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Surprise Singles Friday: Mary J. Blige, Ariana Grande, Metric, Tinashe And Daughters

Ariana Grande.
Courtesy of the artist
Ariana Grande.

It's Friday and you're thinking about swimming pools and rosé, maybe getting ready for the World Cup final by quietly chanting "Seven Nation Army" at your desk. But the end of the week also brings New Music Friday — got that covered — and surprise drops. Here are five new songs we're adding to our playlist.

After the triumphant "No Tears Left to Cry" and the Nicki Minaj-featuring "The Light is Coming," the third single from Ariana Grande's Sweetener turns the lights down low. "You, you love it how I move you / You love it how I touch you / My one, when all is said and done / You'll believe God is a woman," she sings, seductively suggesting that her love equals spiritual ecstasy.

Metric's first single in three years lands somewhere between Yeah Yeah Yeahs' punk snarl — the way Emily Haines leans into riiich especially recalls Karen O — and The Cars' hooky synth bombast.

Mary J. Blige goes disco! Last year's Strength of a Woman was a pained, but empowered record, following an acrimonious split from her manager/husband Kendu Isaacs. "Only Love" is all disco-ball funk, revved up by the renewal of new love: "Turn my problems all around / Pick me up right off the ground / I'm so glad, this love I found / All I need is you right now."

It's only been a few months since Joyride, but Tinashe don't play. The pop singer's "Like I Used To" is a trap-tinged lament, perhaps aimed at her basketball playing ex: "I can pop my own tags, I can buy my own coupe / This s*** too easy like a free throw, yeah."

Hey, pop music ain't the only surprise drop in town. The Providence, Rhode Island art-noise-post-hardcore institution Daughters has announced an album due out this year with "Satan in the Wait." This, the band's first song in eight years, is a lysergic seven minutes, with the nerves shredded just enough to set you on edge.

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