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 Perrie, Tinashe, Mimi Webb 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.
Coolest Pop Song of the Week: Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”
We are now multiple years into Sabrina Carpenter’s ascent to pop’s A-list: beginning with her promising singles in 2021 and continuing with her excellent 2022 full-length Emails I Can’t Send, the former Disney Channel star reinvented her kid-friendly sound, leaned into wink-heavy hook writing and showcased her charisma while expanding her listenership. The commercial wins have kept accumulating: “Nonsense” went viral and became her highest-charting Hot 100 hit (No. 56 peak) last year, then “Feather” lapped it this year (No. 26 peak) while becoming Carpenter’s first No. 1 at Pop Airplay. All the while, Carpenter was playing to stadium audiences while opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, and lining up a high-profile slot at Coachella.
New single “Espresso” was released last week to coincide with that festival performance, and is off to a hot start, creeping into the top 5 of Spotify’s U.S. Top 50 chart on Monday. The song could very well take Carpenter even higher on the Hot 100 and into a new tier of music stardom — which is great, because “Espresso” might be her most immediate, buoyant single to date.
The hallmarks of New-School Sabrina are present: the sunny synth-pop production (with a funk riff here to keep things fresh), the radio-friendly chorus, the tongue-in-cheek lyrics that personalize the entire affair (“My ‘give a f–ks’ are on vacation,” Carpenter shrugs). The difference between “Espresso” and her past singles resides in the coziness of Carpenter’s delivery: the way she sinks into each syllable — “And I got this one boyyyy, and he won’t stop callinnnnn’ / When they act this waaaay, I know I got ‘em” — communicates an easy command that complements both the songwriting and Carpenter’s breathy tone. “Espresso” has a lot going for it, but Carpenter provides its identity, and has seemingly placed her fingerprints on another hit.
Here are some more new pop songs worth checking out this week…
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Gift, “Wish Me Away”
New York group Gift recently signed to Captured Tracks, and to mark the occasion, they released their best song yet: “Wish Me Away” is bracing in its catchy post-punk, a snappy song about feeling helpless that will make you want to rage against the dying of the light.
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Tinashe, “Nasty”
Tinashe, who has long gifted listeners with sultry pop singles primed for beach playlists, once again serves up something for the summer months with “Nasty,” which uses understated rhythmic-pop production to make space for a hypnotic hook and double entendres.
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Perrie, “Forget About Us”
A few weeks after her Little Mix pal Leigh-Anne released her single “Stealin’ Love,” Perrie Edwards has unveiled her own solo debut, as “Forget About Us” looks back with grace and power-ballad verve on a relationship that had to end but still contained its high points.
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Mimi Webb, “Mistake”
Gearing up for a busy spring that includes opening for Benson Boone and performing at a handful of festivals, Mimi Webb has released a strong new single, “Mistake,” that starts out gesturing towards balladry before widening its stance into electro-dance territory.
