New Music Friday: 5/3/24

Here are the rules: I listen to all 100 tracks of Spotify's New Music Friday playlist, except for anything that rhymes the n-word with itself more than three times, any screamo or screamo-adjacent stuff, any CCM that reveals its true intentions in time for me to hit the skip button, and any egregiously corny modern country music, typically performed by a dude with two first names. Having sifted through this week's playlist, here's what I actively enjoyed:

"These Walls," Dua Lipa
"These Walls" comes from the clear Album of the Week — Dua Lipa's charmingly titled Radical Optimism — and while I haven't listened to the rest of the record yet, I can tell you it's already been given a hearty stamp of approval from Friend of Jefitoblog Jason Hare, and we all know what a prick that guy can be. In a nutshell, "These Walls" is exactly the type of pop song you want to hear on the first Friday in May — the sort of gently bouncy, bright 'n' airy confection that sounds like summer beckoning. If there's any justice, you'll be hearing this on heavy rotation at poolside bars for the next several months. Added bonus points for being nowhere near as happy as it sounds on the surface.