cool pop songs

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 tracks from artists including Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler, Mt. Joy, Yukimi and more will get you energized to take on the week.

Coolest Pop Song of the Week: Bishop Briggs, “Good For Me”

“I’m dreaming of all I ever wanted,” Bishop Briggs sings, stretching out the word “dream” to glide a little bit longer before following falling back down with, “was it ever good for me?”

The chorus to “Good For Me,” a darkly pretty meditation on achieving longtime goals as your identity evolves, buttresses Briggs’ tone with a dream-pop arrangement built around a driving beat and gradually deepening guitar chugs. Her voice, which has often been deployed as a hurricane-level force in the past, bends and lilts here, simmering in the question rather than finding a declaration.

Eight years ago, the UK native hit it big with “River,” a soul-rock anthem that crossed over to alternative radio and reached the top 5 on the Rock Airplay chart. Briggs continued finding success at the format, with seven entries on the Hot Rock & Alternative chart across her first two studio albums (2018’s Church of Scars and 2019’s Champion) on Island Records; a half-decade later, the singer-songwriter is now in her thirties, a new parent, still grieving the tragic loss of her sister, Kate McLaughlin, and operating outside of the major label system, while delivering the most revealing and emotionally resonant songs of her career.

“Good For Me,” the latest offering from new album Tell My Therapist I’m Fine (out this Friday through Virgin Music Group), crystallizes the album’s compelling juxtaposition of Briggs figuring out the possibilities of the next phase of her career while simultaneously settling into her skin. Songs like “My Serotonin” and “Shut It Off” allow Briggs to keep rocking out, but she now turns up the volume to emphasize her lyrical darts rather than shout over them. Meanwhile, Briggs mourns her sister and also utilizes her grief to push herself forward — in “Mona Lisa on a Mattress,” for instance, she doubles her voice and sings about a broken romance, “Kate would always say, I should run away,” as a means of finding resolution through a memory.

In the center of the album is “Good For Me,” the subtleties of its production and the maturity of its lyrical perspective slowly blooming and hooking the listener. Briggs has experienced several life changes since her last album, and is wondering what she’s even chasing anymore — but the care given to that exploration makes the song, and its host album, worth absorbing in full.

Here are some more new pop songs worth checking out this week…

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 tracks from artists including Nina Nesbitt, Sophie Thatcher, Lunar Vacation and more will get you energized to take on the week.

Coolest New Pop Song of the Week: Addison Rae, “Diet Pepsi”

Before artists like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato were accepted as arena-level pop stars in the 2010s, they were largely dismissed by critics and adult listeners as Disney-kid performers, making music for the youth and not to be taken too seriously. A pop generation later, the designation previously bestowed to Disney Channel grads has been transferred to social media influencers — many of whom, from the D’Amelio sisters to Huddy to Bella Poarch, are trying to translate millions of TikTok followers into mainstream music stardom, and who are still largely brushed off by music-biz gatekeepers.

Addison Rae exists in that group, too: the 23-year-old Louisiana native is a true triple-threat as an actress, former competitive dancer and recording artist, who happens to have the fifth-most followers of any TikTok account. Last year, Rae’s debut EP AR contained some bright spots as a bubblegum project, and she popped up on the remix to Charli xcx’s “Von Dutch” in March alongside A.G. Cook, joining the Brat extended universe months before Brat Summer officially kicked off.

Now, with a newly signed Columbia Records deal, Rae has released her first solo single of 2024 — and after Rae’s past gestures at pop stardom, “Diet Pepsi” suggests that she could someday make the leap.

“Diet Pepsi” plays out like a Lana Del Rey song refracted through a radio-ready lens. Soda gets sipped and blue jeans get ripped during a backseat encounter with a dude in a gold chain, as Rae delineates between sexually charged exposition in the verses, breathless utterances in the pre-chorus and blissed-out falsetto in the hook (“When we drive in your car, I’m your baby / Losing all my innocence in the backseat,” she sings) — shifting keys on the final chorus to emphasize her yearning.

The “Diet Pepsi” music video, directed by Sean Price Williams, leans into the Lana-esque Americana haze, with rapid black-and-white clips communicating bleary lust and pinup-model iconography. Yet Rae also puts her own playful spin on that image, grinning while covering her face with the American flag and planting her lipstick on a car window.

Regardless of its future chart impact or role in preceding a proper Columbia Records album, “Diet Pepsi” is a promising step for Rae, as a beguiling pop track that establishes an aesthetic for the multi-hyphenate. The darkly shimmering sound is more mature than that of AR, but more importantly, it’s more clearly defined; Rae’s debut EP was impressive, but we’re now starting to get a better sense of who she could be as a recording artist. For Rae, “Diet Pepsi” might not be an immediate smash, but it could very well prove to be a turning point.

Here are some new pop songs worth checking out this week…

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 tracks from artists including Jorja Smith, Amy Shark, Tiësto and more will get you energized to take on the week.

Coolest Pop Song of the Week: XG, “Something Ain’t Right”

It’s been quite a few weeks for fans of Asian pop music in the U.S., with the historic Billboard 200 bows of Stray Kids and Jimin’s respective projects this week (following the No. 2 debut of ENHYPEN’s new album the prior week), YG Entertainment’s announcement that 2NE1 will reunite for a world tour, and the return of KCON L.A. boasting a mix of new and veteran stars. There’s a lot of new music to appreciate now, and more to look forward to; let’s add XG’s high-velocity new single, “Something Ain’t Right,” and the J-pop girl group’s second mini-album, which is due out Nov. 8, to that list.

XG arrived in 2022 with a healthy amount of promise, as singles like “Tippy Toes” and “Mascara” demonstrated the Japanese collective’s ability to combine hip-hop, dance, pop and R&B in ways that recalled the modern K-pop superstars but felt specifically tailored to their singular skills. Cocona, Maya, Jurin and Harvey can rap their faces off as needed, and Juria, Chisa and Hinata possess the vocal power to trade off hooks and harmonies. “Shooting Star” and “Left Right” elevated XG (short for “Xtraordinary Girls”) ahead of their first mini-album, last year’s New DNA, and after a handful of stopgap singles in 2024, “Something Ain’t Right” announces the invigoration next iteration of the group’s identity.

The single nods toward garage and house music, but “Something Ain’t Right” most viscerally harkens back to late ‘90s rhythmic pop, with a beat that artists like Mya, 3LW and Blaque would have devoured back in the day. Instead, XG revamps that workout-ready bounce for a new take on “Say My Name”-esque relationship suspicions: “Something ain’t right/ You’ve been acting funny lately/ You ain’t gotta lie/ Got mе out here looking crazy!” Chisa wails, the final word spinning upward and out of her grasp.

“Something Ain’t Right” hits the gas early and glides through rolled-eyes rap verses and pleading bridges, efficient in its synthesis of romantic betrayal. Yet the strongest aspect of the track is how much more we understand XG, and the way that its seven members are deployed individually and collectively. After ramping up their streams and followers over the past two years, the group has returned with an established sense of self and an understanding of the pop mode in which they can best operate. It’s a crowded landscape, but XG is worth seeking out and appreciating.

Here are some more new pop songs worth checking out this week…

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 Chappell Roan, Bleachers, Kylie Minogue and more 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 our favorite cool pop songs of this year.

Chappell Roan, “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl”

On paper, Chappell Roan’s “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” represents an eyeroll, as the rising pop star dismisses another bad date with “fugly jeans” and swears off lame dudes altogether. In practice, though, the song is ecstatic: the best track on Roan’s striking debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess blasts off following its conversational opening verse into the electro-pop stratosphere, and when the beat kicks in on the back half of the chorus, trying to resist one of the year’s most giddy pop moments is a losing game. – Jason Lipshutz

Dylan, “Rebel Child”

The guitar snarl of Dylan’s new single “Rebel Child” harkens back to latter-period garage-rock revival, when bands like The Hives and Jet were still soaking up radio spins and commercial synchs — but the rest of the song swerves into a satisfying pop lane full of “woo-hoo” refrains and anti-hater messaging. When Dylan declares, “Oh, baby, I can’t lose, my drum is beating harder,” as the percussion picks up on the chorus, “Rebel Child” reaches a new, synergistic height. – J. Lipshutz

Bleachers, “Modern Girl”

Anyone who’s caught a recent Bleachers show understands that, when Jack Antonoff isn’t helping mold some of biggest pop albums in recent memory, he and his band mates are putting on gleefully raucous performances; “Modern Girl,” the lead single to their upcoming fourth album, bottles some of that onstage energy and brings it back into the recording studio. In between saxophone struts and a wall-of-sound hook, Antonoff’s voice settles nicely into a rapid-fire cadence, each syllable flush with jittery passion. – J. Lipshutz

Yeule, “Cyber Meat”

While Yeule’s 2022 album Glitch Princess, which focused on disassociating with the natural world, featured a daringly synthetic approach to pop, the newly released softscars tries to untangle the various complexities of humanity with an alt-rock edge. “Cyber Meat” is a standout from the new album precisely because it’s something we haven’t heard from Yeule before: as they masterfully deploy hooks over crashing drums and bleary guitar, they sound fearless, and have us wondering where else they might go next. – J. Lipshutz

Slaughter Beach, Dog, “My Sister in Jesus Christ”

The entirety of Slaughter Beach, Dog’s new album, Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling, contains a bright indie twang that will make a lovely autumn-sunset soundtrack this season — although the lyrics of the rollicking standout “My Sister in Jesus Christ” might jump out from the background and grab your attention. Jake Ewald’s songwriting touches upon My Chemical Romance, blue Gatorade, a snakeskin purse and “dirty emails on AOL” — and that’s just one of the verse — but does so with a smile and a wink, each reference grabbing your attention without becoming too intrusive. – J. Lipshutz

JP Saxe, “Anywhere”

JP Saxe has described “Anywhere” as one of his favorite songs that he’s written to date, and it’s easy to understand why: the piano ballad functions as a lullaby but never dips into the maudlin, with Saxe soothing his subject that, while he may be away from home, he’s going to be back soon enough. A song like “Anywhere” is tricky to pull off without sounding saccharine, but Saxe lowers his voice to a gentle embrace instead of a showy bellow, making his words all the more relatable. – J. Lipshutz

Brent Faiyaz, “WY@” 

Over the soft, insistent tap of an 808 and multi-layered, almost unearthly harmonies, Brent Faiyaz sings of a poisonous lover who’s too alluring to let go: “You take on my ability / You’re the death of me and the remedy.” Just like the subject of “WY@,” the pull of this soulful slow-burn is hard to turn down, and easy to get lost in. – Joe Lynch 

Kylie Minogue, “Green Light” 

Hailing from Kylie Minogue’s excellent new LP Tension, “Green Light” is a bouncy, bright bop that finds the Aussie pop queen singing her verses in a soft, ping-pong staccato before the disco-inflected chorus takes over. And that smooth sax solo? Just icing on the top of this delicious confection. – J. Lynch 

Coco & Clair Clair, “The Hills (feat. DEELA) – George Daniel Remix”

Life’s a party for Coco & Clair Clair on “The Hills,” but the party gets dialed up to 100 with the track’s George Daniel (of The 1975) remix – the chill, house vibes of the song swapped for bouncy U.K. club beats. The duo, whose voices are pitched and sped up in Daniel’s version of the song, hop around from event to event, but ultimately can’t help but think of the object of their affections in the inevitable down moments that come with a busy week spent without their love. – Starr Bowenbank

Slayyyter, “I Love Hollywood!”

Slayyyter’s sophomore effort, STARF–KER, tells the tale of gritty nightlife and the dark underbelly of fame over high octane, maximalist production for 35 minutes straight. Listeners are thrust into her world upon hitting play on the album’s indulgent introductory track, “I Love Hollywood!” — bright lights, drug-filled parties and brushes with controversial pop culture icons are just a sliver of the trouble Slayyyter wraps herself up in, but she doesn’t mind one bit, so long as she remains the well-dressed, enviable center of attention. – S.B.