• Justin Bieber, DAISIES (Pop)- Called “a Masterpiece” by the New Yorker, the Bieb’s 7th LP, July’s “SWAG” has also garnered rave reviews from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and other rags.  Currently, the US’s #1 song, “DAISIES”, is a partnership with 2024 sensation, mk.Gee featuring Gee’s crisp minimalist guitar which he plays like a bass. In fact, the entirety of “SWAG” borrows heavily from Gee’s hipster hybrid of minimalism and 80’s Yacht Rock.

• KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Golden (KPop/Pop)- Presently the world’s #1 song, “Golden” is from Netflix’s megahit musical fantasy film, “KPop Demon Hunters”, which also includes 3 other songs in the Global Top 10.  With a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, “KPop Demon Hunters’” features the animated KPoppers Hunter/x as protagonists, whose rival KPop band, the Saja Boys are secretly demons. 

  
  

• Tyler, the Creator, Ring Ring Ring (R&B)- So Tyler dropped a surprise album today (July 21). After hearing that there was no "Song of the Summer" yet this year, he decided to record "Don't Tap the Glass" to encourage us to "put our phones down and dance". Sure to dominate the charts, "Don't Tap......" is heavily influenced by NERD/Neptunes/Pharrell and takes an eclectic tour through Italo Disco, NY Rap, New Orleans Bounce and Neo-Soul.

  
  

• Princess Nokia, Drop Dead Gorgeous (Alternative)- New Jersey rapper, Princess Nokia tosses her hat in the ring 2025 Song of the Summer with the irreverent “Drop Dead Gorgeous”.  Evoking “Spring Breakers”, the Princess deadpan raps about de-centering men and wreaking havoc with her baddies.

Princess Nokia has flourished after a tough childhood, which included losing her mother to AIDS when she was age two and thereafter being abused in foster care.

• Tha Hot Girls, We On Fire (Rap)- Continuing the girl power theme, “We on Fire” has been referred to as one of the rap songs of the summer.  In “We on Fire”, New Orleans' Tha Hot Girls gender-flip the 90’s NOLA bounce rappers, Hot Boys’ “We on Fire”, adding a sharper bounce to the “What kind of boy/girl?” callout.

  
  

• Cash Cobain, Feeeeeeeeel (Rap)- Bronx rapper, Cash Cobain’s July single “Feeeeeeeeel” inventively integrates a heavy Brazilian Baile Funk beat with syncopated 90’s R&B samples.  It’s no surprise that “Feeeeeeeeel” has inspired a viral dance challenge on social media.

  
  

• Baalti, Bodylock (Dek Bass)- In their “Mela” EP, South Asian DJ’s, Baalti channel the West Bengal phenomenon of Dek Bass.  Dek Bass is an underground scene thriving the rural villages of West Bengal, India whereby DJ’s build gaudy large-scale DIY mobile multi-speaker sound systems.  Since the Dek Bass DJ’s blast songs featuring chaotic samples of Bollywood songs, sirens, farm animal sounds and powerful sub-bass drops in small villages, they often encounter police seizure of their sound systems………

Credit to my son for turning me on to Dek Bass.

• Water From Your Eyes, Playing Classics (Alternative)- Bushwick hipsters, Water From Your Eyes are prolific, releasing 11 LPs/EPs since their 2017 formation, but hard to categorize.  For example, “Playing Classics” features monotone vocals, a toy piano(?), drum machines and a guttural synth riff- yet the band refers to it as a “disco song”.

    

• Lorde, Hammer (Alternative/Pop)- After becoming a global superstar in 2013 with a #1 song and LP at age 17, Kiwi Lorde seems to have reached artistic maturity with the late June release of her critically acclaimed 4th LP “Virgin”. “Hammer” is representative of “Virgin”, with a raw, yet introspective lyric and SF/LA DJ, Jim E-Stack’s pulsing electronic production. Bonus points to Lorde for rhyming "raising" with "ovulation"..... 

  
  

• Danny L Harle & Pink Pantheress, Starlight (Dance/Hyperpop)- After listening to “Starlight”, you’re forgiven for thinking “WTF was that?”  With its manic beats, dizzying genre and structure changes, immoderate auto-tuning and shameless deconstruction of pop music to its most commercial elements, “Starlight” is a banging specimen of Hyperpop.

   

Credit again to my son for introducing me to Hyperpop in 2013 and the genre’s originators, the London-collective, PC Music, whose alumni, including, AG Cook, Danny L Harle and Charli XCX have since brought the genre to the mainstream.

• BLACKPINK, JUMP (KPop)- After highly successful solo ventures by BLACKPINK members- including the global #1 hit, “APT.” by ROSÉ, the KPop superstars return with the world’s current #3 song, “JUMP”.   Not unlike Hyperpop, “JUMP” is a bewildering mix of pop rock/rap and tech house that somehow works.

   

• KAROL G & Manu Chao, Viajando Por El Mundo (Latin)- Medellins' Karol G’s “Tropicoqueta” debuted at #1 on the Latin Charts in late June.  According to Pitchfork, “Tropicoqueta ventures across Latin America (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Panama, Dom Rep, etc) with soul and precision… her most expansive and most researched body of work.”

  
  

The earworm “Viajando…..” is a collab with the global music icon and social activist Manu Chao.  Chao has been recording for over 40 years in at least 7 languages.

• Alex G, Afterlife (Alternative/Folk)- The G Family must be delighted to have 2 straight songs on Neuphoria July........ 

  Slacker cult figure, Alex Giannascoli released his much-anticipated 1st major label LP, “Headlights” on July 18 to rave reviews.  With unpolished nasal vocals and a low-fi aesthetic, Mr. G is an acquired taste, however his innovative melody structures and complete lack of pretense will grow on you.  

  
  

On “Afterlife” Alex G sings and plays all instruments, which is the case for most of “Headlights”.

• Dasha, Oh Anna! (Country)- Former Neuphoria winner, Dasha looks to reconnect with her carefree inner child on “Oh, Anna!”   San Luis Obispo’s Anna Dasha Novotny poignantly sings “You were pigtail braids, never worried 'bout the plan......Now I'm just worried about being skinny and gettin' spray tans".

  
  

• Lord Huron, Bag of Bones (Alternative)- LA’s Lord Huron (no relation to Lorde.......) released their 5th LP, “The Cosmic Selector, Vol. 1”- a warm, twangy salute to Western Noir.  Offering a healthy dose of tremolo guitar, production reverb and detached regret, “Bag of Bones” may take you to a different place.

   

• Maren Morris, Welcome to the End (Pop)- In the autobiographical “Welcome to the End”, the “Lunatic Country Music Person” (as termed by Tucker Carlson), sings about the trade-offs of her pursuit of stardom.  The song features a mega-hook and swelling production by Taylor Swift collaborator, Jack Antonoff.

  
  

Trivia- Morris began as a songwriter, with Tim McGraw, Kelly Clarkson and the TV show, “Nashville” covering her songs.

• Nomi Ruiz & Eli Escobar, Love Louder (Electronic/R&B)- Eli Escobar is one of my favorite DJ’s, but his venture with fellow Nuyorican, Nomi Ruiz, “Love Louder” is a departure from his usual NY house fare.  Warning- please avoid operating heavy machinery while listening to the minimalist slow burning beats and hypnotic harmony tracks of “Love Louder”.

Happy listening!