Like “F****n' Perfect” and her score for Adam Lambert (“Whataya Want From Me”), Pink continues to take big risks. With “Try,” a ballsy ballad decorated with ‘80's pop-rock, the pop-rock star is willing to put all or nothing on love: “Where there is desire there is gonna be a flame/Where there is a flame someone's bound to get burned/But just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die/You gotta get up and try.” » JMC
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"Every Single Night"
FIONA APPLE
(Epic)
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“Every Single Night” initiates Fiona Apple's stripped fourth album, The Idler Wheel.... “Every Single Night” is both minimalist and trippy in nature, characterized by Fiona's signature singer/songwriter style. The lyrics are non-conventional and uneasy, but certainly memorable: “If what I am is what I am 'cause I does what I does/ Then brother get back, cause my breast's gonna bust open…” » BF |
"Lights"
ELLIE GOULDING
(Polydor)
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Ellie Goulding's arctic vocals – harboring the elements of Bjork – seemed like an anomaly upon the Eurodisco of “Lights.” Oddly enough, those fragile pipes tell a compelling story of her battling with childhood fears of the dark before going into a litany of chants about the lights “calling, calling, calling me home.” » JMC |
"Bangarang"
SKRILLEX feat. SIRAH
(Big Beat/Atlantic)
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Turn up the laser synths and exploding dubstep: the L.A. electronica spinster pulls off a high decibel party starter overloaded with intergalactic funk. Take good precaution here — the sheer volume of this atomic bomb isn't the safest on sensitive ears. » JMC |
"Mercy"
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
(RCA)
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The positivity tucked inside the Curtis Mayfield phrasing of Dave Matthews alongside Jeff Coffin's peaceful sax on this jazz-rock ballad has enough healing power to nurse the brokenhearted back to normal. Acting like Billy Graham at an old school tent revival, Matthews pours out the buckets of liquid salvation: “Mercy will we overcome this/Oh, one by one could we turn it around.” » JMC
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"Know Til' Now"
JIM JAMES
(ATO)
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As if the ghost of Isaac Hayes snuck up on Marvin Gaye, “Know Til' Now” finds My Morning Jacket's Yim Yames transplanted into a six-minute electro-psychedelic odyssey loaded with fuzzy guitars, muted xylophones, experimental synths and vocal echoes. You could easily toss this into a mixtape by The Weeknd, if only it didn't have the makings of a neo-Blaxploitation masterpiece. » JMC
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"Co-Sign"
SWV
(Mass Appeal/E1)
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“Love will be right here,” Coko Clemons sings, while referencing their golden hit in the Nineties. On what happens to be the contemporary R&B trio's first foray into recording since their long pause, they sound at home on this nostalgic groove nicely peppered with classic hip-hop beats and lots of super bass. » JMC
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"One More Night"
MAROON 5
(A&M/Octane)
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Number one pop for a staggering nine consecutive weeks, Maroon 5's “One More Night” was one of 2012's most inescapable pop singles and was more successful than previous No. 5 pop staple “Payphone." This cut is catchy as albeit and exhibits frontman Adam Levine's falsetto at its best. “So I cross my heart and I hope to die/ That I'll only stay with you one more night...” proved to be one of the most ubiquitous hooks on radio. “One More Night” epitomizes a crowd pleaser regardless of genre. » BF
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"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"
KELLY CLARKSON
(RCA)
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“Stronger” feels like it's a victim of Robyn's electronic impulses. It's a dazzling makeover on the Top 40 star. Although the club sleaze of Greg Kurstin's production screams for all the attention, Clarkson never underestimates the track, belting whenever needed and rising to the occasion to own the self-empowering lyrics: “What doesn't kill you makes a fighter/Footsteps even lighter/Doesn't mean I'm over ‘cause you're gone.” » JMC
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"The Walk"
MAYER HAWTHORNE
(Universal Republic)
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Mellow Stax soul and Northern doo-wop granted, “The Walk” puts the nostalgia crooner on something so spectacular that it could've easily been executed on any cool late-Sixties act. Give him extra points for dealing with lover's rejection better than most modern R&B singers: “Well your heart is like a black piece of coal now/And I doubt that you ever had a soul now/And you can walk your cold heart baby out of my life.” » JMC
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« MORE [BEST OF] FEATURES »
Top 33 1/3 Albums of 2012
LISTEN: 45 Best Singles of 2011
LISTEN: 45 Best Singles of 2010
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