I Brand-New’d It For Ya

Nia Archives “Cards on the Table”

Nia Archives has been a crucial figure in bringing breakbeats and drum and bass programming back into pop over the past few years, and her new record Silence Is Loud is her boldest move yet in that she’s going waaaay more pop without compromising her commitment to ultra-fast beats at all. “Cards on the Table” is simultaneously her most normal and weirdest song, a straightforward acoustic pop tune about falling in love set accompanied by zooming busy beats that probably shouldn’t work, but actually do. The lyrics are basically about making it clear to someone that you’re way into them, and the arrangement manifests the emotional state of trying to put on a chill, laid back front while your anxiety and fear of rejection kicks into overdrive. A lot of songs aim to evoke that “butterflies” feeling, but this one is like swarms of butterflies flying around chaotically while you try to play it cool.

Buy it from Amazon.

Sabrina Carpenter “Espresso”

The first few times I heard “Espresso” I was trying to figure out why it felt so familiar and then it hit me: this song is remarkably similar to late-period Phoenix, right on down to the melody in the chorus sounding extremely Thomas Mars to me. I’m not sure if this is something anyone involved was shooting for but it’s a great aesthetic. Sunny and fresh and clean and overtly relaxed, but tightly wound in more subtle ways. Sabrina Carpenter isn’t a very distinct vocalist but she has a big personality that comes through in her lyrics – funny and flirty and a little camp, as though she’s trying to bring a Kim Cattrall energy to pop. “Espresso” is basically a song about being impressed by one’s own skill in attracting men, with her telling us up top “I can’t relate to desperation” because so many guys get obsessed with her that it’s mostly become amusing to her. The light and breezy feel of the song is key in making this sentiment work. It’s just not that serious, so it doesn’t come off as either annoyingly arrogant or like she’s trying to prove something to the listener. It’s mostly just “ooh, isn’t this fun?,” and so it is.

Buy it from Amazon.