Life Listens: New music from Rose, Timothee Chalamet, Snoop Dogg, Ryzall Noh

SINGAPORE – In this monthly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about that was released in the past month. 

Must-see MV: Rose – Toxic Till The End

After the success of her earworm Apt., K-pop girl group Blackpink member Rose’s debut studio album Rosie has been hotly anticipated by fans. It was released on Dec 6.

Along with it came the music video of one of its songs, emo-pop number Toxic Till The End.

The lyrics – such as “call us what we are, toxic from the start/can’t pretend that I was in the dark” – are inspired by Rose’s experience with a former partner, whom she refers to only as “The Ex” in the song and interviews.

American actor-model Evan Mock, known for starring in the rebooted version of drama series Gossip Girl (2021 to 2023), plays “The Ex” in the music video, which chronicles the development of a doomed and catastrophic relationship.

In it, The Ex appears to meet Rose while hitchhiking after his bicycle tyre punctures. The two strike up a seemingly picture-perfect romance from there, as they kiss after frolicking in a water fountain.

But after he falls off his skateboard and she nurses him back to health, things go downhill. The Ex starts hiding his phone notifications from Rose and the couple begin to have heated arguments. Rose tries to leave him, but her car breaks down.

They even have a physical altercation, where Rose pushes him into a marble bust and causes his head to bleed, but the two reconcile after the fight.

In flashbacks, it is revealed that the two have been secretly manipulating each other from the start. The Ex engineered his meeting with Rose by puncturing his bicycle tyre and stopped her from leaving by damaging her car, while Rose fiddled with his skateboard to make him fall. 

The music video, directed by Syrian-Armenian writer-director Ramez Silyan, has a nostalgic sheen, with a fuzzy, old film camera quality, such that the happier scenes of the pair seem like something out of an old romance movie.

Stream This Song: Timothee Chalamet – Like A Rolling Stone

When it was first announced that American actor Timothee Chalamet was to play American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in biopic A Complete Unknown, many were sceptical of the Dune (2021 to present) star’s ability to authentically portray rock’s poet laureate on the silver screen.

Surprisingly, the 28-year-old heart-throb does a pretty solid rendition of Dylan’s 1965 song Like A Rolling Stone.

He does not sound exactly like Dylan – an almost impossible task, given the veteran performer’s distinct and hard-to-replicate nasal tones.

But Chalamet nails the cynicism and resentment in the song’s lyrics, a coming-of-age tale that has become one of Dylan’s most recognisable works. The movie title is taken from a line in the song (“How does it feel, how does it feel?/To be without a home/Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone”).

It is one of the two early tracks from the A Complete Unknown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) that will be released in full on Dec 25, the same day the film opens in the US.

The other track, Girl From The North Country, Dylan’s 1963 song, features Chalamet in a duet with American actress Monica Barbaro, who plays American folk icon Joan Baez.

Chart Champ: Taylor Swift

By sheer numbers alone, no other music artiste had a greater impact in 2024 than American pop star Taylor Swift.

The singer-songwriter topped all the major year-end popularity charts. On Spotify, she was the top artiste among listeners worldwide, with more than 26.6 billion streams. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology (2024), the extended version of her latest album, was the most streamed album worldwide. She was also the No. 1 artiste among Spotify listeners in Singapore.

On Apple Music, she garnered both the top streamed artiste and top streamed album of the year for The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) worldwide. Cruel Summer, a song from her 2019 album Lover, was the top song among Apple Music listeners in Singapore.

At the 2024 Billboard Music Awards on Dec 12, Swift won 10 prizes, including for Top Artist. This brings her total tally to 49, beating Canadian rapper Drake as the most decorated artiste in Billboard history.

As icing on the cake, her 11th album TTPD climbed back to No. 1 on the Billboard album charts a few days later, thanks to a deluxe Anthology edition on CD and vinyl released exclusively at US retail chain Target.

Her worldwide The Eras Tour, which ended in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec 8, sold more than US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in tickets – double that of any other concert tour.

And while she has not released any new music since September, when she dropped a remix of TTPD track I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, she has released some new videos that will delight Swifties.

On Dec 13, when she turned 35, she put out new, behind-the-scenes footage from her music videos on her YouTube channel, like 2022 album Midnights’ Anti-Hero and Bejeweled. One candid backstage clip from the Karma shoot sees Swift jokingly express regret at coming up with the idea to be painted as a silver statue.

Ace Album: Snoop Dogg – Missionary

American hip-hop veteran Snoop Dogg seemed to be everywhere this past year. He carried the torch at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was a character in the online video game Fortnite and had a role in animated film The Garfield Movie (2024).

But he is also one of the US’ most prominent rap figures, and his most recent and 20th album, Missionary, is a reminder that his beginnings were not exactly family-friendly.

A reunion with long-time collaborator, fellow West Coast giant and rap mogul Dr Dre, the producer who launched his career, the songs hark back to their last album together, Snoop’s 1993 debut Doggystyle.

“Uncle Snoop” might have mellowed in the public eye, but songs such as Gangsta Pose and Hard Knocks are still filled with hard-edged braggadocio.

Still, the highlight is the marriage between Snoop’s smooth delivery and trademark cadence and Dr Dre’s pioneering G-funk production, an intoxicating meld of funk, hip-hop and psychedelia.

Given the duo’s iconic status in hip-hop, it is no surprise that the album also features plenty of high-profile cameos, such as rappers Eminem and 50 Cent, and English singer Sting.

But there are also contemporary stars like rapper-singers Jelly Roll and Jhene Aiko, and the production is nimble enough to seamlessly blend in other genres ranging from gospel to reggae.

Singapore Scene: Ryzall Noh – Darwish

Singaporean singer-songwriter Ryzall Noh’s latest single, Darwish, is going places. The Malay-language track, a lush and rousing ode to unrequited love, has been getting airplay on local and Malaysian radio.

It has also been receiving attention from Latin American and Spanish radio stations, thanks to Brazilian musician Felipe “Milk” Santana, the music arranger on the song.

The stations that have added Darwish to their playlists include Rumba FM from Colombia, Mega Hits from Venezuela and Radio Hits from Spain.

Ryzall, the former singer of award-winning rock band Audionauts, also worked on the track with composer Yazri Malik and lyricist Hairul Anuar Harun.

The song has been nominated in the best lyrics category of Malaysian music awards Anugerah Karya Muzik Malaysia 2024.