You may have noticed that I gave up on my monthly wrap-up posts about halfway through the year. So, on one hand, here's a high-octane dance mini-mix for all your New Year's Eve partying needs. But, on the other hand, here's a shameless opportunity for me to present a handful of those songs that time (and procrastination) forgot. Hopefully, they'll serve you well in ushering in a sweaty, slightly seedy, and generously glittered new year!
1. Fresh Hex - I'm Gone
In just over a month, this has become one of the defining songs of 2018 for me, and I'm glad I was able to manufacture a reason to share it. I went in completely blind to what to expect and came out with the melody irreversibly stuck in my brain, where it still resides, rearing its enticing head multiple times a day. I don't know how else to describe it other than that it simply sounds good and feels right. There's not a dull moment; every second is immaculately-crafted electropop perfection, and they all add up to one of the most giddy and immediate three-minute sugar highs I've heard all year.
2. Namasenda - Here
Speaking of sugar highs... Meet Namasenda, the Swedish bubblegum bass pop star here to hold us all over until Hannah Diamond releases her triumphant debut. (BTW, stream True for a more melancholy New Year's Eve experience). Her EP, hot_babe_93, was actually released in 2017, but I just discovered it, and it perfectly fits the Diamond-shaped hole in my heart, even if Namasenda's persona is more coquettish than lovesick. "Here" is particularly addictive and even a little bit vulnerable, as Namasenda dials back her cutesy, pitch-shifted vocal shtick for a more natural tone during the chorus.
Speaking of sugar highs... Meet Namasenda, the Swedish bubblegum bass pop star here to hold us all over until Hannah Diamond releases her triumphant debut. (BTW, stream True for a more melancholy New Year's Eve experience). Her EP, hot_babe_93, was actually released in 2017, but I just discovered it, and it perfectly fits the Diamond-shaped hole in my heart, even if Namasenda's persona is more coquettish than lovesick. "Here" is particularly addictive and even a little bit vulnerable, as Namasenda dials back her cutesy, pitch-shifted vocal shtick for a more natural tone during the chorus.
3. Slayyyter - BFF (feat. Ayesha Erotica)
This year, Slayyyter and collaborators like Ayesha Erotica and Boy Sim showed that access to a professional recording studio is decidedly not a requirement when it comes to making simultaneously nostalgic and fresh pop music, and they quickly accrued a cult online following as a result. With Britney-esque vocals, PC Music-indebted production, and crack-like melodies, all eight of Slayyyter's singles so far have been winners. She sounds not like a potential superstar in the making but like a proven superstar who's just waiting for the rest of the world to get up to her futuristic speed.
4. MC BOING - Dance Floor
If you're not ready to dance by now, this song has no qualms leaving you in the dust: it's for serious partiers only. Danny L Harle is here to inject a two-and-a-half-minute adrenaline rush straight into your veins, courtesy of his happy hardcore alter ego MC BOING, who is depicted as a grinning blue blob of an alien that's stunningly accurate to the song's sound. Breathless, helium-pitched, and firmly tongue-in-cheek, it conjures flashing strobe lights, sweaty flailing limbs, and sheets of acid dissolving in hot mouths whether you're in the club or having a solo dance party at home.
5. Tommy Cash - X-Ray
Me in 2017, listening to Pop 2 for the first time: "Man, 'Delicious' is kind of a bop, but Tommy Cash's verse is a bit cringe-worthy, isn't it?" Me in 2018, listening to Pop 2 for the hundredth time: "Okay, 'Delicious' is literally the best pop song ever, and Tommy Cash's verse is the cherry on top." I still think a little Tommy goes a long way, but if you'd told me last year I'd be actively enjoying even one of his songs, I wouldn't have believed you. "X-Ray" somehow slots Tommy's lazy, thickly-accented flow perfectly into a trashy, cyclonic cacophony of Eurodance synths and pitch-shifted vocals, courtesy of MC BOING... I mean, Danny L Harle.
6. GFOTY - Friday Night
A drunken shambles of a track, this thing goes stupid hard. In the first verse, GFOTY dubs herself "Medusa on a party throne" after her ability to turn men stiff with a single glance, and if you're not convinced mythological allusion in a trashy song about club hook-ups is poetry, how about the insanely quotable second verse? "Get to the club at 2 am, I'm gonna bang loads of men/Know the bouncer, skip the queue, fuck the list, it's me and you/The club is banging, so am I, banging, banging, banging, banging, banging, banging loads of guys/Unzip their trousers, what a surprise." This is art, people.
7. Charli XCX - After the Afterparty (feat. Lil Yachty)
I feel like this song gets an undeservingly bad rap. Sure, SOPHIE's signature production quirks are largely neutered by the addition of Swedish production duo, Stargate, but if you aren't coming at it with the expectation that it'll sound like the future of pop, it's a fun and undeniably addictive party tune. The worst thing I can say about it is that Lil Yachty's verse is a nonevent, but soon enough we're right back to partying with Charli, spinning "RiRi on replay," downing a "bucket of liquor," and generally going hard "Monday to Sunday." In case you didn't catch it, that's every damn day because Charli's party never stops.
8. Uffie - Sideways
Even a nonstop party requires a breather or two. Before 2018, it had been a hot minute since anyone heard the name Uffie. She's most often been dismissed as a flash-in-the-pan novelty artist, but her surprise return this year is somehow both a nod to her kitschy roots and a remarkably mature rebirth. "Sideways" is a chilled-out, slow-burning electronic love song, which is given character by Uffie's quirky, offbeat vocal delivery where a more generic singer might render it bland. Her rasp, equal parts plaintive and cute, turns a simple sexual come-on - "I want to love you sideways" - into a poignant declaration.
9. Ravenna Golden - Open My Eyes (feat. Dorian Electra)
The comedown continues with "Open My Eyes," a gorgeous song that arrived out of nowhere to check all of my musical boxes at once. It's co-produced by umru, which isn't surprising considering it sounds like it could fit almost seamlessly into his recently-released EP, Search Result. Ravenna Golden and Dorian Electra take turns caterwauling in autotune, like holograms of pop superstars beamed into outer space and transmitted back to Earth in distorted, glitchy fragments. It's the sort of song that will leave you drunk-wailing at the end of the night because you're convinced it's the saddest thing you've ever heard.
10. Carly Rae Jepsen - Party for One
Although perhaps not the strongest choice for a much-anticipated comeback single, this song carries a message we can all appreciate going into the New Year, that having a significant other is not a requirement for one's happiness and that solitude can be liberating, even sexy. As Jepsen asserts with confidence during the chorus, "If you don't care about me/I'll just dance by myself . . . I'll be the one . . . Making love to myself/Back on my beat," you can't help but want to sing along in solidarity. It's an easy, simple pop song made for bedroom pajama dance parties, which are usually the best kind.
Although perhaps not the strongest choice for a much-anticipated comeback single, this song carries a message we can all appreciate going into the New Year, that having a significant other is not a requirement for one's happiness and that solitude can be liberating, even sexy. As Jepsen asserts with confidence during the chorus, "If you don't care about me/I'll just dance by myself . . . I'll be the one . . . Making love to myself/Back on my beat," you can't help but want to sing along in solidarity. It's an easy, simple pop song made for bedroom pajama dance parties, which are usually the best kind.
