The Best Songs of February 2023 // New Music Friday!

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"A&W" // Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey is back and she's cooler than ever! "A&W" represents so much of what Lana is about as an artist and showcases every side that makes her music so special. It is a seven-minute masterpiece that takes the listener on such an emotional journey, with some of her most heart-wrenching and vulnerable lyrics yet. "I'm a princess, I'm divisive, ask me why why why I'm like this, maybe I'm just kind of like this", she sings in the first half of the song. The switch-up in the trap-inspired second half was so unexpected and feels like an ode to some of her early unreleased work. I already know that Did You Know There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard is going to be a top contender for my favorite album of the year, just based on how much I love this song and the title track alone! I could go on and on about "A&W", but I'll save it for when I write my full review of the album next month!

"You First" // Paramore

"You First" is my favorite off of Paramore's incredible album, This Is Why - I really can't get enough of this song. Like much of the album, this song focuses on battling the two sides of yourself and having to consciously choose good over evil. Everyone is at constant battle with themselves to not feed into the negative energies that we all face on a daily basis - whether it is on a personal level or through the media. "Everyone is a bad guy, and there's no way, no way to know, who's the worst", Hayley Williams sings, "Karma's gonna come for all of us, and I hope, well, I hope, I just hope, that she comes, comes for you first". This song also has my favorite lyric on the album - "Turns out I'm living in a horror film, where I'm both the killer and the final girl, so, who, who are you?"

Check out my full review of the album here!

"Dublin In Ecstasy" // Inhaler

Inhaler is such an exciting new voice in rock music, there were so many songs that I was torn between to include on this list from their latest album, but "Dublin In Ecstasy" is one that I keep coming back to as my current favorite. The melody and guitar riff are infectious, and the lyrical imagery of Ireland is stunning, especially the lyric "I can see the city in the glass of your eye". I have been loving their debut album It Won't Always Be Like This ever since I discovered it early last year and couldn't wait to hear what they were going to do next. Their sophomore album, Cuts and Bruises, turned out to be even better than their first! I can't recommend checking out Inhaler's music enough!

"Die 4 Me" // Halsey 

This is a song that I have been waiting years to finally hear! The original version was first released on Post Malone's 2019 album, Hollywood's Bleeding, with Halsey and Future as featuring artists. It has always been one of my favorite Post Malone songs, but Halsey's verse was always the highlight of it for me. On her tour last summer, she performed a new version of the song solo and now has finally released the original demo version of it. There are so many great one-liners, but the updated "I sold 40 million copies of our breakup note" is a lyric that will never not be iconic. It is technically a demo version, so parts of it do sound a bit unfinished or more subdued compared to the 2019 version, but the addition of the new verses and alternate chorus makes up for where it lacks in some areas of the production. 

"Die For You (Remix)" // The Weeknd & Ariana Grande 

Marking her first music release in over a year, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd teamed up yet again for a remix of his 2016 song, "Die For You", which recently had a resurgence in popularity because of TikTok. Seven years later, this song is still one of his best and Ariana of course makes it even better. I love that she wrote a brand-new verse for the song too, just like she did for the remix of "Save Your Tears" in 2021. Ariana and Abel can really do no wrong when it comes to their collaborations, hopefully we can expect more new music from both of them soon! 

"Heaven" // Niall Horan

After taking a break for the past few years from releasing music, Niall Horan is back with his first single from his upcoming album, The Story. Niall is at his strongest musically when it comes to making really sweet love songs, and "Heaven" is no different. I am definitely looking forward to hearing the rest of his new album!


Thanks for reading! If you are interested in more of my recent song recommendations, check out my list of the best songs of January 2023 and more from my New Music Friday series! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! 

-Melissa ♡

All photo credit to owners 

Header designed by Melissa Kacar


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