NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Conan Gray released his third album, Found Heaven April 5th this year. The album is a departure from Gray’s music before the singles were released starting with the album’s lead single from last May, “ Never Ending Song .” The ‘80s-inspired dance-pop track treads on “maximalist” pop (more on that later) the singer flirted with once on the teen anthem “ Maniac ” on his 2020 debut album Kid Krow , but much of Gray’s early music was emotional acoustic music like his biggest song, “ Heather .” Working with producer Dan Nigro , the producer behind Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan , on his first two albums fleshed out Gray as a queer-coded Gen-Z singer-songwriter. The third album is a fun excursion into ‘80s glam rock and synth-pop, and it’s pure pop-rock heaven.  I SAW YOUR FACE IN A MAGAZINE TODAY. Conan Gray didn’t return to work with Dan Nigro on his third album. He told Billboard News that he had begun writing the album while on tour with his second album Superache . He talks abou

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

“What on earth is this?”I stumbled on today’s song, “ Good Luck, Babe! ”  about a month ago when I was browsing Spotify’s top viral songs. No Chappell Roan ’s music isn’t earth-shattering, but something about her ‘80s queer-pop aesthetic feels completely new. And although Chappell Roan is the stage name of the “ Midwest Princess ” Kayleigh Rose Amstutz , this persona feels oddly authentic. Roan is currently enjoying a viral moment after opening for Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts World Tour and performing at Coachella. Spotify reported that Roan had seen a 500% increase in listenership between February and April. I DON’T WANNA CALL IT OFF, BUT YOU DON’T WANNA CALL IT LOVE. Chappell Roan is not a new artist; she’s been self-releasing music since 2014, first through YouTube under her real name. Amstutz’s love for music began with the piano before adolescence. Growing up in a conservative Christian home in Missouri, church and Christian youth camps were a part of the singer’s youth. But gr

As promised, here is my Top 10 list for albums of the year. It’s a bit late and I’m sure that in time, the importance of this list will change and that albums I hadn’t listened to would chart. I decided to give preference to the albums I blogged about most but I also slipped in a few that I thought would be culturally significant. There were a few cuts that I thought hurt a little, Olivia Rodrigo ’s GUTS , the Barbie: The Album soundtrack, and boygenius ’s The Record .   I wanted to include some albums that didn’t make the critics’ picks lists to give light to some underrated artists. I hope you enjoy these albums as much as I did—and am doing now. 10. The Show by Niall Horan . It’s funny how the other One Direction members have been totally eclipsed by Harry Styles . While Styles is certainly talented, and his production team has incorporated some of the most interesting elements into mainstream pop, former bandmate Niall Horan has been sadly overlooked. The Show is an album by an