Back before the streaming era, there used to be weeks on the Hot 100 that people (well, me) called the doldrums, when the flow of debuts would drop to a trickle. Usually they struck in the first two months of the year, after the Christmas rush, and in late summer, in between the two biggest release seasons. I still remember a week in February several years ago when the only debut was middling Eminem single.
I had thought those days were gone. As the number of tracks to make the Hot 100 each year slowly rises, debuts now average seven or so a week, and that number stays pretty consistent throughout the year. But here we are all the same, enjoying a brief lull in mid-August with only two new tracks. What exciting tracks they are, too, running the gamut from mediocre to pretty much OK. Which may be why it took me over a month to get around to them. At least they make an easy start on the road to catching up.
Bea Miller
“Fire N Gold”
#78
A sixteen-year-old with a decent voice and not a single idea of her own, managed by Simon Cowell’s company and heavily promoted by Radio Disney. Not as bad as all that makes it sound, but bad enough.
Jason Derulo
“Cheyenne”
#90
Thanks to Taylor Swift, strobe synths are the (resurrected) sound of the year, and Derulo deploys them with energy and a sense of joy. Too bad he didn’t bother to come up with any other ideas or write a real song to go with them. That throb will only take you so far.