Music meteorology: predicting the next wave of megahits and earworms with the tracks they’re teasing and releasing now.
‘The Giver’ isn’t just another pop star trying on cowboy boots for size – it’s a rhinestone-studded revolution in action.
Words: Dan Harrison.
Back in 2011, a 13-year-old Chappell Roan was posting about her dreams of performing on Saturday Night Live. Fast forward to this month, and there she is, rocking a gingham halter top and boots, backed by an all-female band in full Western regalia, singing about how only women know how to treat women right. If that’s not the definition of manifesting your dreams, what is?
‘The Giver’, her latest collaboration with producer-du-jour Dan Nigro (who’s apparently already been busy cooking up five whole new album tracks with our favourite maximalist icon), isn’t just dipping a toe into country music’s waters here. Sure, it’s got all the fiddles and Nashville flourishes you’d expect, but this isn’t your grandaddy’s country song.
Instead of the usual tales of beer-soaked heartbreak and pickup truck romance, Roan’s taken country music’s favourite toys – those Friday night bars and small-town dreams – and redecorated them with a distinctly queer eye, all resulting in a song that manages to both curtsey to country tradition and flip it the most bedazzled bird you’ve ever seen.
The SNL performance itself was pure Chappell in the best possible way. While some artists might have played it safe, Roan went full fairy tale fever dream, performing in front of animated woodland creatures that looked like Disney’s Country Bear Jamboree had stumbled into a Pride parade.
Of course, in an era where everyone from Beyoncé to Post Malone has been trying on their best cowboy hat, some might wonder what makes this different. The answer lies in Roan’s approach – she’s not trying to fit into country music’s perfectly polished boots; she’s building her own pair from scratch, just as you’d expect.
Nigro’s already spilt that this is the only country-flavoured track we’re getting on the upcoming album, but that just makes it more special. The inevitable conversations about “authenticity” in country music have already started bubbling up, but they’re missing the point so hard they might as well be line-dancing in the wrong direction. Roan’s authenticity doesn’t come from ticking off some predetermined checklist of country music credentials – it comes from being unapologetically, gloriously herself.
With ‘The Giver’, that couldn’t be more the case. It’s a gentle reminder that genres are more fun when you colour inside, outside, and all over the top of the lines. As Roan continues her mission to make pop music as theatrical as possible, this country detour proves she can bring her unique brand of magic to any genre she fancies. Nashville’s stuffier cliques might not be ready for her, but that’s kind of the point. Yee, and we cannot stress this enough, haw.
SAM FENDER – ‘PEOPLE WATCHING’
Release date: 15th November 2024
After making half the country feel things (and the other half pretend they weren’t) with ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Sam Fender returns with perhaps his most heart-wrenching offering yet. Teaming up with The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel in LA, our Sam’s crafted a tribute to a surrogate mother figure who passed last November. “I was by her side at the end, slept on a chair next to her,” he shares, with the kind of raw honesty that’s become his calling card. “It’s kind of ironic because she was the one that gave me the confidence to go on stage.”
Following up an album that had the nation in the palm of its hand was never going to be easy. “Figuring out where the hell to go after 17 took some working out,” Sam admits, “but I got there in the end.” If this first taste is anything to go by, that’s one hell of an understatement.
TATE MCCRAE – ‘2 HANDS’
Release date: 14th November 2024
Fresh from proving she’s more than just your algorithm’s favourite pop star with ‘It’s Ok I’m Ok’, Tate McCrae’s back with another slice of precisely engineered emotional devastation. Working with production dream team ILYA and Savan, she’s continuing her evolution from TikTok sensation to proper pop powerhouse. ‘2 Hands’ suggests McCrae’s found the sweet spot between commercial appeal and artistic growth – turns out you can have your viral moment and eat it too.
OLIVIA DEAN – ‘TOUCHING TOES’
Release date: 15th November 2024
If you’ve caught Olivia Dean on her recent UK tour, you might have already fallen in love with this one. Already creating magic moments at venues like Manchester’s Albert Hall (where it got its live debut), ‘Touching Toes’ strips everything back. Building on the success of her debut album ‘Messy’, Dean’s proving that sometimes the simplest approach hits hardest. When you can silence a room with just your voice, why complicate things?
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