NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Kelly Clarkson 's over twenty year career since winning the first season of American Idol has made the singer one of the most successful voices in music today. Twenty years ago, her debut album Thankful debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales charts. Clarkson was both the first Idol winner, the most successful, and the most lasting, and she has worked hard to keep her music and her overall brand in the spotlight for twenty years, doing so without much controversy. Later this month, twenty years after her debut, she will release Chemistry , her tenth studio album. TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT. Kelly Clarkson has entertained her fans with a wide-range of sounds. American Idol helped Clarkson sell the sounds she was unable to market prior to the show. She told The Guardian in 2015 that she was turned down by every record label and she was told she “sounded too black.” But with American Idol and the management she was signed to because of the show, Clarkson wasn't exactly

Taeyeon released the first single to her third album almost three years ago. It's a light, airy disco song all about taking it easy. And after a week like this one, I need to stop over thinking and let my stress melt away. So here's an updated Weekend Vibes  playlist filled with tracks formulated to give you an awesome weekend. I've expanded and substituted some of the tracks to make the playlist better. Let's enjoy the smooth sounds!

Like Rick Beato explains in his provocatively titled video "What's Wrong with Charlie Puth 's Single" (see below), I was shocked that such an earworm didn't chart very well. Beato's commentary in the video is a dig at other musical trends--trap beats, explicit lyrics, and multiple songwriters--which contribute to a pop song's success. I don't completely agree with Beato's assessment of " Light Switch " and pop music in general, but the question remains why such an instant sing-along melody didn't chart higher than number 27 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Of course, there's just so much music out there vying for our attention. ALL THE SUDDEN I'M HYPNOTIZED. Beato's liking for Charlie Puth is even puzzling for some of the YouTuber's viewers. There are many other music YouTubers and Podcasters who call out Beato's biased views. Maybe it's pop music filtered through his kids' tastes that he got turned on t

In 2000, Nelly Furtado became an international star. In a music scene inundated with teen pop, Furtado was a singer-songwriter who fused international folk, Latin pop, and hip-hop  in a sometimes radio-friendly way. The Portuguese-Canadian singer had two incredibly successful non-consecutive records, her debut Whoa, Nelly!   in 2000 and Loose in 2006 before almost disappearing from the pop charts.  YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, THAT'S FOR SURE. " I'm Like a Bird " was the first of three major hits from Whoa, Nelly!  The song talked about the speaker's transient existence, assuring the listener that her "love is rare though . . . true" she really longs to fly away. She doesn't "know where [her] home is" nor "where [her] soul is."  In other words, the speaker cannot be tied down to the cages of what most of us would call a normal human existence. And if this was true of Furtado's personal life, it was certainly true of her musical exp

Lauv is somewhere between a household name and an sad-boy indie pop star. With 18 million monthly streams on Spotify, the singer-songwriter certainly has a large fanbase. And with his inclusion on many playlists, he also gets many passive listeners as well. One of the ways that Lauv has collected so many fans is through collaboration. Besides today's collaboration with Troye Sivan , Lauv has collaborated with BTS , Anne-Marie, LANY, Alessia Cara, and many other artists who also have active fan bases.  HURTS LIKE HEAVEN. In April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Ari Staprans Leff , better known as Lauv, spoke with Silverstein 's Shane Told on his podcast Lead Singer Syndrome.   Told usually interviews rock singers, usually part of the emo and punk scenes, but as Told explained, during the pandemic many musicians had more time on their hands to interview, including Lauv who was mostly at home pondering " Modern Loneliness ." But through the interview, Lauv reve

  Sadie Jean is another up-and-coming singer-songwriter like Dylan Conrique. She began garnering a following on Soundcloud when she posted a cover of Radiohead 's " Creep ." In 2021, her song "WYD Now?" went viral on TikTok and eventually charted in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. This 21-year-old music student at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music has scored a few more singles since then, including her latest single, " Just Because ." YOU HURT ME JUST BECAUSE. "Just Because" feels like a spiritual cousin to MUNA 's " Stayaway ." It's a song about the mixed feelings of getting out of a toxic relationship. You start to think that it wasn't all bad, but in the end you hopefully trust that you made the best choice. But it's still hard, and we still want to wallow in our misery for a bit. So, put on your comfy clothes--we're staying in with the rain, sitting on the couch with a tub

Dylan Conrique got her start in acting in web series called Chicken Girls on YouTube in which she plays a teen dancer. Since 2020, she’s been releasing music, and her most recent EP Pieces was released this May. The single “ down from the high ” has made some prominent Spotify playlists, garnering the singer with over 2 million monthly listeners. Conrique talks about the song taking country influences and being about experiencing falling in love after being in unstable relationships. The song is about waiting for it to go wrong, but it never does. Today’s song kicks off my Summer Mix ‘23. These songs have at least a taste for the sunny side of music. Let’s enjoy it until Labor Day! Listen to the playlist on Spotify. Read the lyrics on Genius.