Washed Up On The Shores Of Silver Lake

Maren Morris “Push Me Over”

I didn’t realize this until I looked at the credits, but this is basically a Muna song with Maren Morris on vocals. They wrote it, they’re the musicians on the track, but the lyrics are specific to Morris’ recent experience of getting divorced and coming out as bisexual. Were it not for the last bit, I’d question why they’d give away a pop song as strong as this. Morris sounds flirty, charming, and confident on the track, but in the context of the lyrics it’s kind of a fake-it-til-you-make it thing. She’s singing about trying to figure out how to seduce a woman she’s into, but is unsure of how to make it happen – she’s out of her comfort zone, she feels like she has no map for this. But this isn’t a song about frustration, it’s about the excitement of doing something new. The lyrics get overtly sexual; the choruses feel a little triumphant. It’s a bright and positive song verging on a wholesome energy – Muna always seem to err on the side of late 90s/early 00s VH1 vibes – but not so much that it makes the sexy parts feel corny.

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Jhené Aiko “Guidance”

This is a real “happy ending” sort of break-up song, one in which the singer is relieved to get out of a bad relationship but seems to have minimal lingering anger about it. Which is not to say there’s no trace of negative feeling – she gives you some concrete examples of why this person was wrong for her and one verse ends on the evocative line “you were the match that lit up my path to show me what bridge to burn.” But the emotional focus is on feeling grateful and literally blessed by God, and you can sense Jhené Aiko nudging herself away from her darker feelings as she deliberately pushes herself towards the light.

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