Bop Shop: Songs From Lana Del Rey, Ty Dolla $ign, Steve Lacy, And More

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  Lana Del Rey: "Doin Time"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=b6UazdAlqhs
  
  
  
  "Doin' Time" is the perfect possible Sublime song for Lana to cover, and she takes the breezy, surrealistic anthem and makes it her own. Her signature fashion is all over the track, imbuing the verses and chorus with a yearning and bittersweet swagger that replicates the feeling of the original, retaining the individual musical hook without relying on samples to bring it to life. It wouldn't have been out of place on one of Lana's albums, and in the event you told a new fan it was her writing and composition alone, they'd almost definitely believe you. Lana did it again, kids, and right now I find myself attempting to calculate which version of the song I like better. I'm just glad she didn't bother with the edited "Summertime" as an alternative. —Brittany Vincent
  
  
  
  
  



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  5 Seconds of Summer: "Easier"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=b1dFSWLJ9wY
  
  
  
  "Charlie Puth doing Nine Inch Nails karaoke," is one way to sell you on 5SOS's latest. ("A cave-pop summer stomp" is another — pick) you could hear so much of Puth, who gets a writing credit here alongside Ryan Tedder and then some Youngblood collaborators, in frontman Luke Hemmings's gilded falsetto. Meanwhile, drummer Ashton Irwin stomps out a beat recalling Trent Reznor's eternally dark and sexy "Closer," which the musical group mentioned served as sonic inspiration. The video makes things explicit: Hemmings is bound as he delivers the song's fragile questions, "Is it easier to stay? Is it easier to go?" It's a little bit more complex than Reznor's unvarnished hope to "fuck you like an animal," nevertheless it'll do. —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



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  Steve Lacy: "Playground"
  
  
  
  
  
  Steve Lacy's eye catching world of funk is timeless; you could almost hear Prince's voice egging on the young guitarist to lose himself in the moment and float towards the purple clouds. "Playground" is loose and runny like eggs over easy eggs and at the same time, its warmth scrambles it. It's certainly influenced by the waters of Lake Minnetonka, something that Lacy himself revealed in a recent interview with Zane Lowe. Where Prince zoomed out with his music's more and more zany spaces, Lacy finds a pathway and dissects it, tightening his song's focus like strings on a hoodie. Lacy's vocals are harsh at junctures, although that's the point. It's about the energy that the collective musical instrument – the music and the vocals – brings. Everything, from the thwap of the cheery snares to the windy guitars in the back, sits properly. "Playground" is the final single from Lacy's debut studio album, Apollo XXI, out today. It's just a part of this funk that the LP will zoom in and concentrate on. —Trey Alston
  
  
  
  
  



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  Hatchie: "Obsessed"
  
  
  https://youtu.Be/iI4aHUVQBgI
  
  
  
  That feeling you get as soon as you're driving around with your hand out the window doing that little wavy thing because the wind blows against it? I have no idea what it's called, although somehow Australian singer-songwriter Harriette Pilbeam, a.K.A. Hatchie, has captured it on "Obsessed." The breezy dream-pop track, my vote for Song of Spring 2019, gets even cuter as soon as backed by its music video, which follows Hatchie and her bandmates via ups, downs, and shenanigans of touring. Hatchie's debut album, Keepsake, is out June 21. —Bob Marshall
  
  
  
  
  



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  Ty Dolla $ign ft. J. Cole: "Purple Emoji"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=OJriWUuix9I
  
  
  
  People forget about J. Cole’s desperate verse on Miguel's 2011 heartbreak anthem "All I Want Is You," where he made real what Miguel hinted at. He was desperate for another chance to create a fed-up partner happy. His words were crisp, not flowery, and clever. Nevertheless as soon as the announcement that Ty Dolla $ign's new single, "Purple Emoji," would have J. Cole on it, jokes flew about what sort of overly serious themes he'd bring to Ty's presumed world of sex. In the event you hadn't heard "All I Want Is You," you'd be forgiven in thinking that Cole would muddle the message of "Purple Emoji."
  
  
  It's a good thing that "Purple Emoji" isn't actually about sex – it's about true love. And it's also identically good that J. Cole streams his fascination with the subject matter as a substitute opposed to going for the thematic jugular, making his verse a personalized look at his own relationship. "Purple Emoji" is a soulful, sample-driven win, one where the honesty in the vocals reflects the sheer warmth of the disembodied, friendly moans. Ty and Cole paint loving photographs of not just what love looks like, although respect, also. Cole is blessed for his black angel and the fact that she gave birth to one of his kids. He's ready for another. And you'll lose a tear listening to it. —Trey Alston
  
  
  
  
  



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  A.C.E: "Under Cover"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=qODWFe6v3zA
  
  
  
  Right after last summer's "Take Me Higher," I was expecting something identically soft and vibrant from A.C.E. For their latest single. In retrospect, I should have seen "Under Cover" coming. Immediately considering that, this is a K-pop sort that swung for the fences — in hot pants! — With their hardstyle debut song "Cactus." Somehow, "Under Cover" goes even harder; it pushes those boundaries even more. It's an in-your-face variety of genres with hip-hop-driven verses, heavy electric guitars, and an electrifying chorus that fully knocks you out. The members are identically as confident in the music video, blurring antiquated gender lines in heavy makeup, crop tops, pigtails, and glitter brows. "Under Cover" is a brilliant example of what can make K-pop so thrilling: It's a song that's fully unafraid to be a million things at once. And the same can even be mentioned for A.C.E, an audience that's gotten this far by being unabashedly themselves. — Crystal Bell
  
  
  
  
  


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  Bryce Vine ft. YG: "La La Land"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=dgpPCnLlH9g
  
  
  
  Chill vibes, sunlit orange-hued days, and nothing to do yet waste time – California isn't a vacation destination as much as it's a state of mind in this new track from Bryce Vine. Since appearing on The Glee Project in 2011, the singer has grown into his own. You likely already recognize his deep vocals and meditative beats from last year's viral hit "Drew Barrymore."
  
  
  "La La Land" finds Bryce at his all-time catchiest. His soft whispered invitation to "waste your time with me in California" will live with you long soon following the initial listen – I heard the tail end of track for the initial time in a Uber Pool and was obsessively searching the line a minute later – and his ringing chorus of la la las just sound like a lazy afternoon on Venice Beach. In the verses, Bryce admires a lover living the luxe life with shout outs to the richer side of Cali livin', and YG adds a little bit of bounce with a verse about some noncommittal fun — because if we're just wasting time, why not? Press play and close your eyes. That Cali vacay is just 3:11 away. —Carson Mlnarik
  
  
  
  
  



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  Emotional Oranges: "Corners of My Mind"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=2uqvMn81HXg
  
  
  
  Emotional Oranges credit themselves with making music that comes from a real place. Their music is a subtle mix of lo-fi and Jazz, and if the pleasant buzz you feel once you're slightly tipsy had a sound, their music could be it. "Corners of My Mind" is a breakup song that makes a soft break from the "undone" mold usually noticed in songs about love and loss. The mellow groove that takes the listener via self-care aspect of a breakup is the search for peace and the want to reset; the loss of control you experience in the shadow of a love gone awry. Ultimately, the song reaches a point of resolve that reveals how moving on is a required albeit hard choice: "Can't let you dim my light, got control of it this time," the chorus crescendos. In a refreshing twist, the song doesn't dismiss the failed love totally. It simply succumbs to the notion that some love affairs never leave you totally — they just find a new residence in the corners of the mind. —Virginia Lowman