Summer Walker, SZA, and Cardi B Are a Dream Team on ‘No Love’
Plus Lykke Li returns, Mary J. Blige teams with H.E.R., and beabadoobee ensures she'll be famous for at least 120 Minutes in this week's roundup of new music
EntertainmentMusic
Yes! Yes! Yes! Three cheers for this certified summer addiction: Summer Walker, SZA and Cardi B, “No Love” – The extended version of the hot track originally featured on Summer Walker’s 2021 album Still Over It is a swooning melodious dream seductively woven to capture the signature tempo of Cardi B’s wordplay. This playful remix vividly recalls the old-school R&B vibes that blast over the opener. When you hear the New York rapper purring verses like, “Here I am/There you are/Falling out of love again/I just don’t know how just how to feel inside,” you know exactly what time it is. And we’re so ready for the summer to begin. —Ezinne Ukoha
Yes, I’m sobbing: Lykke Li, “NO HOTEL” – I think the most effective songs often capture some of the simplest emotions, this one being, “I’m not over you.” In her first single in two years, Lykke Li is back to sending tears streaming down your cheeks with a wistful ballad, that accomplishes what she’s always done best: turning the feelings that make our worlds stop spinning into song. “There’s no hotel, no cigarettes/And you’re still in love with someone else/And it’s cracking dawn, street soaking wet/And I’m on your doorstep, not losing yet” has to be one of the most understated, simplistic, and high-achieving lyrics I’ve ever heard. It’s longing and regret and yearning for things to be the way they aren’t. Nothing is sadder than that. —Emily Leibert
Nah, I’m good: Mary J. Blige featuring H.E.R., “Good Morning Gorgeous” – Fam. This could have been a voice note. While I love Mary and H.E.R. separately, the two of them together just doesn’t work musically, sonically, or spiritually. The message is cool, but gets too repetitive. I could see this collab being really dope background music to an inspirational Instagram reel, though if and when they decide to release this to the ‘gram, I’m probably not clicking and listening. I would press a hard “like” in support, though. Love ya, Mary. —Khalisa Rae Thompson
Oh yes: beabadoobee, “Talk” – A lot of artists are trying to revive a ‘90s alternative sensibility at the moment, but few do it with as much comfort and distortion as Filipino-British singer-songwriter beabadoobee. This is not drag born of nostalgia, and in fact it’s barely nostalgic at all. It reads more like a lost transmission from the mid-‘90s that has arrived in our ears some 30 years later only to sound fresh as hell. Truly a home run. —Rich Juzwiak
Warming up to it: Maren Morris, “Humble Quest” – In this title track from her much-anticipated new album, Maren Morris is handing us what sounds like more of the same arrangement wise, although the message is drastically different from her past music. Since her last album, she’s had a child, gone through a pandemic, and is in a wildly new place in her life. Much of the rest of the album leans even harder into her country roots, “Tall Guys” is an adorable contrarian take on the recently declared Short King Spring, and there’s even a lullaby for her first baby. It’s not the same Maren, but who of us is the same after the last two years anyways? —EL
Hard pass: J Balvin and Ed Sheeran, “Sigue”- Y’all stay wanting Ed Sheeran’s Irish ass to be the king of calypso and Latinx beats, don’t you? Something about this feels real cultural appropriate-y. Like why is he in this hoodie and leather jacket? If this was playing in the club, I’d shake a little but I could have really done without Mr. Sheeran. J Balvin could have definitely smashed this alone. —KRT
Yes, I’m sobbing: Lykke Li, “NO HOTEL” – I think the most effective songs often capture some of the simplest emotions, this one being, “I’m not over you.” In her first single in two years, Lykke Li is back to sending tears streaming down your cheeks with a wistful ballad, that accomplishes what she’s always done best: turning the feelings that make our worlds stop spinning into song. “There’s no hotel, no cigarettes/And you’re still in love with someone else/And it’s cracking dawn, street soaking wet/And I’m on your doorstep, not losing yet” has to be one of the most understated, simplistic, and high-achieving lyrics I’ve ever heard. It’s longing and regret and yearning for things to be the way they aren’t. Nothing is sadder than that. —Emily Leibert
Nah, I’m good: Mary J. Blige featuring H.E.R., “Good Morning Gorgeous” – Fam. This could have been a voice note. While I love Mary and H.E.R. separately, the two of them together just doesn’t work musically, sonically, or spiritually. The message is cool, but gets too repetitive. I could see this collab being really dope background music to an inspirational Instagram reel, though if and when they decide to release this to the ‘gram, I’m probably not clicking and listening. I would press a hard “like” in support, though. Love ya, Mary. —Khalisa Rae Thompson
Oh yes: beabadoobee, “Talk” – A lot of artists are trying to revive a ‘90s alternative sensibility at the moment, but few do it with as much comfort and distortion as Filipino-British singer-songwriter beabadoobee. This is not drag born of nostalgia, and in fact it’s barely nostalgic at all. It reads more like a lost transmission from the mid-‘90s that has arrived in our ears some 30 years later only to sound fresh as hell. Truly a home run. —Rich Juzwiak
Warming up to it: Maren Morris, “Humble Quest” – In this title track from her much-anticipated new album, Maren Morris is handing us what sounds like more of the same arrangement wise, although the message is drastically different from her past music. Since her last album, she’s had a child, gone through a pandemic, and is in a wildly new place in her life. Much of the rest of the album leans even harder into her country roots, “Tall Guys” is an adorable contrarian take on the recently declared Short King Spring, and there’s even a lullaby for her first baby. It’s not the same Maren, but who of us is the same after the last two years anyways? —EL
Hard pass: J Balvin and Ed Sheeran, “Sigue”- Y’all stay wanting Ed Sheeran’s Irish ass to be the king of calypso and Latinx beats, don’t you? Something about this feels real cultural appropriate-y. Like why is he in this hoodie and leather jacket? If this was playing in the club, I’d shake a little but I could have really done without Mr. Sheeran. J Balvin could have definitely smashed this alone. —KRT
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