Melissa Kacar

"party 4 u" by Charli xcx is a euphoric anthem of unrequited love, a song full of glittering synths and raw emotion. She sings about throwing an entire party with the hopes that just the one person she wants to see the most will be there - a very Gatsby theme that she translated so well into this song. It is featured on her 2020 album how i'm feeling now , which was largely created in isolation and released in the thick of the pandemic in May of that year. She worked with her frequent collaborator, A.G. Cook , on this song and the rest of the album. By the time the pandemic started, they only had about half of the album finished, so they decided to go with a DIY approach while finishing the rest of how i'm feeling now .  "party 4 u" had a much longer history by that point though, as Charli said in an interview with Apple Music. "This is the oldest song on the album. For myself and A. G., this song has so much life and story," Charli said. "We...

While the pandemic era saw a wave of music born from isolation and uncertainty, Charli xcx 's how i'm feeling now remains one of the most innovative, immersive and deeply personal projects to emerge from that time. Charli embraced a fully DIY approach over the course of five weeks, turning this forced isolation into a unique opportunity to produce an album entirely from home while documenting every step of the process in real time through social media. "The nature of this album is going to be very indicative of the times just because I'm only going to be able to use the tools I have at my fingertips to create all music, artwork, videos everything," Charli revealed in a public Zoom call with fans in 2020.  From pitching the idea to her label, to writing, producing, conceptualizing, filming music videos and creating album artwork, Charli shared all of the ups and downs through social media, offering fans a unique look into the process behind making an album. This a...

A generational anthem of unrequited love, Robyn 's "Dancing On My Own" captures the courage it takes to keep on dancing through heartbreak. She wrote it after going through a breakup and seeing her ex at a club with another girl. That moment of watching him, wanting him to notice her, and realizing he wouldn't, became the emotional core of the song. "I'm in the corner watching you kiss her, I'm right over here, why can't you see me?" she sings in the chorus. "I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the girl you're taking home, I keep dancing on my own". Musically, she pulled from the lineage of great sad‑disco icons like Donna Summer and Ultravox. She was also deeply inspired by club culture itself while she was making her three-part record Body Talk . "I'm fascinated by club culture at the moment,” she told Pop Justice. "Clubs are like the new church for people...it's where you go to feel a part of something big...

Beabadoobee 's "Real Man" is a charming and effortlessly catchy track that beautifully showcases her evolving sound. Featured as a single from her third album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves , released in 2024, the song is produced by her longtime collaborator Jacob Bugden alongside the legendary Rick Rubin. It balances playfulness with vulnerability as she explores the frustrating reality of men letting her down, in a way that is equally playful as it is sincere. The sharp lyricism paired with an irresistibly clever chorus makes "Real Man" such a standout moment from the album. "And I already told you I'm not part of the band, please forgive mе just for thinkin' it's a fleetin' romance, I guess no one еver taught you how to be a real man," she sings in the second chorus.  "I just wanted to write, like, a sexy song. Like I wanted to write a cheeky, flirtatious song," Bea said in an interview with  Stereogum  breaking down the song...

"The Good Side" stands out as one of the most heartfelt and introspective moments in Troye Sivan 's entire discography. Released as a part of his 2018 sophomore album Bloom , the track is a beautiful reflection on the aftermath of a breakup, but not necessarily from the perspective of heartbreak, but from the complicated view point of someone who was able to walk away from that relationship relatively unscathed emotionally. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Troye said, "This song's a little rough. It's basically about a breakup that I went through a while ago. You know, in a breakup, I think just the sheer nature of it, is that someone is going to get it rough. And I happened to be on the good side of things..."   "I got the good side of things, left you with both of the rings," Troye sings in the opening verse. "My fingers danced and swayed in the breeze, the change in the wind took you down to your knees, I got the good side of y...

Happy Record Store Day! To celebrate the semi-annual independent record store event, Icona Pop released a special limited edition glow-in-the-dark vinyl pressing of their iconic breakthrough hit, "I Love It". Originally released in 2012 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album, the track quickly became a defining anthem for the Swedish pop duo. Not only did it launch their career, but it also marked the first major hit for Charli XCX , who at the time was just 21 years old and an emerging songwriter carving her place in pop music. Charli had signed with Asylum Records in 2010 while still in school, spending her early years experimenting with different sounds and resisting the idea of mainstream pop, which didn't initially align with her vision as an artist. Her breakthrough came when she began collaborating with producer Patrik Berger, who was then best known for his work with Lana Del Rey and Robyn , and later worked with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen , ...