Circles – Post Malone: Post Malone’s recent hit “Circles,” released before his new album, Hollywood Bleeding, highlights the more raw side of Malone. The song starts off with the mellow strumming of a guitar, followed by the humming from Malone — very similar to John Mayer’s raspy voice. After the first 30 seconds of the song, a generic beat starts to play, and we get to hear Malone’s natural voice with an echoing in the background, adding more complexity and layers to the song. Both the beat, and echoing is very similar to his previous single “Sunflower”, but “Circles” includes no rapping from the singer. As the chorus approaches, there is slight autotune in Malone’s voice, but it does not take away from his natural voice, creating an indie pop sound. “Run away but we’re running in circles”, the main lyric from the chorus, shows the reason behind the name of the song, and gives insight to what Malone was feeling when creating the emotional song. Although the song is less commercial compared to “Sunflower” or “Rockstar”, the chorus is what makes the song catchy and ultimately draws listeners to play the song over again. 

Liar – Camilla Cabello: In her new single “Liar,” Camilla Cabello tries to achieve a stylish mix between Spanish and pop music. By incorporating trumpets and emphasizing guitar, Cabello creates a sound very similar to that of Shakira. Cabello adds her own spin by inserting soft melodic inflections during the chorus drawing from her other hit, “Never Be The Same.” Though the blend is interesting to listen to, it proves very jarring for the listener as certain parts remain very commercial but others are unique. The song shifts very fast from a Spanish chorus to verse with autotune and pop influence. This contrast does not make the song enjoyable, as the autotune overpowers Cabello’s natural voice. The repetitive lyrics about denying feelings for someone do not add any layers to the song, and is somewhat surface level. Though a valiant attempt by a commercial artist to create unique music, “Liar” fails to be catchy and enjoyable for listeners.                     

Beautiful People – Ed Sheeran (ft Khalid): `

Ed Sheeran and Khalid collaborate in Ed Sheeran’s new album “No.6 Collaborations Project”, where Ed Sheeran partners with other musical artists. Titled ‘Beautiful People’, the song focuses on how it’s important to stay unique and true to yourself, even when you’re surrounded by materialistic people. Khalid’s R&B style mixes beautifully with Ed Sheeran’s pop. Especially at the beginning of the song, when you can hear Khalid’s vocals among the pop beat. The lyrics share the importance of staying true to oneself, and I think this song really reflects Khalid’s style as much as it could for a collaboration between the two artists. The song and lyrics showcase the beats and melodies representative of Khalid’s music, which echo throughout the song. ‘Beautiful People’ much like in ‘I Don’t Care’, a collaboration with Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran exaggerates how he doesn’t relate to shallow, materialistic celebrities, and he feels out of place in their world. The lyrics express that while fame has become so desired and glorified that so many people want to become part of that world of the rich and famous, it can come at the cost of one’s uniqueness as expressed in lines like, “Everybody’s looking for a come-up/And they wanna know what you’re about,” as well as “We don’t fit in well/’Cause we are just ourselves”. This is also expressed in the music video for ‘Beautiful People’ where a normal couple finds themselves in the luxurious lives we only see celebrities have, and while they find themselves surrounded by the beautiful people Sheeran and Khalid sing about, they only focus on each other. Before I heard this song, and judging by the title, I thought that it was going to be predictable and along the lines of “We’re all beautiful because we’re all unique!” While that is expressed in the song, I love how they expanded the title to have a broader meaning. The words are expressing that the people we may see as beautiful and out of reach are more complicated than how they are represented. We shouldn’t lose ourselves trying to reach them.