Orville Peck’s Heartbroken Twang, Jessie Ware’s Sultry Banger, And More Songs We Love

The search for the ever-elusive “bop” is difficult. Playlists and streaming-service recommendations can only do so much. They often leave a lingering question: Are these songs really good, or are they just new?

Enter Bop Shop, a hand-picked selection of songs from the MTV News team. This weekly collection doesn’t discriminate by genre and can include anything — it’s a snapshot of what’s on our minds and what sounds good. We’ll keep it fresh with the latest music, but expect a few oldies (but goodies) every once in a while, too. Get ready: The Bop Shop is now open for business.

• Orville Peck: “Smalltown Boy” (Bronski Beat cover)

  Orville Peck’s latest, a Spotify Singles cover of Bronski Beat’s 1984 ballad about a small-town expat, is the flamboyant country crooner at his finest: mournful, melodramatic, and infectiously catchy. The British synth-pop trio’s masterful storytelling finds a kindred spirit in Peck’s soulful vocals. His entire cover is thick with emotion. When Peck sings, “Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away,” you feel restless in your seat; when he belts, “Cry, boy, cowboy, cry,” you feel the phantom prickle of tears in your eyes. It’s Peck’s rodeo, y’all. We’re all just living in it. —Sam Manzella

• Jean Dawson: “Clear Bones”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUiCP3eMAA

  The more you listen to Jean Dawson, the more you hear. On “Clear Bones,” the latest from the California musical polyglot, indie rock mingles with SoundCloud rap echoes as the cheerful tune sneaks in an examination of death. By the final time he asks Mr. Death, “Will you wait on me?,” a watery Mac DeMarco-style solo cuts the entire song in half. It’s wild, an aesthetic Dawson prides himself on waving like a flag. —Patrick Hosken

• Jessie Ware: “Soul Control”
  https://youtu.be/QwhkvO_hCOM

  What happens when you mix two parts Róisín Murphy with one part Body Language-era Kylie Minogue? You get the album of the summer, sweetie! Jessie Ware first burst onto the scene with her bestselling 2012 debut LP, Devotion. But her latest release, What’s Your Pleasure?, is a collection of sultry dance bangers that would be on repeat at every Fire Island pool party — if those were a thing this year. It’s an impressive feat to make an album that sounds like it could be played at a debaucherous Berlin nightclub and a relaxing candle-lit bath. Ware’s sexy new single, “Soul Control,” will make you wish you were grooving at your local gay bar, but the solo dance-off served in the song’s music video will have to suffice for now. Where all my Warewolves at?! —Chris Rudolph

• Phoebe Bridgers: “I Know the End”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC6mEJ5i5y8

  The entirety of Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers’s highly anticipated sophomore album, merits a listen, but “I Know the End,” its epic final track, shines in its own right. The song opens with Bridgers’s resigned sadness about a broken couple in an equally broken land, building over the course of almost six minutes to a percussion-heavy crescendo. “The billboard said the end is near / I turned around, there was nothing there / Yeah, I guess the end is here,” she concludes. But don’t let the biblical allusions fool you; this isn’t your average end of days. There’s a cautious optimism at the heart of “I Know the End.” It pulsates, unsteady but sure. On Instagram, Bridgers said she refused to delay dropping Punisher until the world goes back to normal because she doesn’t think it should. “Here it is a little early,” she wrote. “Abolish the police. Hope you like it.” Maybe the end isn’t such a bad thing after all. —Sam Manzella

• Remi Wolf: “Disco Man”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1dtRs_vN6Y

  Please allow me to introduce you to your new obsession: Remi Wolf. The Los Angeles singer-songwriter has not only honed her funky soul-pop sound, but she’s got the charisma to match — whether she’s dancing alone or leading a party of glitching 3-D clones. From her new EP, I’m Allergic to Dogs!, “Disco Man” is as evocative as its title suggests, though Remi takes more cues from rainbow-hued production and hand claps than the discotheque. “Said that he’s a disco man / And he’s got a lot of fiscal plans,” she sings over an addictive chorus, daring you to resist the urge to dance. “I told him he could kiss my hand / If he meet me at the disco, man,” she sings before bursting into a fiery bridge. You’ll want to put this one on repeat. —Carson Mlnarik

• Sasami: “Toxicity” (System of a Down cover)

  A few weeks ago, video of a Nigerian wedding crowd losing their minds to “Toxicity” went viral. I watched it about 50 times — the joy on their faces mirrored my own, seeing vividly how music remains a universal language. System of a Down’s political messaging has never been more vital (“Prison Song,” in particular), and the full-body euphoria of “Toxicity”’s chorus allows for sheer release as you scream the word “disorder!” a bunch of times. This is what makes Sasami’s acoustic cover so arresting; instead of plugging in and yelling, she dials the track down to its serene skeleton, plucking and nearly whispering. That’s universal, too — a call to arms disguised as a fragile ballad. It doesn’t fit the dance floor, but it’s perfect for after hours. —Patrick Hosken

• Arca: “Mequetrefe”
  https://youtu.be/AZKPd3k6O6A

  KiCk i is the first in a series of four albums from the Barcelona-based, Venezuala-born artist Arca. It released last week and marks some of the musician’s most accessible, joyful work to date, straddling genres — reggaeton, pop, industrial — and featuring collaborations with Björk (“Afterwards”) and Rosalía (“KLK”). The track “Mequetrefe” is a disorienting compilation of synthetic clicks and distorted vocals about “the tenderness behind expressing who you are without shame,” the singer said in a statement. Meanwhile, the corresponding video suggests an identity, and a body, in the process of transforming and evolving, aching to be realized. —Coco Romack

• Ginger Root: “Out of State”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_EqHsHZxiE&feature=youtu.be

  Cameron Lew is a jack of all trades with Ginger Root, crafting the project’s “aggressive elevator soul” sound, as well as directing and editing his videos. New single “Out of State” is a catchy tune all its own, inspiring head bops with an endless supply of ethereal funkiness. However, its video is a cinematic journey, following Lew as he trains for an epic table tennis battle in a tribute to his grandfather and the kung-fu films he grew up watching. —Carson Mlnarik