Board Thread:Off-Topic/@comment-29512888-20190303230552

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new episode of Best Songs of the Month!

Introduction
Sadly, February 2019 didn't keep the momentum from January going, as it didn't have as many good songs as the previous month. There was some stuff I liked, but half of it wasn't good enough for the list (nor for the Honorable Mentions), so we're only going to talk about 10 songs this month. What a shame :(

10. Carly Rae Jepsen - No Drug Like Me
Remember when Call Me Maybe made our brains rot through all that overplay and we were all sure she wouldn't have gone anywhere with her career? Well, she's yet to have another proper hit, but at least she's progressing musically, and that's what really matters to me. Out of the two singles she dropped this month, this is easily the best one thanks to some really slick synth-work that suits Carly's mature performance. The sultry atmosphere also suits the idea of getting to know each other in a relationship, which follows a more seductive approach. There aren't many cases of former-innocent pop stars successfully selling a more adult-like image, so Carly deserves a lot of points for that.

9. Disclosure ft. Khalid - Talk
And we aren't over with sultry tunes, as Khalid provides a new one with the help of British duo Disclosure. Those two have been keeping the quality of their latest creations pretty high lately, and Talk doesn't disappoint with its melancholic ambiance; plus, Khalid makes things better with his soulful voice while trying to find a meeting point with his partner. Then again, it's Khalid, did you really expect him to be bad?

8. Nicki Minaj - Bust Down Barbiana
Well, here's something I didn't see coming: Nicki Minaj making a good song again. It's been AGES since she's made something this good, isn't it? And don't get me started on last year: from supporting Donald Troll, to bringing Skittles Clown on tour and even collaborating with him... urgh. However, there's always room for improvement for everyone, and Nicki absolutely redeemed herself with this dope freestyle - and she also redeemed the backing track, which is wasted Thotiana. Or maybe the backing track is actually better because of the punchy keyboard AND Nicki herself putting effort for once? Who knows, but the song is a bop so stream it either way.

7. Cardi B & Bruno Mars - Please Me
The power duo behind one of the best hit songs of 2018 have returned with another retro collaboration and, while it's clearly not as great as its predecessor, it's still a solid enough effort. Not sure if I buy Cardi as a sex enchantress with all those vocal inflections - especially when she says "Her p***y basura, my p***y horchata", that one is kind of laughable - but Bruno immediately drives the whole thing home with a powerful chorus that literally grabs the listener and brings them back to the 90's. Oh, and it also deserves a prize for balancing 90's R&B with trap, which is no small task considering that the trap elements usually take up 99% of the mix in similar songs.

6. Beck ft. Robyn and the Lonely Island - Super Cool
Who would have told that a potential 1-hour-long LEGO commercial would have actually acclaimed as one of the best animated films of the 2010's? I have yet to watch both parts but... you know, school exists. Still, if the quality of this song is equal to the quality of the entire film, then it means we're into something interesting, because this really drew me in. It is a fairly typical 80's jam on paper, but the keyboard stabs all over the place and the sweeping instrumentation a la Star Wars are the main reason why it deserves to be here. Or maybe it doesn't and it's just my 6-years-old self commanding me to like this song? I don't care, we deserve to return children once in a while.

5. Marina - Handmade Heaven
We officially inaugurate Marina's new chapter of her career with Handmade Heaven, her first single without "and The Diamonds" in her name, and it's definitely a good start. It can be seen from a mile away that it borrows a lot from Lana Del Rey's style, but Marina still makes the song her own with her gorgeous voice. Oh, and the writing is also quite good, as it tackles on anxiety, but I'm sorry, the vocals are the real star of the show this time. I wonder what would happen if she sang opera or some kind of ambiance music, she would sound great!

4. Royce Da 5'9" - Cocaine
The album Book of Ryan is actually from last year, but Cocaine has been released as a single this month so it counts. And seriously, why shouldn't I? It has all possible reasons to qualify on a musical quality level. From the laid back production that recalls the good old days of 90's R&B/hip-hop (again), to the occasional samples, to the dramatic story of Royce's father using drugs in front of his child and thus leading him to drug addiction as well, everything is on point. Oh wait, now I know what's the best part: the emotion! Instead of pointing his finger towards his father, Royce shows affection and support for him, and he even thanks him for making him understand how it's like to have an addiction. Obviously, that doesn't mean I'm encouraging drug use, I'm just saying that you shouldn't judge people with an addiction because that can happen to anyone, and getting rid of it is much harder than it seems. We're all humans, after all.

3. Sigrid - Sight Of You
I've often talked about how much inspiration K-Pop takes from Western music (with usually good results), but what if we switch places this time? Here's a rare case of the West taking South Korea as a model (not really copying because it's not plagiarism). As soon as it started, Sight Of You immediately reminded me of GFriend and their unique kind of strings-driven pop - and that's a genre that always works for everyone, even for groups who are not GFriend, so there was no way it wouldn't have been good this time. The lyrics are nice, too, as Sigrid talks about coping with travelling all around the world for tours: she often feels tired, yet she finds her power in seeing her lover and all the other fans cheering for her. And, in the meanwhile, this great song will give her new fans for sure.

2. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Although February wasn't a great month overall, one huge event happened: the Grammys actually had some well-deserved victories. Granted, everyone (me included) was hoping for Dirty Computer to win, but Golden Hour is still really good so I can't complain too much. Rainbow is pretty much a checklist of what makes that album lovely in the first place: charismatic performances, sharp writing and ACTUAL COUNTRY PRODUCTION (you know, that thing country music used to have before those filthy viruses called Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt ruined everything for us). The piano arrangement is outstanding, and Kacey elevates the formula to heaven with her peaceful vocals, as she reassures you that the hard times are over and she can give you the comfort you deserve. OK, that sounds a bit cliché on paper, but again, Kacey herself is the biggest strength. If it had been sung by someone with no personality whatsoever, it would have definitely fallen flat on its face.

1. Daniele Silvestri - Argentovivo
Well, this year's Sanremo Festival was F**KING S**T OH MY GOD HOW CAN THEY COME OUT WITH SUCH LOW QUAL- ... very below average, to say the least. I haven't followed it very closely, but I only found like 4 or 5 decent songs overall (including the winner, which is OK), everything else sounded like it was tailor-made for pop radios. That said, we can already find out why this song works: it sounds like nothing else you've heard before. No catchy chorus, no generic keyboards, no useless ad-libs, just 5 minutes of rocking guitars and a VERY long monologue in the shoes of a teenager. He is just as misunderstood as the song: he wants to be himself, but he is constantly criticised from the society because the people around him raise their expectations too high and are never happy with his efforts. It perfectly reflects how young people feel in Italy: we just want to find a job and build a decent future, but unemployment and the economic crisis block us. We literally have no future here, we have to run away abroad at the cost of being mobbed because of prejudices. It's sad to transform our country into a nation of elderly people, but there's no other choice, and the government clearly doesn't understand. Of course, the public of Sanremo didn't understand this song either and only let it climb up to #6 in the final list - not as serious as economic crisis and unemployment, but still unfair. It's funny how everything is connected somehow, isn't it?

Recommendations
I wonder if there's a way to find ALL latest music videos in the world, because it's a shame to be this late (it's from 2018) on something this good. It kind of reminds me of Jason Mraz - except the lyrics are actually well-written. It's sad that What is Love? doesn't have much to offer besides the singles ans Last Goodbye (which I recommended last month), but oh well... this will do, I guess. Not only does this woman make great music, but she also proves that you don't always have to adapt yourself to music trends to be good. If your old stuff still works, why should you ever change it? Spectrum Pulse called it one of the bes songs of 2018, and I don't blame him. The Rocky Horror Show vibes are beyond real. 