The Best Songs of July 2024 // New Music Friday!

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Tough" // Lana Del Rey & Quavo


Lana Del Rey and Quavo teamed up for "Tough", a dreamy Americana summer anthem released right before the Fourth of July. It reminds me of something that could have been included on one of my all-time favorite albums by Lana, Lust For Life, which is a sound I love to hear her channeling again. I also love the resilient message of the lyrics and the varied influences they draw from in this song. Their voices unexpectedly blend so well together and they truly make a great pair on this song. It's one of my favorite songs of the entire year so far, I love it so much and hope that we get more new music from Lana soon!

"Juna" // Clairo


I absolutely love every single song on Clairo's latest release, Charm, it flows together so beautifully into such a calming and transcending listening experience. "Juna" is definitely a highlight for me, it is such a sweet and simple jazzy song that feels like it could have been straight out of the 70's. I have been listening to this album on repeat non-stop and cannot recommend it enough!

"Irish Goodbye" // Kacey Musgraves


"Irish Goodbye" is the first release off of Kacey's expanded Deeper Well album, which is among my very favorites of the year so far. This song, along with the rest of the standard album, is so beautiful and feels so healing to listen to. It is a little short, but I suppose that does fit the "Irish Goodbye" theme! 🍀

Check out my full review of Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves!

"Plenty Sun" // Ice Spice


Ice Spice's debut album, Y2K, truly exceeded all of my expectations and I have really enjoyed listening to it since it was released. It is so much fun to listen to and I really love how much she switched up her style and flow throughout - especially throughout the first half. Aside from a few songs, a lot of her music never really gave me much variation, but I'm glad to hear she experimented on this album quite a bit. "Plenty Sun" was one of the several highlights from my first few listens, but there are so many great moments throughout. Her attitude and energy is infectious, I love it!

"Lucky" // Halsey


"Lucky" is the second single off of Halsey's forthcoming album, which interpolates the Britney Spears classic of the same name in a really impactful way. She takes Britney's message to the listener and now applies it to her own life with such a deeply personal approach. Much like the original Britney classic, Halsey grapples with the divide between the front-facing pop star persona that seems so "lucky" in every way, while also behind the scenes dealing with extremely dark and traumatic events in her personal life. It breaks down the difference between Halsey - the popstar persona she crafted at a young age to escape reality - and Ashley, the real person underneath all of that. Between "Lucky" and "The End", Halsey is truly baring it all for the world to hear on these two songs and I hope she is in a better place now than the heavy times that inspired this music. ⭐

"California Holds Her Breath" // Ashton Irwin

The second installment of Ashton Irwin's Blood On The Drums is finally here, after the electrifying release of the first part last month. The two parts sound distinctly different in a lot of ways, while still creating a cohesive full body of work together. Quite a few songs stood out to me from this project, I particularly love the way his music really captures the psychedelic Laurel Canyon sounds of the 1960's, but transformed in a modern way.

"Angel Of My Dreams" // JADE

Jade Thirwall of Little Mix finally released her long-awaited debut solo single and it sounds absolutely incredible! This song is what she called her "love/hate letter to the music industry" and is a really maximalist, bold way to reintroduce herself - in all of the best ways. I am looking forward to hearing more from her soon! 

"Fortnight (Acoustic)" // Taylor Swift & Post Malone


Since the initial release of The Tortured Poets Department earlier this year, Taylor Swift has been releasing various acoustic and live versions for many of the songs on the album. Most of them were only available exclusively across the ~13,000 different variants she released on her webstore, but luckily "Fortnite" eventually got an official streaming release. I do wish she and Post Malone recorded new vocals for the acoustic version (the same goes for the rest of these alternative versions) - but in terms of the production and instrumentation, it is a really beautiful take on the original. 

Check out my full review of The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift!

"Lighter (Acoustic)" // 5 Seconds of Summer, Galantis & David Guetta


To me, this is what "Lighter" was always meant to sound like and I am so happy 5SOS finally released this version of it! The subtle acoustic instrumentation really highlights the beauty of the lyrics and Luke's incredible vocals!

"JOYRIDE" // Kesha


"JOYRIDE" marks Kesha's first release as an independent artist, which is a new chapter that has been a long time coming after all that she has been through. "I've spent almost 10 years in litigation and millions of dollars in legal fees. This joy has been hard-fought for me, so I love that people are ready to 'JOYRIDE' with me," she wrote in a statement. It reminds me of the classic Kesha we all know and love - this song is so fun, wild, and liberated. She absolutely deserves to have this moment in the spotlight again to be fully herself. I am looking forward to hearing what this new and FREE era will bring for her! 

"Ever Seen" // beabadoobee


This is such a sweet and euphoric love song that I haven't been able to get enough of since I first heard it. I am really looking forward to hearing her new album next month too!


Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! Check out the best songs of June & more from my ongoing New Music Friday series.

This month marked the 7 year anniversary of my blog and I wanted to once again say how thankful I am for everyone who takes the time to read my writing. I have a ton of exciting new content to come in the next few weeks, which I hope you'll come back soon to check out! 

-Melissa ♡



all photo credit to owners - header designed by Melissa Kacar



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5SOS5 // 5 Seconds of Summer Album Review

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