Featuring new music from Cannons, Rozes and St Luna, plus the cover of the week by Kate McGill
Cannons. Photo: Ryan Rundle
The first full of week of 2022 gave us a huge surprise with the release of The Weeknd’s brilliant new album Dawn FM with another round of surefire hits likely to keep us tuned in through the year (my picks: “Sacrifice,” “Less Than Zero” and “Out Of Time”). Beyond the superstar, the week also includes the latest from Gunna, Maren Morris and Halsey, but while those artists are likely to be served up more easily to radio, here is our list of tracks that deserve to be some of the first hits of 2022!
Since their breakthrough “Fire For You” a couple of years back, Cannons have ridden that momentum and they seem likely to replicate that track’s success with “Purple Sun” from their upcoming full-length album Fever Dream. The single is warm, sunny and the perfect four-minute escape from the cold winter. Vocalist Michelle Joy sounds as relaxed as the summer breeze and we’re ready to have fun too, “underneath the purple sun.”
Brooklyn-based Kevin Holliday is onto something here. “Expensive Taste” is a refreshing tale of a relationship that becomes more transactional, meeting at the intersection of money and love. The production is slick, vocals soulful and the feel timeless, making for what could be a perfect addition to Top 40. Holliday is clearly influenced by early Michael Jackson here and that works cause well, nobody else seems to be these days!
The ever so talented and continually underrated ROZES is back with “Best They Ever Had.” The Philadelphia-bred singer-songwriter has created perhaps one of the catchiest and instantly “hit” records of her career with this one. The folksy-pop single feels like a breath of fresh air as the artist emotively captures the challenges of falling in and out of love with a chorus that equates those respectively with shots. With such a memorable hook, it would truly be criminal if radio stations ignore this gem.
Oklahoma duo of Cale Chronister and Christian Theriot, better known as Sports, start the year off with “Damn I’m Tired,” a great moving single by the dream-pop band. The song strikes a winning chord lyrically as it details the exhaustion that comes with forever playing the “peacemaker.” With a bit of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers-feel to the song, there is a timelessness to the track despite its very modern production. Here’s hoping the band score a big hit with this meaningful track.
Another new name in the bedroom-pop scene is U.K.-based St Luna. “Stressed” is the perfect introduction to his confessional-style soul that is filled with great hooks and slicky produced. The song screams Top 40 especially because of the catchy chorus that is likely to resonate lyrically with many. A very promising start for the young artist.
BONUS: Cover Of The Week!
After the inclusion last week of Art School Girlfriend’s cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U,” we’ll now feature separately the cover of the week. Welsh singer Kate McGill released her version of “Mystery Of Love,” the Oscar-nominated single from Call Me By Your Name by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. Maintaining the acoustic vibe of the original, McGill doesn’t change too much but it’s her voice that soars through and creates a deeply emotional connection and has us mesmerized from the get-go.
On the cusp…here are three more new releases we hope to see go far!
Listen to the #HITSOFTOMORROW playlist on Spotify below.
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