Our sporadic and loosely themed Pop Music Column makes a triumphant return! Possibly. This edition features pop icon Carly Rae Jepsen teaming up with producer Gryffin, relative newcomer Charlotte Lawrence, Taylor Swift and Twenty One Pilots - turns out there aren't even twenty one of them, only two. And they're probably not even pilots!
Gryffin With Carly Rae Jepsen - 'OMG'
'OMG' indeed. We picked out Gryffin's collab with Aloe Blacc in our debut Pop Music Column and he's pulled it off again this time, joining forces with Carly Rae Jepsen. It's been a stellar year of releases for both artists, with the latter also putting out her latest album, 'Dedicated', to strong reviews. 'OMG' adeptly mixes Gryffin's characteristic bubbling synths and Jepsen's breezy pop melodies, a top summer bop.
Twenty One Pilots - 'The Hype'
'The Hype' actually came out last year as part of Twenty One Pilots' most recent album, 'Trench', but it gets a deserved 2019 run as a single. A head-nodding pop-rock effort that pleasantly and unexpectedly reminded us of Len classic 'Steal My Sunshine', and reminded others (such as mash-up artist Kill_mR_DJ) of Green Day's 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams'.
Kill_mR_DJ - Boulevard Of Hype Dreams (Green Day Vs Twenty One Pilots)
Charlotte Lawrence - 'Why Do You Love Me'
US solo artist Charlotte Lawrence is slowly making waves and she's certainly hanging with the right kind of people, with Charlie Puth and pop behemoth Ryan Tedder involved on this new track. 'Why Do You Love Me' shares a lot of traits with Billie Eilish's worldwide smash that was 'Bury A Friend', in a good way. Now we just have to figure out whether the title is a question, rhetorical question, or statement.
Taylor Swift - 'The Archer'
Definite eighties vibes on this new one from Taylor Swift, thankfully distracting us from the abomination that is the 'Cats' trailer', which stars the singer. Collaborating again with Bleachers frontman-turned-superstar-producer Jack Antonoff and sound engineer Laura Sisk following their work on previous albums '1989' and 'Reputation', 'The Archer' offers brooding brilliance, and a baffling lyrical nod to nursery rhyme 'Humpty Dumpty'.
We're a collaborative British music, film and TV blog. "Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop."
