Hello and welcome! I know, I know, you’re all here for Adele, aren’t you? What am I going to say? What’s my verdict. Well…you’ll have to read ahead, won’t you? And equally champion everyone else releasing incredible new music this week (because stan everyone, that’s what we do here…as long as it’s, y’know, good). Welcome to V’s New Music Round-Up, where we tune you into some of the week’s biggest and best releases. 

Here are this week’s top picks:

Music Of The Spheres by Coldplay

Ohohoh, the purists are going to hate this, I can sense it! As someone with a penchant for pop music and pop Coldplay, I can’t help but fall in love with this record. It’s essentially a band playing an inter-planetary concert for who knows what entities, and it’s all spaced out and synth-dreamy in the best way. While I can’t deal with songs named after emojis, or the fact that they chose to close the album with “Coloratura” rather than lead with it (set the vibe, y’all!), it’s a welcome change of pace for fans of the band who reacted with confusion when they saw them up among the album of the year nods at the 2021 Grammys.

to hell with it by PinkPantheress

For anyone who was weirded out by this young musician’s penchant for the out-of-sync percussion loops and oddly placed bass, you might want to stay away. For fans, welcome, this is your safe haven. to hell with it is essentially a dose of everything PinkPantheress has served up over her run of singles. It’s fresh, it’s energizing, it’s ingenious…for the first half. By the time you keep going, you know what to expect of its unexpected. Sometimes, songs work better when looked at by themselves, which is what happens here. In the scheme of the whole, it’s cohesive at the risk of sounding like too much of the same.

“Easy On Me” by Adele

Welp, y’all, she’s back! I’ve seen people go off about how it’s no “Hello” or “Rolling in the Deep,” mainly because it’s not as larger-than-life or as catchy (I may have said the latter myself, but I digress…). Sure, it’s not as flashy or as dramatic, but given the stage at which the singer is, it doesn’t have to be. It’s still filled to the brim with passion and beautiful strings and keys, plus a perfect hook. It’s no masterpiece, but that doesn’t make it not very, very good. Plus, it’ll go number one the world over anyway, so who even cares?

“Santé” by Stromae

The Belgian Stromae has this knack for crafting tracks that really make you want to groove and move…and you’re not quite sure why, or how. There’s such a danceable quality to them despite even the most off-kilter of production choices. This celebration of working-class heroes has this stilted, looping beat that’s kind of like a limping shuffle on first listen. But it works spectacularly, and quite inexplicably, from the sounds of the cavaquinho to his deep vocals. Clearly eight years away might birth some great music.

“Faking Love” by Anitta with Saweetie

“Faking Love” is a fast-paced, frenetic little bop of a song that doesn’t let you fully feel the vibe like “Girl From Rio” does. But that’s all to its credit, since it helps justify quite a dynamite verse from Saweetie, who makes a short but lightning-fast cameo to drop a few bars about being fine in the wake of a broken relationship. It’s not going to bust up any clubs or playlists like the aforementioned previous track did, but it’s another capable step in the right direction for the Brazilian superstar.

“Ex For a Reason” by Summer Walker with City Girls

“Ex For a Reason” isn’t necessarily a fan favorite of a track, especially considering Walker built quite the devoted fanbase on her slowed down, more sultry, R&B-influenced tracks. But there’s something to be said for having more simply entertaining and simply poppier tracks in your discography, to add a bit of versatility, a bit of levity to what can easily be an overwhelming repertoire. That being said, hopefully this is more of the departure than the regular direction for Summer Walker.

“Concrete” by Orion Sun

Orion Sun keeps things soft and supple (quoting legend Heidi N. Closet here) for her latest track, easily drifting through each beat of the melody with her dainty vocals. The light synths and percussions almost make it feel like a modernized spin on a 90s Mariah Carey staple (any of her number ones from then, really). And it manages to imbue a light and beautiful feeling to the multitude of messages it delivers as well.

“SO GOOD” by Grady

It’s like a rockabilly spin on an old jive song, that’s what I’m listening to. The first half of the song is this smooth little rock and sex beat that Grady’s croons just help amplify, like a randier Little Richard (if that’s possible), and the rap-sung second half gives it that taste of 2021 it needed to be slightly over the top, and even more memorable. “SO GOOD” is exactly that: so good!