normie.march
Eid Mubarak Neuphorians!
Spring is the season of Neu beginnings and Neu music. So much new music in fact, that there are two March playlists:
neuphoria.dreamy.march- The volume of ethereal new music warranted its own playlist- one that will make for interesting background music. However, dreamy.march still includes some hits, including the current #1 most streamed song and February’s Neuphoria winner.
neuphoria.normie.march- This is the more common Neuphoria playlist, including both hits and tunes with more urgency.
You can vote on only one or both playlists, or a single combined vote; the choice is yours. And if you decide to only vote/listen to neuphoria.normie.march, that certainly doesn’t mean you are a “normie”…….. or does it?
Oh- and did I forget to mention that Chappel Roan has a new song
Thanks to Paddybear and JoeMo for their playlist suggestions this month!
Your lonesome drifter,
D
Chappel Roan, The Giver (Country)- 2024’s breakout star and multi-Grammy winner is back with her first single in 11 months- and reps her Missouri roots with this country barnstormer- Yee-Haw!!
Already in the streaming top 10, let’s see how much Country airplay “The Giver” gets given its sapphic subject matter.
Charley Crockett, Game I Can’t Win (Country)- Neuphoria favorite Crockett released his “Lonesome Drifter” LP in late February. Like many of his songs, “Game I Can’t Win” sounds as if it already existed and features a lonesome rambler/gambler narrative replete with banjos and pedal steel guitar.
Trivia (a repeat for longstanding Neuphorians)- Charley is a direct descendant of the “King of the Wild Frontier”, Davy Crockett who died in the last stand at the Alamo.
Alex Warren, Ordinary (Pop)- Currently the #1 song in the UK, “Ordinary” follows the well-worn prescription for UK chart success; a sweeping ballad, sung with a rich baritone and add gospel backing vocals (think Hozier, Rag’n’Bone Man or Teddy Swims’ UK #’1’s) . While that may be ordinary, the 24-year-old Warren’s path is extraordinary, hailing from Carlsbad, CA and having only one previous (unsuccessful) LP.
The Knocks & Dragonette, The Hero (Pop)- “The Hero” would make early 1980’s one (or two)-hit wonder Kim Wilde proud, given its faithful recreation of a polished new wave power ballad. Bonus points are warranted as this is a genre stretch for dance DJ’s the Knocks, and for the song's equivocal diss; “you’re not the bad guy, you’re just not the hero”………
JENNIE & Dua Lipa, Handlebars (K-Pop)- JENNIE from Blackpink’s March debut LP, “Ruby” is presently #1 in Asia and moving up the global charts. While I decided to not include “Like JENNIE”, the #1 Asian smash single from the LP, Neuphorian Paddybear suggested including “Handlebars”, which is #1 in Southeast Asia- and since it features Dua Lipa, I was happy to!
Haim, Relationships (Alternative)- LA’s Haim sistas follow up their Grammy-nominated “Women in Music Pt. III” LP, with March’s single, “Relationships”. Both the lyric and the music feature contradictions, with Danielle Haim singing “I think I’m in love, but I hate f**king relationships” against a breezy pop tune interspersed with a retro rap breakbeat sample.
Doechii, Anxiety (Rap/R&B)- Coming off her recent Grammy Rap Album of the Year win for debut LP “Alligator Bites Never Heal”, Doechii is a white hot R&B talent. Her March single, “Anxiety” is already #4 in the streaming charts, prominently featuring a familiar sample from Gotye’s 2012 hit “Somebody That I Used to Know”.
Lizzo, Love in Real Life (Rock/Dance)- LIZZO IS BACK!! Her first release since 2022, “Love in Real Life” is a preview from Lizzo’s forthcoming LP of the same name. The infectious “Love in Real Life” sounds like the Strokes, Prince- and well…. Huey Lewis & the News all at once. Somehow it works🤔
Sunflower Bean, Champagne Taste (Rock)- Brooklyn rockers Sunflower Bean preview their forthcoming April LP “Mortal Primetime” with “Champagne Taste”. The fuzzy glam guitar riff of “Champagne Taste” provides a compelling backdrop for Julia Cumming’s swaggering vocal.
Lady Gaga, Perfect Celebrity (Rock/Pop)- After detours into soundtracks and American standards reversed Ms. Gaga’s streak of #1 LP’s, she is back to #1 with March’s “Mayhem” LP. While not the biggest hit from “Mayhem”, “Perfect Celebrity’s” hard industrial arrangement, snarling vocals and cynical lyric “You love to hate me. I’m the perfect celebrity”, have made it a critics’ favorite.
Lil Nas X, Hotbox (R&B)- When the flamboyant Nas X burst onto the scene from nowhere in 2019 with his global #1 “Old Town Road”, common wisdom was that he would be a one-hit wonder. However, 4 top 10 singles later, we have been proven wrong. The N.E.R.D. (Pharrell Williams) influenced HOTBOX is his latest slapper.
Amanda Reifer, RUDUMB? (Rap/R&B)- No; Amanda Reifer isn’t that awkward girl with braces from your high school.
Quite the opposite. She is a streetwise, charismatic and intuitive Barbadian rapper/singer; (sound familiar?) who is already collab-ing with King Kendrick, but yet to release her 1st LP. Clocking in at less than 2 minutes, “RUDUMB?” shows her confident and smooth rap flow and a chorus that seriously bangs.
Feid, Nos Desconoximos (Latin)- Most music followers would be forgiven for guessing that the most popular music artist in Colombia today is Shakira, or maybe J. Balvin, Karol G or Maluma. But they’d be wrong. With 13 Top 5 singles in Colombia (and much of South America), it is Medellin’s Feid. “Nos……”, is proudly pan-Caribbean, mixing Latin reggaeton with a Jamaican dance hall sample.
