The Singles Jukebox, 2024: February
Call it a comeback: TSJ returned in 2024!
In February of this year, the Singles Jukebox returned as a monthly proposition: the first full week of each month, we review 15 singles, 3/day (with the option to include a 16th if there’s an extra special something), and then exit stage left until the next month. As we’ve concluded our regular publication for the year, with just Amnesty Week left to go, I thought I’d look back at the blurbs I penned this year month-by-month, linking them to their respective TSJ posts. Some of these singles will make it into my year-end list, which I’ll share later in December. These have not been edited at all, but are shared just as originally published.
Jack Harlow - Lovin on Me
It cracks me up so hard that BBC Radio 1 omits the word "choke" from this song's chorus. Is the nation's broadcaster afraid that impressionable youth might be tempted to choke their partners upon hearing the lyric "I'm vanilla, baby/I'll choke you but I ain't no killer, baby"? Fascinating. Also fascinating to me: against my better judgement, I like this song. A lot rides on that sample of Delbert Greer's "Whatever," but Harlow still has to do something with it, and he sounds more nimble than I've ever heard him, delivering his stupid yet catchy lines. The musical equivalent of a Rice Krispie treat, "Lovin on Me" is sweet, empty calories. [6]
Lil Nas X - J Christ
I suspect the harshest review one could give LNX is also the most accurate one for "J Christ": basic. [4]
Noah Kahan - Stick Season
His voice just oozes earnestness, and no, that's not a good thing. But strummy guitar guys never entirely go out of style, do they? If his success makes a Lumineers comeback happen, I swear to God... [3]
Teddy Swims - Lose Control
Oh, yay: another big-bearded, face-tatted white boy who thinks he's somehow "soulful" because he heard a Stax record once. And much like Post Malone and Jelly Roll before him, throw him on the burn pile. [1]
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder on the Dancefloor (2001) (2024)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor should've been the next Kylie — and for a couple years, almost was. Her 2001 debut album Read My Lips spun off a trio of top 3 singles in the UK, including this one, which has over time become her true classic. Dua Lipa's entire career was birthed in this single, the dictionary definition of ebullient dance-pop. (It's fitting that Lipa's "Houdini" is currently the most-played song on UK radio as this single is re-ascendant.) SEB has never gone anywhere: she's still making music, touring (based on her 2022 Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco (Live at the London Palladium), she still sounds great), and is now a DJ on BBC Radio 2. She just didn't become the massive pop star she deserved to be. Now, thanks to its placement in a climactic scene in Saltburn, her greatest single is getting its flowers, climbing back up to #2 in the UK (so far — my fingers are crossed it can make it that final notch higher). "Dancefloor" still sounds fresh, certainly fresher than the glut of '90s-sampling dance-pop dominating the UK charts. This single sparkles, SEB giving a knowing wink as she sings, especially on the line "gonna burn this goddamn house right down." She knows what she's doing here: making magic. [10]
Jungeli ft. Imen Es, Alonzo, Abou Debeing & Lossa - Petit Génie
A lovely, breezy blend of Afrobeats, hip-hop and R&B, the epitome of ear candy. [7]
Chris Stapleton - White Horse
Far too many of Stapleton's singles have been too sleepy for my taste, slow-burning to the point of becoming self-extinguishing fires. But on "White Horse" he sounds antsy and uh-uh-urgent, like he means it, maaaaan. This is what I've always wanted from Stapleton; there's never been a question of his prowess as either a songwriter or a singer, but "White Horse" has a hard country-rock energy to it, and just (sorry) burns. His best single in eons. [8]
SZA - Snooze
SZA's vocals can often be a barrier for me -- I just don't care for her tone, or maybe the way she's processed on record -- but the sheer plushness of "Snooze" pulls me in. [6]
Megan Thee Stallion - HISS
Is any rapper right now better than Megan when she's on one? Based on "HISS," maybe not. Also, she doesn't get the credit she deserves for her little vocal tics, her "ah!"s and "ha!"s, which are nearly as good as Michael Jackson's. [7]