Ariana Grande, TXT, and More: Best New Music Friday

When Ariana Grande, TXT, BENEE, and more release music all in the same week, you know it’s gonna be a good one for pop music.

The hits kept on coming this week with the release of Ariana Grande’s new album Positions and TXT’s new EP Minisode1: Blue Hour. Both albums are a bit of pop magic, serving up good vibes and infectious beats all around. 

And they’re not the only exciting new tunes headed straight for our playlists — BENEE has a collab meant for an intense dance floor session, while Ava Max’s new music video brings the vibes of pop icons before her.

Check out our picks for this week’s Best New Music Friday below:

Ariana Grande, “pov”

The closing track on Ariana’s new Positions is a lovely ballad about seeing yourself the way the people who love you do. With minimal production and a ‘90s R&B vibe, Ariana’s airy vocals soar. “How do you touch my soul from the outside?” Ariana asks. “I wanna love me the way you love me … for all of my pretty and my ugly too.” It slowly builds amidst snaps, strings, and quiet beats into the high notes, somehow encompassing all the romance and gently falling snow of a Christmas song.

TXT, “Ghosting”

The newest EP from TXT (TOMORROW X TOGETHER), Minisode1: Blue Hour, is like all of their catalogue thus far — very good. But an early favorite is “Ghosting,” an ‘80s driving song perfect for imagining you’re in a John Hughes film. In a recent performance of the song for M2, “Ghosting” gets a fun, melancholy visual to match: leader Soobin finds himself surrounded by friends at a birthday party, before realizing he’s actually all alone. Members Taehyun and Soobin both contributed to the song’s composition, in addition to credits from Lennon Stella, EL CAPITXN, and Slow Rabbit. The lyrics, a story of being ghosted by a friend, muse, “I don’t get used to it/Being alone.”

Tokio Blond and Cory Wade, “Dreaming on the Dance Floor”

DJ Tokio Blond and former America’s Next Top Model finalist Cory Wade have teamed up for an instant adrenaline boost. The pair said that “Dreaming on the Dance Floor” is an “anthem for everyone who misses dance clubs,” according to a press release. And it’s definitely an appropriate sentiment: the song is pure club dance music, impossible not to dance to.

BENEE ft. Lily Allen and Flo Milli, “Plain”

New Zealand artist BENEE is back with a collaboration with Lily Allen and Flo Milli ahead of her upcoming debut album. “Plain” is an unrequited love bop in the vein of “Dancing On My Own,” but with an electro-trap twist — it’s a little snappy, a little petty, and a lot of fun. The top YouTube comment on the lyric video said it best: “there’s nothing better than starting a day with new benee song.”

Kyle Lux, “Thank You for the Moment”

Up-and-coming artist Kyle Lux released his new Projectors EP this week, and a highlight is new song “Thank You for the Moment.” The deep, echoey final track is as reflective lyrically as its thrumming magnetic sound would suggest. “I won’t forget this moment,” he reminds himself, and the flowing meditation slips into an ending bridge monologue. “A lot of intimate feelings went into this project,” Kyle wrote on Instagram. “There’s a bit of self discovery and an exploration of looooove.” The song’s final line? “Caught up in a feeling just to find that I’m still healing, I’m projecting.” Relatable.

Ava Max, “OMG WHAT’S HAPPENING”

Ava Max is fully leaning into her Lady Gaga influences in her new music video for “OMG What’s Happening.” The song itself is a pop banger with an addictive dance beat, and the video brings the road trip vibes (with a flame bikini to boot). The catchy hit is just the next part of Ava Max’s quiet ascent to pop’s upper echelon.

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