NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

In 2016, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus opened for singer-songwriter Julien Baker on separate dates. It turned out that the three queer-identifying indie-folk songwriters mutually appreciated each other's music. In 2018, the three musicians decided to have a co-headlining tour. To celebrate the tour, they decided to join forces and record a six-song EP titled boygenius . Tired of the misogyny in the music industry that compared women to women while pinning female artists against female artists, Dacus stated : “I hope people see the three of us and know there isn't competition. You don't have to compete with your contemporaries. You can make something good with people you admire.” And in that statement lies the genius on which the collaborative supergroup is founded. BLACK HOLE OPENED IN MY KITCHEN. The debut self-titled EP by boygenius was made almost entirely by female musicians. The band’s name is ironic. Julien Baker told Newsweek that the name refers “to the archet

When I scored my top songs last year, the second single, “ Bad Idea, Right? ” from Olivia Rodrigo ’s sophomore album GUTS ranked at #8 in my top 25 of 2024 list . I didn’t write about this song last year, though. Instead, I wrote about Rodrigo’s lead single, “ Vampire .” The lead single is a moody rock fantasia. “Bad Idea, Right,” though, is a valley-girl punk rock song in the style of The Waitresses with its sing-talking. While GUTS didn’t quite match the success of Rodrigo’s debut SOUR , the singles and the album develop Rodrigo’s sound as a pop artist who is fluent in rock music, building on the previous album and second single “ good 4 u ,” a single that brought rock back into upper reaches of Billboard’ s Hot 100 , unseen since the ‘00s. And while "Bad Idea, Right?" didn't top the pop chart like "good 4 u," the song did top the Modern and Alternative Rock Chart .   CAN’T HEAR MY THOUGHTS. In 2021, Olivia Rodrigo scored an unexpected number-one hit with “ d

  In   Lana Del Rey 's   first interview   with   Zane Lowe , she talked about her inspiration for the 2012 record,   Born to Die .  She talks about the collaboration between her, hip-hop producer   Emile Haynie , and string arranger   Larry Gold   to create an album that sounds classic and fresh. Although Del Rey has moved away from the Brooklyn-style hip-hop beats in albums after   Born to Die,  the album still feels relevant ten years later. In fact, when  Pitchfork   re-examined the record last year , the review bumped the score from 5.5 to 7.8. While pop cynics may argue that music has gotten worse rather than being misunderstood at the time, the young adult escapism, the post-modern life she sings about makes more sense among the younger artists Del Rey influenced such as   Lorde   and   Billie Eilish .  I EVEN THINK I FOUND GOD.  " Without You " appears as the thirteenth track on the  Target Bonus Tracks  edition of  Born to Die.  The album's standard edition e

  Last year, RIIZE debuted on SM Entertainment with the single album Get a Guitar , which contained two songs, “ Memories ” and the title track . The group was the first new boyband to debut on SM in seven years, following NCT ’s debut in 2016. The concept of the fifth-generation K-pop group is “emotional pop” akin to the millennium boyband sound--first and second-generation K-pop.  RIIZE is a portmanteau of the words rise and realize , and the group’s motto is “a team that rises together and realizes dreams.” RIIZE was created with Sungchan (정성찬) and Japanese singer Shotaro Osaki , members of the massive now 26-member supergroup NCT, combined with five other members to form RIIZE. Get a Guitar sold more than one million copies in its first week. The success nearly matched H.O.T , whose debut album slightly outsold RIIZE's debut. DRAWING SUNSHINE IN THE RHYTHM. Last month, Slate ’s Hit Parade podcast delved into the history of boybands. Host Chris Molanphy first guided list

Last December, Billie Eilish began to lose a number of fans from an article in which she simply told her truth. She told Variety in November of last year, “I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.” In December, Eilish confirmed that statement was, in fact, a coming out. In December she confirmed with Variety ,  asking, “‘Wasn’t it obvious’? I didn’t realize people didn’t know.” Following the confirmation of her queer identity, Eilish began to lose Instagram and X followers. CLOTHES ON THE COUNTER FOR YOU. Two weeks ago, Billie Eilish released her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft , following up 2021’s Happier Than Ever . Even after cutting ties with a minority of homophobic followers, her meteoric star power had the album predicted to debut at #1 on Billboard ’s 200 Album Charts , but the reigning queen atop the charts, Ta

  Two years before her debut album    Nothing’s Real  was released,  Shura 's debut single, " Touch ," began generating acclaim across the Internet. Working with guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band  Athlete ,   Joel Pott , Shura began co-producing her album .  Shura played the keyboards and synthesizers on the record and co-directed the music video for "Touch," which features her twin brother, Nicholas. The single was re-released along with a remix of the track in 2016 before the release of  Nothing's Real.  Today, "Touch" is Shura's most streamed song on Spotify. I ONLY NEED YOU TO BE FRENCH WITH ME.  Born to an English father and a Russian mother,  Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton  and her brother Nicholas Denton were raised in Manchester, UK. Aleksandra, better known by her stage name, Shura, started playing guitar at the age of 13. By 26, she was gaining popularity in the UK. The video for "Touch," which features lots o

  After incredible success after releasing their comeback single last fall, " This Is Why " which was the title track to the   album   the band released in February last year,   Paramore   released their second single, " The News ." Both singles prepared the listener for a Paramore album unlike anything that the band had recorded before. "This Is Why" featured the self-defeating lyrics fans have come to expect from lead singer   Haley Williams   and the song had a certain Paramore catchiness, but the funky bass and classic rock guitar explored musical territory the band had not yet shared with their listeners.  A WAR RIGHT BEHIND MY EYES.  "The News," however, is a hard rock socially-conscious track, darker than most of the band's prior songs. The same day that Paramore released the single, they also released a video for the song. The video (see below) features Haley Williams hypnotized by a television, which becomes a catatonic state in the