Say what you like about Selena Gomez, but she never repeats herself. Instead of bouncing back with a bop or uptempo banger, the pop star returns with an emotional ballad that lays her heart bare. Co-written with Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter and Mattman & Robin, "Lose You To Love Me" is a brutally honest act of closure. "We always go into it blindly, rose-colored glasses all distorted," the 27-year-old...

It's official. After teasing the words "High Road" on social media, Kesha now confirms it as the title of her new album. "I'm so excited to announce that my album High Road is coming!" the pop star wrote in an Instagram post. "I feel like this time around I reconnected to the unrestrained joy and wildness that's always been a part of me, and in this process I have had the most fun I've ever had making...

At 22, Becky G has already reinvented herself several times over. After breaking onto the scene as a teen rapper ("Can't Get Enough" is still a bop), the breakout star segued into pop. She promptly landed a hit with "Shower," but experienced diminishing returns with certified bops "Can't Stop Dancin'" and "Break A Sweat." The stars finally aligned when the Inglewood native embraced her Latin roots...

Sklyar Grey's discography is unusually diverse. From hip-hop to EDM and piano-pop, the singer/songwriter has done it all. With one exception. Until now, the 33-year-old has never fully leaned into the folk music she grew up listening to. Skylar remedies that situation on Angel With Tattoos — an independently released EP (out today) that will grow into an album as new songs are added. While the sound...

Bong Joon Ho's Parasite has surfed a wave of critical acclaim since winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes over frontrunners like Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood and Pain & Glory. In the process, it has broken new ground for both Asian cinema and genre films. Not that Parasite neatly fits into the latter box unlike The Host or Snowpiercer. And therein lies its language barrier-busting appeal. At its core,...

After delivering a double dose of emotional pure-pop with "Never Really Over" and "Small Talk," Katy Perry switches it up with a soft and sexy bop called "Harleys In Hawaii." Don't be fooled by the title. This isn't an exercise in kitsch. Instead, it's a mid-tempo earworm that finds our heroine in the throws of tropical passion. "You and I-ai, riding Harleys in Hawaii-ai-ai," she purrs on the chorus....

It's a well-established fact that Allie X can do no wrong. From 2014's "Catch" to the recently-released "Fresh Laundry," the Canadian auteur always comes at pop from a unique perspective. That's particularly true of "Rings A Bell." Songs about finding The One are a dime a dozen, but few liken the discovery of your soulmate to a case of déjà vu. "The way you move, it rings a bell," she coos over OZGO's...

Melanie Martinez's K-12 arrives today (September 6) after a four-year gestation period. That might sound unnecessarily long, but it makes a lot more sense when you understand the scope of the project. This isn't just an album or even a visual album. The 24-year-old has written, directed and starred in a feature length movie musical that brings the music, and all of its (timely and varied) themes, to...

Charli XCX refuses to do the same thing twice. Why? Because that would be boring. And she is anything but boring. The pop innovator recognizes her insatiable hunger for evolution on the first lines of Charli. "I go hard. I go fast, and I never look back," she chants over slick synths on the aptly-titled "Next Level Charli." That realization sets the scene for what is surely her most revolutionary collection...

Judy has the best intentions. By putting the end of Judy Garland's life under a microscope, director Rupert Goold aims to humanize the legend and highlight the devastating trauma heaped upon her by a lifetime in the studio system. And he almost achieves it thanks to his cast. Renée Zellweger embodies the titular character with such ferocity that an Oscar nomination is a mere formality. In her hands,...

Taylor Swift belatedly lays out the mission statement for Lover on its final track. As "Daylight," a thoughtful and lushly composed love song, closes, the 29-year-old delivers a spoken outro. "I wanna be defined by the things that I love not the things I hate," she muses. "I just think that you are what you love." That's abundantly evident from one listen to the 18-song collection. Released on August...

Turning around a speedy review of a Lana Del Rey record is a thankless task. While the album is increasingly treated as a relic from the past, Lana still views it as an art form, cramming in layers of melodies and ideas that slowly seep out over time. It took me months to get a handle on Honeymoon, while Ultraviolence continues to unfold five years later. Until Friday (August 30), I considered those...