Blockbuster’s ‘driver’s license’, a possible answer and 7 more new songs

Blockbuster’s ‘driver’s license’, a possible answer and 7 more new songs

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The most important thing about Olivia Rodrigo’s new single, “Driver’s License”, released last week, is not that he now holds the record for streaming one day (non-holiday music) on Spotify, or that it practically flooded TikTok the past few days, or who was supposedly inspired by a romantic disagreement with Joshua Bassett, his co-star on the Disney + show “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”. What matters most is that he successfully balances a dark but clear melodrama with a bold melody, singing softly with clear images: “You said forever, now I walk down your street alone.” The construction of the song is slow, almost anguished, and even when it breaks out, it never reaches a full howl, switching to a multitracked chorus that borders on the spiritual. It is, in every sense, a modern and successful pop song. But he is also a buddy for Disneyologists, who now have a complementary piece to read: Bassett’s new single, “Lie Lie Lie”, an animated song about revenge and a harmless post-Shawn Mendes guitar pop: “You ‘ I’m acting so innocent, like I’m the one to blame / You have been lying to yourself. “Even though Disney faithful dug up clips of Bassett playing a version of him back in 2019, he finds himself in a conspicuous dialogue with Rodrigo’s music. As gossip, it’s just in time. As songcraft, it’s a losing battle. JON CARAMANICA

Like many of Lana Del Rey’s songs, “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” – the title track for her next album – begins as a melancholy daydream haunted by something silently wrong. With a lullaby, she sings about a complacent suburban life: swimming pools, jewelry, her little red sports car. But she also sings about being “on the run” and “weird and wild”, about yearning for someone, and then there are also those ominous chemical trails overhead. In the audio version of the song, Del Rey’s voice is gradually submerged in strings and echoes until it completely disappears, leaving the drum beat of producer Jack Antonoff for a long and ominous ending. The video version (spoiler alert) is even more confusing: halfway through, the music melts and Del Rey is taken as Dorothy via tornado to a horror movie about wolves. The suburb was never like that. JON PARELES

Lost Horizons is the project by Simon Raymonde from Cocteau Twins and Richie Thomas from Dif Juz, accompanied by several vocalists on his album “In Quiet Moments”. The guest on the title song is 82-year-old R&B singer Ural Thomas. Over a jazz background beat, a serene vamp bass, methodical piano chords and stealthy guitar swirls, Thomas sings with supernatural patience about longings, immensities and unanswered questions. PARELES

Here is an example of such an obvious choice that it is impressive that it has never been implanted by a hip-hop star before: “If I Were a Rich Man”, from the Original Broadway Recording of “Fiddler on the Roof”, sung by Zero Mostel . Enter Flo Milli and producer Kenny Beats, who build on this original material for a cheeky chat session that runs almost absurdly. It is smart and cheerful, but perhaps not as perfect as the song that made the best use of the same inspiration: “Rich Girl”, the timeless reggae pattern of Louchie Lou and Michie One (later attacked by Gwen Stefani and Eve). CARAMANICA

Blippy synths, bigger chords, giant martial drums – this must be a happy song, right? Well no. “I hear !!!” it is an appeal to a partner who is oblivious or worse: “I’m feeling like a hostage here”, sing Aly and AJ in the midst of sonic jubilation. “I may be lost, but I know how to get out.” They see an escape route; the discordant ending of the song does not guarantee that they found it. PARELES

Memphis’ rich soul – organ chords, deliberate triple drums, sharp guitars – carries a deep existential uncertainty in the latest Drive-By Truckers song, rooted in the pandemic and looking beyond it. “Are you wondering where you’ve been all the time / Get rid of everything you held around. It is terrible, but determined: “Take what you need to believe / there is something else that is worth clinging to,” Patterson Hood sings, in a voice as battered and exhausted as that of anyone who lived until 2020. PARELES

“Te Quiero Olvidar” means “I want to forget you”. Salt Cathedral, the duo Juli and Nico (Juliana Ronderos and Nicolas Losada) – originally from Colombia, now based in Brooklyn – launched the song last year as an insinuating and sparse pop reggaeton, with Juli’s breathless voice often hovering over a beat and a single note from the keyboard. The new version, with Juli accompanied by Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana, adds many layers of vocals, which intertwine and last as long-lasting memories. PARELES

Intending to make a professional recording while obeying pandemic protocols, pianist Jason Moran captured the 12 tracks for “The Sound Will Tell You” last week in a studio in Brooklyn, working alone with only a small team of engineers. In “Spoken in Two (Tear)”, the headache of this slowly sinking chord progression – equal parts of Romanticism, Minimalism and soul music – is enough to reduce the listener’s defenses. He employs digital effects that give his notes what he calls “a shadow”, but what is most impressive is his softly suspended touch on the keyboard while using graceful notes to give a rhythm to his full but clear harmonies. “The Sound Will Tell You” is Moran’s third solo album and the most recent in a series of recordings released by himself on his Bandcamp in the past five years, which represented a chapter in his career. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

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