20-Second Takes: 11/29/20

Sabrina Claudio/ Photo Credit: Kanya Iwana

Charlie Goodwin

“Flex Up” - Lil Yachty (feat. Future, Playboy Carti)

How do I put this? This is utter garbage. Still riding the wave of 2016’s “Broccoli,” Lil’ Yachty puts out yet another disappointing track. The presence of Future as a feature is the only bright spot in this release, with both Yachty and Playboi Carti producing extremely subpar verses. After 4 years without a true hit, you have to question how many more chances Lil’ Boat is going to get before his ship sinks.

“Angels Like You” - Miley Cyrus

From her new album Plastic Hearts, this is a phenomenal entry in the still fairly young career of Miley Cyrus. Having been in the limelight since 2005, we forget that the singer is only 28 years old. You can hear the maturation is Cyrus’ voice, as well as her lyricism. The album is great overall, but “Angels Like You” is a clear standout here.

Aaron Sabeti

“If We Make It Through December” - Phoebe Bridgers

LA-based indie musician and singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, known for her widely-acclaimed album Stranger in the Alps and her infamous tweet, “if trump loses I will cover iris by the goo goo dolls,” just put out a 4-track EP. Each song is a cover of a well-known holiday song, and Bridgers covered Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” for the title track. Melancholy keys, the cold chorus, her gentle tone: Everything about this cover accommodates Bridgers’ typical song style for the holiday season. Bridgers’ spin on a song about bittersweet hopefulness includes her somber charm and emotional narration, and it’s the perfect cozy, sad song to comfort us all during this difficult winter.

“fue mejor” - Kali Uchis, PARTYNEXTDOOR

THIS SONG IS SO CATCHY. The bass is sensual, Kali switches from English to Spanish with no hesitation, it all just works y’know? Her knack for making melodic, infectious songs like “Dead To Me” and “After The Storm,” obviously hasn’t subsided, and doesn’t seem to be doing such a thing any time soon. Her 2018 album Isolation already earned her a name in the R&B, neo-soul and pop worlds, but with a recent introduction of bilingual lyrics and increasingly seamless English-to-Spanish transitions in her music, “fue mejor” seems to be the nail in the coffin for Kali musically. Her new album, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞, features even more of that multicultural, genre-bending sound which everyone should check out!

Ken Tse

“Christmas Blues” - Sabrina Claudio and The Weeknd

As a harsh critic of this year’s Christmas tunes, I think that Sabrina Claudio’s collaboration with Grammy-snubbed The Weeknd may have just turned over a new leaf. Sensual and soulful, this is not your cheery Mariah Carey holiday classic, but instead, a slow ballad that has a strange boyband vibe to it. The extensive harmonies and style remind me of *NSYNC’s 1997 Christmas Album, with both artists expressing their undying appreciation for their special someone. “I'd have Christmas blues, If I didn't have you.” Yep, sounds like J.C. Chasez to me. All jokes aside, a great song.

BEBÉ - Camilo (feat. El Alfa)

I took Spanish for seven years and I still have zero idea what Colombian hitmaker Camilo or El Alfa are saying in this latin jam. However, I am a sucker for songs like this: a bachata/rap hybrid which a catchy hook. I can definitely make out the “¿Por Que?” in pre-chorus, which is the same reaction I had to Nate Robinson being knocked out by Jake Paul last night. Nonetheless, this is a great tune that is great to chill out to. Give this one a try.

Sunday Scaries with Eli Goodwin

“KISSLETOE” - 3OH!3

Call me Scrooge, because it seems as if my gripe with this poor, unfortunate deluge of Christmas songs is the epitome of perpetual. Pop punk band 3OH!3, well-known for an impressive discography that includes “My First Kiss” (feat. Ke$ha), has joined in on the holiday cheer this year. The issue? Pop punk isn’t Christmas. “KISSLETOE” in and of itself is not bad by any means. It’s just not a Christmas song and thus needs to stop masquerading as such. It’s a pop punk song with plenty of potential that just threw in a couple references to the holiday--yes, you guessed it, kisses and mistletoe, hence “KISSLETOE”--but remains littered with the classic staples of a pop punk song, including but not limited to angst, a guy being hurt by a girl, a voice quasi-à la Billie Joe Armstrong, a little more angst, and the same, repetitive four chords. Where are the jazzy seventh chords, the serenading vocals, and the Christmas splendor, you ask? Well, missing, missing, and, plot twist, missing. And again, though I may have spent the last couple sentences oh so lovingly bashing “KISSLETOE,” it’s not terrible. Not my cup of tea per se, but it’s constructionally sound and all. It’s just ill-fitting in terms of Christmas, you know? Well, as Dusty Springfield put it, I guess I’ll live out the next 27 days “Wishin’ and Hopin’” that no screamo cover of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” surfaces any time soon.