Friday Five: Selena Gomez looks back, Allie X drops a funky throwback, and more best songs of the week
Every Friday, EW’s music team runs down the five best songs of the week. In today’s edition, Selena Gomez releases a Rare bonus, Allie X drops a funky throwback, Glass Animals make a groovy return, Bibi Bourelly covers the RiRi drought, and Yves Tumor aims for a hypnotic blend of pop, jazz, and rock.
“Feel Me” — Selena Gomez
Rare showcased Selena Gomez’s personal growth in her time away from the spotlight post-Justin Bieber. But the sultry, melodic “Feel Me” represents a tiny step backwards in her road to relationship closure. That’s because it’s actually a song that dates back to 2016, when she performed it live during her Revival tour. It’s now being released as a Rare bonus track. The dance single feels like quite a jolt compared to her current material. Here she wishes that “every time [her ex’s] lips touch another,” he thinks of her instead. This may be the perfect post-breakup song, but thankfully it’s ancient history for Gomez. —Sydney Bucksbaum
“Super Duper Party People” — Allie X
Allie X washes her signature brand of electropop in shades of brooding blues on Cape God, arguably her best (and most personal) album to date. The set sees the Canadian singer dabbling in more organic instrumentation across a collection of somber-yet-danceable tunes that serve as a call to arms for outsiders. Nestled among them is the hazy “Super Duper Party People,” a funky throwback to the electronic sounds of her debut EP, CollXtion I. It serves as both a celebratory anthem and, next to its darker album brethren, a metaphor for Allie’s collective output. “Party People” is an irresistible ray of light that somehow makes the doom and gloom of outcast life feel like one big party. —Joey Nolfi
“Your Love (Deja Vu)” — Glass Animals
British foursome Glass Animals are back, and they’re bringing the dark side of love with them. The upbeat, hip hop-inspired song “Your Love (Deja Vu)” may feel like dance party material but the lyrics paint a more nefarious narrative: “I can feel your love / Your temporary touch / It’s a hit and run / You go back there when you’re done,” sings frontman Dave Bayley over a playful flute riff and the same groovy, experimental flavor fans have come to expect from the band. —SB
“One Day” — TOKiMONSTA feat. Bibi Bourelly and Jean Deaux
Bibi Bourelly is the perfect antidote for those suffering through year five of the great Rihanna music drought (she co-wrote four tracks on Anti). On this team-up with Jean Deaux and trailblazing musician/producer TOKiMONSTA — who is preparing to release her sixth album in March after conquering a brain disease that nearly ended her music career — the Berlin-born music prodigy sings with a distinct timbre, one that gives greater impact to this single’s message of triumph. —Marcus Jones
“Gospel For A New Century” — Yves Tumor
As someone afraid of walking past the DVD section at Target on the off chance they have a horror film on display, Yves Tumor’s satanic new music video initially steered me away from the new single. Thankfully, I gave in. “Gospel For A New Century” sounds timeless — a hypnotic mix of rock, jazz, and pop elements of both past and present. “I looked you in your eyes, it was over,” sings Tumor as he details the fiery end of a relationship. “‘Cause when I really needed you the most, yeah, you were gone then.” —MJ
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