New Alternative/ Pop Releases

I admit, I don’t generally think about how many songs come out a day, a week, a month.

But, three of the bands I like all surprised me with new content within 24 hours of each other, so here we are.

The first of these bands is Imagine Dragons. I’ve been a fan since ‘Radioactive’ was released in 2012, and have religiously bought every album and single since. I was shocked about a month ago when the band released teasers for their third studio album, and then for the single ‘Believer’. But this Thursday I came across another post, teasing the release of ‘Thunder’ on Friday. I was shocked. I mean, we all know that feeling of being so into an artist you want to know exactly what they’re doing and when they’ll release new stuff. It’s proper etiquette, you know? And then late Thursday night Australian time, it was released. Imagine Dragons has a very distinctive sound, similar to that of X Ambassadors. ‘Thunder’ did not fit the bill. It lacked the heavy drums and had instead a god awful chipmunk voice thing. I didn’t like it, much like other fans. But then on the train back to Sydney, I listened to it repeatedly, and I warmed to it. It wasn’t Imagine Dragons, but it was. I found elements of what I loved about ‘Night Visions’, and liked they were experimenting with new sounds. I’m intrigued to know what their new album will be like.

And then one of my friends sent me a message about Fall Out Boy’s new single, too. I’ve never been really super into them, but I loved ‘Immortals’, and of course ‘Thnks fr th Mmrs’. So I risked using battery and data on the very long train trip, and downloaded it. And OMG. This, I absolutely loved. “Young and Menace’ is the first single to be released from ‘M A N I A’, their yet to be released album. Strangely enough, it also featured the weird chipmunk voice, but it was used better than Imagine Dragons had used it. It fit the song. I loved the ‘Oops I did it again’ bit, which of course reminded me of good ol’ Britney. It very much channels ‘Centuries’, but more modern and cool. Which contrasts completely with the new single by One Republic.

I’ve been a fan of One Republic since the release of ‘Something I Need’ and then ‘Counting Stars’, both on the album ‘Native’. I would keep an ear out for new material. And then ‘Oh My My’ was released last year, and I remembered why I loved them. So I was ready for something new, and ‘No Vacancy’ impressed and surprised me. It’s very much in the style of ‘Oh My My’, with a sick beat and cool lyrics.

These are the songs that appealed to me specifically that have been released within the last few days. I also have to mention Katy Perry’s new single, ‘Bon Appetit’, featuring Migos. It’s a catchy song that would be good when you’re feeling blue, but overall, not for me.

I've included them here but you can also check them out of Apple Music and Spotify if you love them!

Happy listening!