In another context, this "No Light, No Light" could be the sound of a religious revival. Florence Welch's rich voice has never sounded better than on this track; her fervent, even rapturous, lamentations about her partner's lost love resonate like requests for salvation made by a faltering believer with arms raised to the sky. "Heaven help me, I need to make it right" she wails, but gets no reply. Replete with harps and a tribal drum beat, "No Light, No Light" operates as a plea for salvation that will soon have you running to your deity of choice.
Sometimes you hear a tune and you just know that it will last; that in twenty years you'll be scanning the radio dial, and the singer's opening wail will find you again, accentuated by a kick drum and beat so recognizable that they feel like an old friend. That song — one of them, anyway — will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." The British singer's passionate retort to a man who has hurt her is one of the boldest, bluesiest ballads ever written. Since its release last winter, "Rolling in the Deep" has become pervasive, appearing on Glee, on The Voice — hell, even John Legend covered it. It's the story of two people who "could have had it all," but one of them threw it away, leaving the listener aligned with the wounded one (that would be Adele). Adele's voice is in top form here, alternating between high and low notes smoothly and quickly, just as she switches between mournful and vengeful emotions. Anger and resentment never sounded this catchy.
With just one song, the 32-year-old Detroit DJ-turned-singer has reinterpreted the Motown sound. "A Long Time" is an ode to Hawthorne's hometown, about how Barry (Gordy) and Henry (Ford) built up the Motor City only to see it come crashing down. "We'll return it to its former glory," Hawthorne promises, "But it just takes so long." Given the state of the economy right now, his words could easily apply to entire country. But it's hard to feel downtrodden with a beat this funky — "A Long Time" is practically begging to be accompanied by Soul Train-type dance moves.
The lead single off Watch the Throne mixes and loops Otis Redding's passionate shouts and screams from "Try a Little Tenderness," paying homage to his soulful style while mixing it up by adding heavy beats and chopping up the original track's piano tune. "I guess I got my swagger back!" Jay-Z declares as Redding's impassioned "gotta-na-na-na" line provides a pounding backdrop. Hova and Yeezy then trade witty, lighthearted verses (standout: "last week I was in my other other Benz") to create a genre-defying tune drawing equally from soul, hip-hop and pop. "Otis" is clever, upbeat and irresistibly fun.
Nicki Minaj is the rare female artist making headway in a hip-hop world still largely dominated by men; Kanye West and Drake have both featured her on their albums only to find that her snarled guest raps outshine their own. She largely cages her wild side on her own debut album Pink Friday, but one exception is the peppy "Super Bass." Here, Minaj spouts bubbly raps so fast that they'd even make speed-rapping titan Busta Rhymes do a double-take. With a simple refrain — "You got that boom ba-doom boom, boom ba-doom boom, super bass" — Minaj has found a way to mold her savagery to fit pop music's standards. The way her voice switches from a coquettish coo to a violent roar in that first verse belies what would otherwise be just another soft, innocent pop song.
A police siren, alarms that cut in and out and children's voices kick off tUnE yArDs' "Gangsta," a rollicking anthem inspired by singer Merrill Garbus' move into a violent neighborhood — Oakland. "Gangsta" is the audible representation of what it's like to move to a big city: it's loud, it's disjointed, it doesn't feel familiar, and its dissonant sounds can make your head hurt. But eventually, those sounds coalesce in a rhythm, as wild drums and explosive horns turn "Gangsta" into a full-blown dance song. It's easily the strangest, most creative pop tune this year.
The dreamy, distorted, lo-fi Cults have produced an effortlessly breezy song with a melody that isn't so much sung as it is released into the air. The lead single off the band's self-titled debut album, "Go Outside" sounds like an innocent call to play in the sunshine. But don't be fooled by its chiming glockenspiel or the children's voices in the chorus, for the tune has a sinister side: it's preceded by an audio recording of Jonestown cult leader Jim Jones saying, "To me, death is not a fearful thing. It's living that's treacherous." Jones' message gives added weight to the lyrics' subtle references to depression — "You really want to stay inside and sleep the light away" — and turns the song from a celebration of life into something much darker.
(Warning: this song contains obscene language)
The Los Angeles rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (also known as OFWGKTA or just Odd Future) has incited controversy for its violent and misogynist lyrics. But whatever your opinion on the artistic validity of this controversial group, there's no denying that 20-year-old Tyler the Creator's "Yonkers" has sprouted a new branch — minimalistic rap — on hip-hop's family tree. "Yonkers" has no chorus. It has no discernible beat save for the horror movie-esque screeching sound that runs through the entire track. It's not a song that you'd want to play at a party, groove along to in your car, or even put on when you're relaxing at home. No, it's so sparse and inaccessible that it functions more like a piece of performance art. "Yonkers" creates a thrilling sense of uneasiness that the music world hadn't seen since the early days of punk.
St. Vincent (née Annie Clark) has a knack for making the macabre sound merry. Her ode to abuse is a unique combination of art rock, disco and baroque pop. The muddled, messy guitar riffs add a bit of grime to the otherwise cheerful tune, as Clark sings about "waving flares in the air" for help only to have her rescuers "blow past," laughing. On "Cruel," Clark has crafted a melody so beautiful it could be sung by a Disney princess, bound it, gagged it and dragged it through the mud.
This surprise hit finds frontman Mark Foster declaring that the kids with the cool shoes, cool clothes, and cool attitudes better run away from him before he shoots them. And yet, he's delivered this murderous threat as a fuzzy dance pop tune; the exact type of song that those oh, so cool kids are going to want to sing. With a subdued drum beat and spoken-word verses, the electronic-tinged track is one of the most undeniably enjoyable tunes to hit the Billboard charts this year.
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