Pop
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Move over, 7th Heaven — SEVENTEEN is gearing up to release its 11th mini album, SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, the K-pop group revealed on social media Tuesday (Sept. 19). The news of the arrival was shared through a brief 30-second video of a red festival wristband. Upon zooming in, the wristband has the names of the group […]
Although Guts has topped charts on both sides of the pond and launched two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, there is still much about the album yet to be discovered — at least according to the answers Olivia Rodrigo gave during her visit to the TODAY show’s “8 Questions Before 8AM” segment on Monday […]
The bad news first, Olivia Rodrigo won’t be visiting Australia later this week. The good, she’ll be back next year.
The U.S. pop phenomenon has canceled her trip Down Under at short notice, citing “unforeseen circumstances.”
The “Vampire” singer was scheduled to visit Sydney for a fan Q&A event this Friday, Sept. 22, a session that was to include “an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime Q&A,” along with chances to win a meet and greet with the artist. “I can’t wait to get down to Australia,” she enthused in a statement issued Sept. 1, announcing the promo excursion. “I’ve never been and I’m so excited to meet everyone. I’ll see you soon Livies”.
Those plans are now scrapped.
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“We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances Olivia Rodrigo’s trip to Australia has been cancelled,” reads a statement from Universal Music Australia. “Unfortunately the fan Q&A event on Friday 22nd September will no longer be going ahead.”
The message contains a caveat. “Olivia is devastated that she won’t be able to make it,” the note continues, “however she’s so excited to see her Australian Livies in 2024.”
That hint at things to come is bound to keep fans on their toes. Just last week, Rodrigo announced two separate waves of dates for her Guts World Tour, which includes stops across North America, the U.K. and Continental Europe, but nothing in Australia.
Rodrigo’s popularity right now in Australia is, like elsewhere, sky-high. Her sophomore album Guts is the current No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and all 12 tracks from it impact the national singles chart. Guts is the followup to Sour, Rodrigo’s 2021 debut which logged eight non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in Australia. All told, three of her singles have led the official ARIA Chart: “Vampire,” “Drivers Licence” and “Good 4 U.”
Proceeds from each ticket for the Guts World Tour will benefit her new Fund 4 Good initiate, which will support community non-profits that work toward girls’ education, reproductive rights and prevent gender-based violence.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football put a fresh spin on a nostalgic hit Monday night (Sept. 18), as the broadcast opened with a new music video featuring Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana reimagining Phil Collins‘ classic “In the Air Tonight.” The clip led into ESPN’s broadcast of the New Orleans Saints facing […]
Chipotle is grateful all the f—ing time that Olivia Rodrigo has some great lyrics in her new album, Guts. So much so, that the chain restaurant referenced one of the album’s best lines in its new Instagram post over the weekend. In “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” Rodrigo laments that “everything I do is tragic […]
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is a good sport when it comes to the ongoing rumors that he’s dating Taylor Swift. During the game between the Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday (Sept. 17), NFL announcer Ian Eagle slipped in a few Swift lyric references as he called a play from Kelce. “Kelce finds […]
Months after their separation was announced, Ariana Grande has officially filed for divorce from Dalton Gomez, according to court documents obtained by Billboard. According to TMZ, who first broke the news, Grande filed first in Los Angeles County court on Monday (Sept. 18), citing “irreconcilable differences.” Gomez followed suit with his own filing with the […]
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.
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These 10 tracks from artists including Sia, Madison Beer, Corrine Bailey Rae, Poppy 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 with all 10.
Corinne Bailey Rae, “A Spell, A Prayer”
After turning heads with her garage rave-up “New York Transit Queen,” Corinne Bailey Rae – best known for the neo-soul-pop classic “Put Your Records On” — has unreleased her full Black Rainbows album. As evidenced on the expansive, atmospheric opening track “A Spell, A Prayer,” the singer-songwriter is in the midst of a fruitful creative 180, refusing to limit herself to any one genre while still maintaining her meticulous approach to songcraft. The results are as eclectic as they are thrilling on this 10-song LP. – JOE LYNCH
Madison Beer, “Sweet Relief”
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Hailing from Madison Beer’s latest album Silence Between Songs, “Sweet Relief” nicely demonstrates the pop star’s subtle, effective vocal choices when it comes to three-minute-song storytelling. Opening with a propulsive verse that conjures the slight melancholy of infatuation, the song lets loose on the chorus, with Beer conveying the feeling of an irresistible romantic obsession. – J. Lynch
Riovaz, “The Rake (Can’t Complain)”
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Riovaz continues his genre agnostic journey through the ups and downs (though mostly the latter) of relationships with “The Rake (Can’t Complain).” It’s a single that proves high BPMs and emo lyrics pair nicely together, especially when refracted through the Jersey artist’s obsession with ‘90s dance, from drum’n’bass to house. – J. Lynch
K. Flay, “Punisher”
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On the electric and menacing “Punisher,” included on K. Flay’s latest album Mono, the genre-blurring artist sings of a “great manipulator” and “vindictive dictator.” By the chorus, it’s clear who the villain in question is, as K. Flay admits to a relatable truth: “Nobody knows how to punish me like me.” The confession sets the stage for the catchy chorus built around a whining riff and whispering voices — leaning into the notion that everyone is their own toughest critic. – LYNDSEY HAVENS
Poppy, “Motorbike”
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Poppy goes sleek and seductive for her latest Zig single, “Motorbike,” tackling fierce femininity over darkwave synth instrumentation. Kicking off the track is an ominous voice that ponders, “I wonder why, nothing catches my eye, quite like the sight of a girl with a powerful machine between her legs” — a potential nod to her Poppy.Computer days — before descending into a full blown groove that sees her lusting after a girl ready to overpower the large metal machine. Whether the lust is in attraction or jealousy is up for interpretation. — STARR BOWENBANK
Sia, “Gimme Love”
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While Sia has found great success in the past with motivational anthems like “Alive,” “Unstoppable” and “The Greatest,” new single “Gimme Love” — which previews her first solo pop album in eight years, out next spring — adopts a more pleading attitude, as the singer-songwriter begs for affection over echoing drums and a cloudy sea of synthesizer. The tone of “Gimme Love” doesn’t diminish its scale, however: Sia is still making pop music for enormous spaces, and her latest can fill any sized room. – J. Lipshutz
Leah Kate, “Desperate”
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“God, I’m a mess right now,” Leah Kate squeaks right before launching into the chorus of “Desperate,” the most impressive new track on her recently released debut album Super Over. In between eye-rolls at her own clinginess and super-charged melodies that sound ripe for top 40 radio, Kate sneaks some unkempt vulnerability into the pre-chorus, giving a post-breakup track like “Desperate” a stronger, more empathetic foundation. – J. Lipshutz
Bella Poarch feat. Lauv, “Crush”
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Midway through his new collaboration with Bella Poarch, Lauv declares, “Love Island is my favorite show”: the point that he and his co-star on “Crush” are making is that sometimes, you can go on TV, give out roses, and go home alone, without any drama following you off camera. “Crush” is low-stakes post-summer giddiness, with two skilled voices harmonizing about embracing the butterflies without putting down stakes; Poarch in particular sounds self-assured on this type of rhythmic pop track, tossing in vocal flourishes for good measure. – J. Lipshutz
Yumi Zouma, “KPR”
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New Zealand quartet Yumi Zouma have been releasing music together for nearly a decade, and new single “KPR” demonstrates the way in which they keep getting better: after perfecting their brand of fine-tuned indie-pop, “KPR” delves into atmospheric, slightly askew shoegaze, and the results are even more rewarding. The single captures the range of vocalist Christie Simpson, who simmers beneath the production, steps forward into the silence, and commands the final hook. – J. Lipshutz
Hannah Diamond, “Poster Girl”
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It’s hard to make bubblegum pop that sounds as effortless as Hannah Diamond’s “Poster Girl” — which perfectly matches the aesthetic of its single artwork, featuring Diamond surrounded by pop-star posters in her bedroom as a hair dryer becomes her low-budget wind machine. The synth lines and vocal melodies of “Poster Girl” sound instinctive, as if Diamond woke up one day with turn-of-the-century teenybopper smashes fully internalized; it’s a new single, but it feels time-honored. – J. Lipshutz
Are wedding bells in the air for Adele? During Weekend 27 of her Weekends with Adele residency, the Grammy-winning “Easy On Me” singer turned down a fan’s marriage proposal and referred to boyfriend Rich Paul as her “husband” — and she did it all in less than 15 seconds. In a one-on-one moment in the […]
Zack Bia has heard all the rumors and innuendo suggesting that ex-girlfriend Olivia Rodrigo‘s slashing GUTS single, “Vampire” is about a former real-life boyfriend, likely him. “I don’t think it’s really about me,” the DJ and Field Trip Recordings label co-founder told GQ magazine. “I think the internet just ran with it.”
The 27-year-old who is acting a pre-show DJ hype man for Drake’s current North American tour said he believes “Vampire” is probably a fictional composite character, which is another reason he’s not sweating the heated rhetoric. “Look, I’m in the industry so I know how a song gets made,” said Bia, “firmly denying” that the couple’s six month 2022 relationship was even worthy of such a lacerating breakup banger. “We hung out, we’re both busy, and we ended up not furthering our relationship. There was never any drama, you know?”
With a chorus that includes the lyrics: “I used to think I was smart/ But you made me look so naive/ The way you sold me for parts/ As you sunk your teeth into me, oh/ Bloodsucker, fame f–ker /Bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn vampire,” the track from Rodrigo, 20, pulls no punches about the heartache caused by… someone.
It’s worth noting that the song seems to suggest a dalliance with an older man (“Went for me and not her/ ‘Cause girls your age know better”), and even hints at the time frame in question (“Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise.”) To be fair, the internet also thought “Vampire” might be about another older man, producer Adam Faze, who Rodrigo dated when she was 18; she was 19 when she dated Bia, from around April-August 2022.
GQ said it spoke to an unnamed source in Rodrigo’s songwriting camp about Bia’s suggestion that the songs wasn’t him and their response was “I don’t know if that’s exactly true.”
If it isn’t about him, why didn’t Bia — who was also reportedly the subject of the scathing 2019 Madison Beer song “Selfish” — try to knock down all that TikTok speculation that he was the bloodsucker in question? “Any time I’ve been speculatively the subject of a song, or the focus of a TikTok trend, whether grounded in reality or not, it’s like, it’s never been up to me to address it because the scale of it is so widespread,” Bia said. “100 million people have heard this song. The only thing I can address is my own life. I can control what my friends think and the creative output that I have and things like that.”
Thinking of the song from a label exec perspective, Bia said at the end of the day, “Vampire” is just undeniable, which is all that matters. “Look, the momentum of a song is so special,” he said. “I think Olivia is a generational songwriter. I think she’s a generational talent. I’m always just proud of her continued accomplishments.”
In fact, Bia said he kind of digs the track that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July; GUTS debuts at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart dated Sept. 23. “The song’s so big and so awesome,” he said. “Look, a heartbreak song for the summertime, it’s an undefeated formula.”