Blackstarkids
Fight Club
Kansas trio Blackstarkids make 00s-influenced hip-hop pop, taking the good bits of the era (Missy Elliott, the Cool Kids) and leaving the worst parts of post-millennium music behind (apols, nu-metal). Fight Club is a perfect 2 mins 30 secs-long brag about being hot, young and stealing love rivals’ girlfriends, and the Beastie Boys-style video makes going to the shop to buy loo roll look weirdly cool.
Justin Bieber, Skrillex & Don Toliver
Don’t Go
Update your spreadsheets: Justin Bieber is good again, an event that occurs once every six years and only happens when he’s produced by Skrillex. Don’t Go is a moody, moany banger, but if you’re not into the Bieber-naissance, don’t panic. Any minute now, he’ll do something bad – say, collaborate with Chris Brown again or release an acoustic album – and we can chuck him back in the bin.
Natalie Imbruglia
On My Way
Also having an unexpected renaissance? Natalie Imbruglia, who’s written a summery, feelgood song your mum will absolutely love. In On My Way, Natalie claims she’s finally “done looking for trouble”, suggesting that since 1997 hit Torn, all she’s been doing is roaming the streets looking for a fight. Leave it Natalie, it’s not worth it!
Shawn Mendes & Tainy
Summer of Love
In the UK, it has only been a summer of love if your passion is lateral flow tests or overpaying for a holiday cottage in Cornwall – but clearly, Shawn’s had a better couple of months. Here he boasts about drinking tequila, staying in bed all day and shagging so much it “felt like we were 18” again, which, given he’s still only 23, isn’t actually that impressive.
Santana ft Rob Thomas
Move
Santana’s Smooth is the greatest song of all time, a piece of music that can somehow make you feel simultaneously horny and like you’re walking into the best party of your life. So it’s weird that Santana left it until 2021 to get Rob Thomas on another track. Sadly, Move is 34% less horny and 45% less party than Smooth, but after a 22-year wait, we’ll take what we can get.
