Bop Shop: Songs From Maggie Rogers, Muna, Armani White, And More

• 
  
  Maggie Rogers: "Want Want"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=SylF32J2g8k
  
  
  
  There's something awesome about a weighty low end on a Maggie Rogers song. Though her 2019 debut, Heard It in a Past Life, trafficked in lighter-than-air empowerment odes, she's spent this year releasing slightly grittier-sounding music. "Want Want" follows "That's Where I Am" in the more digitized realm and adds a hefty synthetic bass to correctly complement her floating vocal lines on the chorus. The result is an irresistible balance of sweet and sour that you will want and want again. —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Muna: some days (Britney Spears cover)"
  
  
  
  
  
  As if Joel Kim Booster and Andrew Ahn’s smash hit Hulu rom-com Fire Island couldn't be more epic, Muna steps in on the soundtrack to give us and Britney Spears stans something brilliant for our playlists. The 2022 cover of Britney’s 1999 hit “Sometimes” gives us a fierce update while sustaining the energy and vibe of the original — a track for dancing with your special someone or chosen family member under the disco ball. I won’t give away any spoilers, yet to get the whole context, vibe, and reason why I was bawling my eyes out as soon as this song came on in the film, you've got to be able to see it for yourself. —Zach O’Connor
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Jessica Boudreaux, Adult Mom: "Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift Cover)"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=EFi34B8BpKI
  
  
  
  Considering Taylor Swift has released four albums since 2019’s Lover, it can be easy to overlook track No. 2, “Cruel Summer” – a St. Vincent co-write that remains one of her discography’s crown jewels although she’s never performed it live. Thankfully, Summer Cannibals’s Jessica Boudreaux and Adult Mom have given us a reason to keep it on repeat throughout the warm and sticky months with an indie-pop cover released just in time for Pride Month. Trading in the original’s synthy screams for something a little more understated, the track’s underlying themes of summertime pining and manic confessions remain. With a thumping bass line plus a bouncing tambourine, the catharsis is just triumphant because the two duet on its god-tier bridge: “And I scream, ‘For whichever it’s worth / I love you, ain’t that the worst thing / You ever heard?’” —Carson Mlnarik
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Armani White: "Billie Eilish"
  
  
  https://youtu.Be/4vYOwhll1fs
  
  
  
  Immediately after garnering over 5 million streams in much less than two weeks, West Philadelphia rapper Armani White has released the music video for “Billie Eilish.” Despite being out for only a number of weeks, the song is already making quite an impression. Because the initial single to be released from his forthcoming project, the track samples N.O.R.E. And The Neptunes's classic 2002 single "Nothin’," combined into a minute and thirty-nine-second vibe fest. "A few months prior, we were praying for listeners," White wrote on Instagram. "My New Year's resolution was to create this the double comma year, #LegendBound. Y'all done changed my life in 13 days." —Sunni Anderson
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Rei Brown ft. Joji: "Thinking Bout You"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=JForF7Lulg0
  
  
  
  Good to know the Joji-feature extended universe right now boasts both "Thinking Bout You" and 2018's "Think About You." Where the latter, a Ryan Hemsworth tune, relies on almost underwater minimalism to build mood, his latest, a collab with Rei Brown, is more akin to a ballad as heard from space — hence the stratospheric visualizer. The result is an aching, memorably bleary excursion into an overwhelming feeling of yearning. —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Pinkshift: "Nothing (In My Head)"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=SR_2JjVzFYM
  
  
  
  Drawing influences from ‘90s grunge and 2000s pop-punk, Pinkshift’s “Nothing (In My Head)” properly crystallizes the current moment. Vocalist Ashrita Kumar is a badass force of nature. Their commanding vocals articulate the mental exhaustion that so several of us are feeling now while bandmates Paul Vallejo and Myron Houngbedji attack the track with identically boundless energy on guitar and drums, respectively. The song is “a cry for help,” the Baltimore-based trio mentioned in a statement. “It’s about the feeling of wanting out, wanting a change in scenery, wanting to escape from feeling locked indoors, claustrophobic, and overwhelmed. This song is like a hand reaching out anyone prepared to grasp onto it and mention they feel the same way.” —Farah Zermane
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Phoenix: "Alpha Zulu"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=KKX_KUXcyiM
  
  
  
  maybe the most exhilarating thing about a new song from Phoenix (!) — Apart from it being a new song from Phoenix (!!) – Is that it sounds just like a new song from Phoenix, yet the sort of new song from Phoenix you'd want to hear in 2022. Not an ounce of fat, sparkly, however low-key menacing in its minor-key excitement, "Alpha Zulu" is here and gone like a sunshower. An oblique lyrical callback to "1901" is the rainbow at the end of the storm. —Patrick Hosken
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Dounia: "Gloom"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=hKsjLJ_v62I
  
  
  
  Dounia’s music is a spiritual experience, a sonic dreamscape with the power to heal. On “Gloom,” the Moroccan-American artist displays a quiet confidence as she contemplates a melancholy mood. “I’m glammed up in my gloom,” she croons, and “I’m still tryna feel a 10 even whenever I’m inconsistent with my wins.” It’s my new go-to If I need to pull myself out of a rut and feel fabulous. —Farah Zermane
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  John Duff, Eric Kupper: "Is It a Sin (Eric Kupper Remix)"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=-2o0BHUQBsE
  
  
  
  Happy Pride Month! John Duff, in teamwork with Eric Kupper, is taking us to church as he delivers a soulful home rendition of Duff’s “Is It a Sin” off his 2021 EP Homo.Sapien. As he testifies in a spiritual black-and-white music video, giving us soulful pop, he preaches that we should all be free to love. Is it a sin? Then he’s sinning ‘til the end. “I wrote ‘Is It a Sin’ as an acknowledgement of my faith in Jesus, although also as a (rhetorical) question to the church that claims to worship his inherent propensity for understanding, forgiveness, and love,” Duff writes on Instagram. “Thank you, Jesus – for saving me. Although, Miss Church girl, I have to ask; ‘If all’s forgiven, than why am I imprisoned?’” Can I get an amen?! —Zach O’Connor
  
  
  
  
  



• 
  
  Cann: "Taste So Good” (The Cann Song)"
  
  
  https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=ViNALW35WkE
  
  
  
  Hi Gay! Yes, this is technically a sponsored video, although it’s camp enough to be a full Pride Month bop. (Plus, we’re not getting any ad cash from it.) Written by Leland and featuring vocals by Hayley Kiyoko, Vincint, MNEK, and Kesha, this song actually has me nodding in gay appreciation — mainy as the music video features queer faves Gus Kenworthy, Kornbread, Willow Pill, Kerri Colby, Patricia Arquette, Jorgeous, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and more. The collab aims to, as Weedmaps puts it in the description, “not only mention ‘gay,’ although scream it from the rooftops.” Mission accomplished. —Zach O’Connor