Standouts:
BRITNEY SPEARS - 'GLORY' - RCA
Slumber Party + [Stout x Svedja Mix] feat Tinashe x Love Me Down x LIAR x Mood Ring x Better x Invitation
[Julia Michaels Carin Cavosoz/Justin Drew Tranter/Mattman & Robin]
[Jessica Ashley/Evan Bogart/Jesse St John/Andrew Goldstein]
[Breyan Isaac/Danny Parker/Nash Overstreet/Jason Evigan]
The Glory album as a whole was Britney back on top form after the terrible 'Britney Jean' which promised to be the 'Original Doll' album but was actually just an awful collection of will.i.am/Guetta reject beats which didn't do her status justice at all. On Glory, thanks to great A&R uniting her with the dreamteam of Julia Michaels/Justin Tranter and a further genius collection of top urban pop songwriters and allowing her to show how well she can write and ad lib once again.
Love Me Down was my gun to the head favourite on a perfect album with its exotic, dark urban/island and bad ass attitude. The pre-hook and the warped synth and backgrounds on the hook are a songwriting/production 101 class.
Slumber Party's chill sexy urban beat was the perfect addition for labelmate Tinashe to be added on and her ad libs took the track to the next level. The club mix brought the track back to its 90s dance club origins from the Julia Michaels demo and a totally new direction ready for the party scene.
LIAR took everyone straight back to 90s Max Martin Britney with its layered ad libs and backgrounds. The southern Bayou influence mixed with the banging urban bassline and drums by Jason Evigan also gave the track the epic feel Britney should command.
KATY PERRY - 'WITNESS' - CAPITOL
Bon Appetit feat. Migos x Roulette x Bigger Than Me x Deja Vu x Tsunami x POWER
[Hudson/Ferras/Max Martin/Oscar Holter/Shellback]
[Hudson/Ferras/Max Martin/Ali Payami/Shellback]
Katy delivers the perfect combination of urban and 90s dance on 'Bon Appetit' the addition of Migos is for once, is not just a rent a rapper and they fit in perfectly with the track. Roulette goes full 80s synth era and Ferras/Max Martin further prove a dreamteam for Perry. Both a perfect example of why Katy should NEVER step away from Max Martin's proteges [Ali Payami/Oscar Holter/Shellback/Savan Kotecha]
KEHLANI - 'SWEETSEXYSAVAGE' - ATLANTIC
Distraction x Too Much x I Wanna B x Gangsta
[Parrish/OAK/Pop Wansel/Daniel Klein/Matthew Campfield]
[Parrish/Picard Brothers] [Static/Timbaland]
Kehlani lets us know what Brandy would have sounded like with Timbaland's classic 1996-1998 sound and its of course, absolute heaven. 'Too Much' even samples Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman', although the sound is much more '4 Page Letter'/Playa.
ZARA LARSSON - 'SO GOOD' - EPIC/TEN
So Good feat. Ty Dolla Sign x Sundown feat. Wizkid x I Would Like x What They Say x Ain't My Fault feat. Lil Yachty
[Charlie Puth/Jacob Kasher/Lunchmoney Lewis/Ty Dolla Sign/Danny Boy Styles]
[Larsson/Ammar Malik/StarGate] [Brian Garcia pka PEOPLES/Phil Shaouy]
Zara steps away from the Rihanna comparisons with the gorgeous 90s chill track 'So Good' using more of her higher register and showing that classic urban music is where she excels. Meantime 'Sundown' could have easily been a Rihanna 'LOUD' demo with its island StarGate beat and there's nothing wrong with that as Zara delivers the attitude with confidence.
ARTIST TOP 30:
01. Britney Spears - Slumber Party + [Stout x Svedja Mix] feat Tinashe x Love Me Down x LIAR x Mood Ring x Better x Invitation
02. Katy Perry - Bon Appetit feat. Migos x Roulette x Bigger Than Me x Deja Vu x Tsunami x POWER
03. Kehlani - Distraction x Too Much x I Wanna B x Gangsta
04. Zara Larsson - So Good x Sundown x I Would Like x What They Say
05. Tinashe - Ghetto Boy/Touch Pass/Flame/Company/Superlove [SHIFT K3Y Mix]/Quit You x Lost Kings
06. Louisa Johnson - Best Behaviour feat. Stefflon Don/So Good/Tears x Clean Bandit [99 Souls Remix]
07. Fifth Harmony - Deliver/Sauced Up/Make U Mad
08. Lady GaGa - The Cure/Dancing In Circles/John Wayne/Sinner's Prayer
09. Skylar Stecker - You Got The Golden Touch/Bring Me To Life
10. Camila - OMG feat. Quavo/Love Incredible x Cashmere Cat/HAVANA [Espanol] feat. Daddy Yankee
11. Selena Gomez - Fetish feat. Gucci Mane/Trust Nobody x Cashmere Cat
12. Era Istrefi - No More I Love Yous feat. French Montana
13. Bebe Rexha - Bad Bitch feat. Ty Dolla Sign/NAUGHTY x DJ Mustard/Atmosphere
14. Charli XCX - White Roses/DRUGS feat. Abra/Dreamer feat. RAYE, Starrah
15. Justine Skye - Don't Think About It/FLAMES/Girlfriend
16. Little Mix - No More Sad Songs feat. MGK/If I Get My Way/Private Show
17. GRL - Kiss Myself/Are We Good?
18. Ariana Grande - Greedy/Side To Side feat. Nicki Minaj/Quit x Cashmere Cat
19. Demi Lovato - Sexy Dirty Love/Games/Instruction x Jax Jones x Stefflon Don
20. AGNEZ MO - Beautiful Mistake/Damn I Love You
21. Sevyn Streeter - Present Situation/My Love For You
22. STAR - Ain't About What You Got
23. Ella Mai x DJ Mustard - My Way/Nobody Else
24. Tove Lo - True Disaster/Lady Wood/Influence feat. Wiz Khalifa
25. Tamar Braxton - Pick Me Up/Wanna Love U Boy/My Forever
26. Shakira - When A Woman/Chantaje x Maluma
27. Kacy Hill - Europa Pools x Cashmere Cat/Like A Woman
28. Dua Lipa - Bad Together/Hotter Than Hell x Miike Snow/Dreams
29. LeToya - GREY feat. Ludacris/My Love
30. Julia Michaels - Uh Huh/I Miss You x Clean Bandit/Make It Up To You