1
Gwen Stefani, “Early Winter.” Given my predisposition for quirky girl-pop, I should probably be ashamed to admit that I’ve never really gotten Stefani. She’s a great pop star—smart, funny, self-deprecating—but her singles always come up short for me, from the in-your-face chirpiness of “Hollaback Girl” to the ho-hum craftsmanship of “The Sweet Escape.” Not anymore. “Early Winter” is the best pop track of the past three months. A shivery sigh of resignation wrapped in a diamond-hard surface with a subtle underlay of Moroderized Euro-disco in the chorus. Full of drama and not remotely overblown. In a word: perfect. (Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0)
2
Sugababes, “About You Now.” This Brit trio won me over last year with their furious cover of Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” which glammed up the scrawny original with stacks of synthesizers and eyeliner. “About You Now,” produced by teen-pop auteur Dr. Luke (cf. Pink, Avril, Kelly), has as much synthetic pizzazz as their Monkeys cover, and is a prettier tune to boot. (4.0) (myspace.com/sugababesofficial)
3
Taylor Swift, “Our Song.” Seventeen-year-old country prodigy parlays a nifty music-as-environment theme (“our song” being not something one hears on a radio, but rather, “a slamming screen door”) into a perky, poppy rave-up. Trust me, mere words cannot describe just how “perky” this is. (3.5) (myspace.com/taylorswift)
4
Leona Lewis, “Bleeding Love.” Spawn of the UK talent show The X Factor debuts with an excellent song that’s almost undone by its own production. The words and the vocals are slice-a-knife-through-my-heart despondency, and the drum track is this jagged post-new jack groove with a snare that sounds like it was transposed from Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.” Neat idea, wrong context. Producer Ryan Tedder aims for edgy crispness, but the song calls for something much more opulent, much more expensive-sounding. Despite Lewis’ R&B tendencies, this is isn’t Jenny on the block; it’s Kate Bush on the mountain top. Big difference. (3.0) (myspace.com/leonalewis)
5
Jordin Sparks, “Tattoo.” Last year’s Idol winner bounces back from the public execution that was “This is My Now” with a song I keep expecting to any second break out into a rendition of “Umbrella.” Sparks feels her way through the emotions of this tune a little too eagerly, but there’s an insistent passion here that shines through in the circular synthesizer melody. (3.0) (myspace.com/jordinsparks)
6
Girls Aloud, “Call the Shots.” More Brit-pop girls, beloved by millions of U.K. teens and by the critics who love whatever it is U.K. teens are loving at any given moment. The verses are blandly functional, but some plush synthesizer padding in the chorus elevates the song’s sagging spirits. In theory I like any pop song that rhymes “shimmer” with “glimmer,” but this track could use more of both. (3.0) (myspace.com/girlsaloud)
7
Fergie, “Clumsy.” As a still-recovering Black Eyed Peas hater, I’ve been pleasantly surprised time and again by Fergie the Singles Artist, but a five-song winning streak is a lot to ask, and this is her slightest offering to date. It’s amusing the way she wraps her distorted lips around the Little Richard sample in the chorus (all those desperate cries of “Oh baby!”), but the energy flags in the rest of the track, and the spoken bridge feels like a tacked-on afterthought. Still, that her worst is still fairly entertaining says something either about her or about the current pop year. Or both. (2.5) (myspace.com/fergie)
8
Ingrid Michaelson, “The Way I Am.” Hippy-dippy chick-folk, aka “that song from the Old Navy commercial.” Not bad. A bit overly cutesy (which seems to be a requirement for chick-folk these days), but you have to admire anyone willing to impress a man by buying him Rogaine. That stuff’s expensive (so a friend tells me). (2.0) (myspace.com/ingridmichaelson)
9
Alicia Keys, “No One.” Splendiferous, elasticized house beat, elegantly stated piano motif, a funk-dilly-icious synthesizer wail propelling the thing forward—all toppled in the end by that voice, shredded beyond repair, an overabundantly “soulful” longing that translates into a whimpering beast. Sorry, I don’t get her, and I don’t get this. (2.0) (myspace.com/aliciakeys)
10
Kylie Minogue, “2 Hearts.” Her comically exaggerated come-hither moans don’t mask her quintessential ordinariness, but there’s a moderately interesting gothic tackiness here. Not awful, but she’s trying too hard. (2.0) (myspace.com/kylieminogue)