Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this best new music segment.
On this week’s list, we have Mitski’s ‘The Only Heartbreaker’, which trades the creeping desperation of previous single ‘Working for the Knife’ for vibrant, blazing synth-pop; Taylor Swift’s ‘Nothing New’, one of nine ‘From the Vault’ tracks from Red (Taylor’s Version), an emotionally striking duet with Phoebe Bridgers that tackles the music industry’s treatment of young women; the sweepingly hypnotic ‘Superstar’, a stand-out from the first chapter of Beach House’s Once Twice Melody rollout that might be one of their best songs ever; Jenny Hval’s new track ‘Jupiter’, which unravels with a warm, cosmic beauty; Shamir’s ‘Cisgender’, the spine-chillingly good lead single off his upcoming album Heterosexuality; Camp Cope’s gentle, engagingly layered new single ‘Blue’; Nilüfer Yanya’s ‘stabilise’, which works both towards and against its title by conjuring a tightly controlled nervousness; and Gang of Youths’ ‘tend the garden’, a more upbeat but no less stunning offering from the band’s newly announced album.
Best New Songs: November 15, 2021
Mitski, ‘The Only Heartbreaker’
Taylor Swift feat. Phoebe Bridgers, ‘Nothing New’
Song of the Week: Beach House, ‘Superstar’
Jenny Hval, ‘Jupiter’
Shamir, ‘Cisgender’
Camp Cope, ‘Blue’
Nilüfer Yanya, ‘stabilise’
Gang of Youths, ‘tend the garden’