justin timberlake, swaggerless king of the washed
plus the week's best from pearla, zach bryan, sorry, paravi, and hyd
Before we get to the best songs of the week, let’s talk about the back half of a mango White Claw that is Calvin Harris’ “Stay With Me”
Let me be clear: every single thing here doesn’t work, from Halsey’s Diet Doja performance to the Apple Loops energy of the central guitar part, but I have to give credit to Justin Timberlake as the swaggerless void at the center of this song. He’s a black hole of W Hotels lobby energy, sending this song straight to the end credits of a straight-to-Hulu romcom.
Timberlake’s heavy musk and the song’s stiff pocket aren’t helped by the fact that the song doesn’t really have a chorus: “Damn! Look at those pants!” is the unfortunate hook that introduces Pharrell, who has no reason being here, but the song never builds to an actual…chorus. It’s wild considering how many of my favorite all-time choruses JT has delivered, but he’s here with the sexless role call energy of an enthusiastic camp counselor. The video throw in the Jamiroquai floating floor for fun, but there’s none of that band’s tongue-in-cheek joy to justify the reference - no one in the song has enough fun to let you know if it’s in on the joke.
No links this week, this song is just too depressing.
And now, on to this week’s tracks - as always, you can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
THE UNSKIPPABLES #45
Pearla - Effort
This clear-eyed single from NYC songwriter Nicole Rodriguez’s project Pearla sounds like watching a plant sprout from a sapling, bloom, and rot over the course of its five minutes. Taken from her debut album as Pearla Oh Glistening Onion, The Nighttime Is Coming, peaking with the stunning chorus of “I don’t know why it takes so much effort to feel good these days.” The song feels like it takes Pearla’s strengths and renders them in Technicolor, building on the compositional strength from the 2019 EP Quilting & Other Activities and taking the songs into a thicker 3D sonic territory that matches the depth of emotion.
Zach Bryan - Oklahoma Smokeshow
I was hipped to Bryan via Stereogum’s This Week In Pop, which detailed his path from Navy SEAL to country superstar, and this week’s Summertime Blues is a nine-track testament to his skill as a songwriter. “Oklahoma Smokeshow” feels like Bruce Springsteen by way of Brad Paisley, the title’s silliness hiding a convincing portrait of a woman trapped in a small-town cage made of the male gaze.
Hyd - Afar
The Caroline Polachek Orinoco Flow extended universe grows a little bit larger with her production work on Hyd’s “Afar” out via PC Music. Ephemerality is tablestakes, an airy landscape set to serve up the synthetic drama and kabuki-like motion of the melody. The chorus drops like the slow-motion facesplash of a skincare commercial, water droplets floating in a seamless white room.
Paravi - Golden Child
The melodic pocket of Paravi’s “Golden Child” is worlds away from the Gaylecore of songs like “ABCFU” or “Mad At Disney” or post-Paramore rock of her peers; instead her major label debut leans on pulsing hand drums and a charming melody to build a shapeshifting, lithe pop machine. The song’s chorus doesn’t hit as much as part the clouds to reveal the light, riding a major key beam across the sky.
Sorry - Let The Lights On
Nervy post-punk jitters match an equally nervous ode to love on Sorry’s latest single. There’s no tongue-in-cheek UK talkiness in the vocal performance to obscure the song’s emotionality, making the song a refreshing use of jittery drums and guitar to underpin just how scary it is to tell someone you really love them, even if the soundtrack is cool as hell.
THROWBACK CORNER
Instant Funk - Bodyshine
I found an original pressing of this record in Memphis, and I was thrilled to finally have the Larry Levan-assisted “Bodyshine” on vinyl. The chorus hits a similar pocket to their classic “I Got My Mind Up,” but there’s a heavier funk bassline and unison synth stabs in the verses that make this track an equally essential track.
And that’s all for this week, folks! Please subscribe if you’d like these opinions straight in your inbox. See you next week!