The Best Three Songs Released This Past Week Pt. 66

SO MUCH MUSIC TO LISTEN TO: HOW DO WE KEEP UP?! Hopefully this rundown will help you get started:

Noteworthy album & EP releases:

The Kids Table, Avery Lynch
Heartmind, Cass McCombs
Infinitely Tall, Charlie Burg
HOLY FVCK, Demi Lovato
Shadowglow, Flipturn
Inhuman, Gordi
Angelhood, grandma
all the things that could go wrong, Johnny Orlando
Juliana Madrid EP, Juliana Madrid
what happens when it hurts, Madeleine Mayi
Viva Las Vengeance, Panic! At The Disco
Around and Around, The Happy Fits

In chronological order:

“Sweet Tooth” – Maya Hawke
Release date – August 16

Though I was fairly indifferent toward Maya Hawke’s recent single “Thérèse,” I am much more convinced after hearing her newest release, “Sweet Tooth:” an easily lovable ballad that sounds like it could have been left on the cutting room floor of Taylor Swift’s sessions with The National’s Aaron Dessner during the creation of Folklore and Evermore. Surprisingly, the song was not co-written by Dessner, but another indie darling in Christian Lee Hutson, who has worked with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Ethan Gruska, boygenius, and more. 

“Sweet Tooth,” a song inspired by an emergency trip that the Stranger Things star had to take to the dentist, tells a sweet (duh) story of love and choosing it, even when it’s easier to hate. 

“Sweet Tooth” comes ahead of Hawke’s sophomore album, Moss, which drops on September 23. 

“You Against Yourself” – Ruel
Release date – August 17

Let’s face it: we’ve all had that one friend in our lives who likes to do that thing where they complain about being unhappy but don’t make the effort to do anything other than self-sabotage (or maybe you’ve been that person). It’s a frustrating sentiment to deal with, whether it’s your own issues or someone you care about. 19-year-old artist Ruel seems to know a thing or two about this, and it’s encapsulated quite eloquently in his new single, “You Against Yourself,” his second single of the year ahead of an (assumingly) unannounced debut LP.

In an accompanying statement, the songwriter spoke on the meaning of the song: “‘You Against Yourself’ is about someone in my life who has lots of self-destructing qualities. It’s about that feeling of reaching out to them to let them know the direction they’re heading in isn’t healthy and even though it seems like there’s little hope and you feel helpless, you’re still rooting for them.”

“Dancing Through The Mental Breakdown” – Charlie Burg
Release date – August 19

Who hasn’t had an experience getting to know someone when you realize that they’re pretending to be everything they say they are to seem cool? Haven’t we all done that at some point or another in our lives? If you could sum up every time you’ve had that experience and put it into one song, it’s “Dancing Through The Mental Breakdown” by Detroit-grown Charlie Burg, whose fifth album, Infinitely Tall, dropped this past Friday via FADER label.

“Dancing Through The Mental Breakdown” brings more of an indie emo/pop feel to the rest of the album, which feels like an alternative take on R&B, and completely roasts our world’s vain and vapid internet culture and obsession with social media (“And don’t argue with folks at the club / When all you do is recite what you read on the ‘gram, baby” and “I said shake your ass / Tik Tok goes crazy for that”) and our need for fitting in without actually having a clue as to what we’re trying to fit into (“Her profile said she’s a Communist / Upon asking her in person / She had nothing to say, nothing to say, nothing to say about it”).

If you’re feeling a bit jaded, give this song a good listen.