Life Listens: New music from NewJeans, Bad Bunny, Moby, Miley Cyrus and lewloh

In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Chart Champ: NewJeans – Ditto

K-pop upstarts NewJeans have kicked off the new year with a bang.

Ditto, the girl group’s single released in December, has clinched the No. 1 spot on the local Spotify and Apple Music charts, knocking off American singer SZA’s Kill Bill from the top position. It also topped the charts in South Korea and Vietnam.

A member of the quintet, Minji, had a hand in writing the lyrics about dealing with a new crush.

The dance-pop track inspired by the Baltimore club scene is included in their two-track single OMG, which was released on Monday.

The title track itself is set to extend NewJeans’ stay on the charts. Within a day of its release, the song went to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs charts in countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It sits at No. 2, behind Ditto, on several South Korean music charts.

Ace Album: Moby – Ambient 23

Remember Moby, the electronic dance music artiste who rose to mainstream prominence in the early 2000s with hits such as Porcelain and Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

While his commercial success peaked with his 1999 album Play, the American musician is still actively putting out new music.

On New Year’s Day, he released Ambient 23, the latest in his series of instrumental albums inspired by ambient music icons such as British musician Brian Eno and French composer Jean-Michel Jarre.

Made with vintage drum machines and synthesizers, it is a sprawling release that is 2½ hours long.

Do not expect the tracks to be as catchy as his signature songs, as these are lush soundscapes that one can get lost in and chill out to.

In fact, Moby has said that the music was made to help him deal with his anxiety, so it is the perfect soundtrack to play in the background after a long day at work, while you are trying to decompress.

Stream This Song: Bad Bunny – Gato de Noche

The Puerto Rican singer-rapper was a singular force in the global music industry in 2022. He was the most-streamed artiste on Spotify for the third year in a row, Billboard’s top artist of the year and the No. 1 artiste on Apple Music. His concerts were massively popular, and he was the highest-grossing touring artiste of the year.

Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, has said he is taking a break in 2023 to focus on his physical and mental health.

That would mean that a surprise song he released in December with fellow Puerto Rican rapper Nengo Flow, Gato de Noche (“night cat” in Spanish), could be the last new tune from him in a while.

It is a pretty straightforward reggaeton song, a club banger with amorous lyrics about infidelity and falling in love, sung in a bittersweet melody that has become a Bad Bunny trademark.

It is not the first time the two have worked together – Nengo Flow also appeared on Safaera, a song from Bad Bunny’s 2020 album YHLQMDLG.

Must-See MV: Miley Cyrus – New Year’s Celebration

American singer Miley Cyrus’ New Year’s Eve performance with her godmother, country music icon Dolly Parton, set Twitter ablaze, with one fan describing it as “one of the greatest performances of all time”.

While that particular tweet is admittedly hyperbolic, the chemistry between the two from different generations is quite a joy to watch.

One of the highlights was when they sang Cyrus’ 2013 signature hit Wrecking Ball and segued seamlessly into Parton’s 1974 classic that was later made famous by the late Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You. Their duet on Parton’s 1973 hit Jolene was another emotional moment.

The concert, held in Miami, was the second instalment of the annual Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party. Parton was the co-host and the show also included other stars, such American socialite Paris Hilton and Australian pop powerhouse Sia.

Cyrus certainly has a knack for executing riveting performances with her seniors. One of her more surprising duet partners was new wave luminary and art pop pioneer David Byrne, with whom she sang the 1983 David Bowie hit Let’s Dance.

Singapore Scene: YNR & lewloh – Better Year

Do not be fooled by this song title. Home-grown singer-songwriter lewloh’s duet with South Korean singer YNR is actually quite a gloomy summation of the year that just passed.

“I really thought I’d be less lonely, really bought into the fantasy this year was gonna be a better year,” they croon in harmony in the exquisitely melancholic downtempo tune.

Still, 2022 cannot be all that bad for lewloh, whose real name is Lewis Loh. With 3.9 million streams throughout the year on Spotify alone, he clocked some serious numbers despite releasing only a handful of singles.

lewloh and YNR also recorded a music video of their stripped-down version of Better Year at Space Station in Seoul, one of the venues that the Singaporean performed at as part of his regional tour in November 2022.