Reviews by mars
The best of New Music Friday’s releases featuring two frontrunners for this year’s Album of the Year Grammy Award
Another week in quarantine has gone by, and with each passing week comes another iteration of new music releases. While some artists that planned to drop new music in 2020 have held onto their work until the COVID-19 pandemic’s end is in sight, two of pop’s leading ladies have dominated both the industry and Billboard charts over the last year. Today’s two New Music Friday features two Grammy darlings duking it out in just over a month for the show’s top honors. With her latest release in pop’s most dazzling era in recent memory, Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition” joins the long-awaited and much-discussed re-recorded version of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” as this Mars’ picks of the week.
“Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition” - Dua Lipa
In a time completely unprecedented, where the traditional means of basking in a dance-pop album on the dancefloor until the early morning hours are non-existent, Dua Lipa has managed to dominate the pop music landscape with her exquisite sophomore effort, “Future Nostalgia.”
Since the album’s release at the very beginning of the global lockdown, Future Nostalgia has served as a euphoric escape from reality, a dreamscape filled with endless smash hits. From the dreamy “Pretty Please” to the jazz-infused “Love Again” and entrancing (and current Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 hit) “Levitating,” Lipa has truly brought back longing for the past. Seemingly long gone are the days where album eras last more than a year due to the rise in streaming and speedy consumption of music today compared to just five years ago. Yet, the “Future Nostalgia” era has five singles to its name, all of which have well over 100 million Spotify streams, and a full remix album to accompany the album’s standard edition. “The Moonlight Edition” marks the latest entry into the era and delivers on Lipa’s promise to release additional music that didn’t quite make the cut for the album’s standard edition. “The Moonlight Edition” includes previously released collaborations “Prisoner,” which appears on Miley Cyrus’ “Plastic Hearts” and “Un Día (One Day)” with J Balvin, Bad Bunny, and Tainy plus four new songs. The sensual single “We’re Good” shows Lipa maturely handling an amicable breakup over a beach, trap-pop production but sonically does not align with the rest of the "Nostalgia" tracks. “Let’s end this like we should and say we’re good / We’re not meant to be like sleeping and cocaine / So let’s at least agree to go our separate ways"
- Dua Lipa, "We're Good" (2021)
Bonus track “If It Ain’t Me” originally leaked online a few months back, but the original version featured former Fifth Harmony member Normani. It’s unclear why the final cut does not include the rising pop star, but the two together would have surely been a treat for both fans and music lovers alike. “That Kind Of Woman” originally appeared on August’s “Club Future Nostalgia” remixed by Jacques Lu Cont, but the “Moonlight” version fits sonically like a glove in the ‘80s-inspired aesthetic that encompasses the rest of the album.
“Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” - Taylor Swift
For years, Taylor Swift has spoken out about the importance of artists being the owners of their work. Since back in the summer of 2019, when Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records Label Group, which included the first six albums in Swift’s catalog, Swift has made her intentions of rerecording her music clear. Unfortunately, many artists find themselves in similar contractual battles, but few have successfully been able to follow through with their promises to rerecord and see the same, if not greater, success with their efforts.
And while Taylor Swift has openly discussed her plans, the 10-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has had quite the busy quarantine. In a time where life is at a standstill, Swift’s creativity flourished and led to her releasing not one, but two full-length studio albums - “folklore” and “evermore” - to universal acclaim. In addition to these two bodies of work, she also directed and produced the Disney+ special “folklore: the long pond studio sessions” with an accompanying live album. Somehow, amidst all of this, she also squeezed in rerecording her entire 2008 sophomore effort, “Fearless” and six songs “from the vault” that did not make the album's final cut now 13 years ago (ironically Swift's lucky number). “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is Swift’s first full-length rerecording shared with the world and manages to stay true to the original rendition while showcasing Swift’s vocal maturity. Originally released in 2008, the iconic song turns the classic Romeo and Juliet tragic ending into a happily ever after, and its success cemented Swift's status as not only a talented songstress, but also a respected songwriter. A snippet of Taylor’s new version first appeared in close friend Ryan Reynold’s advertisement for Match.com back in December, so while the single is not entirely new, it is surely welcomed with open arms to Swifties and fans alike. The 2021 "Love Story" manages to capture the same playfulness that made the original track one of the best-selling singles of all time (18 million copies globally to date) but now favors maturity over innocence. Gone is the 18-year-old dreaming of what love could be and present is the 31-year-old who has navigated some of love’s highest and lowest points during her time in the spotlight and has seemingly found her Prince Charming. Swift’s vocal prowess has grown immensely since her teenage years - her voice more in control than during her teenage years, gliding across the age-old tale. The song's lyrics are sung with a glossy tone with new vocal inflections that will give fans plenty to fawn over. “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is a nostalgic view of the past with an exciting peek into the near future. Stream “Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition” and “Love Story (Taylor’s Version):”
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