Doechii, Benson Boone, and Ariana Grande feature this month with tracks that are already proving to be some of the spring’s biggest pop hits. Meanwhile, Arcade Fire and I’m With Her both return, while Miley Cyrus traverses down bold new territory, and Bruce Springsteen and Grace Potter both offer up long-hidden vault tracks.
Arcade Fire- “Year of the Snake” (Arcade Fire)
The indie-rock innovators return after a three year gap between new music, a period of time that proved to be controversial and problematic for lead singer Win Butler, and consequently the group as a whole. With that said, this lead single from their pending seventh LP continues steadfast down the same signature path that has made them one of rock’s most revered cult acts for the past two decades. Butler and wife Regine Chassagne color this simmering and trippy track with vocals that ooze in a perfectly hushed and ominous manner, elevating the themes of confusion and change that give the song its trembling heartbeat.
Benson Boone- “Sorry, I’m Here For Someone Else” (Warner)
One of 2024’s most promising pop breakthrough acts emerges with a dazzling, lead sophomore single that should have no trouble keeping him on his meteoric rise throughout 2025. “Sorry” finds Boone’s narrator running into a former love and having to easily let her know that he’s there to meet his new dame. The track is a perfect slice of 2020s pop, with a dizzying synth-pop arrangement that puts a delightfully catchy spin on the awkwardness of the encounter, all charmingly underscored by Boone’s signature vocal charisma. It joyfully demands repeat listens. Harry Styles is going to have some major competition in this realm when he makes his inevitable return.
Miley Cyrus- “End of the World” (Columbia)
A deliciously glitzy, Europop-leaning preview to the bold and progressive pop overtures that Miley Cyrus has promised for us on her forthcoming ninth album, Something Beautiful. She’s already accrued enough artistic credibility with her risky, genre-hopping tendencies that we’d already follow her muse to the ends of the earth. The sparkling sonics and contagion found on “End of the World” reaffirm that choice. Her classically raspy deliveries are as intoxicatingly hypnotic as the piano-driven beats surrounding her here. This album promises to be one of the year’s most intriguing releases.
Lana Del Rey- “Bluebird” (Interscope)
Allegedly the latest preview of Lana Del Rey’s continuously delayed “country” record, “Bluebird” is a sparse folk performance that puts the spotlight squarely on the raw, haunting calling cards of her otherworldly vocal talents. Del Rey has done far more countrier outings than this in the past, and done them quite well. But let’s leave the ultimately inconsequential genre machinations aside; “Bluebird” is a gorgeously delivered ballad, pure and simple. A stunning showcase for a unique vocal talent.
Dexter & the Moonrocks- “Ritalin” (Severance)
The enticing labeling of their music as “Western space grunge” (also the title of their 2024 debut) proves to be the perfect descriptor of this latest single from Dexter & the Moonrocks. With a slightly twangy rust permeating through their wall of crashing guitars, James Tuffs’ cathartically wailing vocals, and robust, eye-popping lyrics, “Ritalin” is the best serving yet of their Seattle-Austin-Nashville three-way stylings.
Doechii- “Anxiety” (Capitol)
The current commander of the present pop music zeitgeist, “Anxiety” is quickly proving to be one of 2025’s true “moment” records. In a musical world where interpolations seem to be everywhere, it’d be easy to peg the track’s success on pure nostalgia for the addictive sonics of Gotye and Kimbra’s legendary 2011 one-hit wonder, “Somebody That I Used to Know”. However, to do so would be to totally undermine how skillfully Doechii, who also self-produced it, crafted this entire listening experience. She had enough clever awareness to know how splendidly the familiar sampling would serve as the cherry on this proverbial sundae, which was already an impressively deep rap-pop mashup. Not only does she bare her anxious soul, but she so brilliantly expresses the complex emotions and dizzying feelings of an anxiety disorder with the pacing, delivery, and precise performance and production choices throughout. As a result, she’s delivered not only an infectious pop smash, but also a voice for the millions of every-day people that can relate to the emotional rollercoaster depicted here.
Goose- “Give It Time” (No Coincidence)
A pivotal and moving performance from a band that has too frequently had their talents relegated to the connotations that go along with the “jam band” label. And make no mistake about it, Goose is a superb jam bad, and one you should seek out if you’re not familiar with them. “Give It Time” however is an example of their greater depth, and though the inspirational lyrics here may be undeniably trite, Peter Anspach elevates them through his earnestly raw delivery. And there’s plenty of their core instrumental goodness awaiting during the final two minutes of the track. A solidly thorough showcase of what Goose is capable of as a whole.
Ariana Grande- “Twilight Zone” (Republic)
A dreamy, synth-pop endeavor that serves as a fitting addendum to last year’s Eternal Sunshine, “Twilight Zone” certainly plays into the mysterious sonics suggested by its title. However, that entire phrase and the aura surrounding it serves as much more: a maturely metaphoric and subdued reflection on her relationship with her ex-husband. What’s most striking about it all is how Grande is not still pining for their time together, but merely thinking back upon it all, and how strangely removed she now feels from that time in her life. Her delivery is gorgeously resolute yet bittersweet, and hauntingly emblematic of how strangely out-of-time certain phases of life start to feel as we get further separated from them. The performance also illustrates how equally potent her pop powers are when she’s restrained, as when she’s singing for the rafters. She increasingly shines as one of the current pop scene’s most rewarding artists.
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I’m With Her- “Ancient Light” (Rounder)
The folk supergroup (consisting of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aiofe O’Donovan) gear up for the spring release of their sophomore effort with another glistening performance. This record spills over with luminous vocal harmonies, exquisite yet soft-spoken instrumental magic, heartfelt emotion, and slightly Cosmic atmospherics. An ethereal feast for the ears for roots music lovers everywhere.
Grace Potter- “Before the Sky Falls” (Hollywood)
“Before the Sky Falls” is not the lead single from Grace Potter’s next record, but rather the first taste of her unreleased 2008 record, Medicine, which was produced with the great T. Bone Burnett and shelved by record label short-sightedness at the time. Seventeen years later, it fits in seamlessly with the rest of Potter’s acclaimed catalog, with her familiarly ravishing vocals sounding positively golden against Burnett’s mystical soul arrangements. If “Sky” is any indication, Medicine more than deserves to take its rightful place in Potter’s discography.
Bruce Springsteen- “Rain In the River” (Columbia)
As if we didn’t already have enough great material to discuss during our ongoing Artist In Residence series on Bruce Springsteen, here comes the humongous news that his next boxset, Tracks II, is coming in June and boasting seven(!) albums of unreleased recordings, primarily from the 90s. Wowsa. “Rain In the River” is the first, and very satisfying, taste on what’s in store on Tracks II. And while it’s certainly not on the level of any of Springsteen’s groundbreaking classics (one must manage expectations with releases of long-vaulted material), it’s an exhilarating listen that features high-octane yet soulful Bruce vocals backed by a cavalcade of electrifying rock guitars. Boss-fans are going to have a very busy summer ahead!
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