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All The Best New Pop Music From This Week

As a wise woman once said, "August slipped away like a moment in time." Thankfully, despite the summer going by in a blink, the songs from this week can stick with you forever. There's a wide-spanning range of genre influences to choose from, including a pop-country crossover, K-Pop, the return of not one but two former Disney stars, and so much more.

Check out Uproxx's Best New Pop roundup below.

Selena Gomez – "Single Soon"

Selena Gomez returned to the joy of fans with "Single Soon." Perfect for ushering in your hot girl era, the video finds the pop star breaking up with someone via a post-it note, channeling the chaotic Sex And The City moment, but with a better spin on it.

Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves – "I Remember Everything"

Zach Bryan brought on Kacey Musgraves for his emotional "I Remember Everything," a standout from his new self-titled album. The two musicians offer differing perspectives in each of the verses, with Bryan coping by drinking and Musgraves reminiscing as their relationship comes to an end.

Miley Cyrus – "Used To Be Young"

"Used To Be Young" is a powerful reflection from Miley Cyrus, who is looking back on her headline-making moments — especially with her 2013 album, Bangerz, turning ten this year. Next month, she'll release an anniversary edition for it. But now, she is offering the fact that despite people thinking she used to be wild, she was just a young adult heading into life's craziness.

Blackpink – "The Girls"

Blackpink is back in your area, as the popular band dropped "The Girls" for their first new song this year. "Live fast, we do it like that / And we don't lie, we born to be mad / Better come right or never come back / Don't mess with the girls," they warn, showing both that they can be fun and tough.

Conan Gray – "Winner"

"I wrote this song at 2 a.M. — everything at the piano just spilled out all at once," Conan Gray shared about the heartbreaking "Winner" in a statement. "It was a moment where I finally felt like, 'Fine. Great job. You did it. You hurt me more than anybody ever could hurt me.' And it oddly felt nice."

Charlotte Cardin — "Someone I Could Love"

Charlotte Cardin's new album, 99 Nights, arrived this week. "Someone I Could Love" finds her taking a romantic spin in a song about an unexpected relationship that returned to her at a better time.

Ashnikko, Ethel Cain — "Dying Star"

A highlight from Ashnikko's new album, Weedkiller, is her collaboration with Ethel Cain titled "Dying Star." The ballad closes out the record on a strong and hopeful note, as the two musicians both weave themes of the South and religion into their work — making it a fitting choice.

Omar Apollo – "Ice Slippin"

"'Ice Slippin' is about reliving the thoughts I had passing through my mind the winter I came out to my family. Receiving cold judgment as opposed to the acceptance I felt I deserved," Apollo said about his new release, where he struggled with a real-life situation. "This song is a reflection and reaction of all the emotions I had to face before and after I decided to leave the icy streets of Indiana."

Corook — "Emergency Contact"

"The song itself plays like a conversation between me and my whimsical friends cheering me on to go for the girl of my dreams," Corook pointed out about "Emergency Contact," which provides a lighter, more "energetic" aspect from their forthcoming EP.

Gayle – "Leave Me For Dead"

Gayle is going through the emotional turmoil of someone whose "bad intentions" held her attention, as she details the chaotic ending to it all over a pop-rock instrumental.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Fan Poll: 5 Best Boys Like Girls Songs Of All Time

Alternative Press teamed up with Boys Like Girls for an exclusive ruby variant of Sunday At Foxwoods, limited to 500 copies. Head to the AP Shop to snag yours.

Boys Like Girls are back. With the pop-rock outfit announcing their new album — their first in over a decade — Sunday At Foxwoods, they stirred up a ton of excitement and nostalgia. To coincide with the release, Boys Like Girls are also preparing to head out on their upcoming tour in September, including support on select dates from State Champs, Four Year Strong, the Summer Set, and Say Anything's Max Bemis, among others.

Read more: 10 most criminally underrated the All-American Rejects songs

To celebrate their return, we asked our readers what the best Boys Like Girls songs are of all time. From "Hero/Heroine" to "The Great Escape," find the top fan picks ranked below.

5. "Heels Over Head"

"Heels Over Head" is deep within the tracklist on Boys Like Girls' debut LP, but the song has remained a fan favorite over the years. The track sums up the beginning stages of a crush accurately, as Martin Johnson sings that he's "the first to fall and the last to know." Its accompanying music video is like a time capsule for the late 2000s, rife with digital cameras, homemade merch, and tight tees. If the visual proves anything, it's that Boys Like Girls can pack a room — something that's certain to happen again on their fall tour.

4. "Love Drunk"

Here's a throwback for you, as "Love Drunk" felt inescapable during the summer of 2009. Though its introduction hints at classic-rock grandeur, the song quickly transitions into a pop-rock anthem that's meant for driving with the top (or windows) down. With an unforgettable music video — starring Ashley Tisdale as the one to impress — to match, this song still hits for anyone swept up by its massive hook. All these years later, "Love Drunk" is the epitome of an earworm. 

3. "Hero/Heroine"

Another song from the band's first record, "Hero/Heroine" remains beloved for a reason. The track possesses the kind of lines meant for scribbling on your Converse ("I keep a sinister smile and a hole in my heart"), as well as a cute story about a bubbling romance. Ultimately, it's easy to see why fans hold this one close.

2. "The Great Escape"

The distinctive single from Boys Like Girls' 2006 debut album remains one of their catchiest songs ever. The track bubbles with bouncy energy and endless optimism — and put the band on the map for countless teenagers in the mid-2000s. Its slick production, courtesy of Matt Squire, shines, too. No doubt this cut has soundtracked many summer nights and road trips.

1. "Thunder"The beginning of "Thunder" is deceiving. With Johnson strumming an acoustic guitar, the song appears to be a somber ballad. However, that delicacy soon transforms into a volcanic chorus. The music video, meanwhile, reflects teenage youth, including scenes of food fights, late-night hangs, and swimming pool makeouts that were shot throughout California.

10 Classic Metal Albums Where The Last Song Is The Best

The artwork of Iron Maiden's The Number Of The Beast, Slayer's Reign In Blood, Converge's Jane Doe and Motörhead's Bomber

Received wisdom dictates that you save the best for last, but a lot of artists just… don't. The music industry's always loved frontloading its albums, letting the big, successful singles pop up early to energise and excite you for the sonic journey still to come. Sometimes though, bands play their cards close to their chest until the very end, saving the true extent of their talents for a mind-blowingly grand finale. Below are 10 albums that do just that, with their most excellent song being the last thing you hear.

Metal Hammer line break

Iron Maiden – Hallowed Be Thy Name (The Number Of The Beast, 1982)

Iron Maiden's breakthrough album contains their two most popular songs: the title track and Run To The Hills. However, Hallowed Be Thy Name is when it goes from great to a masterpiece. At seven minutes, this finale ends Bruce Dickinson and the boys' magnum opus with an ever-building monolith, demonstrating a grandeur that would define them for the remainder of their career. Countless diehards will argue that this is the band's best moment, and it remains a measuring stick for long-running metal tracks even today.

Slayer – Raining Blood (Reign In Blood, 1986)

No discussion of the greatest metal songs in history is complete without a nod towards Raining Blood. Slayer's signature track, which is about nothing less than a war between Heaven and Hell, sounds appropriately apocalyptic thanks to those imposingly down-tuned guitars. Then Tom Araya's agonised screams really make it sound like the underworld's popped up top for a spell. Angel Of Death is another killer Reign In Blood cut but, in terms of invigorating song craft, this cannot be beat.

Black Sabbath – Into The Void (Master Of Reality, 1971)

Master Of Reality is home to three all-time-excellent Black Sabbath songs in Sweet Leaf, Children Of The Grave and Into The Void. However, the final entry in that trilogy has been named by both James Hetfield and Eddie Van Halen as their favourite Sabbath track. Who are we to argue with them? The stoner staple also boasts not one but two of the greatest Tony Iommi guitar parts, from that strutting opening to the weed-stenched, chord-powered main riff.

Judas Priest – Dissident Aggressor (Sin After Sin, 1977)

On Sin After Sin, Judas Priest were still fledgling in their Metal Godhood, their allegiance to proto-metal progenitors like Led Zeppelin very much audible. However, if any song showcased how far Rob Halford and crew could go, it was Dissident Aggressor. That chord-powered riff and Rob's ground-quaking falsetto flaunted Priest had all the talents to become a timelessly heavy band. They just needed some sharper production that could resonate through the ages – which they mercifully, finally got on the immortal British Steel three years later.

Motörhead – Bomber (Bomber, 1979)

Bomber, although still top-notch in its own right, often finds itself in the shadow of Motörhead's more successful Overkill album, which preceded its release by a mere seven months. The title track has since forged its own legacy though. Released as the sole Bomber single in November 1979, it became a permanent fixture of the band's setlist until Lemmy's death. Today, it has seven million more Spotify streams than the next-most popular song on the album – pretty irrefutable evidence of a classic.

Opeth – Blackwater Park (Blackwater Park, 2001)

Blackwater Park is one of the most purely-blooded metal cuts that Opeth ever released. Much of this song's parent album is dedicated to balancing death metal force with melodic maturity, resulting in numbers from the long-running Drapery Falls to the acoustic Harvest. Yet this finale shoots straight for the throat, charging between riffs with only the briefest of atmospheric segues. Meanwhile, Mikael Åkerfeldt exclusively roars his way through. For a 12-minute suite to feel this exciting the entire time is a herculean feat.

Converge – Jane Doe (Jane Doe, 2001)

Before the title track, the songs on Jane Doe clock in between four-and-a-half minutes and 42 seconds. This one is 11 minutes long. Jane Doe is a striking statement of ambition from a band who, over the preceding half-hour, had already tested metalcore to more rabid extremes than it had ever visited before. After the main body of the album signified that Converge had an unbridled new vision for their genre, this finale only telegraphed that fact even more strikingly.

Alice In Chains – Would? (Dirt, 1992)

Three months before Dirt came out, Would? Featured on the soundtrack of 1992 rom-com Singles and signalled great things were about to come for Alice In Chains. The track got the band onto the single charts in the UK and Australia for the very first time, before closing an album that is still regarded as their masterpiece. Dirt delves into dark places on entries like Down In A Hole but, with this catchier and concise finale, there's a feeling of warmth waiting at the end.

Death – The Philosopher (Individual Thought Patterns, 1993)

The Philosopher is inarguably the simplest part of Individual Thought Patterns, and it's a standout because of it. Following nine songs of technical death metal trailblazing, this single defaults to a more accessible heavy metal gallop and contains the greatest chorus of Death's discography. "The philosopher! You know so much about nothing at all!" Chuck Schuldiner snarls, delivering a simple hook with a poetic message behind it. Despite closing Individual…, The Philosopher opened Death's gigs for years to come, before becoming the album's most-streamed song.

Between The Buried And Me – White Walls (Colors, 2007)

In the mid-2000s, Between The Buried And Me destroyed the constraints of the nascent metalcore and prog scenes. Their songs were a mind-boggling array of riffs and cross-genre weirdness, and no one example summarises their entire outlook like White Walls. For 15 minutes, this Colors closer is a rampage of ideas, stringing together moments of untouchable death metal nastiness while gradually growing more melodic. By the end, those duelling guitar harmonies and solos have made this the most majestic Iron Maiden song that Iron Maiden never wrote.

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