SG Lewis And Robyn Rattle The Club, Billie Eilish Returns To Earth, And More Songs We Love
88 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.
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SG Lewis ft. Robyn and Channel Tres: “Impactâ€
British singer-songwriter-producer SG Lewis is lending solid weight to a very good year for disco-laced dance-pop, from helping to deliver Victoria Monet’s sassy “Experience,†to his own groovy “Chemicals.†It feels though those tracks pave the way to “Impact,†an equally impressive, earth-shifting club banger, where gritty synth sets the pace for a thumping, swirling showdown between legend Robyn and rising star Channel Tres, each massively head-over-heels for the one that takes them higher. —Terron Moore
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Bon Iver: “AUATCâ€
In the previous edition of this very column, I wrote, “What a week for Justin Vernon.†Turns out, that’s an evergreen statement! Fresh off a moody (and highly successful) collaboration with Taylor Swift — and after Mxmtoon named a song after the band — Bon Iver has released a squidgy, lovely new tune called “AUATC,†short for “Ate Up All Their Cake.†The guest vocalists on it include Jenny Lewis, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, and a dude by the name of Bruce Springsteen. What a week for Justin Vernon, indeed. (And don’t sleep on Wasner: Her band just released a show-stopping new EP, recorded with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus in all their vowel-rich goodness.) —Patrick Hosken
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Misterwives: “Ghostâ€
Misterwives trade their sugary-sweet indie pop for something a little darker on “Ghost,†a standout track from their latest full-length, Superbloom. Moody guitar riffs and steady percussion build tension, and singer Mandy Lee’s explosive vocals in the chorus offer release: “I can’t have you, don’t leave me / I’ll have you, in between.†It’s the first night out after a bitter breakup soundtracked, and if that mournful breed of angst isn’t a 2020 mood, then I don’t know what is. —Sam Manzella
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Youryoungbody: “ODâ€
Early aughts-era techno gets a lacquer of matte black nail polish from Youryoungbody, a darkwave duo that, even prior to the release of their debut album, Devotion, had developed a devout following in their Seattle hometown. Appropriately, the Úna Blue-directed visuals for “OD,†perhaps the clearest crystallization of their ethereal electro-pop, sees singer Duh Cripe and producer Killian Brom perform for a cult-like sect of alien ravers. —Coco Romack
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Space Sluts: “St. Vâ€
Aliens can get heartbroken, too. Under her sexy and celestial moniker Space Sluts, Brooklyn musician Madi Cox confronts an ex-lover head on, taking no prisoners from her opening line, “Do you feel like a man? / Did you do all that you can to break me?†Through the guise of a vocal looper and cascading meditations, she leaves no space of intergalactic heartbreak and catharsis untouched, although her pain is worldly. “It’s you on my mind,†she breathily muses. “It’s you I left behind.†—Carson Mlnarik
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Billie Eilish: “My Futureâ€
With nothing left to prove, Billie Eilish retreated inward with her brother, Finneas, and created one of the downright prettiest songs of the year. “My Future†is, indeed, about her future, and thankfully for us, it traffics in optimism. Jazzy, blue, and lo-fi, the song is completely unexpected, just like the serotonin-releasing percussion that drops at 1:43 —Patrick Hosken
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Ziemba: “True Romanticâ€
World-building is a key tool for any seasoned storyteller, and it is one with which the El Paso-based artist and journalist René Kladzyk, or Ziemba, is well-equipped. Her 2019 collection, Ardis, was a sci-fi epic about a parallel universe told through sound and smell: During a performance at MoMA PS1 that incorporated custom costumes and full choir, she spritzed the audience with fragrances tailored to the mood of each number. Her latest releases, from her coming album True Romantic, are decidedly down to (this) earth. The title track, boasting decadent vocal stylings and a touch of flute, is a heartfelt melodrama of love letters and day dreams, which the singer describes as “the most vulnerable and emotionally naked thing I’ve ever made.†—Coco Romack
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The Orphan The Poet: “Summer Dazeâ€
Alt-rock group The Orphan The Poet build their new sun-soaked anthem around the hypnotic line, “We’ll spend the summer in a daze,†and while a season in quarantine is surely not what they were anticipating, it finds new meaning in the midst of what can best be described as a “daze.†The newly rechristened two-piece from Ohio evokes the sound of ’90s alternative bops before them with crispy production, vocals from all directions, and lyrics that don’t take themselves too seriously — from skinny-dipping in pools of champagne to an interruption about a tub delivery on the seventeenth floor. Wherever you may be, let the sun blocking commence! —Carson Mlnarik
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Nat & Alex Wolff: “Glueâ€
Here’s an image I can’t get out of my head: Alex Wolff, haunted and ragged, slamming his face down onto a desk in 2018’s Hereditary. It’s excellently horrifying, the kind of vision that lingers long after the credits roll. His new tune with his brother Nat — a twinkly slice of piano-led post-punk in the vein of The National — likewise deals in haunting visions, though the thankfully less violent kind. It’s all about nighttime jealousy here, love and desire and longing melding into a rapturously huge chorus. —Patrick Hosken