14 Songs You Need To Hear This Week: Lana Del Rey, King Princess, CXLOE + More

Written By Sam Murphy on 10/17/2020

Songs almost as good as Lana Del Rey's graphic design skills.

14. LAUV & Conan Gray - Fake

LAUV and Conan Gray are similar songwriters so it makes sense that their team-up is effortless. Fake is a big, shouty pop song in the best way.

13. Little Mix - Happiness

Happiness is the best song Little Mix have released from their Confetti era. It's a liberating, hearty song with some of the best vocal work yet from the girls, particularly in the chorus.

12. Omar Apollo - I'm Amazing

Omar Apollo has really grown into himself as an artist and his debut project Apolonio is proof of that. I'm Amazing is the opener and it's a lush, quietly confident cut that darts between English and Spanish.

11. KUČKA - Ascension

KUČKA continues to make the most mind-bending pop music around. Ascension is a trip full of muddy synth-work and assured vocals. It feels like we're going on a transcendent journey.

10. Sasha Sloan - Matter To You

Sasha Sloan's debut album Only Child is out. It's opened up by this raw gem that considers Sloan's place in the world. A supremely written, straight-forward song.

Read our interview with Sloan.

9. Royal & The Serpent - Choke

LA duo Royal & The Serpent is making dark, twisted pop music and Choke may be her best yet. It's a horror film wrapped up in a song - full of screams, choking sounds and possessed vocals.

8. Mae Muller - HFBD

Mae Muller sounds like the love child of Dua Lipa and Lily Allen. On HFBD she effortlessly flicks between the rich tones of her lower register and her crystalline upper register. She sounds great, the song is a bonafide bop and it feels like the best is yet to come.

7. Lara Andallo - On My Mind

Australia doesn't typically breed R&B superstars but Lara Andallo may be bucking the trend. She can do it all. Write an A+ melody, give us slippery runs and offer up slick moves. All the ingredients are there.

6. CXLOE - Swing

CXLOE's debut EP Heavy Part 1 is out today and she's offered up a few fresh cuts. Swing is one of those and it's a slam-dunk. It's a dark, malleable song that takes so many twists and turns it's hard to remember where it was going in the first place. Really exciting stuff.

5. Kelly Rowland - Crazy

Kelly Rowland is in a creatively rich period right now if her last two singles are anything to go by. The latest Crazy is a pulsating dance track that bleeds class and grandeur. She sounds more energised than ever and this Ricky Reed beat is a winner.

4. James Blake - Summer Of Now

James Blake surprise-released his Before EP this week and while it's best listened to in full, we're going to cherrypick the closer Summer Of Now. It's a nostalgic track that begins melancholic before launching into something more buoyant. A vocal and production masterclass.

3. Merci, Mercy - I Wonder What It Feels Like

Merci, Mercy is one of the brightest new pop hopes in Australia and her debut EP more than proves that. We can't help but gravitate to this celestial ballad. It has a weightless chorus and some of the rawest songwriting of her career so far.

2. Lana Del Rey - Let Me Love You Like A Woman

She's never on time but she always delivers. Let Me Love You Like A Woman has finally arrived and it's a straight-up LDR ballad. The aesthetic borrows from Norman Fucking Rockwell but it's even more self-assured.

1. King Princess - Only Time Makes It Human

King Princess surprised us all by taking us to the dancefloor this week. It's an emotive, sad banger that somehow manages to sound sexy. Who knew tears in the club could feel so good?

If you're new here, give our Top Tunes playlist a follow:

Or we have another one for those who are more dance inclined: