Five Songs is a weekly series for paid Hearing Things subscribers in which we each choose a new song we like and write about why we can’t stop listening to it.
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As the five of us start to figure out our individual year-end lists, we decided to revisit some of the tracks that blasted through our headphones and took up permanent residence over the last 10 months. This is brash and bold music that imagines a future worth living in amid our everyday hell. There’s an ecstatic remake of a classic ’90s power ballad, a genre-flouting explosion from one of the most exciting new artists on Earth, a jazz-inflected vocal masterclass, a rap anthem for the ages, and a reggaeton-meets-roots-music banger that’s as horny as it is politically charged. Enjoy!
