10 Cool New Pop Songs to Get You Through The Week: Leigh-Anne and Ayra Starr, Romy, Blondshell & More

11 September, 2023

Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered.

These 10 tracks from artists including Leigh-Anne and Ayra Starr, Romy, Blondshell, Tirzah and more will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your personal playlists — or scroll to the end of the post for a custom playlist of all 10.

Leigh-Anne feat. Ayra Starr, “My Love”

Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock has found an intriguing new lane for her solo career: “My Love,” co-starring rising Nigerian artist Ayra Starr and produced by Afropop connoisseur Magicsticks, values movement above all over the course of nearly three minutes, with both artists singing about relentlessly vibrating rhythms as the percussion follows their cue. “My Love” is designed to be bellowed among groups of friends on the dance floor, and succeeds in pushing Leigh-Anne’s sound into the future. Jason Lipshutz

Romy, “She’s On My Mind”

“She’s On My Mind” is a joy, as both the album closer to Romy’s recently released Mid Air and what the song represents in that spot: after Romy Madley Croft murmured her subtle magic with The xx, her debut solo album lets her spread out into sensual, often smile-inducing dance music. With its euphoric key plinks and whooping vocal hooks, “She’s On My Mind” ends the full-length triumphantly — but of course, the track works just as well on its own, the softness of Romy’s voice highlighting any dance break. – J. Lipshutz

Baby Queen, “Quarter Life Crisis”

Before the final five seconds of Baby Queen’s new single “Quarter Life Crisis” speeds up into a chaotic swirl and then crashes down, 25-year-old Bella Latham sings about living within that hurricane of post-teen uncertainty, asserting in the chorus, “I look at my face and I don’t recognize it.” A shakier writer might have trouble provoking empathy for mid-20’s ennui, but Latham understands how to make each line both biting and relatable — as well as deliver a hummable waltz of a hook. – J. Lipshutz

Morgan Saint, “It Hurts To Be Human”

The title of Morgan Saint’s sparkling new dance-pop track refers to post-breakup agony: as the bass hits a groove and the cymbals get tapped, Saint bemoans putting an untrustworthy partner’s needs before her own and ignoring clear-cut warning signs during a doomed romance. The tension between Saint’s sorrow and her self-produced, happily chattering track helps “It Hurts To Be Human” levitate above other dance floor cuts of its ilk, particularly when the song arrives at its elastic breakdown. – J. Lipshutz

Jolie Laide, “Pacific Coast Highway”

Jolie Laide is the new collaborative duo of Nina Nastasia and Jeff MacLeod, and after Nastasia unveiled Riderless Horse, her first album in 12 years, last year, “Pacific Coast Highway” suggests that we’ll be getting more moving songwriting from the beloved cult figure soon enough. “Pacific Coast Highway” possesses a stormy foundation, with a cracked guitar-and-drums arrangement that threatens to explode, although Nastasia also communicates a calmness while extolling the peace and freedom of her subject. – J. Lipshutz

iann dior, “You Don’t Even”

iann dior topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks as the featured guest on 24kGoldn’s “mood,” and the Texas singer-rapper brings the same irresistibly melodic melancholy to his latest solo track, “You Don’t Even.” Dior melds sweetness and pain so breezily that it’s easy to overlook his knack for pop songcraft. – Joe Lynch

Tirzah, “Promises”

An album title like trip9love…??? doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but Tirzah isn’t the type of singer-songwriter to meet the audience halfway. Once again paired with producer Mica Levi, the English artist creates a strangely compelling mixture of minimalist piano, skittering 808s and gently haunted vocals on gems such as “Promises.” – J. Lynch

George Riley, Elixir

The meaty beat and jangling metal that introduces “Elixir” are immediately grabbing. And once London singer-songwriter George Riley adds her vocals into the mix, it’s game over. Her syrupy sweet delivery paints the thumping dancefloor production with colors of R&B and pop, resulting in a track just as enticing as the elixir she sings of. – Lyndsey Havens

Blondshell, Street Rat

After teasing the fondly titled “Street Rat” online and in her live show, alternative artist Blondshell finally unleashed the track as part of the forthcoming deluxe edition of her self titled album (out Oct. 6). “Wouldn’t feed that / To a street rat,” begins the artist, doubling down on her knack for scorching one-liners delivered as softly as possible — which, somehow, makes them all the more painful. And when the chorus hits, during which she confesses certain circumstances to be “awful … and needed,” Blondshell reminds listeners that her greatest strength of all is her unrelenting honesty. – L.H.

Slothrust, “Pony”

Ginuwine’s “Pony,” a R&B classic and staple for the ’90s, is seen through a brand new lens in Slothrust’s latest cover of the track. The song goes grunge, trading the original winding bass instrumental for fuzzier and notably heavier guitar and drum work from duo Leah Wellbaum and Will Gorin. Wellbaum shines on the song, delivering the lyrics — which boasts of sexual prowess amid searching for a partner that can truly satisfy — with a knowing wink and the perfect hint of seduction. – Starr Bowenbank