The Best Songs of July 2023 // New Music Friday!

- July 28, 2023

"What Was I Made For?" // Billie Eilish

"What Was I Made For?" was one the final songs revealed before Barbie premiered, and without giving any spoilers, it had incredible placement in the movie. This is truly such a heart-wrenching and emotional song. Literally every single person in the theater was crying during that scene. Even now, it's been over a week since I've seen it and I'm still thinking about how incredible this part was. The entire soundtrack is great, but "What Was I Made For" is one of the best songs made for a soundtrack in a very long time. It works so well in the context of the movie, but also in the context of Billie's personal life. It is very much in the same vein as songs like "everything I wanted" and "Male Fantasy", as well as "Love Is Pain" by Finneas. Billie said in an interview that the process of writing this song for the Barbie character in the movie was "like I'm writing for myself and I don't even know it." It bridges the gap between the Happier Than Ever era and whatever the next chapter may be for her in such a beautiful way with the lyric, "Think I forgot how to be happy, somethin' I'm not, but somethin' I can be, somethin' I wait for, somethin' I'm made for". It is about struggling to discover your own identity and your purpose in the world, while also dealing with wanting to be seen as a real person with real emotions, while everyone just sees you as a product.

"I Can See You" // Taylor Swift

One of the best songs From The Vault so far is "I Can See You", which served as the lead single of Speak Now (Taylor's Version). It is such a fun and flirty song, that is produced by Jack Antonoff and features all of Bleachers on the instrumentals. Sonically, it is so different than anything they have ever made together before. The melody and guitar riff are both so infectious, I truly can't stop listening to it. She also released a music video alongside the album, conceptually it is one of my favorite videos she has ever done, the storyline is so well executed and is also just so much fun! Upon first listen, I knew immediately that this was going to be one of my top favorite songs of the year!

Check out my full review of Speak Now (Taylor's Version)!

"Rush" // Troye Sivan

"Rush" is the lead single from Troye Sivan's upcoming album, and it is such a fun summer club anthem. I also love the compression and his range of vocals on this track. "Rush" is so catchy and addictive to listen to. It's so good! It's so good!

"Something Real" // Post Malone

Post Malone's latest album, Austin, is among his most confessional and personal releases yet. I absolutely love the entire album and was blown away by so much of the songs and how different it is for him. Austin has such a fresh sound, I have loved seeing the way he has evolved over the years in his artistry. "Something Real" is a prime example of that growth. It features stunning vocals and even interpolates "Für Elise" by Beethoven. The message is so powerful and one of the best vocal performances of his career!

"MODERN JAM" // Travis Scott

I really didn't have any expectations going into Travis Scott's latest album, UTOPIA, but there was so many really great moments throughout. "MODERN JAM" was one of my favorites - vocally he sounds great without the auto-tune, the production from Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Mike Dean and Jahaan Sweet is so cool and innovative!

"Come June" // Mitch Rowland

Mitch Rowland is releasing his debut album this fall and recently released the title track, "Come June". It is a simple indie-folk song that serves as a great introduction into what's to come with the rest of his music. He is best known for being Harry Styles' guitarist and frequent collaborator, so I am really looking forward to hearing what's to come for him as a solo artist now that Love on Tour is finished. Speaking of, Harry's entire touring band is so incredibly talented and I recommend checking out their music too!

"I'm Just Ken" // Ryan Gosling

Anytime Ryan Gosling makes music I am pretty much guaranteed to love it at this point, as La La Land is my favorite soundtrack ever, so I have really been looking forward to hearing how "I'm Just Ken" fit into Barbie. In the context of the movie, it is such a funny 80's power-ballad and is full of great one-liners like, "Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility?" and "Can you feel the Ken-ergy?" Ryan Gosling was perfect for the role of Ken and if you couldn't tell by now, I absolutely loved Barbie and could talk about it all day! The rest of the soundtrack is great too, so without sounding too redundant, definitely check out the Barbie movie and soundtrack!

Thanks for reading! If you are interested in more of my recent song recommendations, check out my list of the best songs of January 2023, February 2023, March 2023, April 2023, May 2023, June 2023, and more from my New Music Friday series! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!