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.
Charli XCX, “Boysâ€
Charli XCX surely loves her girlfriends, but her new song “Boys†is the anti–“hoes before bros†anthem. But which came first in Charli’s mind? Having a music video filled with around 60 different gents doing charming things, or a cheeky little tune about being so preoccupied by thinking about boys that she’s no longer able to function? Charli isn’t even singing about having sex with so many boys in this song. She’s just entirely too busy thinking about and dreaming about them to call you back. Good for her, though, that she’s not just caught up on one boy, but all the cute boys under the rainbow. She’s wants to catch ’em all, and judging by the turnout in the video, she’s on her way to succeeding. —Jordan Crucchiola (@jorcru)
Kelela, “LMKâ€
As someone who’s barely dated, I find myself easily agitated by the modern politics of the game. No one says what they mean or does what they say because, ultimately, no one knows what they want. But someone always wants something. If it’s sex, we’ll front like it’s like love to get more. If it’s love, we’ll pretend it’s anything but. Kelela’s tremendous, thumping Arca-produced return “LMK†is about just that — cutting the bullshit and setting boundaries that can’t be compromised. She’s out for the night with her girls, not with the intention of finding a sexual partner, but should the opportunity arise, so be it. And that’s it, that’s all she wants. “It ain’t that deep, baby / No one’s trying to settle down,†she makes plain. We’d all do well to be this respectful of people’s emotional space and communicative about what it is we’re doing with them. Just let! them! know! —Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)
Alex Cameron ft. Angel Olsen, “Stranger’s Kissâ€
Alex Cameron is one person, but Alex Cameron the musical project is actually two. It’s Cameron and sax player Roy Molloy, who injects an authentic blast of Clarence Clemons sax wailing into “Stranger’s Kiss,†a song undeniably made in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen, but a little warped too. An actual lyric here is “I got shat on by an eagle, baby,†and while it’s completely ridiculous, it seems like a pretty good way of describing a general sentiment about America right now. Ridiculousness aside, Cameron is great at grand emotional statements that would be laughable if he wasn’t selling them so hard — and that’s what he does here, alongside guest vocals from Angel Olsen. By the way, Girls’ Jemima Kirke stars in this video. —Sam Hockley-Smith (@shockleysmith)
Snakehips and Anne-Marie ft. Joey Bada$$, “Either Wayâ€
It’s 100 degrees outside in L.A., so listen to this cool jam. “You decide where we go if you wanna. My place or yours?†Obviously, the answer is whichever one has air-conditioning. As long as you’re listening to this song, though, you’ll be good either way. —JC
Jessie Ware, “Midnightâ€
Over the last few years since Jessie Ware became beloved by anyone with taste in elegant voices, she’s gotten married and had a baby. And yet she still manages to sing about true love like it’s this unattainable, unfathomable, dangerous thing. I suppose there is a certain risk in allowing yourself to fully fall for someone and trust that they’ll be kind to your heart. That seems to be the only way Ware’s experienced love; it’s all or nothing for her. The extremes make every song, including her latest, “Midnight,†sound sweeping, dramatic, and yet still polished top to bottom. Ware’s voice just floats and commits to the performance in ways that put her in a league above most of her peers. “Midnight†is the most exquisite bluesy ballad she’s ever made. —DL
Open Mike Eagle ft. Has Lo, “95 Radiosâ€
Any time anyone makes a song about how the way they used to listen to music was more authentic and, therefore, better, I groan. It’s not because they’re wrong, but because it’s very difficult to say, “In my day it was harder, and therefore simpler, which means it was better and more rewarding†without coming off like you’re just cranky about “young people today.†I have to give Open Mike Eagle credit, though, because he writes about the very specific difficulty of radio-based music listening with warmth and melancholic humor. He’s not trying to say it was better then, but his love for the innocence he associates with that part of his life shines through, and it’s contagious. —SH-S