It’s a New Music Friday for heavyweight hitting musicians. Two of the most admired modern acts in pop and rock just shared highly anticipated new albums. This week also saw many hit single releases. It’s been one of the most fascinating stretches for music fans this summer. Keep reading to see what makes Sabrina Carpenter’s new personality boasting record Short n’ Sweet so good. First, here’s a look at the most important rock album in recent memory.
The Best of New Music Friday:
Fontaines D.C. – Romance
Fontaines D.C. were once a group of Irish pals writing noisy Strokes-esque rock songs (The D.C. stands for Dublin City). Now they’re based in London, having gained worldwide fandom by touring with Arctic Monkeys in 2023 and releasing spirited broody slow-bending guitar songs about anxiety and existential dread. Their clothing style has been compared to the Spice Girls. Their musical style is too unique to pinpoint. Their new album Romance is the most exciting rock release in years.
Rollout for Romance began in April with the song “Starburster.” Singer Grian Chatten gasps for air between verses, symbolic of a panic attack he said he experienced walking around his new hometown and waiting to take the train to producer James Ford’s studio. The single was a hit and Fontaines D.C. came to the U.S. to perform it on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, before a headlining set at Glastonbury and numerous European festivals.
Romance achieves the group’s aspirations to be a big rock band. Fans who want the genre to be smashingly popular again feel the same. So what makes Romance so important? It could be songs like the large-minded tune “Desire,” which has a symphony accompanying psychedelic lyrical repetition. “Bug” is a catchy track with a foot-tap-inducing charm. The produced vocal effects that constantly underscore the b-side’s first track “Motorcycle Boy” are outstanding. There’s also a unique twist on “Sundowner,” the first time Fontaines D.C. guitarist Conor Curley takes over on lead vocals. It’s a surprising treat for long-time fans.
“Horseness is The Whatness” has a string section. It’s also the song where Chatten’s most beautiful vocal performance across four whole albums (five if you count his solo record) is found. The scrappiness of instruments and power of drummer Tom Coll’s pounding at the end of this song summarize the album as a whole. The penultimate track “Death Kink” stands as Fontaines D.C.’s most gag-inducing song. Go Google the lyrics and listen to the sigh in Chatten’s voice…brilliant. The slow ballad single “In the Modern World” is like listening to someone break Chatten’s heart in real-time. “I don’t feel bad in the modern world,” he sings. It’s a reminder that in a time where our attention spans are measured in seconds instead of hours and days, so much is rushed that emotions pass before there’s a chance to process them.
There are a billion things to love about Romance. As the lyrics on the opening title track suggest, “Maybe Romance is a place.” It’s a pondering thought about where we all are and what we’re doing. It’s a major open-ended ask on a record with many open doors for listeners to explore during their own individual listens. Romance is a place and Fontaines D.C. knocked down its pearly entrance gate to loudly let everyone know how important they are.
Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet
Sabrina Carpenter jumpstarted her most popular era yet by introducing Short n’ Sweet and the song “Espresso” on April 11, just a handful of days before playing Coachella. She debuted the song during the festival, which arrived as she found a larger audience thanks to her silly live outros for Emails I Can’t Send’s “Nonsense” and opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour.
On “Please Please Please” Carpenter exasperatedly warns her latest love interest. “Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another. I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker.” The song became Carpenter’s first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Carpenter continues the one-liners and wit throughout the rest of her new 12-track LP, doused with short punchy pop tunes. “Taste” is an upbeat song for slackers. “I heard you’re back together and if that’s true, you’ll have to taste me when he’s kissing you,” she quips.
Short n’ Sweet is the perfect metaphor for how to-the-point Carpenter’s attitude is. She brings her own brand of humor and big-hit pop to a genre that’s thriving thanks to many great lyricists. Carpenter’s answer to pop music helps put the sound in a better place than it’s been in a decade.
New Music Friday Top Picks:
Being Dead – “Nightvision” [Bayonet]
Body Meat – Starchris [Partisan]
Coldplay ft. Little Simz, Burna Boy, Tini, and Elyanna – “WE PRAY” [Parlophone]
Illuminati Hotties – Power [Hopeless]
Joe P – Garden State Vampire [Atlantic]
Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk [Mom+Pop]
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE – You’ll Have to Lose Something [Saddle Creek]
Tanukichan – “It Gets Easier” [Carpark]
Valley – “Let It Rain” [Capitol]
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you add to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!
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