Guitarist extraordinaire Jack White remains on top for a second week with his bombastic rocker “That’s How I’m Feeling”, while silky-voiced Leon Bridges moves into second place with his mellifluous single “Peaceful Place”. Entering the top 10 are “The Door” by powerhouse singer-songwriter Teddy Swims, at #8, and “Death Valley High” by the enigmatic and sexy country singer-songwriter Orville Peck and singer-songwriter-producer Beck, at #10. Two songs share the biggest upward mover title this week – “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and “The Lighthouse” by Stevie Nicks, each jumping eight spots to #15 and #17, respectively.
The sole debut is “Neverender”, a wonderful collaboration by French electronic music duo Justice and Australian band Tame Impala. Consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, Justice is completely new to me, despite the fact they’ve been making music for nearly 20 years. They’re quite popular, with over 5.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 1.5 million followers on Facebook. Tame Impala, fronted by insanely talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, ranks high among my favorite music acts. As far as I’m concerned, any song involving Tame Impala is a winner, and their collaboration “New Gold” with Gorillaz and Bootie Brown is my #2 song of 2023. “Neverender” is from Justice’s fourth studio album Hyperdrama, released this past April.
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (1)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (4)
MESSY – Lola Young (2)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (6)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (5)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (7)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (3)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (12)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (10)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (11)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (15)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (8)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (9)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (18)
DIE WITH A SMILE – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (23)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (17)
THE LIGHTHOUSE – Stevie Nicks (25)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (21)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (22)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (20)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (13) 20th week on chart
As I curate my Top 30 chart each week – which essentially reflects my favorite songs at that moment in time – I cannot deny that my choices are influenced to some degree by what’s happening on other “official” music charts. Sometimes a song comes along that’s either so good or has such strong crossover appeal that it tops nearly every major chart. But more often than not, totally different songs top each of the various charts, with virtually no overlap. Case in point is this week, where the mediocre “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey has inexplicably spent 13 weeks and counting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “The Emptiness Machine” by the reconstituted rock band Linkin Park is #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Airplay charts, and “Up All Night”, a collaboration between James Bay, The Lumineers and Noah Kahan, is #1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart. None of these three songs appears on the other mentioned charts.
I’m not quite sure what the point of that discussion is, other than to provide a bit of context, but my new favorite song this week is “That’s How I’m Feeling” by Jack White, which does currently occupy a spot in the top 10 of most alternative and rock charts. The boisterous rocker was the lead single from his sixth studio album released as a solo artist, No Name, which dropped this past July. Many music critics and fans have praised the album and song, calling it a return to his blues and garage roots and favorably comparing it to his music with the White Stripes. It’s probably my favorite song by White as a solo artist.
In other chart highlights, “Peaceful Place” by Leon Bridges climbs six spots to #4, and the ethereal and dreamy “Into Gold” by London Grammar moves up four spots to enter the top 10 at #10. The aforementioned “Up All Night” jumps seven spots to #18, making it the biggest upward mover this week. Three songs make their debut, the first of which, entering at #25, is “The Lighthouse”, a powerful song of both anger and hope by legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, who’s still going strong at 76. (I saw her in concert last December, which you can read about here.) She performed the song last night on Saturday Night Live, her first appearance on the long-running show in 41 years.
Inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, Nicks co-wrote the song with Magnus Birgersson and Vincent Villuis. The track was co-produced by Nicks, Sheryl Crow (who plays electric guitar and bass and sings backing vocals), and famed producer Chris Cobb (who’s worked with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen, Take That, Rival Sons, and many more), who also played guitar. The song begins rather tentatively, and Nicks’ vocals sound quite different in the verses; at first listen I thought they might be by another singer, but she sounds like her usual self in the anthemic choruses.
The second debut, entering at #29, is “The Emptiness Machine” by Linkin Park. I was resistant to the song at first, as I had mixed feelings about the legendary band taking on a new female co-lead singer, resulting in a major change to their style and sound. But after reading through scores of comments on the YouTube video for the song, I came to realize I was the one who was being closed-minded. The song, which quickly shot to #1 on the Rock and Alternative charts, has since grown on me. Coming in at #30 is “Nobody’s Soldier” by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, whose previous single “Too Sweet” has become one of the biggest hits of the year. His latest single is more fast-paced and harder-driven than his usual style. I like it!
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (4)
MESSY – Lola Young (1)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (2)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (10)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (6)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (7)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (8)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (3)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (9)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (14)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (15)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (16)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (5) 19th week on chart
WAR – Healer (12)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (18)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (13)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (19)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (25)
Though it’s now Autumn, the weather here in the Southern California desert is still quite summer-like, with temperatures over the past week ranging from 107-117 (41-47C). This unrelenting heat, combined with the sorry state of our impending election, in which a vile, incoherent and corrupt serial liar has a good chance of being elected President for a second time, has made it difficult for me to stay positive. Thankfully, there’s lots of great music to help brighten my mood a bit.
English singer-songwriter and musician Lola Young‘s “Messy”, a scathing rant against a romantic partner who can never be satisfied, remains at #1 for a second week, while Cage the Elephant‘s “Rainbow” moves into second place. Jack White‘s boisterous “That’s How I’m Feeling” climbs four spots to #4, and the appropriately titled “Peaceful Place” by Leon Bridges jumps seven spots to enter the top 10 at #10. The gorgeous song is from his fourth studio album Leon, which dropped this past Friday, October 4th. “Favourite” by Fontaines D.C. is this week’s biggest upward mover, leaping eight spots to #18. (Their song “Starburster” falls eight spots to #26, its 19th week on this chart, three of which were spent at #1 and another three at #2.)
Two songs enter my chart this week, the first of which is “Hardcore Romance”, a steamy and sultry number by one of my favorite bands Beach Weather, whose equally sultry “High In Low Places” has spent the past 18 weeks on my chart, three of them at #1. Both songs will be included on their forthcoming second album Melt, scheduled for release on October 25th.
Entering at #30 is the darkly beautiful “Bothering Me”, by Australian singer-songwriter, musician and producer Sarah Blasko, which I learned about in a recent post by fellow blogger Robert Horvat, who writes a terrific blog Rearview Mirror. About the meaning behind the song, Sarah told Australian webzine Noise11: “Dreams seem to be a way of processing things that happen during the day and so I embraced dreaming as a way of getting over things. Getting older is TOUGH. Sometimes I don’t know who I am anymore and that I’ve lost touch with the person I used to be and the dreams I held. I try to let go but not let go at the same time because dreams are important.” “Bothering Me” is the second single from her forthcoming seventh studio album I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain, to be released in November.
MESSY – Lola Young (1)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (3)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (4)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (8)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (2)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (6)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (7)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (9)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (10)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (17)
LOST IN SPACE – Foster the People (5)
WAR – Healer (13)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (14)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (15)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (16)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (20)
THE CRAVING – twenty one pilots (11)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (26)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (21)
PERMANENT RECORD – GG Fearn (22)
OH NO! – The Decemberists (12)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (23)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (24)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (25)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (28)
STARBURSTER – Fontaines D.C. (18) 19th week on chart)
A new week, another new song to top my chart. “Messy”, the defiant, emotionally-charged single by English singer-songwriter and musician Lola Young, ascends to the #1 spot. The 23-year-old South London-based artist lists Joni Mitchell, Prince, Adele, SZA, Frank Ocean, and Anderson .Paak among her musical influences, and her provocative songwriting and smoky vocal style have earned her comparisons with the late Amy Winehouse. “Messy” is from her critically-acclaimed third album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway, which dropped June 21st. Young named-dropped its title in a statement: “Here is my first born child, a fuck you to all my exes, and basically me just trying to figure out some shit openly and honestly on record. First of many and if you don’t like it, then this wasn’t meant for you anyway.”
Accordingly, “Messy” is an angry tirade to a romantic partner, with brilliantly written, highly relatable lyrics expressing her exasperation with them for never being satisfied with her, no matter how hard she’s tried to please them: “Cause I’m too messy and then I’m too fucking clean. You told me get a job then you ask where the hell I’ve been. And I’m too perfect till I open my big mouth. I want to be me, is that not allowed?And I’m too perfect till I show you that I’m not. A thousand people I could be for you, and you hate the fucking lot.” I love both the song and video.
Three songs enter the top 10 this week – “That’s How I’m Feeling” by Jack White, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, and “You Just Played My Mind” by English singer-songwriter Oli Barton, charting at #8, #9 and #10, respectively. Teddy Swims has the biggest upward mover with his marvelous single “The Door”, jumping eight spots to #20. The lone debut this week is “Die With A Smile”, the beautiful collaborative single by music heavyweights Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, finally entering my chart at #29. Though I really like both artists, it took a while for the song to grow on me for some inexplicable reason.
MESSY – Lola Young (4)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in waves (1)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (3)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (5)
LOST IN SPACE – Foster the People (2)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (8)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (10)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (14)
GOOD LUCK, BABE!” – Chappell Roan (11)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (13)
THE CRAVING – twenty one pilots (6)
OH NO! – The Decemberists (7)
WAR – Healer (15)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (16)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (17)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (18)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (20)
STARBURSTER – Fontaines D.C. (9)
HIGH IN LOW PLACES – Beach Weather (12)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (28)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (23)
PERMANENT RECORD – GG Fearn (22)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (24)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (25)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (26)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (27)
PANORAMIC VIEW – AWOLNATION (19) 21st week on chart
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (30)
DIE WITH A SMILE – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (N)
WHAT IF I FEEL LIKE THIS MY WHOLE LIFE? – HULLAH (21)
Talk in Waves, the newly-rechristened music project of Northern Virginia-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jake Mimikos that was formerly known as The Frontier, is a long-time favorite artist of mine. The talented, hard working guy skillfully blends elements of folk, pop, indie rock and electronica to create songs that are incredibly melodic, flawlessly crafted and always catchy, all self-recorded and produced in his home studio. As with many singer-songwriters, Jake’s songs are often inspired by personal experiences, touching on relatable topics like love, relationships and loss, which are expressed through lyrics that are honest and straightforward, and delivered with his warm, pleasing vocals.
His latest single “Like You Do” (which I reviewed in May) finally ascends to the #1 spot on my Top 30 after a long, steady climb. The bittersweet song is directed toward a former romantic partner who the singer desperately longs for, and wishes would come back into his life. It’s his fifth song to reach #1 on my chart, following “Dark Places” (2019), “Can We Go Back” (2021), “Closer” (2022) and “Walk Through the Fire” (2023), while his 2020 single “Sleep” reached #2.
In other chart news of note, both Cage the Elephant‘s “Rainbow” and Lola Young‘s “Messy” advance five spots to #3 and #4, respectively, while Billie Eilish moves up two spots to enter the top 10 with her lovely song “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”. “That’s How I’m Feeling” by Jack White also climbs five spots to #14, while “Peaceful Place” by Leon Bridges leaps eight spots to #20, making it the biggest upward mover this week.
Two songs enter my chart this week, starting with the hard-driving and soulful “The Door” by American singer-songwriter Teddy Swims (aka Jaten Collin Dimsdale). Co-written by Swims and John Ryan, John Sudduth, Sherwyn Nicholls, Joshua Coleman, and Julian Bunetta, he says the song is about saving his own life and finding the courage to walk out on an abusive relationship that played a part in driving his friends and family out of his life. (Wikipedia) “The Door” was originally released last September as one of the tracks on his debut album I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1), and as the album’s third single this past April. Swims reached #1 on my chart earlier this year with “Lose Control”. Entering at #30 is “Up All Night”, a rousing collaboration by a powerhouse lineup of English singer-songwriter James Bay, Colorado-based alternative folk band The Lumineers and Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan. All three acts have previously scored #1 songs on my chart.
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (3)
LOST IN SPACE – Foster the People (1)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (8)
MESSY – Lola Young (9)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (6)
THE CRAVING – twenty one pilots (2)
OH NO! – The Decemberists (5)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (10)
STARBURSTER – Fontaines D.C. (4)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (12)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (13)
HIGH IN LOW PLACES – Beach Weather (7)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (15)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (19)
WAR – Healer (16)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (17)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (18)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (20)
PANORAMIC VIEW – AWOLNATION (11) 20th week on chart
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (28)
WHAT IF I FEEL LIKE THIS MY WHOLE LIFE? – HULLAH (14)
PERMANENT RECORD – GG Fearn (22)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (23)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (25)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (26)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (29)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (30)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (N)
WAKING LIFE – Nicholas a. Milillo feat. Dee Wolf, Bobby Jasso, Gabrielle Marella and the voice of Tony Milillo (21)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (N)
Three and a half months after its release, “Lost In Space” by Foster the People finally ascends to the #1 spot, something I would not have predicted when it first appeared on my chart 12 weeks ago. Though they’ve been one of my favorite bands for well over 10 years, I wasn’t sure about the song at first. With its throwback disco/funk beat and heavy electronic vibe , it sounded quite different from anything they’d done before. In time, however, it eventually grew on me to the point where I now love it. I like its exuberant cinematic feel, especially the lush orchestral strings. “Lost In Space” was the lead single from their fourth studio album Paradise State of Mind, released on August 16, and is their fourth song to top my chart, following “Pumped Up Kicks”, “Coming of Age” and “Sit Next To Me”.
Still based in Los Angeles since forming in 2009, Foster the People now consists of founding member and front man Mark Foster and multi-instrumentalist Isom Innis, who started as a touring member of the band way back in 2010. A lot has happened with Foster and the band since the release of their 2017 album Sacred Hearts Club; he got sober in 2018, married actress Julia Garner in 2019, and saw the departure of the band’s founding drummer Mark Pontius in early 2021 during the waning days of the Covid pandemic, when they were unable to tour or perform live. All these changes caused Foster to look inward. In an interview with GRAMMY.com, he explained “I just dove into myself, really unpacking a lot of things emotionally, psychologically. Finding out who Mark is outside of music and getting comfortable with that.” He decided to explore new musical sounds for their next record Paradise State of Mind, diving into the disco/funk crossover pioneered by artists like Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder in the late ’70s, utilizing synth stylings similar to that of P-Funk’s Bernie Worrell. In a Reddit thread, he noted that 95% of the synths are analog, and all of the strings are live.
The colorful video, a great deal of which is shot in vivid red hues, was directed by Rupert Höller. It’s kind of a modernized and trippy take on the Busby Berkeley movie musicals of the 1930s, with Mark Foster filmed on various sets, one of them a tall red staircase, and surrounded by lots of dancers. Though it’s a pretty enjoyable video overall, I can’t figure out the intended meaning of all those hands swaying, fluttering and caressing Foster’s face.
In other chart news of note, Virginia-based singer-songwriter Jake Mimikos, who’s been recording and releasing music as The Frontier for the past 10 years, has just changed his music moniker to Talk in waves, to reflect his evolving sound. His latest single “Like You Do” advances a spot to #3. English singer-songwriters Lola Young and Myles Smith enter the top 10 with their songs “Messy” and “Stargazing”, each moving up two spots to #9 and #10, respectively.
Three marvelous songs make their debut this week, the first of which is the lovely and captivating “Peaceful Place” by enormously talented Texas-based singer-songwriter Leon Bridges. I love his pleasing style of R&B-influenced neo soul, particularly his smooth and warm vocals. The song is the lead single from his fourth studio album Leon, scheduled for release on October 4, 2024, and marks Bridges’ sixth appearance on my chart, four times as a solo artist and twice in collaboration with Texas-based psych rock band Khruangbin. His beautiful song “Bad Bad News” ranks #29 on my Top 100 Songs of the 2010’s list.
Entering at #29 is the delightful “can’t slow down” by San Diego-based indie pop trio almost monday. It’s their second appearance on my chart, their first being their 2020 single “broken people”. They’ll be releasing their debut studio album Dive on September 25th. Last, but certainly not least, is “Favourite” by Irish band Fontaines D.C., the second single to be released from their outstanding latest album Romance, which dropped August 23rd. Along with “Starburster”, which spent three weeks at #1 and currently sits at #4, “Favourite” gives the band two songs on this chart.
LOST IN SPACE – Foster the People (3)
THE CRAVING – twenty one pilots (1)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in waves (4)
STARBURSTER – Fontaines D.C. (2)
OH NO! – The Decemberists (6)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (8)
HIGH IN LOW PLACES – Beach Weather (5)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (10)
MESSY – Lola Young (11)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (12)
PANORAMIC VIEW – AWOLNATION (7)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (14)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (15)
WHAT IF I FEEL LIKE THIS MY WHOLE LIFE? – HULLAH (9)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (16)
WAR – Healer (18)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (19)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (20)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (21)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (22)
WAKING LIFE – Nicholas a. Milillo feat. Dee Wolf, Bobby Jasso, Gabrielle Marella and the voice of Tony Milillo (13)
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 