New Music Friday Review: 8th January Part 2. The Bandit and Flame Come in Closer

 "New Truck" by Florida Georgia Line

In short: NOT GOOD and an early contender for the worst song of 2021, If you want to see my full thoughts on this atrocity than here's the full review. 

Rating: 1/10

"And So It Went" by The Pretty Reckless feat. Tom Morello

So I am a bit of a Pretty Reckless fan and they've been rolling out the singles for their up coming fourth album called "Death by Rock 'n' Roll" due out next month with "And So It Went" being the third single for that project and I got to say, it's pretty good, it's not anywhere near what "25" (hell, that song is firmly entrenched as one of my favourite songs of 2021 already) is but its still solid..the guitars are crunchy and Tom Morello's guitar solo turns the song from merely being good to kicking butt and taking names...its good...check it out.

Rating: 7/10

"Come In Closer" by Rhye

So while we got the absolute worst of the year in Florida Georgia Line's "New Truck, we may also have gotten one of the best songs of the year in "Come In Closer" from Canadian R'n'B composer Rhye. This thing is slinky, there's grooves for miles longer than a motorway in any country and Rhye's voice sounds incredible, this has got me hyped to hear that new album in a couple of weeks. PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT.

Rating: 9/10

"Flames" by Mod Sun feat. Avril Lavigne

Okay to explain...Mod Sun (an acronym standing for "Movement on Dreams, Stand under None"), his real name being Derek Smith, he is a rapper, author and also rock musician..somehow and so he collaborated with Avril Lavigne for this song and...I'm left confused...I don't think the song is bad but Mod Sun and Avril don't mesh well together at all and the lyrics are pretty close to generic filler. The instrumentation is fine enough pop rock...if this is your thing than fair enough but otherwise I'll wait (nervously) for that next Avril album because this didn't do much for me at all.

Rating 4/10

"The Bandit" by Kings of Leon

I haven't thought much about this band in a long time...I know they released an album called "Walls" in the 2010s that wasn't well received by the critical set but I hadn't cared about a release from Kings of Leon in awhile so how is "The Bandit"?

Honestly it's not bad! The instrumentation sounds tighter and heavier sound that yeah works well with the vocals. The content of the song is pretty vague about this group of people who are desperate and frustrated in their chase to catch this bandit and it's never implied if they caught this bandit or if he or she got away, it's an interesting song to say the list.

Rating: 7/10

Top Ten WORST Hit Songs of 2020

 We have finally reached the end of this wretched, disgusting and frankly tiresome year however also means looking back on the year in popular music to find the absolute best and absolute worst 2020 had to offer on the ARIA singles chart and honestly…this year on the ARIA singles chart somehow defied the terribleness of the year, there’s not nearly as many bad or outright garbage songs as there were in 2018 or even last year however it does mean that the truly awful hits this year stuck out a lot more especially from one particular artist who spent 2020 infuriating me but we’ll get to that. 

Also it’s worth pointing out that a lot of the worst elements of pop music in 2020 came from things beyond the control of popular music like stan culture and all of the ugly offshoots that come from that on social media eg: doxxing of chart accounts (Let’s not forget that 2020 was the year that ChartData got doxxed by a certain fanbase over the number one position on the US Billboard Hot 100) and the bullying that I see so often in the comments under ChartData’s tweets and the songs trying to cash in on people’s emotions due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns that occurred worldwide.

There was also the coronavirus pandemic and the music that was aiming to hit on people’s emotions. Unfortunately a lot of the good songs about the pandemic were kept off the charts and well…you’ll see…

However, we are going to talking about the music that got popular in Australia so before we get stuck into the list, it is time to go through the rules.

1. A song can only make this unfortunate list if it reached the ARIA year end singles chart so while "Hard to Forget" by Sam Hunt is absolutely disgusting, it didn't make the ARIA year end list (honestly, thank goodness for that because I really would have started questioning the intelligence of the Australian public

2. A song that made the 2019 year end list is also eligible but only if it peaked higher on the 2020 year end list 

3. No abuse, this list is my opinion and reflects the feelings I have had about the charting music this year, if you disagree with me than provide valid argument why a song doesn’t deserve to be on my worst hit songs list minus using stan lingo…stan lingo will earn you a patented laugh and a ‘the song still sucks’ reply.

Now that I have made that clear, let us get on with the list.

So in the past two years, Billie Eilish has become one of the biggest names in pop music but in 2020, she was pretty quiet apart from releasing a few scattered singles however Eilish being pretty quiet so set the stage for this travesty to happen… 

10. “You Broke Me First” by Tate McRae

I am convinced record labels watched as Billie Eilish set the world alight in 2019 with a sound that was very different from what others within pop music were doing at the time and pontificated on how they can get in on what Billie Eilish is doing and given Billie has had a reasonably quiet year, they turned to Tate McRae for this turgid slog of a song that tries to sell her scorn at this ex wanting her back after an ugly break up and honestly, McRae’s anger here is unconvincing and the production sounds washed out and lacks the kind menace and anger you’d think you would need for a song about a break up where the title is accusing the other person of breaking her first.

The song is also bland, derivative junk that Billie Eilish did better on “When the Party’s Over” in 2018/19…next!

As I said in the introduction, the world is in the midst of a pandemic which meant of course lockdowns and people staying home so of course the popular music tried to reflect on what people were going through which meant everyone from Twenty One Pilots to Luke Combs had to release their quarantine songs and for the most part. Some of them were good eg “Six Feet Apart” by Luke Combs and “Level of Concern” by Twenty One Pilots neither of which somehow became hits but we did get one quarantine song that became a hit courtesy of both these artists being managed by Scooter Braun…pity it sucks.

9. “Stuck with You” by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber

This song represents the absolute worst of the songs that pandered toward people’s feelings toward the pandemic and what is unsettling about this song is that it’s Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, two superstars in the world of popular music who are capable of so much better. Can we start with the fact that Ariana’s crooning fails to harmonise with Justin Bieber who sounds completely bored and like he would rather be doing anything else than singing about being in lockdown? Ariana just overwhelms Bieber vocally and the lack of harmonising does bother me. 

Oh and the production sounds slapdash as well, four or five different sounds just slapped together in a slog sandwich…granted I do like the more rock production on the final bridge and what’s more Ariana sounds unsupported over it, she sounds better on the production given to Lady Gaga’s “Rain On Me”. All in all the production just sounds really flat and dare I say it…cheap which is not exactly a good thing given the two people on the god damn song!

As for the lyric “I could stay here forever”, NOBODY wants to be stuck in god damn quarantine forever, Ariana and Bieber and the more I look at the lyrics of this song, it’s less about being in quarantine and more about Bieber and Ariana being confused over their feelings and just wanting to hook up

At the end of the day, it’s a token charity song that’s not really worth much of anything and will more than likely be forgotten…except I am not done with Bieber yet…ugh…

In 2017/18, Camila Cabello had a massive hit with “Havana’ from her debut album, now “Havana” was an honourable mention on my best hit songs list for 2017…that song is still good to almost great and there are days where I wish I could find room to put it in the top ten for that year however in late 2019 she released a song that was nowhere near close to being in the same football stadium as “Havana”…

8. “My Oh My” by Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby

It is telling how much “My Oh My” cribs from “Havana” from the production to even Camila Cabello’s vocal delivery and swapping out Young Thug for DaBaby with the shocking part being just how wonky and awful “My Oh My” sounds, its tinny and doesn’t flatter Camila’s vocals at all, she sounds absolutely horrendous here.

The lyrics play to this hook up where this man only comes out at midnight and he is after one thing yet so is Camila…the writing on this song is more basic than the writing on fucking “Yummy”…Camila then swears she’s been a ‘good girl’ yet she doesn’t flesh out the details of what this other person wants her to do.

DaBaby’s verse contains some terrible lines like “She say I make her wet whenever my face pop up on TV” and “Pop star, I'm fresh up out the trap and I'm goin' Bieber”…given the year Justin Bieber has just had in terms of the music…it’s probably not the smartest flex ever,  Dababy!

This song is worthless and the fact this as so desperately shoved onto that last Camila Cabello album says A LOT.

This year, there was the good, bad and whatever the fact Justin Bieber shovelled out this year…here’s the first bit of evidence of that…

7. “Holy” by Justin Bieber frat. Chance the Rapper

So this is either another song for Justin Bieber’s wife or for Jesus…one or the other…it’s honestly hard to tell as the whole song is this turgid cornball nonsense perhaps exemplified by the chorus with the line “On God, running to the altar like a track star” which is right up there with the absolute worst lyrics Pat Monahan of Train has ever written! I know Evangelical Christians like to have their flock marry young and pump out the children but come on Justin, you aren’t Usain Bolt or any other fucking track star.

Then there’s Chance the Rapper whose verse pretty much locks this song into the worst list especially with lines like “I'm a believer, my heart is fleshy. Life is short with a temper like Joe Pesci” and “When they get messy, go lefty, like Lionel Messi”

In short this song is terrible especially in the song writing but the production has no power or bombast to it that you would think you’d need for a song that’s supposed to be religious, Bieber’s trying to add power to a song that is making me feel nothing but wanting to laugh at the stupid lyrics and no it doesn’t help that the song seems to have similar sentiments to a Florida Georgia Line song from a few years ago.

We will get to more of Bieber and stupid lyrics later….

Well here is an easy target…

6. “Sunday Best” by Surfaces

This is a song where the lyrics/vocal delivery and the production do not match, you would think that for a song where he is going on about ‘he is feeling good like he should’ that he would sound happy and energetic (although I’d take issue with that awfully chipper lyric given the year that 2020 has been) yet at best he sounds fucking constipated like he ate too much fibre and is now sitting on the toilet trying to pass this turd of a song out of his bowels.

What is with all the god damn empty platitudes about leaving a day better than you found it? I mean come on…1. There is only so much that people can do while they are in quarantine/lockdown 2. Saying whatever is not going to fix an issue, it’s how you deal with the issue.

The production on this song is a wash, for a song that is trying to be this perky number, the music sounds like it was written for a death march rather than actually sounding bright and happy so yeah if I wanted to be cheered up this year…this was the sound I kept out of my ears. Ugh!

This next song would not be here, let alone this high on the worst list if it weren’t for just one element of the song that just does not work at all and annoys me…

5, “Death Bed” by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee

This one is going to be reasonably short, “Death Bed” was a song that I liked originally, the content of the song is about a young man who is slowly dying and is talking to his partner about doing things with this partner and potentially meeting up with the person in whatever comes next after they die, it’s a lo fi hip hop song that at first was one that I was ambivalent on and willing to give a pass to when it first hit the ARIA singles chart.

However it took hearing this song one too many times on the radio to realize that there was one misconceived element of the song that was getting really distracting and really annoying…that element being Beabadoobee’s crooning behind Powfu’s verses which really took me out of the song and didn’t match at all with Powfu’s rather bleak verses. 

Ordinarily a song where there is just one element that does not work would not normally throw a song this high on a worst list but the crooning that ruins what could have potentially been a great song is disappointing.

There is an open question about whether external factors behind this next song are fuelling my hatred of it but yeah there is enough to the song that fuels the hatred So therefore…

4. “Say So” by Doja Cat

I didn’t want to put this song here…really…but I’ve never ever come to the conclusion that Doja Cat sounds good over that washed out and rather cheap sounding 80s style production that Daft Punk could do better with, she sounds harsh especially over that final verse, it’s not pleasant to listen to and given I think Doja Cat has a fair bit of talent, the production here is a shame.

As for the lyrics…they are your standard friend who is in love with Doja Cat and Doja wants this friend to tell her how he really feels rather than wasting time by beating around the bush which is fine but maybe this friend isn’t ready to admit he is in love with her, feels like she is trying to force it out of him rather than letting it be a natural moment when the other person is ready as well.

Then there are the external factors that push this song so high up on this list, the man who ruined Kesha’s career produced this song and the fact he can get a song with this limp beat that apparently pleased everyone this year makes me angry especially in light of the Me Too movement which somehow hasn’t taken a broad swipe at the music industry yet apart from ending the career of R. Kelly. Dr L*** career revival also saw him produce a song on that last posthumous Juice WRLD album which also become a hit. 

Fuck Dr L***.

Right foot up, left foot slide into the fucking bin, Drake.

3, “Toosie Slide” by Drake

There was absolutely no reason for Drake to make this song. None. He had his trap dance hits with both “Nice For What” and “In My Feelings” in 2018, there was no need for him to try to capitalise on people being at home bored during the pandemic but we got this fart of a song instead. Let us begin with the fact that this song is really only worth the 30 second Tik Tok meme where Drake sings “Left foot up, right foot slide. Right foot up, left foot slide. Basically, I am saying either way we ‘bout to slide, ayy”. That’s it… there is nothing else to it.” Nutbush City Limits” and “YMCA”, this is not.

At least both “Nutbush City Limits” and “YMCA” have a groove and energy to them that make doing the dances associated with those two songs fun, “Toosie Slide” has this monotonous trap beat that sounds so lethargic and tired which I find absolutely bizarre as in 2020, popular music is moving away from the tired and stale trap sound and really just showed that Drake wanted to show that there was still room in the marketplace for lame songs that could have been Vine videos in 2015/16. 

NEXT…

In my past top ten worst hit songs of a given year you might have noticed that I have a distaste for shitty cover songs….well 2020 did have one song that somehow become a hit much to my horror…

2. “Put Your Records On” by Ritt Momney

I am not a fan of the original “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae…just too cloying and sweet for me but at no stage did anyone ask for a guy with the worst stage name since Lil Dicky to cover “Put Your Records On” and sap the warmth and sunshine out of the song with the trap percussion, it’s clunky, ugly and Ritt Momney having a voice that sits somewhere between having a head cold and a broken cassette tape that’s somehow still playing but break the damn tape deck.

Also the fact that Momney turned this song that was originally smooth and breezy empowerment song  into a choppy hook up song from a male perspective that comes across as completely awkward and comes nowhere near close to being smooth enough to fit the mood he is going for. 

This song is a clattering wall of noise that is not only uncomfortable to listen to but gets rather god damn unpleasant however it’s not the worst hit song of the year but before we find out what is…let’s go through some obligatory dishonourable mentions, shall we?

DHM1: “Yummy” by Justin Bieber

Yeeahhh, “Yummy” is still a bad song, it’s dated, lazy and shows that Justin Bieber hasn’t evolved or changed as an artist by dipping into dated trends from 2016/17 to sing about how yummy his wife’s vagina is. Somehow after hearing this song a few times, I do not blame DJ Khaled for refusing to eat pussy because there’s nothing here that makes the idea even vaguely attractive and Bieber’s squawking delivery just sets my teeth on edge and the fact that this crap got nominated for a Grammy says a lot about the joke the Grammys are.

Also, Justin…not signing a prenup is a silly idea…just saying…

DHM 2: “Falling” by Trevor Daniel

Yeah of the newcomers to hit the charts, Trevor Daniel is the least impressive of the lot and this song is just a trap clunker that Trevor Daniel just sounds off key on. Enough said. Next!

DHM 3: “Party Girl” by StaySolidRocky

Well this guy can be placed in the hall of one hit wonders because after this trap garbage, his career has gone nowhere…for good reason. “Party Girl” is your typically independent girl at the party who likes drugs and guns and apparently does not need anyone. Looks like everyone else decided that they did not need StaySolidRocky beyond this song as he has released other songs, but they’ve not hit the charts. Good riddance.

DHM 4: “Life is Good” by Future and Drake

Well this is a mess that only got worse as the year went on. Future has never been good in his lane of mumble rap under a thick smear of autotune. This song diverts into Drake’s usual playground of concern trolling women and complaining he can’t do his taxes because he is too turnt up. Geez. Let’s hope for better from both but especially Drake given his glorified simp album is coming in January..

DHM 5: “What’s a Man Gotta Do?” by the Jonas Brothers

Yeah this one has one of the most annoying hooks I’ve heard on a pop song in ages and the writing is so fucking corny, it makes my skin crawl, its like they glanced through other songs grabbed at lyrics and mashed them into this one pulsing headache of a song. Sorry guys, I won’t be grabbing you by the collar any time soon

Back to the list and the number one, I think I’ve signalled my pick for top spot enough in 2020, a song that makes me quiver with rage at how ugly the lyrics are and how lazy the production is…”Yummy” wasn’t the worst song that Justin Bieber released in 2020, guys…fight the real enemy…

1. “Intentions” by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo

This song underlines and underpins the ugly and regressive themes and attitudes about women on Justin Bieber’s abortion of an album “Changes” that he released in February and the fact that this became a hit is infuriating but not surprising that Bieber would turn to writing a song aimed at making Evangelical Christian style gender roles/stereotypes seem attractive to young women (alarming when you consider how much of his fanbase is young women).

Let’s start with the lyrics that border on being close to Train at their absolute worst to absolutely asinine, for a start “Heart full of equity, you’re an asset” is nowhere near close to being as sexy as Bieber thinks it is and only served to remind me that I needed to file my taxes and yet Bieber put it on the hook of a love song for his WIFE.

There is also ‘Stay in the kitchen cookin' up, got your own bread” Bieber intends his wife to be a 1950s housewife the typically demure way of staying home and cooking her own bread. Now it’s fine if she WANTS to stay home but what if that isn’t what she wants for her life and that’s before we get to the first verse where Bieber shouts out her parents for having sex and conceiving her which is just all sorts of ick…imagine going up to your partner’s parents and saying “Oh congratulations on making your son/daughter, he or she is a beauty”? Ewww.

What is more Bieber wants to give his girl’s parents a standing ovation for the way they raised her. Who the hell are you to judge on parenting, Bieber?

The line that says everything I need to know about how overwhelmingly shitty the lyrics are is this line in the second verse where he sings that she doesn’t need no sponsor because she’s the brand now like his wife is just some inanimate object with logos all over, she isn’t a fucking trophy!

Quavo comes in with this nothing of a verse where even he sounds like he would rather be eating tacos or doing anything other than appearing on this gutless turd of a song where the production is this spluttering mess with hi hats and percussion that doesn’t much the frankly icky vibe of the song and says a lot about the mess that was Justin Bieber’s “music” in 2020 so for all that “Intentions” by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo is the worst hit song of 2020.

Good 1992 Vibrations: 12th January. Black or White rules roost as The KLF get "Justified & Ancient"

Well we're into the first chart week of the new year and it's actually a lot more interesting than I had expected mostly because there's some challengers to a song that has been number one since mid December 1991 with that song being "Black Or White" by Michael Jackson which had enough sales to maintain itself at number one.

It's nearest challenger remains "Cream" by Prince and The New Power Generation which climbed one spot to number two this week while also posing a solid challenge is "Let's Talk about Sex" by Salt-N-Pepa whch clinbed one place to number three although it can be argued the reason why both these songs gained is that former number one "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred suffered a two place fall to number four. 

Then we have The Rockmelons collaboration with Deni Hines for a very early 90s cover of Bill Withers classic 'Ain't No Sunshine" which climbed two places to number five, 

The highest new entry of the week is at number six with "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on:Me" by George Michael and Elton John, more on this song later but it's certainly got the ingredients to be big with good sales. 

It pushed 'When Something Is Wrong with my baby" by Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham back one place to number seven.as it fades naturally.

All this meant that "Mysterious Ways" by U2 fell three places to number eight and is vulnerable to "All 4 Love" by Colour Me Bad up two places to hit the top ten at number nine. Dear god...I can only hope "Mysterious Ways" hangs on for grim death.

However in good news, "Come to Me" by Diesel rose two places to number ten, this song is really damn solid. Check it out.

Gains

So we had a few big gainers this week, most notably Seattle grunge band Nirvana with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" rising twenty places to 13, this is headed for the top ten...just watch.

Big Audio Dynamite II look headed for another hit with "The Globe" rising from 43 to 31 while Rozalla's "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good" jumped from 39 to 25...got a feeling that this one might make a top ten push at some stage but we'll see.

Roxette's "Spending My Time" climbed from 29 to 17 while Julian Lennon's "Saltwater" continues to rise, this week up 12 places to 16.

Re Entries

Just the one return with MC Hammer's pretty terrible "2 Legit 2 Quit" somehow back at number 44.

Losers

We have a lengthy list of losers this week folks so I'm starting at the bottom and working my way up. 

Dropping eight places to 49 is "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" by Bryan Adams (This song is a guilty pleasure for me so kind of sad to see it on the way out)

"I Gotcha" by Jiumy Barnes is losing it's grip on its place in the top 50 as it tumbles nine spots to 45 while Maybe Dolls plunged eight places to 43 with "Nervous Kid".

A song I absolutely dislike also took a big hit that being "Break in the Weather" by Jenny Morris which collapsed from 26 to 41...not sad to see this as Jenny has done better.

The Wonder Stuff's Australian Tour Souveneir EP called "Caught In My Shadow" slipped seven places to number 38 while "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway slipped nine spots to 29 (More on Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch in the new entries)

Another 1991 hit taking a fall was "Live Your Life Be Free" by Belinda Carlisle which dropped eight places to 27 while PM Dawn's "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" tumbled from 15 to 22.

Metallica skidded from 14 to 21 with "The Unforgiven" while Tomislav Ivcic's anti war song and top ten hit "Stop the War in Croatia" took a twelve place hit to to number 20. while the other top ten hit to fall hard was Robbie Nevil's "Just Like You" which dropped nine places to 18. 

New Entries

Number 47: "How Can I Keep from Singing" by Enya

So I feel I need to say this, Enya's music is the epitome of background noise filler, it's the sort of music you put on when curing insomnia so how is this latest single from her 1991 album "Shepherd Moons"...honestly its more of the same background filler noise, Enya sounds nice on the song but the longer the song went the more I was convinced it doesn't belong on the ARIA singles chart. Fast forward!

Number 46: "Finally" by Ce Ce Peniston

Well okay, this is a bit of a wake up call after having to listen to that sleepy Enya song and it comes from an American former beauty queen turned singer and actress so I was kind of interested to hear song and yeah, it's fine...it's got a pop sensibility to it that makes the song work really well,and the lyrics describing somebody finally finding that person to love are cute...it's decent without being great...I'll still take it.

Number 40: "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF 

So The KLF are a British electronic hip hop act formed in 1987 and otherwise known as Justified Ancients of the Mu Mu and many other names. Its a pretty sample heavy song that uses country singer Tammy Wynette very well, she sounds GREAT here. and the harmonies around the hook are gorgeous. You know what? I dig this, its a bit oddball but hey, its a damn good song...hope it's a hit. 

Number 37: "Martika's Kitchen" by Martika

Alright so we've got a pop cut from one of the break out stars of the late 80s and honestly why does this song feel like a tamer version of Katy Perry's 2017 disaster "Bon Appetit" feat. Migos?. Especially as Martika proclaims "The oven is hot" and I almost get the sense she's calling her vagina a kitchen...look, I know it's probably not but the song leaves me with no choice but to make that interpretation! 

The song is trying to go for this sexy vibe that just doesn't work when Martika is singing like a silly seventeen year old girl who is reading Cleo or Cosmopolitan's sealed section full of dicks for the first time. Look, there are worse sex songs out there but yeah I don't have any desire to go back to this.

Number 33: "Wildside" by Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch

Ohh boy, I don't even know where ti start with this one, Mark Wahlberg and his "Funky Bunch" got a hit back in 1991 with "Good Vibrations" mostly due to Loleatta Holloway being an incredible vocalist so for their follow up they sample Lou Reed's "Walk on The Wild Side" (speeding up the tempo) to deliver a "Hey kids, don't take drugs: message in spite of the song they are sampling referencing oral sex! There's no real fire or passion that you would need to resonate or hit hard with teenagers who might be vulnerable to the pressure of taking drugs. 

"Wildside" is just sloppily put together and I do think they could have found a less cringey sample to make the song hit hard but ehh.

Number 6: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John and George Michael

This song is originally a Elton John song that was written by Elton John and his co writer at the time Bernie Taupin, recorded and released in 1974, peaking at number 13 on the Kent Music Report and didn't make the year end list for that year which is weird so in 1991, Elton John brought George Michael on board for a live version of the song which the pair had first performed together at the 1985 Live Aid concerts. 

I'll be hoenst and say this isn't my favourite Elton John however this is still really damn god and Elton John and George Michael sound fantastic together...I love that the hook builds and builds into that chorus and that piano line is gorgeous. 

However it's only getting honourable mention because best of the week is going to "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF.

The worst of the week is going to Martika for "Martika's Kitchen" because that song is just cringe. Dishonourable mention to "Wildside" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch for messing up something that might have worked with a better choice of sample.

ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten/Chart Review: January 11th. Chart resets for 2021 in some ways..

 So this week saw a reset with all of the Christmas music gone and 2019 and 2020 releases rushing to fill the gaps although we did get four new songs on the chart this week but we'll get to that, let's deal firstly with the top ten where much to my delight, "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior held onto the number one spot mostly thanks to streaming being at least consistent, it held up over "Without You" by The Kid Laroi which thankfully remains stuck at number two because the only traction it's got right now is mostly on Spotify.

"Head & Heart" by Joel Corry feat. MNEK remains stuck at number three as it still has some sales traction and streaming is still solid...it's hanging around a lot longer than I thought but it's coming under pressure from "Levitating" by Dua Lipa and DaBaby which rose one place to number four, this song has some streaming and while sales did take a hit this week, there's a tiny chance that it could go to number one in a few weeks time...we'll see.

There's a new entry at number five from Justin Bieber called "Anyone", we'll get into the song's quality later but it's here mostly thanks to good sales and streaming that while good wasn't able to push the song any higher.but might do in the weeks ahead.

Holding steady at number six is "positions" by Ariana Grande and also "Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran at number seven, the latter having sales traction and a little streaming.

Rising three places to number eight is "Fly Away" by Tones and I, this song has traction on sales and is climbing on streaming so this isn't going to go away any time soon and I am honestly fine with that as this is a good song, probably one of the first to be on my year end best list considerations.

"So Done" by The Kid Laroi went up one spot to number nine thanks to streaming, it moved past "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd which fell two places to number ten.

Gains

"Heat Waves" by Glass Animals gained 10 places to 22, "Monster" by Shawn Mendes feat. Justin Bieber rose six places to  29, "Paradise" by Meduza feat. Dermot Kennedy climbed seven to 33 (actually annoyed about this song, the song is fine but Dermot Kennedy has done better eg: "Power over Me"). "Lasting Lover" by Sigala and James Arthur broke into the top twenty up eight places to 19. 

"Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles rebounded seven places to 17,  "34+35" by Ariana Grande returned up six places to 15 and it's got some traction now...it could go top ten soon.

Re Entries

So we had six returns this week, starting at 44 with "Circles" by Post Malone, "Wonder" by Shawn Mendes back at 45 (not a bad week for Mendes), "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Jubel feat. Neimy waltzed back in at 46, "For the Night" by Pop Smoke popped back in at 47, Justin Bieber's slightly less "Lonely" with Benny Blanco back at 48 and the worst of the returns being "Befote You Go" by Lewis Capaldi at 49 (the song still sucks)

Losses

The biggest loss was for "WAP" by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion which slipped four places to 26 but that was really it in terms of losers.

Drop Outs

As I said at the beginning, all the drop outs were Christmas music.

New Entries

So there's a change to the way I am dealing with new entries this year. I am going to be doing a brief review of each of the new entries. Album bomb weeks will have rules which I will explain when we get to having an album bomb week likely from Drake later this month

So we've got four new entries, starting with

50. "Love Not War (the Tampa Beat)" by Jason DeRulo and Nuka

Do you ever get the feeling that an artist is using the next few singles to try to recreate the lightning in a bottle that was a previous hit? This was the feeling I got when I heard this song that Jason DeRulo co wrote, the song reworking Nuka's song "4 Brylean (WayzRmx2018)" with the lyrics playing to DeRulo just wanting him and this girl to get back to having sex rather than fighting and honestly it's a bit of a shame that DeRulo spends more time bragging about how much money he has spent on this giirl and bemoaning that when he and this girl stop touching they don't stay in touch...the lyrics kind of justify why this girl may not be keen to dive back in.

DeRulo just comes across as whinging here, it's not pleasant at all and as for the production...that horn swonk has got to be the most annoying sound ever and pervades pretty much everything but the verses. I think I'll pass on this one. Time to move on!

40. "The Business" by Tiesto

 So Tiesto is back on the ARIA singles chart for the first time since "Jackie Chan" with Post Malone and Preme in 2018 and I honestly don't see the appeal here, the instrumentation is your usual electronic/house song fare while the vocals are deep but don't provide much in the way of anything interesting especially when the lyrics just don't quite connect at all or even tell much of a story, its so vague, its not precisely bad but it's not anything I want to come back too.

38. "Good Days" by SZA

I've had a weird relationship when it comes to SZA, I've never really felt compelled to care about her music at all, her brand of R'n'B hasn't done anything for me in the past so when "Good Days" hit the ARIA singles chart I was wondering what I was in for but as it turned out SZA found a way to make a pretty compelling song that manages to connect, its a gentle piano song where SZA is reminding herself that the world might feel like its crumbling around her but there are still good days ahead and that the best is yet to come...the song is reassuring but not blind to the problems the world is facing. I like it. Good job!

5. "Anyone" by Justin Bieber

Okay...another Justin Bieber song...a song I will say I unfairly lashed out at mostly because it is better than the entirety of that last album and Bieber is at least a little more convincing in a song that sounds like it might be aimed at his wife...again...at least there's something in his delivery that's believable. I just wish the production was a bit more energetic rather than that popping drum line...just feels like there's something missing in the production...still doesn't change that while not good or great. It's passable.

Worst of the week is going to "Love Not War" by Jason DeRulo and Nuka. "Savage Love" may not have pissed me off like it did many others last year but the production and DeRulo not selling it at all with his delivery make it the obvious stand out for worst of the week.

SZA is getting best of the week for "Good Days". Good song that I hope becomes a sustainable hit as currently looks likely.

That wraps up the week, not sure whats coming next week, the US is bracing for a Morgan Wallen album bomb on the Hot 100 but as for the ARIA singles chart, I am not sure...it could be a quiet week as far as new entries go...we'll see on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

New Music Friday Review Part 1: January 8th. The WORST song of 2021 already?

So this is the lead single from the new Florida Georgia Line album coming soon and I was hoping they'd keep going on their trend from "Lit This Year"...a Christmas song that is pretty good coming from a duo known for bro country so what did we get with "New Truck"?

Seems for the last few years, we've had a song released in early January that was a clear stand out for the year end number one on the worst lists eg: "Yummy":by Justin Bieber last year and "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande in 2019, well "My Truck" by Florida Georgia is that song for 2021 because holy shit, where to even start?

Well let's start with the lyrics which are just Florida Georgia Line's checklist bro country bragging about having this new truck and therefore a new souped ride that they like too high and that's all before using the term 'shawty' like they are Justin Bieber in 2010...what a way to make your song sound instantly dated! Also adlibs because Florida Georgia Line think they can get away with trying to lazily merge country with using stale hip hop adlibs you'd find on Migos albums "Culture" and "Culture II" for that matter. The hip hop integration is at best lousy and at worst fucking insulting to both country and hip hop genres.

Also bragging about having alligator skin interiors? Not sure that's a brag you should be making in a time of strong animal rights considerations.

As for the production, well its closer to pop and hip hop with the leering gang vocals and a creaking noise in the second verse that I was convinced that somebody's cat had somehow been accidentally recorded and included in the mix with how off key it sounds (some cats can meow to a tune but not the one on this Florida Georgia Line song. The vocal delivery on the chorus reminds me of fucking "Swayze" by Zac Brown. Nothing goes with anything and there's not a hit of country instrumentation on the song apart of the braying vocals of the duo.

I originally thought that "My Truck" was so bad that it was perversely funny but than I realized that this could be the next evolution of fucking bro country where it barely even sounds like country music but will get played on country radio anyway...this song is absolute fucking ASS...DO NOT inflict this on anyone.

Rating: 1/10

The Best World Hits of 2020

So I'm not blinkered, the ARIA singles chart, while it was good to great in 2020, it could have been even better so I decided to take a glance around the world and see what made year end lists for 2020 and pick out songs that made the year end lists in other countries but won't in Australia.

The only rule is that I can only pick one song from a respective country's year end list so yeah there's obvious pick from NZ coming. 

Let's start in the good old USA...

"Even Though I'm Leaving" by Luke Combs (Billboard Hot 100 year end: 85)

There were a slew of country songs I could have chosen from the US year end list. This is a song that is right up there as one of Luke Combs best and shows that neo traditional country can still make the mainstream. A song about a father/son relationship and honestly if you aren't crying when that final verse hits than you are stronger than I was...this song just has such an emotional impact, it's hard to quantify which I guess could be as a result of border clsoures and families being separated from one another, whatever the case, this song is still concentrated wonderful.

Let's head over to Europe and this time to Belgium...

"Heartbreaker" by Loic Nottet (Ultratop Belgium Year End: 47)

I could have chosen "Kings & Queens" by Ava Max but I had to go with this one. I think the reason I like this so much is because it sounds like a recent Dua Lipa song and yeah the lyrics play toward Nottet wanting this girl but the girl isn't sure, she thinks he'll break her heart but he is reassuring her that he is for real and loves her. The song is just catchy and has a really damn solid groove.

Heading over to the UK and Britain's favourite girl group

"Break Up Song" by Little Mix (Offical Charts UK Year End: 58)

UK presented me with a tough choice, I could have gone with "Diamonds" by Sam Smith which charted for a couple of weeks in Australia or this slice of 80s inspired pop from a girl group that i have had mixed feelings on since their album "Get Weird" but "Break Up Song" plays into territory that I like with pop, building through the verses and bridge into a chorus where the girls actually have distinctive harmonies and sound good rather than shouting which put me off songs like "Shoutout To My Ex"...while I didn't enjoy the album all that much, I can appreciate "Break Up Song" as a pop banger.

I'm not saying that Ava Max isn't a little trashy and a little vapid but god damn, her music is fun...

"Salt" by Ava Max (Swiss Year End: 24)

If "My Head & My Heart" can't be here than "Salt" from Ava Max's debut album is a good replacement because yeah this song just works for me in the same way a lot of songs from "Heaven & Hell" work, a simple pop structure with Ava Max holding it together vocally. You can tell that "Salt" was tailor made to appeal to the European markets hence it ending up on Switzerland's year end list high up at 24 but hey it worked for the Swiss audience and in 2020, I needed the fun music that Ava Max brought to the table. 

Hey Australia, there's a Dua Lipa song we somehow didn't make a hit in 2020...

"Fever" by Dua Lipa feat. Angele (France Year end: 94)

I was surprised this song was not a hit in Australia mostly because it kind of twists everything Dua Lipa did on Future Nostalgia into this sultry sexy vibe where Dua Lipa and Angele just play off each other so well that there's almost a natural chemistry, they both sound great and that hook might well be one of the best of 2020 outside of "Mood" by 24k Golden and Ian Dior.

So let's leave Europe and head back to North America and more precisely Canada where this song only just scraped onto the bottom of their year end chart....

"Cold Feet" by Loud Luxury (Canadian Billboard Hot 100 Year end: 99)

I only discovered this song through watching Spectrum Pulse's year end best hit songs list where he had a special section on good songs that hit the year end Canadian Hot 100 but didn't in the US and were good enough to make his year end best hit songs list had they made the American Hot 100 Year end list with this song being one of them and I am flummoxed as to how good this song is, for one thing the production knows when to provide the swell to support the vocals and when it needs to hold back to let the vocals shine, "Cold Feet' is a song about a couple wanting to get married but one of the pair gets cold feet about the impending nuptials but there's no resentment or bitterness...just confusion and wanting to wish the other person well, its a sad song that doesn't wallow and knows how to tell its story and yeah, it's probably a song that I got to all a bit too late...

Well you all knew this was coming, didn't you?

"In the Air" by L.A.B (New Zealand Year End: 1)

I am stunned this song wasn't bigger outside of New Zealand, mostly because "In The Air" is the sort of chill laidback summer song that has grooves for days and those harmonies are just...gorgeous. It's up there as one of my favourite songs of 2020...period. I am honestly also very happy that it finished the year as the biggest song to chart in New Zealand beating The Weeknd which is an incredible achievement when it's considered how big "Blinding Lights" was but also a true credit to how absolutely fantastic "In the Air" is  If you haven't heard this song yet, I highly recommend you do so. 

ARIA Singles Top Ten/ Chart Review: January 4th 2021. Weird Week as Mood retakes number one

 So we have a pretty strange week here, mostly because the Christmas songs didn't quite leave the chart yet which led to a strange combination of Christmas music and the non Christmas songs on the chart...that said I expect all the Christmas songs gone next week.

However Christmas being over and the subsequent streaming slowdown meant that "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior returned to number one for a tenth week, it's still got just enough streaming and sales to hang on ahead of  "Without You" by The Kid Laroi which rebounded two places to number two, it's not got sales and only has Spotify in terms of streaming so I am not sure if this can get to number one (if it doesn't get there...I'm fine with that...the song isn't good).

What might also be a chance is "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry & MNEK which moved back up four places to number three, it's still got some streaming and sales...just needs another push to get it to the top. 

Falling off the number one is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey as Christmas comes to end for another year, it will be gone next week. 

What might benefit is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby rebounding three places to number five, this song still has plenty of traction on streaming and even some sales still. Nice to see.

Ariana Grande's "Positions" rebounded nine places to number six, its still got streaming but literally no sales. 

This is where we get to the biggest gain of the week courtesy of rising FORTY places to number seven, it's Ed Sheeran's loosey single "Afterglow", its a sales behemoth and has respectable sales, I think this might just become a hit thanks to the timing of the release which strikes just enough of a wistful chord with people.

Returning to the top ten is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd as it jumped five places to number eight thanks mostly to streaming.

The biggest loser within the top ten was "Last Christmas" by Wham which slipped from number two to number nine this week and like "All I want for Christmas is You" above it, it will be gone next week.

Finally up one place is "So Done" by The Kid Laroi to number 10...yay...I guess.

Gains

I already mentioned the gain into the top ten for "Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran but the other gain worth noting was from Glass Animals with "Heat Waves" which rise ten places to 32...that song has had consistent momentum for weeks now...fair chance this could be a hit.

The other gains are rebounds on the back of Christmas music falling away with "One Too Many" by Keith Urban and Pink up fwelve to 46, "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa up nine places to 41, "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I rebounded eleven to 29 (this song got a sixth wind on streaming somehow), "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac rebounded 12 places to 17. 

Re Entries

So I am just going to list these because we had five returns so starting from the bottom of the top 50...

49. "How to Make Gravy" by Paul Kelly

47. "Some Say" by Nea

45. "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi (YOU KNOW THIS CAN GO THE FUCK AWAY ANY TIME NOW!)

43. "Holiday" by Lil Nas X (Happy to see this song back)

42. "Send it!" by Hooligan Hefs

Losers

The big losers are mostly all Christmas music with the biggest being "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid plunging from 19 to 34 but beyond Christmas music, there was a drop from 17 to 24 for "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles while "Lemonade" by Internet Money and Gunna feat. Don Toliver and Nav dropping five places to 25.

Drop Outs

All five drop outs this week are Christmas songs. 

So with no new entries that wraps up this week's chart update. Next week we'll probably get the new single from Justin Bieber turn up and I am hoping that the new song from SZA turns up (the latter is really damn solid) but we'll find out when the chart updates on Saturday at 5pm AEDT.

Don't forget worst and best lists for 2020 come out next week along with the first episode of "Good 1992 Vibrations" (it's a fun one...trust me)