Hello all! Happy Friday! Philip’s Music Corner brings you another exciting edition of picks for you to listen to this weekend! This week’s lineup includes two powerful collaborations in BLACKPINK with Selena Gomez and Calvin Harris with The Weeknd. There’s also new tracks from Katy Perry, 5 Seconds of Summer and ILLENIUM. All that and more in this week’s New Music Friday for August 28, 2020!
“Ice Cream” by BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez
K-pop girl group sensation, BLACKPINK have teamed up with pop icon Selena Gomez for a fun track called “Ice Cream.” It’s the first time the two artists have worked on a song together. The collaborative effort has earned the nickname Selpink across social media. This is a really catchy tune sonically speaking, perfect for that late-summer vibe at the beach with your friends/family or poolside hangout.
The brightly colored music video is filled with a lot of flavors, if you will. In it, it alternates with Gomez driving an actual ice cream truck to singing and posing in front of a vintage convertible car, and the girls of BLACKPINK playfully interacting on very Instagrammable sets. Both artists are dressed stylishly for the summer heat!
Did You Know? The track was co-written by Grammy-winning pop artist, Ariana Grande. You can hear some influences of Ms. Grande’s vocal stylings when BLACKPINK member Jennie sings in the second verse.
Did You Know? The entrepreneurial Selena Gomez teamed up with Serendipity in creating her own ice cream flavor: Cookies ‘n Cream Remix (pink vanilla ice cream and cookie pieces)
Back to discussing the song, the post chorus is very addictive the more you listen to it. “Ice cream chillin’, chillin. Ice cream chillin'” Doesn’t that make you crave an actual ice cream cone/cup right about now? With the summer months still heating up across the country, it’s very fitting to have one to cool us all down.
Overall, this is a collaboration that works well and it will benefit both fandoms moving forward. I predict this will go viral over the next 24 hours, and maybe perhaps reclaim the title of most views over the first 24 hour period for a music video which was previously held by BLACKPINK until fellow K-Pop group, BTS took the #1 spot last week with their new song, Dynamite.
Lastly, I just wanted to point out the continuing trend of female artists coming together in 2020. Notable mainstream examples include BLACKPINK & Lady Gaga in “Sour Candy” and Doja Cat & Nicki Minaj in “Say So.”
“Over Now” by Calvin Harris (with The Weeknd)
Moving along with this second pick of the week is EDM-hitmaker Calvin Harris with his latest collaboration with R&B/pop artist, The Weeknd in “Over Now.” The song is about a guy who’s literally done with his ex. There’s no more second chances, no more redo’s, no more going back to the girl he once called his girlfriend. For both parties, it’s best to move on and that’s the overall message of the song. The Weeknd’s smooth vocals layed over this groovy arrangement made for a very lit track in my opinion. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
This is the first time the two artists have worked together and to be honest, they hit it right out of the park on their first try! The Weeknd’s popularity has soared in 2020 with his smash hit song “Blinding Lights” which is certified Platinum by the RIAA and is also a Billboard Hot 100 mainstay approaching 40 weeks straight on said chart. I expect this song will also go to #1, giving the two artists yet another mainstream hit to their credit.
The accompanying music video for this single features a computer generated version of The Weeknd dancing and pouring his heart and soul out as he sings the song with trippy backdrops of cityscapes, shrooms, and outer space scenery. Props to the visual effects artists who brought this vision to life.
“Cry About It Later” by Katy Perry
What a week pop star Katy Perry is having! Just two days ago, she became a first time mom by giving birth to her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom. Now today, her fifth major studio album, Smile is officially out! She joked on her IG page by posting a meme that this was her second child.
This uptempo song is great for those who want to move on from a relationship and just de-stress overall. There’s no need to be down on yourself because you can find someone new and shed your tears afterwards.
The animated video for the song gave me Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vibes for some reason. Very cute. What are your thoughts? Voice them in the comments box down below. You can see the other Smile Series videos, by clicking here.
Perry is embracing her new chapter in her life both professionally and personally, so this song is a perfect addition to her discography. Hopefully this breath of fresh air a.k.a. the new album era is resonant with the fans this time around. We don’t want to see Perry lose her smile again!
“Kill My Time” by 5 Seconds of Summer
Australian pop rock band 5SOS is back with a bonus track off their album, CALM which has a new iteration called CALM PLUS1. The song was previously exclusive to their online merch store but now it’s available on all streaming platforms. This single has a very 1980’s feel to it in my opinion. Singer-songwriter, Luke Hemmings discusses being in love with someone but there’s a catch, he awaits what she decides since this girl is also in a relationship with somebody else too! He doesn’t want to kill his time with anyone else but her. He talks about his desires to take her to the dive bar downtown and the prospects of having a fun time.
Love is truly complicated and I’m sure there are 5SOS fans who can relate to this situation and will connect well to this song. But if not, and you’re like me, you can still enjoy this track for its unique arrangement and overall sound. I appreciate the maturity this group has gone through over the years and I’m looking forward to what’s to come!
“Nightlight” by ILLENIUM
Capping off this week’s picks is this new single from Nick Miller, DJ, musician and record producer better known for his stage name, ILLENIUM. This is the first single off his forthcoming fourth album, title TBD. It follows his 2019 album release of Ascend which spawned the hits “Takeaway” with The Chainsmokers and Lennon Stella and “Good Things Fall Apart” with Jon Bellion. Both songs are certified Platinum by the RIAA.
“Nightlight” is a love song with vocals from the angelic and soothing Annika Wells. She’s a Californian singer-songwriter with previous credits on ILLENIUM’s past albums Awake and Ascend. I enjoy this song for the vocals and for it’s production. The distorted sounding guitars plus Wells’ vocals match really well together.
Thematically, the song is about someone in love with somebody and that somebody is their ride or die. This special someone help you get through the tough time(s) in life.
Hopefully in 2021, ILLENIUM can resume touring and can showcase the songs he’s cooking up in quarantine from his next album.
That does it for this week’s edition of New Music Friday here at Philip’s Music Corner. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a call to action in light of the recent news of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin who was shot by a police officer 7 times in the back in front of his three kids this week. Truly sad what the world has become as of late. Please consider helping out by visiting this link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEQt1y4DyMe/ or by donating to the GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/justiceforjacobblake
As always, please stay safe, and be kind to one another. Happy listening!
Philip's Music Corner 
2 thoughts on “New Music Friday: August 28”