Best May singles: Shabazz Palaces, Selena Gomez, Sampha, Downtown Boys, LCD Soundsystem

I never thought I'd live to see a month where Justin Bieber, a dude who rose to fame in One Direction and Selena Gomez would all have entries in my singles-of-the-month list. And it's not because the nerdy stuff I tend to favor was in short supply. Their tracks are just that good, especially the Gomez song, "Bad Liar," which came really close to winding up at No. 1.

Here's a look at those titles as well as local tracks from Jane N' the Jungle, Playboy Manbaby and Serene Dominic.

1. Shabazz Palaces featuring Thaddilac, 'Shine a Light'

When you start with a sample as deeply soulful as the richly orchestrated snatch of Dee Dee Sharp’s “I Really Love You” that underscores this single, you’ve already won my vote. Rather than sampling Sharp’s vocal performance, they layer their own vocal melody over the string part, Thaddilac singing, “Shine a light on the fake / This way my peeps can have it all” in an aching falsetto.

It’s a breathtaking backdrop for Ishmael Butler’s words, which flow freely, unhampered by linear thinking. “Street profit / Sweets geeked off it,” Butler aka Palaceer Lazaro begins, “Seek profit / Cook styles, eat off it / Think unique, tyres squeak, jewels blink / Defy critique, high peaks, comped suites / She said I'm too deep, then she fell asleep.”

This is the first track they’ve shared from their new album, “Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star,” introducing the title character, a “sentient being from somewhere else” who finds himself trapped in the “ethers of the Migosphere here on Drake world.”

2. Selena Gomez, 'Bad Liar'

At 24, she has one of the sexiest voices in mainstream pop. And that's important on a track like this – much like on last year’s most contagious actual pop hit, the smoldering “Hands to Myself.”

I love that she not only borrows a bassline from a classic Talking Heads song (“Psycho Killer" of all things) but slips in a lyrical reference to the Trojan War ("Just like the Battle of Troy, there's nothing subtle here").

And I am not the only aging music nerd thinks this song is pop gold. David Byrne of Talking Heads responded with a Tweet that said, “I really like the song...and her performance too.”

OK, yes, he used to seem more eloquent. The point remains, he likes the single, which was written over Tina Weymouth’s classic bassline. Justin Tranter, who collaborated on the song with Gomez and Julia Michaels, explained how they ended borrowing a 40-year-old bassline in a conversation with Variety:

“Selena and Julia are Talking Heads-obsessed. So when we all got together in one room, Julia suggested, ‘Why don’t we just write over the bassline from ‘Psycho Killer?’ and we were all going, ‘That sounds great!'” It really does.

3. Everything Is Recorded feat. Sampha, 'Close But Not Quite'

XL Records founder Richard Russell built this track, the first we’ve heard from his new project, on a deeply soulful Curtis Mayfield sample, the soul legend bringing his trembling falsetto to bear on a richly orchestrated chorus. “Of these words I try to recite,” he pleads, “they are close but not quite.”

Most singers wouldn’t want to have to measure up to that. But U.K. soul sensation Sampha more than made it clear on last year’s "Process," his achingly beautiful full-length debut, that he is not most singers.

Sampha effortlessly rises to the challenge here with a vocal that’s almost as vulnerable as Mayfield’s, especially when he slips into his own falsetto in the middle of the line, “I feel like I don't have the words” and then again, on the bridge, where he repeats the line, “I’m so misunderstood.”

It’s a stunning pairing that breathes new life into a timeless melody Mayfield laid to tape in 1970, 18 years before his duet partner (who wasn’t even that familiar with the Mayfield catalog before he cut this track) was even born.

If the process of making this record gets Sampha inspired to dig a little deeper into what people like Mayfield were doing in the early ’70s, then the future of soul is in even more capable hands than it already seems to be.

4. The Downtown Boys, 'A Wall'

This isn’t the first time these Rhode Island punks have made my singles of the month list. This time, they’re raging against the Trump administration’s fabled border wall with conviction to spare on an explosive track that’s all forward momentum, Victoria Ruiz shouting "A wall is a wall / A wall is just a wall / And nothing more at all.”

The implication, of course, is that it’s one more artificial boundary when we should be building bridges.

The track is driven by a throbbing post-punk bassline — and horns! — as Ruiz sneers the words with righteous indignation, demanding to know, “Am I under arrest? And do I have the right?” after leading her bandmates in a chant of “You can’t pull the plug on us.” Meanwhile, group members her punctuate her thoughts with well-placed expletives.

5. LCD Soundsystem, 'Call the Police'

It’s been six years since LCD Soundsystem played what was supposed to be their final concert. And if you’re like me at all, you’re pretty happy when artists go back on their word and come out of retirement, especially when they come back strong with new material that only adds to – rather than subtracting from – their legacy.

Which brings us to “Call the Police” and “American Dream,” a new LCD Soundsystem single released as a digital double A-side.

“Call the Police” is a feedback-laden rocker with a throbbing post-punk bassline and an urgent, emotional vocal from James Murphy, who sets the tone with a mantra of “We all, we all, we all, we all know this is nothing.”

The lyrics are riddled with tension, reflecting the current political climate without naming names or engaging in anything obvious. “The old guys are frightened and frightening to behold,” Murphy sings. “The kids come out fighting and still doing what they're told.”

In the song’s most lacerating verse, he sings, “Well, there’s a full-blown rebellion but you’re easy to confuse / By triggered kids and fakes and some questionable views / Oh, call the cops, call the preachers / Before they let us and they love / When oh, we all start arguing the history of the Jews / You got nothing left to lose / Gives me the blues.”

And then he signs off with “The first in line, they’re gonna eat the rich.”

6. LCD Soundsystem, 'American Dream'

“American Dream” isn’t nearly as explosive as "Call the Police." A melancholy synth-pop waltz, it finds Murphy reflecting on shattered American dreams and sex and drugs (but loveless sex and drugs that sure don’t sound like they’ve been getting anybody high). Mostly, it’s about the existential dread that so often accompanies aging.

“Find the place where you can be boring,” he sighs. “Where you won't need to explain that you're sick in the head and you wish you were dead / Or at least instead of sleeping here you prefer your own bed.”

And he punctuates one of his sadder vignettes (“So you kiss and you clutch but you can’t fight that feeling / That your one true love is just awaiting your big meeting / So you never even asked for names”) with musical touches that make it feel more like a moment of triumph.

7. (Sandy) Alex G, 'Sportstar'

This auto-tuned piano ballad constitutes a pretty huge departure from the country-flavored trappings of the first two singles I heard from his forthcoming “Rocket” (“Proud” and “Bobby”). At the same time, it’s probably closer in spirit to the sort of music any reasonable person might expect from an artist who has worked with Frank Ocean.

This is haunting, emotional stuff with odd experimental touches as he crushes on a sports star with little regard for own emotional well-being, singing, “Let me tie your Nikes / Holding on for sport star / Let me wear your jersey / If you want to hurt me, hurt me.”

8. Waxahatchee, 'No Curse'

This fuzz-laden indie-pop waltz was written too late for inclusion on “Out in the Storm,” their forthcoming album. I hate when that happens. Anyhow, they shared it via Shaking Through, an interactive series that shares the raw audio files, mix stems, recording notes and final mixes with members to download, remix and re-imagine at will.

A breakup song whose most inspired moment may be Crutchfield’s vocal on “You were too much to unscrew,” the track was recorded the day after the Trump inauguration.

“It’s so important to make art and be visible as an artist,” Katie Crutchfield says. “In moments of political turmoil, you should bring your skills to the table in a way that affects change or benefits people.”

9. Bishop Briggs, 'The Way I Do'

This song is here by virtue of a very odd new music video. The track, from the singer's self-titled EP, is a soulful yet experimental ballad of the sort I was hoping Adele might have come up with on her latest album rather than the more conventional adult-contemporary fare with which she stole that Grammy out from under “Lemonade.”

But I digress.

This single is a tour de force for Briggs, her gospel-flavored vocals soaring toward emotional catharsis on a track built on a low-pitched vocal loop and finger pops like something Moby might have done on “Play.”

It’s a heartbreaking record, especially when she sings, “But you will never know this love / Will never know this pain / Never know the way I feel for you / You will never know this touch / Will never know this shame / Will never know the way I want you to.”

And here’s what’s weird. It’s not a breakup song. As Briggs told the Fader, that feeling of loss was inspired by a musician friend telling her she was ready to give up on music.

“I just looked at her and felt in my bones and in my soul, if you leave now, you'll never know this pain,” she said. “You'll never know this love. You'll never feel the way I do. That's where the whole song began and it's just about the ache that comes with all of this, and the whole point is sticking it out. Of course there are moments when you have doubt. Every time I sing this song, sometimes we start the set with this song, it always reminds me of how thankful I am that I keep going.”

10. Mac DeMarco, 'One More Love Song'

DeMarco’s brand of understated soft rock is the perfect backdrop for a breakup song about how “After all this time, it turns out all you found is one more love out to break your heart / Set it up just to watch it fall apart.”

And when it comes to breaking hearts, DeMarco really hits his stride when he sizes up that faded love as just “another dream you’re putting down,” by which I do not think he means setting down on a table to dream another day.

11. Big Sean, 'Jump Out the Window'

Of course, he’s only threatening to jump out the window to let you know he cares. But people do that. This Auto-Tuned slow jam is told from the perspective of someone who’s ready to turn a woman’s lover back into her friend. “We already wasted too much time,” he Auto-Croons. “And your time is the only thing I wish was mine. So yeah, oh yeah, I think I’m ready to jump out the window.”

To be fair, the boyfriend does sound like an awful human being, as opposed to Big Sean’s narrator, who’s more endearingly dysfunctional.

As for the music, it sounds like a vintage arcade game. In a good way. And he fleshes it out with a reference to Mario Kart.

12. Serene Dominic, 'Subterranean Heaven'

I've known Dominic for years. He's freelanced countless articles for azcentral (and assorted other local publications). His band and my band have been known to share a bill. We've even written songs together (although, to be clear, like Elton John and Bernie Taupin, we were never in the same room at the time). But I'm also a fan of his work, and that's what brings us here.

This is among my favorite highlights of the album this local performer is about to drop. “Silver Alert” is full of Dominic’s reflections on aging, ageism, sex and the nagging fear that there are more days behind you than ahead.

Taking the rhythmic propulsion of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue,” who gets married in this case to a far more wistful melody, this single is his tribute to a friend who ran a record store. And much like the titular character of the Smokey Robinson heartbreaker, “Tears of a Clown,” the singer sets his cleverness aside just long enough to break your heart with his fond memories of a lost friend.

“Michael, remember the magic of downtown?,” he begins. “There was no surfing / You had to shop around / An album I'd searched for / Maybe 10 years or more / I bought it at your store / With your seal of approval.”

The Zombies would be proud to call this song their own. As would the Kinks. And I don’t say that lightly. This could be his finest hour.

“It's for Michael Carlucci,” the singer explains. “I was lucky enough to get to play with him in my last band in New York. Before that he played in a band called Winter Hours in the ‘80s, a true college band. They played here at Long Wong's and I think they sounded like the Tempe sound before there was one.

"Anyhow, he owned a record store in Greenwich Village called Subterranean Records and he loved Tom Verlaine and Television and Clarence White of the Byrds and he was so inventive with his playing. We'd do all that weaving, interlocking stuff. We stayed in touch, but every time I’d go back to New York, it'd get harder and harder to meet up."

The store eventually closed and Dominic learned through Facebook that his friend had passed. 

"It's just mashing that brief time into a three-verse song," he says. "But it's a love song to guitar-weaving, record stores and that last band, all kinda gone things. I guess I associate the ‘Peggy Sue’ rhythm with that something in the remote past and I tried putting something Television-y over it.”

13. Playboy Manbaby, 'Cheap Wine'

This horn-driven highlight of “Don’t Let it Be” is ‘60s soul as filtered through the nervous energy that made the mod revival of the Jam feel like a natural extension of the punk scene. Any slower and the accents wouldn’t hit with that excitement. Any faster and it wouldn’t groove. It's just the sort of energy that lends itself to Robbie Pfeffer’s cult of personality.

The singer makes his entrance with a monologue, his delivery suitably over the top, like something out of “Little Shop of Horrors" if John Waters had directed it.

“Now lemme tell you something about myself,” he says, “that I think that you should know darling / ‘Cause it ain’t all peaches and cream / Hell I can’t even keep my apartment clean.”

Then he runs down a list of the ways he’s made a mess of things, from burning down his house to drinking moldy beer before concluding “I’m really s---ty as my own adult / But it’s all OK because it’s not my fault.”

The mood is completed by a video that features Pfeffer and his bandmates as a ‘60s girl group, making their way through a series of synchronized dance moves in cartoonish drag and combat boots.

14. Harry Styles, 'Sign of the Times'

I love Noel Gallagher. But if his cat, as he contends, could have written this song in about 10 minutes, I’d suggest he bring his cat in as a co-writer the next time he’s putting an album together. Because this song is pop perfection of the sort that made Oasis matter in the first place. And Gallagher’s wife is right to have told him “It’s like Prince.” That’s the first thing I thought when I heard it. It’s just “Purple Rain” enough. And Styles’ falsetto does a brilliant job of tapping into the emotion of the lyrics, whose inspiration he explained to Rolling Stone.

“‘Sign of the Times’ came from ‘This isn’t the first time we’ve been in a hard time, and it’s not going to be the last time’. The song is written from a point of view as if a mother was giving birth to a child and there’s a complication. The mother is told, ‘The child is fine, but you’re not going to make it.’ The mother has five minutes to tell the child, ‘Go forth and conquer.'”

It does go a little too over-the-top on the drama at a certain point, but by the time it got there, I was way too hooked to care.

15. The National, 'The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness'

They set the tone with a bed of ethereal harmonies that could pass for the Beach Boys haunting a cathedral. Then the beat kicks in and the song settles into a brooding post-punk swagger on its way to the soaring release of a chorus hook that finds Matt Berninger repeating the line, “I can’t explain it any other, any other way.”

For some reason, the beat leaves me thinking of “Sympathy for the Devil” as U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. might have played it while Aaron Dessner, who also produces, punctuates the track with a recurring five-note outburst on guitar before taking flight on a brilliantly constructed solo.

As a taste of what’s to come on “Sleep Well Beast,” their first album since “Trouble Will Find Me” arrived in 2013, it has me thinking this could be the one on which they manage to capture the urgency of the live show.

I’m not sure what the system is that only dreams in total darkness, but in an interview with Pitchfork, Berninger said: “That one, for me, is a hibernation — the dark before the dawn sort of thing. That one’s less about relationships than it is more of the strange way our world and our idea of identity mutates — sometimes overnight, as we’ve seen recently. It’s an abstract portrait of a weird time we’re in.”

16. Japanese Breakfast, 'Machinist'

Spoken-word monologues. They’re not just for tracks that attempt to recapture the magic and innocent charms of ‘60s girl-group records anymore. This melancholy – some would argue hopeful – track takes the art of the monologue back to the future (as the future sounded when “Back to the Future” was a thing, with atmospheric synths and robot voices). 

And that suits the science-fiction subtext of Japanese Breakfast's second album, "Soft Sounds From Another Planet." It also suits the actual lyrics of the track itself, in which the narrator is in love with a machine and seems to be expecting an emotional return on that investment. Cue the chilly synth.

17. DJ Khaled, feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo and Chance the Rapper and Lil’ Wayne, 'I’m the One'

I was convinced this song would be the summer jam to beat, but after only one week at the Top of Billboard’s Hot 100, it was overtaken by another track that also features Justin Bieber, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.”

Oh well, I like that song, too. But this one feels more like the quintessential summer jam it's clearly meant to be. It’s all about that bass, by which I do not mean what Meghan Trainor meant.

Chance’s delivery is just loopy enough to make me almost want to not point out the casual misogyny at the heart of nearly every verse, but if you're into stuff that sounds like this you're used to that by now. And Bieber’s chorus hook is nothing shy of undeniable.

18. Jane N’ the Jungle, 'Faded Stars'

These local rockers have self-directed a strikingly colorful video that features singer Jordan White covered in paint as a representation, she says, of “life experiences that color and change you.”

White co-directed the video with bandmate Brian Dellis, using an iPhone 7 and what looks to be a lot of paint.

"Faded Stars" is a bittersweet ballad whose reflective verses make the most of the vulnerability White is so good at conveying as she sets the scene with "One rock thrown at my window,  2 a.m. / Three chords strumming for the beating of our hearts."

The words describe the singer's loss of innocence, she says, “and feeling guilty for being a sinner and realizing that it's a coming of age and we all share in the same journeys.”

The majestic chorus finds her repeating the line “Turn around,” which White says “represents having the choice to make a change to overcome those obstacles and let go, cleansing yourself.”

There a slight hint of Queen to the harmonies on the bridge, which gives way to a soaring guitar lead on a track that makes excellent use of dynamics, guaranteeing that each chorus kicks in like it should to get the full effect.

19. Sorority Noise, 'No Halo'

This is the latest single from “You're Not As _____ As You Think,” an album haunted by the death of several friends Cameron Boucher has lost since the release of “Joy, Departed,” which as the title suggests, was no day at the beach.

This particular track was a heartbreaking rocker whose inspiration Boucher shared when he checked in with Stereogum. “We were in Sean’s neighborhood, but Sean had been passed away for about a year,” he said. “But I didn’t remember that. And so I was like, I’m gonna drive by Sean’s house and just stop by and say hi. And then I drove to his house, and when I pulled up in front, I realized he wasn’t there. That’s what that chorus of the song is about, and the whole song in general… I think I literally just sat in my car and wrote 90 percent of the lyrics right there.”

Of course, that story only makes it that much more chilling to experience the chorus: “So I didn’t show up to your funeral / But I showed up to your house / And I didn't move a muscle / I was quiet as a mouse / And I swore I saw you in there / But I was looking at myself.”

Fleet Foxes, 'Fool’s Errand'

Fleet Foxes give their inner Crosby, Stills & Nash the wheel on the breathtaking chorus of this latest “Crack-Up” focus track as Robin Pecknold weighs in on the dream he’s chasing with “It was a fool's errand / Waiting for a sign.”

Like many of their more inspired moments, while the harmonies seem to be channeling Crosby, Stills & Nash, the melodic sensibilities and complexity of composition are closer in spirit to Brian Wilson after “Pet Sounds.”

Also much like many of their more inspired moments? It’s the heartache in Pecknold’s delivery that ultimately seals the deal here, especially on that devastating yet beautiful chorus.

“Crack-Up” is Fleet Foxes’ first album since “Helplessness Blues” hit the streets in 2011.