New Music: Tish Melton, THEM, Your Future Ghost and 2024’s Best Singles
Last week, POPDOSE counted down many of 2024’s best albums so far, including longtime favorites Ariana Grande, Dove Cameron, Green Day, Ministry, and Honeymoon Suite plus breakthrough artists NewDad and The Last Dinner Party. This week, we’re going to introduce you to more rising stars and some of the best singles in the StreamerVerse.
HOT NEW ARTISTS
Tish Melton • When We’re Older
It never hurts to have friends in high places, so when teenage singer/songwriter Tish Melton started recording demos in earnest, her mom passed around some tapes to get a few professional opinions. It helped that mom was a bestselling author, Glennon Doyle (Untamed), and that her friends included Grammy-darling Brandi Carlile and super producer Linda Perry. Carlile signed on as producer of Melton’s debut EP, ushering in a mentorship relationship that flows both ways. In the glorious result of their partnership, you can hear Carlile’s Pacific Northwest influences (Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith) alongside Melton’s favorites Boygenius and Taylor Swift.
Earnest singer/songwriter is an oversaturated genre, with the nation’s subway stop, vegan bakery and coffee house infrastructure unable to meet the performance demands of aspiring Stefani Germanottas. Look no further than the deluge of auditioners on American Idol and The Voice who clearly have the chops and potential for major label deals. The talented singers who eventually make it will strike the cherry cherry cherry slot machine payoff of the right songs, the right connections, and the right buzz striking at the same time. All three of these good omens seem to be working in Melton’s favor.
In an extensive Variety profile, Chris Willman exclaims, “Melton is a real find, as a singer-songwriter who’s able to explore her messiest emotions without apology, even as she projects calm-amid-the-storm assuredness.” As big of a fan of Carlile as I am, I sailed past their lovely duet “Long Drive” straight to “Michelle”, the emotional heart of the EPs five tracks. While it’s clearly a breakup song, the deftness of the writing and delivery leave it open to interpretation whether Melton has lost a friend, a lover, or both. The whole EP just dropped and is picking up steam, while her debut single “We Can Do Hard Things” sails north of 2 million streams on Spotify alone.
THEM • Can’t Call it Mine
THEM are a West Seattle circa Los Angeles quartet comprised of Thompson, Hudson, Ellie, and Maia–not to be confused with the Belfast band of the same name that launched Van Morrisson (for better or worse) with “Gloria” in the 60’s or the theatrical metal band that also currently uses the moniker. As their breakthrough single, “Sunset Blvd,” inches toward a half million streams, this new track takes that winning formula to the next level with bigger choruses and dreamier guitar lines. They, THEM, have a marketable look; on the daily, impeccably color coordinated band images light up their socials. Their talent just keeps getting better and better and still has a long way to grow.
Fellow teen rock sensations The Linda Linda’s went from playing the LA Public Library to a 3 year and counting world tour that steamrolls through 2024 with Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins, so the future looks indeed bright for THEM too (this THEM, not those THEMs).
OTHER TOP SINGLES OF 2024
Sofia Carson – I Hope You Know
As we discussed in last week’s column, Disney’s Descendants franchise minted two bonafide pop stars in Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron, each of whom also have thriving acting careers.
Carson is currently shooting a new Netflix rom-com, The Life List, following up on her previous blockbuster Purple Hearts, which is one of Netflix’s biggest success stories. She released an epic solo record in 2022, which only came out on CD in Japan–and yes, I happily plunked a good $30 or so for the bonus-track heavy import. Beyond that, Carson’s streamers are filled with buried treasure, many one-off DJ collabs, solo cuts, and bankable hits on the soundtracks to Purple Hearts and the My Little Pony: The New Generation movie.
“I Hope You Know” is available in full band and stripped down acoustic versions; it joins the fellow weeper, “Joke’s On Me”, as what is hopefully the beginning of a new album cycle. Carson is gunning to be this generation’s Celine Dion and/or early career Mariah Carey when Mimi was the queen of Adult Contemporary radio. Carson has the look and the voice to transcend these icons and seems well on her way there.
Speaking of icons…
James Brown • We Got to Change
Yes, the Godfather of Soul is back with a new track, freshly exhumed from the vaults. “We Got to Change” is a big ass, cold sweat, funky horn workout. Captured here in peak bandleader mode, Brown adds to his legend in this remastered three track digital single. Recorded on August 16, 1970 in Miami, the track features guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins and future superstar William “Bootsy” Collins.
Orianthi feat Joe Bonamassa • First Time Blues
I keep waiting for Orianthi to “happen” on a global scale. She has a diehard fanbase, but still should be much higher than she is on the superstar/icon scale. This Aussie triple threat (singer, guitarist, songwriter) was Michael Jackson’s guitarist on the ill-fated This is It tour. Beyond her solo career, she played with Carrie Underwood on legendary Grammy and CMA’s performances, toured with Alice Cooper, and released a full length album with ex Bon Jovi guitarist Ritchie Sambora.
Over the years, labels tried to mold her as a pop star, and ages ago I went on a long Popdose rant about her song “According To You” which I still feel set back women’s empowerment a bit (long story, best kept within the original context of that essay). Thankfully, she keeps chugging away with a steadily growing catalog. This song really lets her guitar skills shine. I’m honestly not sure what the market is for the modern Blues outside of the concert circuit–same can be said for Gary Clark Jr., a widely respected musician with a stellar discography, but from what I can tell still mainly tours theaters and mid-size arenas. In another multiverse, Orianthi would be on her own Eras tour right now, her albums and talent are surely worthy enough.
JJ & The Mood • How Many Times
This track was featured in an iPhone commercial where the father records his son endlessly attempting to karate chop in the backyard. It plays like a poor man’s LCD Soundsystem and is super long for a radio single (5+ min), but damn, once the hook drops bigly after a long build-up, it’s a total jam.
Your Future Ghost • Pritty
This is the second outing from One Tree Hill super duo Kate Voegele and Michael Grubbs (who records as Wakey!Wakey!). Back in 2014, both artists separately made my Best Albums of the Year list.
In late 2023, they unveiled a new collaboration with the debut single, “We Got Places”, a track that quickly became my single of the year, with the breathy chorus that is absolutely mesmerizing. That couldn’t prepare me for the surprise turn of their second single, “Pritty”. What a stunner, packing a dizzyingly different, high energy vibe. Clocking in a hair over 2 minutes, “Pritty” is anchored by a scuzzy, thundering synth hook on a scale we haven’t heard in pop since the freaky guitar break in Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out”.
The Electromagnates • Airwave Hello
Here’s another supergroup, this time around Big Stir Records stars Chris Church and Dolph Chaney team up with Steve Stoeckel of The Spongetones and Peter Watts of Spygenius for one song and one purpose: to celebrate DJs, the folks who spend hours putting together songs and streaming them out to the world–and I assume they’re talking about podcasters too! :)
Blancmange • Again, I Wait for the World
I have spent the better part of 40 years obsessively collecting all-things Blancmange, originally a duo comprised of Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe. Their first three albums–Happy Families, Mange Tout, and Believe You Me–are synth pop perfection, packing some of the decade’s defining new wave hits, including “Waves”, “Living on the Ceiling”, “Don’t Tell Me”, and “Blind Vision”.
In 1994, Arthur went solo with a spectacular one-off album, Suitcase, before the duo went off grid until 2011’s Blanc Burn. Sadly, with Luscombe in ill health, Arthur forged ahead alone with the band and the brand. He has more than made up for lost time, releasing 14 more albums under the Blancmange name, and even more under band aliases Near Future, Fader, and The Remainder.
As the band readies its latest greatest hits package, the 2CD Everything is Connected, out May 10th, Arthur surprised fans with a gem from the vault, “Again, I Wait For The World.” According to Arthur, the track “originally dates back to 1979 and the pre-Blancmange and long-forgotten art-school band, L360. I’m still trying to find the other members of L360 to credit them, because without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
Sara Melson • From a Mile Away (featuring Spearfisher)
I’ve written about Sara Melson for more than a decade here in the digital pages of Popdose. One of my favorite singer/songwriters from the early 2000’s LA Hotel Cafe scene that also gave us Sara Bareilles, Katy Perry, and Brooke White. Melson also had notable acting guest spots on the OG runs of 90210 and Frasier. In 2024, she returns with one of her clubbiest songs ever, a triumphant first peek at a rumored new album coming out later this year.
Ward White • Continuity
Much like overseas contemporaries Paul Weller and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Ward White specializes in delightful, sharp and biting sophisticated pop that isn’t at all pretentious. His last album, Ice Cream Chords, landed at #8 on my list of the Retro-Heavy Best Albums of 2022. His upcoming album, the old Hollywood-themed Here Come The Dowsers (out May 17 and available for preorder on Bandcamp) is another spellbinding doozy, with the first single out now.
Nat Jay • Turns Out It’s Not The End
As I was drafting my Best Albums of 2023 list, culling a solid 100+ worthy albums down to 50, I cut two EPs from the mix, including the latest release from one of my longtime favorites, Nat Jay from Vancouver, BC. Ted and I were lucky enough to have her as a guest on the Planet LP podcast earlier this year, where we discussed her storied career and her talent of getting indie songs placed in high profile film and TV projects, most recently “I Will Keep You Warm” in the Netflix hit My Life With the Walter Boys. This is the title track from that glorious EP.
The March 2024 Popdose New Music Report on the Planet LP Podcast
Fellow Popdose writer Ted Asregadoo and I dive deep into a wide variety of the artists I highlighted both here today, and also in last week’s Best Albums of 2024 (So Far) roundup here on Popdose. Check it out below or on your favorite streaming platform.
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