10 Cool New Pop Songs to Get You Through the Week: Honey Dijon, Pinkpantheress, Fletcher & More
Written by djfrosty on November 21, 2022
Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered.
These 10 tracks from artists including Mazie, Honey Dijon and Josh Caffe, Pinkpantheress and Fana Hues will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your personal playlists — or scroll to the end of the post for a custom playlist of all 10.
Mazie, “Girls Just Wanna Have Sex”
“Girls Just Wanna Have Sex” by rising Baltimore native Mazie may be a brash, unabashed ode to queer pleasure, but the singer-songwriter gets all the details right in her vocal delivery — the breathlessness of her infatuation, the zippy elation of a high-speed physical collision, the commanding tone of her “Get outta your HEAD!” plea. There’s a lot to like within “Girls Just Wanna Have Sex,” and the majority of its positive attributes are by Mazie’s design. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Fred again.. & Romy, “Strong”
Dance floor euphoria can often be about comfort in community, and on “Strong,” the latest team-up between Fred again.. and The xx’s Romy Madley Croft, a simple message precedes a major drop: “Let me be someone you can lean on … You don’t have to be so strong.” The gentle foundation of Romy’s voice has always balanced out the darker undertones of The xx’s catalog, and here, she counteracts the laser-light fantasia of the production with natural grace. – J. Lipshutz
Ayleen Valentine, “Next Life”
Ayleen Valentine’s latest single harkens back to her origin story: after spending time at the Berklee School of Music, the singer-producer dropped out and moved to Los Angeles to get a jump-start on her career. “Next Life” focuses on the desire to sprint into a new chapter, as Valentine’s smoky voice shies away from the melodramatic and coolly operates over drum thwacks, layered harmonies and glistening keys until swimming solo in the final 30 seconds. – J. Lipshutz
Blake Rose, “In Your Arms”
“This song is about wanting to pour all your love into someone but not being able to because the timing is never right,” Australia’s Blake Rose says in a press release for “In Your Arms,” which takes an open-hearted approach to missed opportunities and crafts an affecting piano ballad that showcases his skill set. Slower tracks like these can be a tough sell at pop radio, but “In Your Arms” is likable enough to have crossover potential. – J. Lipshutz
Fletcher, “Better Version”
Included on her new album Girl Of My Dreams, Fletcher’s “Better Version” is a stunning self-reflection with a subtle country twist. While for most of the, song the pop artist bemoans the feeling of someone new getting the better version of her ex, she ends with an optimistic outlook that proves a post-breakup glow-up can go both ways: “Now some other person, is gonna get the better version … of me.” — LYNDSEY HAVENS
Grace McKagan, “Jimmy (Lookin’ Like Trash)”
Sounding fresh out of the 2010s indie rock scene, “Jimmy (Lookin’ Like Trash)” is a welcome throwback — it’s not hard to imagine the song soundtracking a scene of the Humphreys’ Brooklyn living in Gossip Girl. With a warm tone that compliments the lo-fi instrumentals, this second single from Grace McKagan (daughter of Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan) should create just the right kind of stir ahead of her upcoming debut EP, out Dec. 2. — L.H.
Honey Dijon feat. Josh Caffe, “La Femme Fantasique”
Opening with spacious, eerie echoes, “La Femme Fantasique” quickly shifts into chilly electro territory with a relentless throb. It’s a highlight from Honey Dijon’s knockout new LP Black Girl Magic, and while the title might be French, this collab between the London-based Josh Caffe and Dijon (who splits her time between NYC and Berlin) is fit for any dancefloor around the world still bumping past closing time. – JOE LYNCH
Fana Hues, “Float”
Fana Hues, one of the best new voices in R&B, brings her lilting, earthy croon to the forefront on “Float,” a track that coasts gently down a lazy river of soul-funk. It hails from the recently released deluxe version of her wittily titled Flora + Fana and arrives with a fittingly blissful visualizer. – J. Lynch
Pinkpantheress, “Do you miss me?”
The world was first introduced to Pinkpantheress and her heavily garage-, jungle- and drum and bass-inspired music in 2020, but now, the continually rising star is experimenting with different genres through collaborating with some of her favorite artists. New track “Do you miss me?” sees the singer once again embracing her bubbly, effervescent vocals — this time, against a more worldy backdrop with Afrobeats influences, thanks to co-producers phil and longtime idol Kaytranada, allowing her to step just a few feet out of her comfort zone. – STARR BOWENBANK
Cigarettes After Sex, “Pistol”
It’s been a long time coming for a new Cigarettes After Sex single, but new song “Pistol” was certainly worth the wait. The track — which serves as the three-piece band’s (Greg Gonzalez, Jacob Tomsky and Randall Miller) first offering since 2020’s “You’re All I Want” — builds on their signature dreamy, romantic and melancholic sound, and sees Gonazlez lamenting the loss of a relationship, begging for the affections of his former lover for in the simplest of ways: “I know if I saw you/ And we kissed just once/ You could be happy/ Maybe you’d come back/ ‘Cause I really miss you.” —