Bop Shop: Songs From Adele, CKay, Orion Sun, And More

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  Adele: "Easy on Me"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=U3ASj1L6_sY
  
  
  
  Adele is back, and the initial single off her forthcoming album, 30, out November 19, is a gut-wrenching moody ballad rife with riffs like only Adele can supply them. On “Easy on Me,” the singer croons over piano chords weaving a tale of love and loss. Simultaneously tender and gritty, it is heartbreakingly truthful and cute in its simplicity. True to form, Adele manages to capture the complexities of love in the length a number of minutes. Vulnerability, hope, and healing have a sound, plus it is Adele. —Virginia Lowman
  
  
  
  
  



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  CKay: "Love Nwantiti"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=7l22qaD31iE
  
  
  
  You can’t spend more than 15 minutes on TikTok or Instagram now without coming across CKay’s mesmerizing track “Love Nwantiti.” The Nigerian singer-songwriter and emo-Afrobeat artist is true to form as he pairs spellbinding vibes with suave vocals that describe an intense, toxic love. “Love Nwantiti,” which means “small love” in Igbo, enjoyed success once CKay first released it back 2019, however social media has turned the song into an international phenomenon that’s currently sitting at No. 2 on Billboard’s Global 200 and No. 35 on the Hot 100 without signs of slowing down. —Farah Zermane
  
  
  
  
  



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  Young Thug with Drake and Travis Scott: "Bubbly"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=uCDE-S1AjuQ
  
  
  
  you must admire Young Thug, a decade into stardom that's noticed him as much a fashion icon as a musical innovator, starting a star-studded song on his latest release, Punk, with the words, "My career 'bout to blast like bubbly." The next three minutes feature head-spinning verses from Thug and visitor Travis Scott before the beat slows down, of course, for Drake to bring things residence from the sky: "Buyin' out Louis and Christian Dior / I took the jet to the New York store." —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



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  Julia Wolf: "Nikes"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=nI99iyncMVg
  
  
  
  Don’t be put off if Julia Wolf leaves you on read; she’s just not “too much for talking.” On this clever cut, the New York-based indie-pop act examines her avoidant tendencies by way of the lens of her preference kicks. “Fill my shopping cart up with new Nikes / Scuff 'em all up like how I been treating your psyche / I get so indifferent I can never keep tidy,” she sing-raps over a synth-y beat. Attempt to get Wolf’s catchy chorus out of your head, I dare you. —Sam Manzella
  
  
  
  
  



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  Orion Sun: "Concrete"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=7QAz7HQbeos
  
  
  
  Last year, R&B-pop singer Orion Sun told MTV News that she certainly exist[s] in both optimism and nihilism." You wouldn't know it from the silky sonics and golden voice on display during "Concrete," her new single produced by Rostam. She evokes the power of her antecedents as she starts "sprouting from the underground via concrete" with all eyes seemingly turned to her. "The warm hands of my ancestors have guided me through such tough terrain," she says about the inspiration for the song. "I am comforted by them and in turn given the strength to keep going." —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



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  Charli XCX: “Good Ones”
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=kjAuUXdSFaM
  
  
  
  Charli XCX has done addictive earworms and hyperpop, although her newest single finds her at a crossroads between the two as she embraces her inner “ultra pop star.” An ode to her inability to preserve healthy relationships and penchant for toxicity, Charli streams disco and ‘80s pop as she breathily laments, “I want the bad ones / ‘Cause they’re all I know,” before breaking into a sweat-drenched dance floor-ready chorus of “I habitually let the good ones go.” Its big-budget, Hannah Lux Davis-helmed visual finds her positively stunting at an ex’s funeral, where she perches on top of a coffin in front of a wind machine and enacts full choreo in a two-piece by his grave. Objectives. —Carson Mlnarik
  
  
  
  
  



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  Del Water Gap: “I Hope You Understand”
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=drECtU34-p8
  
  
  
  The guts of Del Water Gap’s fantastic self-titled debut album hang in wanting, longing, reaching for love that habitually evades capture. Although on “I Hope You Understand,” the need turns so deeply desperate; the unshakeable truth that this isn't ending well has reached his core. “I had a dream you killed me,” he confesses, “bread knife to my throat.” And although even as he bleeds out, over swooning, soaring electric guitar and synth, he wants his lover to know that they meant something excellent to him. “Maybe I deserve it,” he decides, “it” meaning the loss, or perhaps meaning the fleeting love unacknowledged. Some days they go hand-in-hand. —Terron Moore
  
  
  
  
  



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  PinkPantheress: "Reason"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=H13jW-Hxfz4
  
  
  
  No context, all vibes — that's the M.O. Of TikTok sensation PinkPantheress, who has begun to transcend that frankly quite limiting label. It's not just that her brief songs are readymade for sharing and as easy consumable as shots. It's that whichever sample she's working with — in the scenario of "Reason," a frantic breakbeat snippet — somehow sounds excellent under her nostalgic, warm, almost narcotic voice. —Patrick Hoskem
  
  
  
  
  



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  Death Cab for Cutie: "Coney Island" musical group demo)
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=akjOw7Ls1Vw
  
  
  
  The Photo Album isn't what put Death Cab for Cutie on the proverbial indie map, however it did put their poster on Seth Cohen's wall. Yes, 2003's Transatlanticism was their breakout LP, however its quieter 2001 predecessor remains steadfastly beloved for its melodic highs (and boasting potentially the band's best song). On record, penultimate track "Coney Island" is rainy and understated; on the recently unearthed musical group demo" version — set to appear on a forthcoming 20th anniversary deluxe reissue — the song imagines a parallel universe where Death Cab pivoted to alt-country at the turn of the new millennium. Alternatively opposed to Chris Walla's stuttering drum sample, this version rests on twangy guitar the likes of which I personally would've expected from Ben Gibbard's Neil Young sideburns era several years later. Without consideration, it sounds welcome and warm, if a touch out of character. That's what makes it so novel. —Patrick Hosken