Best New Songs of March 2018
With another month comes another set of must-listen tunes. Below, check out the best new songs of March, courtesy of the Queen, an iconic comeback, an unexpected team-up and more.
Missed out on last month's best music? Listen to our February picks here.
"Top Off" by DJ Khaled feat. Beyoncé, JAY-Z and Future
The Carters link up again on another track for DJ with an assist from Future. The collab is loud, flashy and includes Queen Bey boasting about breaking the internet. If those On the Run 2 tour rumors are true, this will be kicker to see live.
"'Til It's Over" by Anderson .Paak
Fans of the Kendrick and Dr. Dre collaborator have been curious to see his next moves after his standout 2016 album, Malibu. Perhaps this single is a peek into his next era. Quick-paced and tingly, the track appears in Apple's new HomePod commercial, as FKA Twigs dances along.
"It Runs Through Me" by Tom Misch feat. De La Soul
Misch's relationship with music is personal, nostalgic and intimate. "It's something that has always just flowed through me and almost feels like my superpower," the Brit says in a release. This, then, is his suave, feel-good love letter to the art form, featuring a verse from hip-hop legends De La Soul, which Misch calls the "icing on the cake" for his upcoming album, Geography.
"Flower of the Universe" by Sade
Ava DuVernay has some commendable accomplishments under her belt, like getting nominated for an Oscar and being the first black woman to direct a $100 million film. Getting Sade to release her first song in seven years also belongs on the list. For A Wrinkle in Time, the music legend returned to the mic, adding her signature sound (smooth, hushed vocals and all) to No I.D.'s production.
"Hurt to Look" by Swae Lee
This half of Rae Sremmurd gets vibey for his new solo single, an unexpected change from his and Slim Jxmmi's high-energy, Mike WiLL Made-It-produced hip-hop. But Swae Lee nails it, and there more to come in his solo LP, Swaecation (which counts as one-third of Rae Sremmurd's incoming three-album project).
"Love Me Right" by Amber Mark
In the first single teasing her upcoming Conexão EP (her first since 2016's 3.33am), Mark pleads her partner to show her the love she deserves in a gentle, R&B-inspired track. The New Yorker's upcoming project is "about my process of finding love again," she explains in a release. "It’s like you’re reading a book about my life and this is the next chapter."
"My Life" by ZHU and Tame Impala
ZHU's dance beats get hypnotic, thanks to a feature from psychedelic rock fave Tame Impala. The lyrics consist of just two lines ("Don't tell me / It's all in my mind" and "Let me live my life") in repetition, which makes it easy for you to memorize before you see these acts all over the festival scene this summer.
"Alright" by CYN
The Michigan-bred up-and-comer knows what it's like to sweat the petty stuff. "When I wrote this song, I was thinking back on all the notes my teachers wrote on my report cards," CYN (born Cynthia Nabozny) explained in a statement. "It's almost funny to me how harsh my teachers were and how they made the littlest things feel like the end of the world!" This song is a testament to everything turning out alright in the end.
Listen to all the tracks in the playlist below.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
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