NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of February 24, 2023

Spreading their wings for a chart flight.

Get ready for a New Music Friday full of high drama and higher-charting releases, including the new singles from Chlöe, Halsey and the Jonas Brothers…

Notable albums out this week: Adam Lambert‘s High Drama (Stream), Callum Beattie‘s Vandals (Stream), Dierks Bentley‘s Gravel & Gold (Stream), Don Toliver‘s Love Sick (Stream), Godsmack‘s Lighting Up The Sky (Stream), Gorillaz‘s Cracker Island (Stream), Gracie Abrams‘s Good Riddance (Stream), Karol G‘s Mañana Sera Bonito (Stream), Logic‘s College Park (Stream), Muscadine Bloodline‘s Teenage Dixie (Stream), Peyton Parrish‘s The Most Magical Album On Earth (Stream), Quinnie‘s Flounder (Stream), Sam Tinnesz‘s There Goes The Neighborhood (Stream), Tink‘s Thanks 4 Nothing (Stream), Yeat‘s AftërLyfe (Stream)

Notable EPs out this week: Blake Rose‘s You’ll Get It When You’re Older (Stream), Daine‘s Shapeless (Stream), Daniel Leggs‘s Runaway (Stream), Reneé Rapp‘s Everything To Everyone (Deluxe) (Stream)

New digital singles that you can buy/stream this week include:
“22”, Jayo (Stream)
“All My Best Years”, Gavn! (Stream)
“Am I Even Living Anymore?”, Mikey Ferrari (Stream)
“Antidote”, Audien & Codeko featuring JT Roach (Stream)
“Bedroom Exile”, Giant Rooks (Stream)
“Bite”, 24KGoldn (Stream)
“Body Better (Acoustic)”, Maisie Peters (Stream)
“Body Talk”, Ofenbach & SVEA (Stream)
“Chronically Cautious”, Braden Bales (Stream)
“Complicated”, Princess Nokia (Stream)
“Creek Will Rise”, Conner Smith (Stream)
“Dead End”, Blusher (Stream)
“Death Wish”, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit (Stream)
“Didn’t Believe”, Lil Zay & Gucci Mane (Stream)
“Die 4 Me”, Halsey (Stream)
“Die For You (Remix)”, The Weeknd featuring Ariana Grande (Stream)
“Drive You Out Of My Mind”, Kassi Ashton (Stream)
“Feeling Like Wop”, BigWalkDog featuring Gucci Mane (Stream)
“Freak”, Beauty School Dropout featuring Jxdn (Stream)
“Gimme Love”, Russ (Stream)
“High On You”, Sam Fischer & Amy Shark (Stream)
“Hooves”, Sir Chloe (Stream)
“How Dare You”, BLÜ EYES (Stream)
“How Does It Feel”, Chlöe & Chris Brown (Stream)
“I Guess It’s Love?”, The Kid LAROI (Stream)
“Imagine”, Reyanna Maria (Stream)
“Joe”, Luke Combs (Stream)
“Kant Nobody”, Lil Wayne featuring DMX (Stream)
“Kool”, Meet Me @ The Altar (Stream)
“Leather Belt”, DCG Brothers (Stream)
“Light On In The Kitchen”, Ashley McBryde (Stream)
“Love Fools”, MaryJo (Stream)
“Love Me”, Hannah Mrozak (Stream)
“Make A Toast”, Lil Skies (Stream)
“Moonlight”, Kali Uchis (Stream)
“New Order T-Shirt”, The National (Stream)
“On The Way Down”, Wrabel (Stream)
“One Of Those Days”, Zack Bia, Lil Yachty & 347Aidan (Stream)
“Only Human”, Emma Løv (Stream)
“Out Of State”, Finesse2Tymes (Stream)
“Over”, CHVRCHES (Stream)
“Pick Your Tears Up”, Grace Carter (Stream)
“POS”, Sueco (Stream)
“Put A Light On Me (Nathan Dawe Remix)”, Sam Ryder (Stream)
“Roller Coasters Make Me Sad”, Em Beihold (Stream)
“Same Here”, Brad Paisley featuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Stream)
“Same Place” / “Wrong?”, PRETTYMUCH (Stream)
“Saturday”, Yot Club (Stream)
“Saw It Coming”, Victoria Nadine (Stream)
“Secondhand Smoke”, Brynn Cartelli (Stream)
“Secrets”, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie featuring Mariah The Scientist (Stream)
“Self-Destruct”, Zero 9:36 (Stream)
“Shut Me Up”, Nicky Youre (Stream)
“Six Stars”, Cassandra Lewis (Stream)
“Step On Me”, Maddie Zahm (Stream)
“Take Me Home (Voice Memo)”, Kameron Marlowe (Stream)
“The Thing That Wrecks You”, Tenille Townes & Bryan Adams (Stream)
“Thrill Of It All”, Berre (Stream)
“Told You So”, The Band CAMINO (Stream)
“Treated Me Good”, Ingrid Andress (Stream)
“Used To You”, Lozeak (Stream)
“Wasted Prayers”, Matt Schuster (Stream)
“West Texas Weather”, Warren Zeiders (Stream)
“What If I Still Miss You?”, Lily Williams (Stream)
“Wings”, Jonas Brothers (Stream)
“Work It Out”, Rellyski (Stream)
“Yesterday”, Jamie Grey (Stream)

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Next week’s releases include: new albums from Daisy Jones & The Six, Mimi Webb, Morgan Wallen and others.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of June 29, 2018

Sting when you’re winning.

There’s a scorpion on the loose this week, as we enter the jungle of jams we call New Music Friday. Who else is joining the song safari? These are the notable digital and physical releases headed into the market this Friday:

DRAKE – Scorpion (iTunes)
Drake’s double album set, a total of 25 tracks, will storm the top of the Billboard 200 chart next week. Of course, the release features a pair of monster hits in “God’s Plan” and “Nice For What”, and plenty of future hits too. How giant will its first week be? Whatever it is, we’ll be watching.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – High As Hope (iTunes)
Led by the single “Hunger”, which leads the current Triple A chart and is just inside the top ten on Alternative radio, there’s certainly a hope that this album will enter the top five next week. Should it happen, the album will become their second to reach the region.

Notable albums out this week: Blair St. Clair‘s Call My Life (iTunes), Bullet For My Valentine‘s Gravity (iTunes), Gorillaz‘s The Now Now (iTunes), Guns N’ Roses‘s Appetite For Destruction: Locked N’ Loaded (iTunes), Leo Stannard‘s Maratea (iTunes), Sean Paul‘s Mad Love: The Prequel (iTunes)

Notable EPs out this week: Gavin James‘s Always (iTunes), Ina Wroldsen‘s Hex (iTunes), Mondo Cozmo‘s Your Motherf*cker (iTunes), Riley Green‘s In A Truck Right Now (iTunes)

New digital singles that you can buy this week include:
“About Time” and “Stutter”, EDEN (iTunes)
“All For You”, Years & Years (iTunes)
“Alone Time”, Lovelytheband (iTunes)
“American Summer”, Giiants (iTunes)
“Be Alright”, Dean Lewis (iTunes)
“Careless Man”, Matthew Perryman Jones featuring Young Summer (iTunes)
“Connection”, OneRepublic (iTunes)
“Dinero (CADE Remix)”, Jennifer Lopez featuring DJ Khaled & Cardi B (iTunes)
“Don’t Panic”, XYLØ (iTunes)
“Ego”, NONONO (iTunes)
“Eve”, KNGDAVD (iTunes)
“Everybody Needs A Kiss”, Benny Benassi & Sofi Tukker (iTunes)
“Fallible Creatures”, Scott Quinn (iTunes)
“Focus” and “No Angel”, Charli XCX (iTunes)
“Gimme Gimme”, Johnny Stimson (iTunes)
“Girls”, AJ Mitchell (iTunes)
“Glory”, The Score (iTunes)
“Have It All (Easy Star All-Stars & Michael Goldwasser Reggae Mix)”, Jason Mraz (iTunes)
“I Only Need One”, Bearson featuring MNDR (iTunes)
“I See Love”, Jonas Blue featuring Joe Jonas (iTunes)
“Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” and “The Way I See It”, Mason Ramsey (iTunes)
“Jump (Acoustic)”, Julia Michaels (iTunes)
“La La Love”, Mono Mind (iTunes)
“Low (DIMMI Remix)”, Lenny Kravitz (iTunes)
“Miss You”, Jacob & Fanny (iTunes)
“Monogamy”, Christopher (iTunes)
“My Love”, Martin Solveig (iTunes)
“Not The Boy” and “Verified”, A$AP Ferg (iTunes)
“Not Too Late (Acoustic)”, Moon Taxi (iTunes)
“Numb”, Benjamin Francis Leftwich (iTunes)
“Only Love”, Jordan Smith (iTunes)
“Pirate Song”, Kenny Chesney (iTunes)
“Pyro Ting”, Rak-Su x Banx & Ranx (iTunes)
“R.I.P.”, Olivia O’Brien featuring G-Eazy & Drew Love (iTunes)
“Rooftop”, Nico Santos & Samantha Harvey (iTunes)
“Runaway”, Passenger (iTunes)
“Same Team”, Labrinth + Stefflon Don (iTunes)
“Shades”, The Knocks (iTunes)
“So Far Under”, Alice In Chains (iTunes)
“Solo (M-22 Remix)”, Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato (iTunes)
“Stay Woke”, Meek Mill featuring Miguel (iTunes)
“Still New York”, MAX featuring Joey Bada$$ (iTunes)
“Strange Magic”, Seramic (iTunes)
“The Last Of The Real Ones”, Fall Out Boy featuring MadeinTYO & bülow (iTunes)
“Warriors”, Allen Stone (iTunes)
“Way Way Back”, Matt Nathanson (iTunes)
“When All The Stars Have Died”, Kris Allen (iTunes)
“White Flag”, Daughtry (iTunes)
“Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, Sheryl Crow featuring Annie Clark (iTunes)
“You Deserve Better (Acoustic)”, James Arthur (iTunes)
“You Don’t Know About Me (ACLU Remix)”, Ella Vos, Vérité, Icona Pop & Mija (iTunes)
“You Got Me Wrong (Aleksander Galoski Remix)”, Efraim Leo featuring Juliette Claire (iTunes)
“Youngblood (R3HAB Remix)”, 5 Seconds Of Summer (iTunes)
“Younger (Acoustic)”, A Great Big World (iTunes)

Next week: look out for new albums from Years & Years, Yungblud and more. For Adam’s personal picks of the week, listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of April 28, 2017

There’s something about Mary…

When the Queen Of Hip-Hop Soul faces off against other chart royalty in the battle for the week’s highest debut, you know it is going to be a good fight. Get your downloads and streams ready, because here comes the latest new releases update:

MARY J. BLIGE – Strength Of A Woman (iTunes)
Blige should show some notable Strength in the marketplace with her latest studio album, which comes after a pair of #1 songs at the Urban AC format: “Thick Of It” and “U + Me (Love Lesson)”. It also includes “Love Yourself”, featuring Kanye West, which is on its way up the Urban chart. A dozen of her previous studio albums, dating back to 1992, have hit the top ten on the Billboard 200, and a top five debut is certainly possible for her latest effort.

WALE – Shine (iTunes)
Pushed up a week from its initial release date, perhaps due to a battle brewing between new sets from Chris Stapleton and Logic, this popular rapper’s fifth studio album is his first in two years. The lead single from it, “Fashion Week” (featuring G-Eazy), ranks in the top 30 at Urban radio, and sits just outside the top 40 at the Rhythmic format. The album will likely debut in the top five.

GORILLAZ – Humanz (iTunes)
The animated band is back with their first album in six years. Single “We Got The Power”, featuring Jehnny Beth, quickly reached its top 40 peak on the Alternative chart, though it’s not so powerful now, as it tumbles down the survey. Will this release return them to the top ten for the first time since 2010? We’ll see soon.

CASHMERE CAT – 9 (iTunes)
He’s one cool Cat. This album features collaborations with a number of popular acts, including Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. One single from it, the Selena Gomez and Tory Lanez-assisted “Trust Nobody”, received some minor pop airplay last year.

More albums out this week: All That Remains‘s Madness (iTunes), Feist‘s Pleasure (iTunes), John Mellencamp‘s Sad Clowns & Hillbillies (iTunes), Lea Michele‘s Places (iTunes), New Found Glory‘s Makes Me Sick (iTunes), Old Crow Medicine Show‘s 50 Years Of Blonde On Blonde (iTunes), Sylvan Esso‘s What Now (iTunes), The Cranberries‘s Something Else (iTunes), Trombone Shorty‘s Parking Lot Symphony (iTunes), Willie Nelson‘s God’s Problem Child (iTunes)

More EPs out this week: Foster The People‘s III (iTunes), JP Cooper‘s Passport Home (iTunes), Take That‘s Giants (iTunes)

New digital-only singles that you can buy this week include:
“1995”, Emmit Fenn (iTunes)
“Always Been U”, PHANGS featuring R.Lum.R (iTunes)
“Another Life”, Afrojack & David Guetta featuring Ester Dean (iTunes)
“Bend Or Break (Acoustic)”, Hannah Jane Lewis (iTunes)
“Belong”, gnash featuring DENM (iTunes)
“Blessings”, Tom Walker (iTunes)
“Body”, Sean Paul featuring Migos (iTunes)
“Bon Appétit”, Katy Perry featuring Migos (iTunes)
“Calm Down”, Skip Marley (iTunes)
“Dandelions”, Ruth B. (iTunes)
“Deep Water”, Alisan Porter (iTunes)
“Electric Intercourse”, Prince (iTunes)
“First Time”, Kygo x Ellie Goulding (iTunes)
“Friday Night”, Vigiland (iTunes)
“I Hear Your Song, Sweetness”, George Taylor (iTunes)
“I Know A Place (Remix)”, MUNA x MNEK (iTunes)
“I’ll Give You Love”, Clear Six (iTunes)
“I’m The One”, DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne (iTunes)
“It’s You”, Molly Kate Kestner (iTunes)
“J-Boy”, Phoenix (iTunes)
“Land Of The Living”, Plain White T’s (iTunes)
“Let You Go”, Machine Gun Kelly (iTunes)
“Maxine”, Benny Cassette (iTunes)
“Middle Of The Night”, The Vamps & Martin Jensen (iTunes)
“Most Girls”, Hailee Steinfeld (iTunes)
“My Friends”, Oh Wonder (iTunes)
“No Vacancy”, OneRepublic (iTunes)
“Now (Acoustic)”, Grace Mitchell (iTunes)
“Old Friends”, Jasmine Thompson (iTunes)
“Sandcastle State Of Mind”, Peter Wise (iTunes)
“Saw You In A Dream”, The Japanese House (iTunes)
“Say My Name”, Tove Stryke (iTunes)
“Song On Fire”, Nickelback (iTunes)
“Take On The World (AlunaGeorge Remix)”, You Me At Six (iTunes)
“The One That Got Away”, Skinny Days featuring Emilie Adams (iTunes)
“Thinking Of A Place”, The War On Drugs (iTunes)
“Thinking Of You”, Elias (iTunes)
“Torches”, X Ambassadors (iTunes)
“Without U”, Steve Aoki & DVBBS featuring 2 Chainz (iTunes)
“Young And Menace”, Fall Out Boy (iTunes)

We’ll see you next week for new albums from Chris Stapleton, Logic and more. Listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

A Sketch Of Success: The Pop Chart Gets Animated

Drawing your attention.

If you think you’ve been hearing the voice of Spongebob Squarepants on your radio recently, no, you’re certainly not dreaming. That endless loop of “I’m ready! I’m ready!” is featured in the first top 40 entry by a trio called AJR, the three Met brothers (Adam, Jack and Ryan.) “I’m Ready” has been slowly climbing up in CHR airplay since being upstreamed to Warner Bros. Records several months ago (initially, it was spun on SiriusXM exclusively last fall) and right now, the boys are on tour with Lindsey Stirling.

What makes “Ready” so interesting is that “feature” from the Nickelodeon cartoon character; even though he receives no credit, it still marks the first animated character to hit the chart in some time. Unlike the glory days of chart-topping acts like Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Archies, cartoons on the countdown are far and few between. International singles have an even harder time breaking the U.S. market, like Bob The Builder and his two U.K. #1 hits, the Canadian duo Prozzäk (out in the U.S. as Simon & Milo) and the German crocodile named Schnappi.

Here are a few to sell some records (and perhaps seal some ratings) since the 90’s, ready for your viewing pleasure:

BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD
Uh, huh huh huh. Can you believe that dynamic duo from MTV actually reached the top 40? Taken from the compilation album The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, “I Got You Babe” (a duet with Cher) charted for two weeks on the CHR top 40, peaking at #34 during the week before Christmas in 1993. As you can imagine, it’s a bizarre take on a 60’s pop classic.

CRAZY FROG
They call it The Annoying Thing, and honestly, that even feels like an understatement. Released in the summer of 2005, this remake of the 1985 Harold Faltermeyer hit “Axel F” was inescapable across Europe, spending four weeks at #1 in the United Kingdom alone. The CHR panel wasn’t so crazy about the single, as “Axel” limped up to a low #36 that August.

GORILLAZ
Probably the best known of the modern acts on the list is the four members of this virtual band, voiced by Blur frontman Damon Albarn. Though they first charted in 2001 with “Clint Eastwood”, their biggest single thus far is 2005’s “Feel Good Inc.”, which climbed to #13 on CHR radio and #1 at Alternative for eight weeks that fall. It featured rappers De La Soul.

MC SKAT KAT
In another uncredited performance, this animated feline danced and rapped alongside Paula Abdul on one of her many #1 hits, “Opposites Attract”. The MC managed to slip onto the Hot 100 a year later with a solo single, “Skat Strut”; Abdul returned the favor and made a cameo in that single’s clip. It peaked at #80. It fared better in several overseas territories.

THE SIMPSONS (BART SIMPSON)
During a time when singles intended for radio and not physically released could not enter the Hot 100, “Do The Bartman” quickly broke out nationally thanks to the popularity of the FOX show. By early 1991, it was already up to #9 on the pop chart and #11 on Billboard’s comparable Hot 100 Airplay list. Followup “Deep, Deep Trouble” found trouble gaining big.

Who’s your favorite animated artist to a paint a pop masterpiece? Let me know! You can comment below or find me on social media by clicking the “Get Social!” tab above.