles — could be a turn-on.) Experience the track, featuring Drake, via Pigeons and Planes.
And then there’s the video for “Raindrops,†from the Basement Jaxx, which eschews comfort, familiarity, and the guarantee of romantic toasts and comically oversize prophylactics in favor of a vision of sexual congress inside of a large tent at Burning Man. The music’s all pulsing ecstatic climax, naturally — which is sexy if you’re into the kind of feverish, sweaty coupling that leaves one drained and speechless, rather than the careful, loving kind that ebbs into murmured pillow talk and the langorous passing of tissues. So who’s got the hotter song? Go ahead, in the comments: “Dear Vulture, I never thought this would happen to me … â€