First things first. Yes, Lorene Scafaria's Hustlers really is that good. Arriving on a wave of hype and critical acclaim, the film not only lives up to expectations — it exceeds them. Which has to be the magic trick of 2019. After all, when Hustlers was announced, it evoked memories of Show Girls and Burlesque. (Which was not necessarily a bad thing). Instead, it falls somewhere between Goodfellas...

You'd better glue down your wigs extra tight. Why? Because Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey and Miley Cyrus finally dropped "Don't Call Me Angel," and nobody is safe. Anticipation has been building for the trio's Charlie's Angels soundtrack contribution for months now. Seriously. Rumors started picking up steam back in June before the divas sounded the pop alarm to confirm one of 2019's most anticipated...

Halsey's new era has officially begun. The 24-year-old introduced her third LP Manic by painting the album art on YouTube. Then, at the stroke of midnight ET, she unveiled her new single "Graveyard." And it's the exact opposite of what you'd expect after the ferocious growl of "Nightmare." Instead of continuing exploring those sonics, her latest moves in a different direction. Laying her voice over...

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...

After experimenting with everything from EDM to acoustic ballads, Louis Tomlinson finally found his sound on "Kill My Mind." The just-released single is a throwback to the fuzzy, indie-leaning pop/rock of the '90s and early '00s. Which is not a coincidence given that it was inspired by the bands Louis grew up listening to on UK radio. (Think Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys). The song also sets the tone...

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...

New music from Christina Aguilera is coming in hot. And it sounds like it's going to be a little spooky. Today (September 10), Variety revealed that the pop icon contributed to the soundtrack for the upcoming The Addams Family movie. Her song is called "Haunted Heart" and will reportedly arrive sometime this month. Meanwhile, the film flies into theaters October 11. It also houses a collaboration between...

Lewis Capaldi is shaping up to be one of the breakout stars of 2019 thanks to a ballad called "Someone You Loved." The gut-wrenching breakup anthem has already topped the charts in the UK and Europe, and is a fairly safe bet to repeat the feat in America. (Streaming and download data suggests an imminent debut on the Billboard Hot 100). And there are more hits where that came from. The 22-year-old...

Since the arrival of Beyoncé in 2013, a visual album (i.e. one with videos for each song) has become the gold standard in the music industry. It's not only a time-consuming and costly endeavor, it also front-loads an era. Instead of drip-feeding content over the course of a year, fans get everything at once. Meaning that your audience has to be big enough to make it worthwhile. Melanie Martinez joined...

Armed with a seemingly never-ending collection of bops, Kim Petras has established herself as one of the brightest talents in a new class of pop stars. Since making her debut in 2017, every song she's released has been a gem. And this year the 26-year-old really took things to the next level. Back in April, she kicked off her second era with "Broken." What followed was an ambitious roll-out schedule...

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...

Madame X is a radical body of work, but perhaps not in the way Madonna intended. She rails against injustice and oppression with the fervor of a preacher, imbuing the album with a righteousness that is palpable. As brave and commendable as that is, the Queen of Pop's musical missives lack nuance. Rather, it's her complete defiance of genre that makes Madame X genuinely groundbreaking.From the promo...