Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran’s Latest Song Is Giving Nostalgia

No, but thanks! Ed Sheeran – The Joker And The Queen (feat. Taylor Swift): I entirely get what Swift and Sheeran are trying to do by bringing back the lookalike child actors who previously portrayed them in the 2012 video for “Everything Has Changed”… I just don’t like it. Vocally, the song is soothing and their sounds meld together beautifully, but overall, it just feels like too much of a blatant attempt to pull at the heart strings. Though, I’ll still wait patiently for their next duet. — Jenna Amatulli

For novelty use only: Doja Cat, “Celebrity Skin” – In a very do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do move, Doja Cat sings, “Oh make me over,” at the top of an extremely faithful (albeit defanged) cover of Hole’s 1998 alterna-smash “Celebrity Skin.” The only major surgery performed are some altered lyrics in the song’s first verse: Courtney Love’s description of herself as “A walking study/In demonology” is replaced by Doja telling us, “I walk in fire/You can’t get rid of me.” Perhaps demonology was too heavy for a brand—Doja recorded this cover for a Taco Bell Super Bowl ad. In that light, its cheesiness makes a ton of sense. —Rich Juzwiak

This is the world we live in: Saweetie featuring H.E.R., “Closer” – Doja Cat’s recent hits like “Say So” and “Kiss Me More” have made a kind of cruise-ship disco (its lite-ness is adjacent to yacht rock) a viable subgenre in pop today. And so we get Saweetie and H.E.R. teaming on a soundalike. It’s kind of mushy and MOR, but life (and pop music) could be worse! —RJ

YES: Kim Petras, “Treat Me Like a Slut” – Oh wow, um, my parents are going to be thrilled to see my name next to this one, but ABSOLUTELY YES, this song is so objectively good. It doesn’t really do much by way of revolutionizing the music industry or in terms of inventive lyricism, but sometimes, you just want to jump around your apartment to a club banger screaming, “little dirty bitch I love to fuck!!!” Kim Petras is one of my favorite vocalists so truly anything coming out of her mouth is magic to me. —Emily Leibert

Nah: Dolly Parton, “Blue Bonnet Breeze” – And now, for a palate cleanser by Queen Dolly. Please don’t attack me, but while I’m thrilled to have new Dolly to grace my ears, I’m also bored out of my mind by this one. It’s an old-school, tragic country romance narrative without the modern flare of Dolly I’ve come to love. That said, I swear I’m really happy for all of you, today is a great day in Dolly history! —EL