The Best Three Songs Released This Past Week Pt. 75

HAPPY TAYLOR SWIFT WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Noteworthy album & EP releases:
The Florist, Abby Sage
Here Goes Nothing!, Adam Melchor
The Car, Arctic Monkeys
The Loneliest Time, Carly Rae Jepsen
Stumpwork, Dry Cleaning
Chrome Bull, Duckwrth
Inner World Peace, Frankie Cosmos
LOVE, Jake Wesley Rogers
I Love To Lie, Lowertown
Takin’ It Back, Megan Trainor
Love Me Forever, Pinkshift
Midnights, Taylor Swift
Crybaby, Tegan & Sara
American Bollywood: Acts III & IV, Young The Giant

In chronological order:

“Joshua Tree” – Carly Rae Jepsen
Release date – October 21

As you can probably assume, I’ve spent most of this weekend listening to Midnights, and not as much time listening to The Loneliest Time, the new album from the most underrated pop star in the world: Miss Carly Rae Jepsen. But after I did have a first listen, I felt slightly let down. But there are certainly stand out tracks on the project, including “Joshua Tree,” a song that I think deserves to be added to the list of quintessential CRJ songs.

Clocking in at just 2 minutes and 29 seconds, tied for the second shortest song off The Loneliest Time with “Beach House,” something tells me that “Joshua Tree” was on the shortlist for one of the singles that dropped ahead of the album release. It’s short and sweet: to the point and poised perfectly for pop radio. Whether or not we’ll see it get there is another question.

“Miss Me Too” – Katherine Li
Release date – October 21

19-year-old singer/songwriter Katherine Li has casually been making waves on the internet with her catchy songs and gen z appeal, sitting at nearly 450k followers on TikTok with a slew of videos that have racked up 18 million likes. Whether or not you find that the app has benefited the music industry or not, one thing is for sure. It isn’t going anywhere.

Released with a pretty impactful marketing strategy (several videos in a row promoting a snippet of the song), “Miss Me too” is an ode to all of those people who think about their ex with a glimmer of hope that they miss you, too. It’s pretty straightforward and to the point: but it’s a topic that isn’t necessarily easy for people to admit to themselves or anyone else. “Miss Me Too” is apart of Li’s debut EP, Crush(ED).

“Anti-Hero” – Taylor Swift
Release date – October 21

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, a new Taylor Swift song has made this list. As you’re reading this, you likely know that Swift has released her highly-anticipated new album, Midnights, ahead of a very messy (in my opinion) album rollout that, for the first time, didn’t have a single announced ahead of its release. I tried to go into the album without reading about speculation as much as possible, and I think the wait was worth it. “Anti-Hero” has been announced as the first single from the project, and I think it goes without saying that this is the first time in Swift’s career that she’s released the best song off the album as the lead single. Come on: how many times have you heard the line “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror” from the biggest pop star in the world?

Before I get on a tangent, let’s get to the point. Some of Taylor’s best writing (again, in my opinion), comes from a place of self-deprecation. As a lifelong fan of hers, I’ve questioned her ability to be self-aware as well as her ability to reflect on her career and her public choices, and it’s nice to see that she’s continuing to acknowledge these things in her music, which is something I can appreciate. If you like this from Taylor, definitely check out “Mastermind.”