The Bias List is a K-pop blog that also covers a fair amount of J-pop. But just like most music fans, I enjoy tracks from all around the world. So, I thought I’d start a monthly round-up of some of the non-K-pop songs that have caught my ear. No ratings — just highlights!
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Bebe Rexha – Visions (Don’t Go)
Bebe Rexha’s new album is an excellent collection of pop songs and I couldn’t let a Global Pop Round-up go by without featuring this glistening gem.
Becky Hill & Lewis Thompson – Side Effects
That garage sound is so addicting.
Bright Light Bright Light – Boys Etc.
Retro, Pet Shop Boys-esque synthpop with a great chorus.
Conan Gray – Never Ending Song
This is quite a transformation for him and I’m digging the more upbeat, 80’s sound. The video is tons of fun, too.
Dotter – No Room For Love
It’s all about that pummeling, synth-drenched chorus. Absolutely massive.
Honey. – In The End
Blend ABBA-esque, melancholic melody with anthemic power chords and you’d got this timeless standout.
Icona Pop & Yaeger – Shit We Do For Love
It’s nice to hear this brash, bold duo back making dance music! I love the trance influences.
KEiiNO – RITMA
New music from KEiiNO is always worth celebrating!
Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam
I like the catchy electro throb of Padam Padam, but more importantly the previews for Kylie’s upcoming album sound absolutely flawless.
PNAU – Stars (ft. Bebe Rexha & Ozuna)
This is an interesting team of collaborators and another surefire hit for the ever-reliable PNAU.
Rita Ora – Praising You (ft. Fatboy Slim)
As expected, Praising You relies heavily on its sample. But, it’s a welcome dose of upbeat nostalgia.
Switch Disco – React (ft. Robert Miles & Ella Henderson)
A straightforward dance hit that’s deservedly conquering Europe.
Zara Larsson – End Of Time
I don’t like this nearly as much as Can’t Tame Her, but the new album’s shaping up quite nicely.
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
even THE Kylie Minogue is making music under 3 minutes… I hate what you’ve done, streaming era
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Did you ever listen to Kylie Minogue’s album DISCO of 2020?
It’s absolutely one of my favorites of that year
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Yep, it’s great!
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What did you think of Eurovision? The top two were so close, I thought it would come down to them. Too bad it wasn’t a tie. Did the right song win? What were your favorites, besides the top two?
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The top two was exactly how I would have wanted it. Beyond that, I enjoyed the songs from Belgium (I featured it in one of these round-ups months ago!), Australia and Austria most.
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Me, too! Also, Spain and Portugal were robbed imo. But I like weird.
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My faves were France and Slovenia, with both of them ending up being incredibly underrated.
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Slovenia’s Joker Out were such a sleeper hit for me! I never paid much attention to them during the contest but I’ve got the songs melody stuck in my head now.
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For me the most memorable thing about this year’s contest was Joker Out’s friendship with Käärijä.
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ABSOLUTELY. And the way they still post on their instagram about each other. I don’t know how but they have me so invested haha.
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I liked them both, too! Slovenia did rock right, which rarely happens at Eurovision.
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Full transparency: I have been lying in wait to see someone bring up Eurovision just so I have an excuse to talk about Käärijä, whose music has dominated my playlist since the final.
Not just Cha Cha Cha (which has held up surprisingly well for me), but his other songs too – it’s a particular kind of genre that I wasn’t familiar with before but I really like it. Some of my current favourites are Mic Mac, Viulinkieli and Auto jää.
The thing about his type of music is that, to have any staying power, it needs to be performed by someone with a strong personality and voice – and Käärijä is that someone. He posesses that rare combo of not taking himself seriously while taking his music and performance very seriously. I’ve seen fragments of his interviews and he seems to understand the core of his appeal very well. He’s also (apparently?) said that he will continue making songs in Finnish, not English – which to me shows good sense and authenticity.
For the record this is not me taking a side – Loreen’s Tattoo is also a good song and she’s a great singer.
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Weirdly, it never occurred to me to check out his other music. I’ll need to fix that!
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Hope you have fun with it! I have no idea if you’ll enjoy his stuff – it’s… I don’t even know what this genre would be called, honestly.
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I promise I will leave Eurovision alone soon, but this interview is just fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhzYmBR83HI&t=2140s
It gives a very real look behind the persona of Käärijä, and it turns out he is one of the most well-spoken, thoughtful and self-aware people I’ve seen interviewed. Super interesting to watch.
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keiino once released a dance cover of lady gaga’s shallow, and i honestly like it more than the original!
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“Dance cover of ballad” is one of the greatest musical genres ever.
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I feel like Avicii perfected this kind of sound by just.. making dance songs that sounded like covers of ballads. This one feels almost nostalgic to me!
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Oh! I didn’t expect it to be THAT good!
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Kylie’s DISCO was great but I’m glad to see her dive back into heavy electropop.
Now that Jessie Ware’s latest album is out, did you have any highlights from it? The one-two punch of Beautiful People and Freak Me Now has been on repeat for me for the last few weeks.
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I nearly added one of those songs to the round-up! I like both of them, plus “Shake The Bottle.”
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Love Visions (Don’t Go) and Padam Padam !
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Kesha’s latest album is a complete reinvention and I’m digging it.
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Lots of house-y sounds on the list! I really like that PNAU song though.
I’m very disconnected from the trends to be honest. I’ve mostly been listening to Eurovision songs – I’ve already spilled my thoughts in a reply somewhere up there so I ‘ll spare everyone my Käärijä rant here. I could probably write a paper on the way he conquered half the world by infusing a (relatively) simple song with his powerful personality and smart branding, but I’ll leave it at ‘I like his music’ for now.
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And to think it was only the 2nd best song Finland put forward. 🙂
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And you didn’t lie! I am not always a fan of this synthpop sound, but man, that chorus melody is fantastic. And the bridge/breakdown part! (It loses points for ‘come to mama, baby’, but that line is only in there once so..)
I hope Nick also sees this, I think he’d like this one.
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Oh, I’ve played this to death since its release back in January. In fact, I think it’s my most played song of the year!
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I only discovered it thanks to Nick, I’d’ve never found it on me own:)
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I should’ve known, really! haha.
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