Latest Pop songs - a little bit of analysis on how they sound so perfect

[camsr]

This is nothing short of spectacular imo

The mix is good too

Yeah that has some awesome sound design also! Although I think it lacks strong groove, definately pop though.
The Plastic Plates remix is quite good, but lower tempo.

This track has really really nice bass dynamic and tone, perfectly warm sound, treble is a bit too thin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yumfPG2xS-I

[xoxos]

still learning, can't claim to be an authority,

it's been a quarter century that i've had a multitrack in my possession. my best tip for improvement atm is smoke weed. get your ego out of the way.. your aspirations and ambitions to let your ego shine through and be perceived as brilliant. perhaps we like to think we are better than we really are because we have a few tricks or skills under our belt.

i've been mixing lately with the philosophy of "that'll do", being prepared to resolve to adequate, instead of "brilliant," which usually sounds like "shit". "a month" is good advice, my ego wants to get all those special sounds in there, my egolessness doesn't really care if some fancy sound is in there if it clutters the mix or occludes the fundamental energy of the track.

[cryophonik]

This is nothing short of spectacular imo

The mix is good too

Yeah, it looks as good at full volume as it does on mute. Amazing how they can do that.

[nineofkings]

The mix on the Demi Lovato track is much better than the one in the op. And there's much better mixes than that around too. Check this for sheer perfection of mix - and remember that clarity, punch, hearing details etc. is only part of what mixing is. Mixing's main purpose is to convey what's being said by the songwriter. This achieves it in an absolutely stellar way. Listen to 3.04 onwards - when was the last time you heard a proper keyboard solo that compliments a song and has an actual purpose in a top 40 pop song? Just a beautiful record all round that's on a Prince level of songwriting. I would be very scared if I was the engineer on this - I'd probably f**k it right up lol..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG02zNMFGFo

Sevyn is one of those artists who's hit-or-miss, but when they hit, they really really hit. Frank Ocean is another example. They've got those indie roots, so it's essentially Top 40 R&B but with a little more willingness to take risks. When's the last time a post-2010 R&B song ended with an unapologetic retro f*ck-jam Moog solo?

[Googly Smythe]

This is nothing short of spectacular imo

The mix is good too

Yeah, it looks as good at full volume as it does on mute. Amazing how they can do that.

I must be really getting old - I can't tell if this is a spoof thread or not, seriously. All the examples above have had the hell compressed out of them and sound ghastly with their overblown kicks and whatnot. Where're my cardigan and slippers and hot cocoa...

[Kinh]

The mix on the Demi Lovato track is much better than the one in the op. And there's much better mixes than that around too. Check this for sheer perfection of mix - and remember that clarity, punch, hearing details etc. is only part of what mixing is. Mixing's main purpose is to convey what's being said by the songwriter. This achieves it in an absolutely stellar way. Listen to 3.04 onwards - when was the last time you heard a proper keyboard solo that compliments a song and has an actual purpose in a top 40 pop song? Just a beautiful record all round that's on a Prince level of songwriting. I would be very scared if I was the engineer on this - I'd probably f**k it right up lol..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG02zNMFGFo

Yeah, you dont hear too many solos these days. This one's not really a solo though in the conventional sense, its an outro so it doesn't really matter if its there. It could just as easily have faded without a solo. You'd probably find the radio version faded at about 3:30 or something.

[do_androids_dream]

Sevyn is one of those artists who's hit-or-miss, but when they hit, they really really hit. Frank Ocean is another example. They've got those indie roots, so it's essentially Top 40 R&B but with a little more willingness to take risks. When's the last time a post-2010 R&B song ended with an unapologetic retro f*ck-jam Moog solo?

And boy did this one hit. Your comment about taking risks.. R&B has always been the most interesting genre of pop - it pretty much always takes risks imo - there's so much diversity out there with R&B from artist to artist - so much room for experimentation with beats, funk, tempo and vocal production. I get quite emotional when I listen to good music - I was literally welling up hearing that solo at the end - it felt so right over that really warm, wide pad and was totally unexpected (and I was playing it nice and loud in my studio the first time I heard it). It was a similar feeling to when I first heard Blackstreet - man, they blew me away with their production and harmonies.

[do_androids_dream]

The mix on the Demi Lovato track is much better than the one in the op. And there's much better mixes than that around too. Check this for sheer perfection of mix - and remember that clarity, punch, hearing details etc. is only part of what mixing is. Mixing's main purpose is to convey what's being said by the songwriter. This achieves it in an absolutely stellar way. Listen to 3.04 onwards - when was the last time you heard a proper keyboard solo that compliments a song and has an actual purpose in a top 40 pop song? Just a beautiful record all round that's on a Prince level of songwriting. I would be very scared if I was the engineer on this - I'd probably f**k it right up lol..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG02zNMFGFo

Yeah, you dont hear too many solos these days. This one's not really a solo though in the conventional sense, its an outro so it doesn't really matter if its there. It could just as easily have faded without a solo. You'd probably find the radio version faded at about 3:30 or something.

I have to say that suggesting the solo is a take it or leave it affair tells me that you may not really 'understand' the song. I don't mean that in a rude way at all - just that sometimes you have to analyse a song - study why things are where they are - the actual reason for it in the context of what a songwriter is trying to convey, emotionally, to the listener. The solo is sexy, sensuous - totally deliberate given what the song's about. It gives the song an expensive, luxurious feel. It's not a trivial addition - it's an important part of the songs 'journey' and lifts it into the stratosphere. It's masterful songwriting/story telling imo.

[Kinh]

The mix on the Demi Lovato track is much better than the one in the op. And there's much better mixes than that around too. Check this for sheer perfection of mix - and remember that clarity, punch, hearing details etc. is only part of what mixing is. Mixing's main purpose is to convey what's being said by the songwriter. This achieves it in an absolutely stellar way. Listen to 3.04 onwards - when was the last time you heard a proper keyboard solo that compliments a song and has an actual purpose in a top 40 pop song? Just a beautiful record all round that's on a Prince level of songwriting. I would be very scared if I was the engineer on this - I'd probably f**k it right up lol..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG02zNMFGFo

Yeah, you dont hear too many solos these days. This one's not really a solo though in the conventional sense, its an outro so it doesn't really matter if its there. It could just as easily have faded without a solo. You'd probably find the radio version faded at about 3:30 or something.

I have to say that suggesting the solo is a take it or leave it affair tells me that you may not really 'understand' the song. I don't mean that in a rude way at all - just that sometimes you have to analyse a song - study why things are where they are - the actual reason for it in the context of what a songwriter is trying to convey, emotionally, to the listener. The solo is sexy, sensuous - totally deliberate given what the song's about. It gives the song an expensive, luxurious feel. It's not a trivial addition - it's an important part of the songs 'journey' and lifts it into the stratosphere. It's masterful songwriting/story telling imo.

I respectfully disagree. "You make lovin' fun" (after the first chorus) is a solo with intent. This one's just a 'filler' and only because there's really not a lot going on in the production. It reminds me of a song of The Dream's from his 2006 album. Strange how 7 years later a song would come out to mirror a lot of those same techniques. Wish there was more R&B on the radio of this style.

[nineofkings]

The current fad seems to be retro fetishism - in alt rock first with acts like Capital Cities and M83 and extending into poppy alt acts like The 1975 and then to straight pop like Taylor Swift and Carly Rae Jepsen. With any luck it'll cross over into R&B.

Although, the current trend in R&B - which frankly I prefer for its originality - looks more like futuristic (Afro-futuristic?) exploration. Artists like Sevyn, FKA Twigs, and the new Kendrick Lamar album are referencing pop music and black music conventions and thrusting them into trippy, futuristic contexts.
Ex: Kendrick Lamar - These Walls. Jazzy, conceptual hip-hop from one of the genre's biggest stars; but it's not mere boom-bap. It's futuristic and pushes the genre forward by using its conventions in a new way rather than alienating or imitating them. Hip-hop is pop at the moment, and thankfully its leading lights are doing some innovative stuff.

Frickin DJ Mustard's reign of generic sh*tty club R&B is overdue to end.