Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a weekly guide to new and old songs.
Amaarae, ‘Girlie-Pop!’
The Ghanaian American songwriter Amaarae trades in rhythm and lust. Her vocals are piping soprano tones, delivered close to the ear or microphone; her messages merge intimate come-ons with career aspirations. “Flip positions, switching genres / till you make it pop,” she coos in “Girlie-Pop!” from her new album, “Black Star.” The production is breathy and personal with a few electric guitar notes one moment, then drum-driven and ambitious the next. It’s an open, self-conscious commodification of intimacy.
John Kongos, ‘Nature’s Game’
John Kongos, 80, has had an extensive career as a songwriter and studio musician. His big moment in the spotlight came way back in 1971, with the thumping pop-psychedelic hit single “He’s Gonna Step on You Again.” (Happy Mondays reworked it in 1990 as “Step On.”) Now Kongos has re-emerged with “Nature’s Game,” a song he wrote in 1986 and recently completed, backed by his sons’ band, Kongos. It’s nearly as fuzz-toned, eccentric and bummed-out as his old hit, starting with a child asking, “Is there no way out?” and going on to envision the moon and Nature causing humans to start holy wars: “She likes her food to fight.” The loping beat mocks the bitterness.
Anysia Kym & Tony Seltzer, ‘Speedrun’
“Things fall apart baby, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Anysia Kym sings in this very brief manifesto about independence and self-determination: “You can’t please everyone / Just do what you want of your own volition.” Tony Seltzer’s production uses just a few elements — a short loop of ambiguous keyboard chords, a stop-and-start beat, a four-note bass line, drum-machine hi-hats, a man’s voice calmly saying “Now” — to make her sound like a voice of sanity amid the noise.
Ashley Monroe, ‘Amen Love’
Ashley Monroe’s new album, “Tennessee Lightning,” works through knotty mixed feelings about romance and religion. In “Amen Love,” she’s “looking for a touch so heavenly” and craving salvation from someone who will “treat my body like your cathedral” and “make a believer out of me.” The production rises from single plucked guitar notes to a storm of electric guitars and orchestral strings, but her prayer goes unfulfilled.
Emily Yacina, ‘Talk Me Down’
While Emily Yacina gently sings, “Peeking over ledges, talk me down,” layers of looped piano surround her in dizzying stereo motion. It’s a song about insecurities — “I wish I was more of a natural / I wanna open up,” she lilts — with a sound design showing why she holds back.
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