Friday Five: Usher is back to his old ways, Mickey Guyton loves rosé, and more
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Every Friday, EW's music team runs down the five best songs of the week. In today's edition, Wayne Coyne has taken LSD, Major Lazer teams with Mr Eazi, Mickey Guyton just wants some rosé, Nothing add Doyle Martin to the lineup, and Usher is back to his old ways.
"Bad Habits" — Usher
Usher is back to his old ways. On his new single "Bad Habits," he admits to lying, cheating, and scamming his way through a relationship. "You take me back and then I lie to you again/I slipped into the DM of your best friend," he sings over starlight synths. "Oh God, I didn't mean it/Truth is I only messed up because you seen it." I mean… damn, dude. "Habits" is Usher's fourth release of 2020, and comes on the heals of his Vegas residency announcement, currently scheduled for 2021. —Alex Suskind
"Rosé" — Mickey Guyton
Country singer Mickey Guyton released two of the year's most powerful songs in "Black Like Me" and "What Are You Gonna Tell Her." "Rosé," off her recently released EP, serves as a counterweight — a laid-back, lay-in-the-grass-on-a-summer-day kind of anthem about (you guessed it) drinking rosé. "Don't buy me a beer when I'm sittin' here/Give me something that's sweet going down," she croons over a light banjo and acoustic guitar riff. "Don't need no bougie sommelier/There's no point in askin' 'cause I'm gonna say, 'Rosé.'" —A.S.
"Say Less" — Nothing
For shoegaze heads, this new song from the Philadelphia band Nothing is a big deal for a few reasons. It's the lead single from a new album that features contributions from Alex G and Mary Lattimore, and was recorded with renowned producer Will Yip; it marks the addition of Doyle Martin, frontman of fellow heavy shoegaze band Cloakroom, into the band's lineup; and it's a fantastic song that pushes Nothing's sound into a fascinating new direction. Since their 2014 debut Guilty of Everything, Nothing's bread and butter has been pounding grunge riffs filtered through dreamy reverb. "Say Less," however, has a much more industrialized vibe to it, featuring alt-metal vocal melodies, programmed drum effects, and a dense, smoggy guitar lead. —Eli Enis
"Oh My Gawd" — Mr Eazi & Major Lazer feat. Nicki Minaj and K4mo
During what's seemed like a never-ending farewell run for Major Lazer, Diplo has tried to redeem himself thanks to a devastating burn from Rihanna that his music "sounds like a reggae song at an airport." His latest attempt: "Oh My Gawd," a collaboration with Mr Eazi. Here the Nigerian artist expertly bridges his Afro-fusion sensibilities with a more typical dancehall beat. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj once again steals the show by channeling her Caribbean roots. —Marcus Jones
"Mother I've Taken LSD" — Flaming Lips
Ignore those silly teens-getting-stoned-for-the-first-time song titles and you'll discover how great the Lips' 21st studio album is — an enchanting 13-track mix of spacey psychedelic rock and melancholy acoustic numbers that hearken back to the band's career-best record, 1999's The Soft Bulletin. See: "Mother I've Taken LSD," a beautiful and despairing acoustic number about life-altering drug trips and motorcycle crashes. There's enough reverb here to make you feel like you're blissfully floating in a zero-gravity chamber. —A.S.
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