This edition of LITM Pop Picks features all kinds of pop music, from JOVANNA, Water Street, Made of Sand, and more!
1. JOVANNA – Call Your Mama (Don’t Call Me)
Call Your Mama (Don’t Call Me) is a beautifully rich track dealing with the bittersweet nostalgia of an ended relationship. Starting with distant percussion laid over the tone of a ringing phone, the song pushes forward with JOVANNA’s luxuriant vocals, enveloping you in their elegance. The whole track, in fact, is infused with this elegance – it walks with grace instead of running ahead in a frenzy. With layered harmonies placed throughout, Call Your Mama (Don’t Call Me) encapsulates the feeling of looking back on a painful moment with a more mature perspective, even though the pain may never really go away.
2. Water Street – Closer
Closer is delightfully playful and upbeat, weaving a tapestry of lively guitar riffs, soaring vocals, and an utterly joyful horn section. The band, Water Street – comprising Julia Aiello, Eddie Woodcock, Dave Paulson, Connor Konecnik, Alex Kerssen, and Brendon Gardner – clearly crafted this release with much thought, reflected in the clarity and perfection of the song’s execution. There’s no two ways about it – it’s infectiously happy, almost celebratory, encouraging you to lean into and open up to the possibility of joy, love, and vibrancy in your life. It’s clear in its intent to make you feel all warm and bright – find it here!
3. Made of Sand – What You Give (Is What You Get)
Opening with an infectious rhythm that settles in your body through the course of the track, What You Give (Is What You Get) fuses house, pop, and Eurodance with finesse. It isn’t outright joyful, but it’s definitely euphoric – the type that you feel when you’re dancing, sweaty, in a crowd that pulses in sync with the music. The song flows seamlessly and naturally, remaining steady and familiar while also being experimental in ways you won’t expect. “It’s such a heavy load to carry every day / Let’s go dance in the fountain, wash it all away / ‘Cause what you give is what you get,” Made of Sand sings, a reminder that life can be hard, but your choices are your own.
4. Jerusha – deal with the devil
A pounding bassline, waves of synthpop, breathy vocals – these are what make up Jerusha’s deal with the devil. With its intimate, almost whispered vocals, minimalist production, and smooth phrasing, the song is reminiscent of Billie Eilish’s music; Jerusha brings her own flair to it with her creative use of silence and volume, creating and unravelling a feeling of suspension and tension throughout the track. It’s produced with mastery, allowing all its elements to shine while still retaining a haze that makes it all the more alluring; it gives the song an unsettling, ominous quality that you’ll want to keep decoding – listen here!
5. Replenished Sky – Seen Again
Seen Again displays an energy that bursts out from your speakers from the get-go, and only gets more and more intense. It explores the feeling of loss with powerful, vivid lyrics that are juxtaposed with electrifying, intense drumming and synth. The intensity of Replenished Sky’s – also known as Brisbane-based artist Daniel Quine’s – vocals masks the emotional vulnerability in the lyrics, but they remain powerful nonetheless. Seen Again sweeps you up in its intensity, and even the moments when Quine’s vocals don’t go in-key, it feels only natural that a song like this shouldn’t be neat – give it a listen here!
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