Hi guys, welcome back to The Social Tune! My name is Fionn, and welcome back to a brand new edition of Musical McCool!
Look, sometimes I make predictions that don't come true, it happens. What is slightly more embarrassing is when none of your predictions come true, the very same week you're blindsided by a drop-off you DEFINITELY didn't call!
The Top 10
Because the big news this week: Kid Laroi is FINALLY out of the Top 10! And that's legitimately surprising to me considering it rose up a spot last week. Still, good riddance!
This definitely makes me question the longevity of drivers license by Olivia Rodrigo, which finally seems to be showing signs of weakness in its radio and sales. Still dominant at number 1, but the margins are shrinking, and if that full release doesn't come soon, she may miss the wave.
And I have to imagine the same is true for The Business by Tiësto at number 2, which somehow outlasted Without You despite being a much older song.
That said, I'm hesitant if Save Your Tears by The Weeknd can actually beat them. Sure, it rose up to number 3, but I'd argue it's still losing in streaming, and until that picks up more, I don't see this rising any higher.
Similar case for GOOSEBUMPS by HVME, which reached a new peak at number 4 that feels incredibly tenuous... though I have been wrong before.
Still, if I were a betting man, my money would not be on Wellerman Remix by Nathan Evans, 220 Kid & Billen Ted, cracking the top 5 and hopefully outlasting the song above it... but I can't see that happening until it starts picking up some radio and sales.
Also part of those gains came from Calling My Phone by Lil Tjay and 6LACK dropping down to number 6. I think this should stabilise and climb back up soon, though likely never higher than its initial debut, no surprise there.
Speaking of a lack of surprise, we had the continued success of Friday by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Mufasa, up to number 7 now...
... accompanied by none other than Your Love (9 PM) , a song that I always knew would get big, but am still a little shocked to see here at number 8 so early. Not complaining though, it's more than welcome.
I honestly didn't see it passing Heat Waves by Glass Animals, which finally cracked the top 10 at number 9 to the surprise of nobody.
Finally at number 10, Don't Play by Anne-Marie, KSI & Digital Farm Animals brings up the rear. It may actually hold on for another week, unless Up by Cardi B sees a push.
Top 50: The Punished and the New
This week, for a change, let's highlight the songs that were moved to Accelerated Chart ratios first. Specifically because Kid Laroi wasn't our only major victim!
Without You by Kid Laroi: 3 to 14
Get Out My Head by Shane Codd: 8 to 20
Good Days by SZA: 17 to 42
Yes, along with the unprecedented drop-off of Without You, we also saw Get Out My Head finally run out of steam as well. Honestly, this song had a better run than anyone could have expected, so I'm fine seeing it exit. What's a little more disappointing is the early drop-off for SZA! I mean, Good Days JUST reached it's allotted 9 weeks, meaning its move to ACR came from steady underperformance for the past few weeks; guess the public lost interest pretty quickly, more's the pity.
As for other notable losses, Chicken Tendies by Clinton Kane fell to number 50 off its debut last week - I know a few of you reached out to me to explain this song was actually directed at his religiously conservative mother as opposed to a former lover, my bad for missing that last week - Money Talks by Fredo and Dave continued its journey out to number 43 and Taylor Swift's Love Story 2021 fell down to 40... honestly kinda shocked that last one's still here!
Our gains on the other hand... they're a little more mixed. Apart from out Top 10 entries, Latest Trends by A1 & J1 cracked the top 20 at number 19 (why?), Arcade by Duncan Lawrence somehow reached a new peak at 23, and Commitment Issues by Central Cee rose up to 31... seriously, why are we indulging that last one, it's awful! We also saw Believe Me by NAVOS rise up to 39 of its debut last week, as well as the continued gains for My Head & My Heart by Ava Max to 27 and somehow, Astronaut In the Ocean by Masked Wolf to 29, that's still so weird to me! Lastly, while it probably won't last, I'm still very happy Things Are Different is turning out to be a fairly successful single for Picture This, as it even gained a spot this week to 38; good, it's a great song!
Now, along with all of that, we also saw the return of Lemonade by Internet Money, Gunna & Don Toliver to 49 (no complaints here), along with a handful of new entries. So for starters...
Title: Bed by Joel Corry, RAYE & David Guetta
Position: #15
So yes, David Guetta is still very much active on 2021, I'll let that sink in for a sec. That said, he never really went away over on this side of the world, and if you know anything about brit-pop, these other 2 should be names you are well familiar with at this point. RAYE has worked with a bunch of different producers as the featured vocalist on many producer-fronted hits from Jax Jones, Jonas Blue and more, while Joel Corry is one of those producers, possibly best-known for his massive MNEK collaboration Head & Heart.
It's your typical hook-up song with a cheeky, catchy hook, a disco-pop dance number with a driving piano that reminds me more than a bit of Dua Lipa, with slightly less personality and a pretty generic bassline if you're remotely familiar with David Guetta's work. That said, it's still pretty melodic, placing the vocals at the front of the mix and allowing RAYE to shine as the central figure of the song.
It's pretty straightforward and simple, the kind of song I recognise when it comes on, but am hard-pressed to remember as soon as it ends. It's serviceable enough for what it is though, so I wouldn't be surprised if this stuck around for a bit. Check it out if you're curious,... but if you want a more interesting example of pop arrivals:
Title: Pierre by Ryn Weaver
Position: #30
Well, about time this got here! This song has been on the streaming charts for weeks now, and I've been expecting it to show up here for a good while.
It's another TikTok song (shocker), but a much older one this time round, released all the way back in 2015! Some of you may actually recognise Weaver's name from her single OctoHate, which she co-wrote with Charlie XCX, Cashmere Cat, Benny Blanco and others WAAAAAY back in 2014! This, on the other hand, is a lesser-known cut, co-written by Ryan Tedder of One Republic, which has steadily been blowing up the past few weeks. And it's actually a pretty damn good indie pop song.
The content is pretty standard, all about acting out in your youth, going wild, and her various escapades with lovers along the way. They all fall for her, and while she does like them, she never feels comfortable letting them in, lying about her true feelings until she eventually drops them and moves on to meet someone else, making for a nice flip of the typical troubadour story arc. There are lots of fun details thrown in, and I like that she's not necessarily painted as a villain, just someone who's not quite ready to settle down yet.
What really caught me off-guard was the sound of it though, with the the driving percussion and faded guitar accents really making for a great, echoing cushion alongside Ryn's passionate belting on the hook and the chipmunk whoops. And what caught my ear were the verses, which are vivid, sharply-written and REALLY well delivered. People underestimate just how much presentation can matter in a song, and the cadence of these lyrics is so appealing to me, even in the way the song ends abruptly, but organically, as the AUX chord is removed. Pretty great stuff, glad it's finally here!
Title: Telepatia by Kali Uchis
Position: #37
Oh look, Kali Uchis is back! Outside of my occasional returns to her great 2018 album Isolation, I haven't really thought about her at all for ages now, but apparently she released a new album in 2020 which missed me entirely. Well, I'm not about to complain if she finally got some attention, even if it is through TikTok... and I'm a bit mixed on this.
I really like the hazy production and the ethereal vocal production, and of course Kali Uchis delivers as usual, she's a fantastic performer. She deftly switches between English and Spanish, to the point where my limited grasp on the second language didn't present much of a barrier, as she describes a love so potent that they can practically make love telepathically.
This is also where the song loses me slightly though, as the simile is so over-the-top and odd that it slightly kills the mood for me. I don't know about most people, but whenever I think of making love telepathically, my mind immediately goes to the Sylvester Stallone film Demolition Man and I immediately burst out laughing! Again, not so much a critique on the song itself as my own childishness, but I'm still not sure how romantic I find this song compared to the best moments on Isolation... time will tell.
Title: Bluuwuu by Digga D
Position: #48
Oh, I was looking forward to this! Digga D's collaboration with AJ Tracey Bringing It Back is one of the best songs of 2021 so far, and I was highly anticipating Digga D's follow-up as the MC of the duo I was less familiar with. I mean this is one of the biggest and most acclaimed names in drill music right now, how could he miss? ... Well, I'm sorry, but this kinda flopped for me.
Admittedly, it's possible that I was a bit spoiled because of the last single, but the softer high-hats and bass on this immediately feel a lot less energetic, which would be fine if Digga D did the same. But no, for some reason he doesn't really moderate here, which makes the beat feel incredibly sparse, and it's not like the gang-banging content is interesting enough to justify it on its own. It's not just that though, even his flows are off here, with nowhere near the same amount of technicality or skill on display... in fact it's kinda generic.
However, the very worst part is the hook, which is just... weak! It's one falsetto, nonsensical word delivered with the same lack of interest or energy, while Digga D raps over it in the same flat style which barely differentiates it from the verses, as he seemingly doesn't realise how lame this sounds. In other words, the king of drill appears to be getting complacent, because this kinda sucks.
National Treasures
Turning our eyes to the home front, it appears we finally got a new song to break up the monotony of the top 5 this week, great! Don't get me wrong, I like all the songs, but it was time for a change. On that note, both Still by Niall Horan and Holy Show by Pillow Queens will be gone next week after completing their 13-week runs. Sad to see them go, but happy they were here for as long as they could have been at least.
In happier news, She Wins, I Lose by Ryan Mack actually re-entered the top 20 at 16; good, I don't care if it's by a former boy band member, I really was annoyed this song got shoved out so early on! Also, in slightly unrelated news, shout-out to Biig Piig, because while Feels Right continued to drop down to number 13 this week, I did see that they collaborated with Emotional Oranges on a new song, that's awesome!
So, with congratulations out of the way, let's wrap things up:
Title: Maps by Lesley Roy
Position: #3
Oooooh yayyyy, Eurovision, joy... As I've mentioned before, it's not my thing. I get that it's a big event every year, but as someone whose nationality is one big question mark, national pride is not something I ever really get, especially when the songs pushed to represent the countries are either very mid-tier or just over-produced messes. And Maps certainly falls into the latter category!
The problem is that it has no sense of how to create an effective build-up. You're supposed to start at 1, build to 5 and eventually burst forth into 10, not start at 6 and then pretty much stay around 7 for the rest of the song... if you followed that, congrats. What I'm saying is that the clattering percussion starts the song off on a far too crowded note, where Lesley Roy almost blends with the oscillating keyboard flutters and the strings placed way towards the back of the mix. It just doesn't sound interesting, I'd certainly be surprised if it came close to victory.
And the lyrics aren't helping either, filled with platitudes of making your way back home, there's only one way, I am the road, it's just a generic power fantasy more worried about sounding inspiring instead of actually doing it, resulting in a song that leaves me feeling completely cold. In other words, sorry, but I'm not impressed by this. Or in other words:
Title: I Don't Really Care For You by CMAT
Position: #10
Now that's more like it! Dublin hellraiser Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has been in my peripheries for a while now, as I caught the odd song from her like Anoher Day (kfc) and I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!, which led me to believe that she was essentially like an Irish Lindi Ortega, only relying heavily on parody. She's the kind of person where me calling her a college dropout who basically quit Trinity to avoid a mental breakdown and to focus on music SOUNDS like an insult, but is actually a compliment. She's witty, she's seemingly intent on tearing down the patriarchy, and thus I've honestly been anticipating her official debut album.
Well, much like those previous songs, this seems to be another song adopting elements of Americana in order to slyly subvert them, this time paired with a very... interesting vocal performance. Don't get me wrong, she still sounds good in that upper range on the hook, I just didn't quite expect it. And there's no denying the song sounds great as a whole, blending great old-school elements of doo-wop and lounge music with indie rock writing at its sharpest. It almost reminds me of what Lana Del Rey can be in her more tolerable moments, only with better songwriting.
On that note, the song's content is pretty damn nihilistic, all about pettily blowing off someone in need just because they broke your heart, which makes for one HELL of a strong hook! It's a song about struggling to help others when dealing with your own hurt, which is something any one of us can relate to because we're all terrible and selfish sometimes. And the songwriting really is so sharp and poetic, with my favourite line probably being "I loved you like a mirror, so I guess I've done the same." In other words it's really great, go support CMAT and keep an eye out for that debut, something tells me it'll be well worth the wait!
And that's our week, hope you all enjoyed! If you can, please leave a like, as well as some feedback in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts on these songs, especially anything new to you. Also make sure you subscribe to the blog and follow me on Twitter to keep up with these releases! Take care everyone, and until the next time, I'm Fionn and this is The Social Tune, signing off!