Hear tracks by Olivia Rodrigo, Gary Clark Jr. featuring Stevie Wonder, Four Tet and others.
Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.
Tyla, ‘Safer’
Following her worldwide 2023 hit “Water,” the South African songwriter Tyla has now released her self-titled debut album, merging African rhythms with English lyrics and R&B delivery. The album’s songs toggle between approach — like “Water” — and avoidance. In “Safer,” Tyla pulls away from temptation. The song harnesses the log-drum beat and sparse, subterranean bass lines of South African amapiano as Tyla worries that “This feels too good to be true” and decides, “As bad as I want you, I know that it’s danger.” Choral call-and-response vocals carry South African tradition into the electronic wilderness of 21st-century romance. JON PARELES
Olivia Rodrigo, ‘So American’
Olivia Rodrigo knows all too well how susceptible a young woman can be to physical attraction and a good line. With the speedy, pumping new wave rock and breathless vocals of “So American” — from the extended version of her 2023 album, “Guts (Spilled)” — she sums up a guy with “hands that make hell seem cold” who “laughs at all my jokes and says I’m so American.” For three frantic minutes, self-consciousness is no match for pheromones. PARELES
Remi Wolf, ‘Cinderella’
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Source: Music - nytimes.com
