Can’t believe it’s finally out, and only a few days before the next one needs to be written…
When the month began, I wasn’t finding much new music that I enjoyed enough to write about. I thought it was going to end up a complete dud. Thankfully, some creative musicians have ensured that wasn’t the case! I found a lot of great new music in the last week of May.
New (to me!)
Evolution – Nothing But Thieves
We’ll start with a great song from a great English band. I was so happy to see they are releasing new music after I absolutely wore out my copy of Dead Club City, their last album from 2023. This song is about them evolving as a band, but in general it is also a summer anthem for embracing change. As I live through this era of my life and feel change all around me, I enjoy listening to this and going full-throttle towards whatever comes next. Change used to scare me. Now, songs like this express my new feeling: excitement!
Mating Season – AJR
This is actually a theme song for a show I really should watch, about anthropomorphic animals that are navigating relationships and such. I’ve heard it described as everything from “uncultured look at animals feeling human emotions”, to “Animated Melrose Place”. The theme song definitely evokes these things to me, haha. It’s a cute song and I hope the show is as good.
The Great Divide – Noah Kahan
Warning: Explicit lyrics! Wow, what a song. It’s about having a broken relationship, and still wishing the best for the other person. But also in a way digging at who they ended up with, in an almost passive-aggressive manner. There are a lot of complex feelings when you are in a relationship with someone for a long time, and then that stops. I know that All Too Well. This song is a great summary of some of those emotions. Weird fact: after I already added this song to my music library, I heard it in a Jersey Mike’s while picking up an Uber fare.
Young Again – Shinedown
The first single off this album, Three Six Five, narrowly missed my March article. It’s a great song too. But this one is so amazing and I wasn’t going to let this one go. This really captures the freedom of what it was like to grow up in the 90s, and the wistfulness of being in the 2020s now. But what I appreciate more than anything is that the last chorus changes the words, to make it so that we can still have those kinds of moments and friendships even if they aren’t the same as they were back then. That is something I have been personally discovering myself, too.
Sad Girls – Bebe Rexha and David Guetta
This song makes me feel so many different emotions. I feel a certain nostalgia for when more music used to sound like this. But mostly I feel this light feeling. I don’t mean “light” as in “not weighing much”, but “light” as in “a brightness”. It feels like a light in my very core that makes me raise my shoulders and smile as I sing along. I don’t know why. It’s just a beat and a song that connects with me and makes me feel really good. It’s something I really need these days, too, so I am very thankful that they made it!
Old favourites, found again
Spring Love – Stevie B
This came to me while trying to think of dance music to listen to while Ubering. I used to listen to this song a lot in the early 2000s. It is actually from the mid-80s Hi-NRG “Florida dance” scene that brought us Gloria Estefan’s Conga, too, which is another great track in the same vein. I linked the 1993 remix here, because I enjoy this mix a bit more than the original 1987 release. Either one is a great track about wanting to find a love from the past.
Body Work – Morgan Page feat. Tegan and Sara
Another lovely dance track, featuring on vocals one of my favourite sets of Canadian twins, Tegan and Sara. The thumping beat and that pounding synth can get me to move even when I’m having a grumbly day. I remember quite well when this came out in 2012, all of us in my friend circle would put this on and just have a good time. I’m pretty sure Madeline is the one who introduced us, but I could be remembering wrong… it has been a while since we’ve talked; it might be fun to get back in touch with her and ask!
Show Love – Mary J. Blige
This comes from Mum rewatching Ghost Whisperer within earshot of me. It was apparently featured in an episode of the show. I remember when this was a promotional single in 2005. The Breakthrough is a great Mary J. album and this is a great example why: positive vibes with heart delivered on a super groovy beat. This is the kind of song we need more of in the world. We should all show each other a little more love.
She Looks So Perfect – 5 Seconds of Summer
“I still can’t believe a song about underwear made the Top 10 in most countries.” is a sentence I’ve officially said out loud now. Okay, it’s not actually about underwear, but underwear does feature pretty prominently right there in the chorus! Honestly, this is just a really fun pop-punk song about young love and I’m here for it. I loved it as a “guilty pleasure” when it came out, and when I heard it on Apple Music’s 2010s Dance Party Essentials this month, it brought a big grin to my face. No longer guilty, this is a piece of nostalgia that is a pleasure to listen to.
On the 6 – Jennifer Lopez
Yes, the final entry on the list is an entire album. I couldn’t choose just one song. When I had the misfortune, or maybe fortune, of losing internet access in the latter part of May, I was listening to CDs as I wrote about in the linked article. This was one of the CDs I found on my shelf and I remembered how amazing it is. Standout tracks for me include Should’ve Never, Too Late, Could This Be Love, and Talk About Us. However, the real highlight is Promise Me You’ll Try. This will be featured in one of my writings. Actually, I will spoil a bit: I am writing a backstory on how Delilah met Doug, and this will be the first song they dance to (either Poppy or Diana will be controlling a CD player). Since they are both each other’s second mate, it goes without saying they are hesitant. This song is a perfect fit for the scene where they decide to nudge their relationship forward. “Don’t promise me forever / Don’t promise me the sun and sky / Don’t pretend to know you’ll never make me cry / Just hold me now / And promise me you’ll try.” I get chills just thinking about it!
And that’s my music discovery list for May 2026! There was a lot of fun to be had, with both new and old music. Be sure to comment on which was your favourite, and if you have any suggestions for me to listen to. Maybe your suggestion will end up on a future instalment!