5 Seconds of Summer (1) – Week Of May 12, 2018

So I'm currently in week one of summer break and the post is still out later than it should be. My apologies for that. This was pure laziness on my part. But hey, it's out before Friday. So that's improvement. Slowly, they'll start coming out earlier and earlier again. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (#28)
• NF – Let You Down (#42)

Last Week's #1 Song: Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

The Countdown

45. Charlie Puth – How Long (#43) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#45)

43. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#30)

42. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#44) [1 Week At #1]

41. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#41) [1 Week At #1]

40. Drake – God's Plan (#36)

39. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (#39)

38. Camila Cabello – Havana (#40) [1 Week At #1]

37. Alice Merton – No Roots (#37)

36. Halsey – Bad At Love (#38)

35. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (DEBUT)

34. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#34)

33. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (DEBUT)

32. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#29)

31. Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody (#35)

30. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (#32)

29. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#33) [2 Weeks At #1]

28. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#15)

27. AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#31)

26. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#25)

25. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#26)

24. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#17) [1 Week At #1]

23. Bazzi – Mine (#18)

22. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#22)

21. Zayn – Let Me (#23)

20. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#24)

19. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#21)

18. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#19) [5 Weeks At #1]

17. Halsey – Alone (#27)

16. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#20)

15. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#13)

14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#14)

13. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#11)

12. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#12)

11. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#9)

10. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#8)

  9. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (#7)

  8. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#10)

  7. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#6) [1 Week At #1]

  6. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#5)

  5. Maroon 5 – Wait (#16)

  4. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#1) [1 Week At #1]

  3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#4)

  2. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#3) [7 Weeks At #1]

  1. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#2) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I and Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (–13)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Maroon 5 – Wait (+11)

New Entrants
~ Not long after the exit of New Rules, Dua Lipa makes her return with her follow-up single, IDGAF. I don't really have much to say about this one. This song is not as good as its predecessor, but it's decent overall. I find the song rather boring at certain points. I do think she delivers well on the vocals. But the production here is lacking and I just don't really find it that interesting. I don't really care how it does here given how much stuff here is worse.

~ Next we have the long-awaited return of Foster The People, who had that big song in 2011 called Pumped Up Kicks as well as a few other minor hits that didn't take off as much. This week they bring Sit Next To Me. At first I thought it was good, but it really didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. Frankly, I'm not too sure why I love it as much as I do. But something about it just grabs my attention. The vocals are good as well as the production. I think it's a very catchy song. It's one that I find hard not to sing along to. Overall, it's such a great song and I really hope it does well.


Best Debut of the Week: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list.

• Sam Smith/Logic – Pray
• Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
• Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe
• Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Ass Friends
• Echosmith – Over My Head
• The Wrecks – James Dean
• Kendrick Lamar, SZA – All The Stars
• HRVY – Personal
• Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (RE-ENTRY)
• Selena Gomez – Back To You (DEBUT)
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Hundred Handed – Too Good
• lovelytheband – Broken
• Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right (DEBUT)

~ Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment has apparently left the countdown after a short three weeks and is now back on Hit-Bound. I'm hoping it can redebut sometime soon because it deserves to do well. But even if it doesn't, it's technically eligible for my Top 45 songs of 2018.

~ This week, Selena Gomez brings Back To You from the soundtrack for season 2 of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. It is definitely a step up from her previous solo work. It still doesn't reach the height of her older work, but I think it's enjoyable for what it is.

~ Let You Be Right sounds exactly like No Excuses. Meghan Trainor is probably one of the least original pop artists currently.

~ So I heard Familiar on Hits 1 for the first time this past week and I did not realize they edited out J Balvin. I have to say Hits 1, that was a really shitty move. What's wrong with having some Spanish in a song that is full of Latin vibes??? He's pretty much the reason this song is good. Sometimes I just don't understand this station.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars
2. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
3. Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
4. The Wrecks – James Dean
5. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe


Blurb Next To Me
~ And just like that, one of the most predictable things has happened as 5 Seconds Of Summer have hit #1 with Want You Back. Normally, I'd be questioning this given that the song really isn't that big. But I'll admit, it's a solid track and after last week's terrible #1, I was very happy with this. So yeah. I wouldn't mind it spending more time at the top if it means we can keep some other songs away.

~ And out of nowhere, Maroon 5 – Wait makes a rebound back into the Top 5. I've been losing interest in this song lately, but now I've had it. This song is just not good as is the majority of their latest album (with a few exceptions). Maroon 5 has become The Adam Levine Experience.

~ So I have been growing into Taylor Swift – Delicate lately. It's actually a pretty decent song and it might get promoted to green soon. There are still some moments that I find boring. But it's a chill song and I can appreciate that, especially since it's different for Taylor Swift.

~ However, as you probably noticed, I have grown out of Meghan Trainor – No Excuses and Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends. Both of them suck ass in the lyrical department. From Meghan Trainor putting down men for no reason to Anne-Marie being rude to a friend who happened to like her, these songs just don't do it for me anymore.

~ Lauv – I Like Me Better has finally dropped out of the Top 30. I'm still not sure why this was a big hit and why people like this song. There is honestly no better definition of bland and generic than this song.

~ Alice Merton – No Roots has done absolutely nothing these past few weeks and it's literally just sitting here hogging up a spot that could be occupied by a much better song that can actually do well. It's time to let go of this one, Hits 1.

~ Meanwhile, Drake – God's Plan has fallen near the Bottom 5 for a song that's arguably the biggest song of the year so far. They do this every year. Last year was Despacito (although that did okay, it didn't do nearly as well as it should've) and the year before that was One Dance. While I don't love God's Plan by any means, I do find it to be a catchy song and it's definitely better than a lot of the songs ranked above it.

~ I've also been losing interest in Charlie Puth – How Long. I'm mostly just tired of hearing it. Voicenotes finally came out and I haven't finished listening to it yet, but it's definitely a step up from Nine Track Mind. The album cover was changed a few days before the release and I kinda liked the other one better, but the current one is good too I guess.

~ As far as the exits go, Live In The Moment went too soon, but we'll (hopefully) see it back here sometime in the future. What's annoying is that Feel It Still is still here. We also say goodbye to Let You Down, which I was slowly getting back of. But it was definitely a good song and it lived a good life here.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

1 – Bad:
19. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
18. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

2 – Mediocre:
17. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses
16. Maroon 5 – Wait
15. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

3 – Decent:
14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
13. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry
12. Taylor Swift – Delicate

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
11. Niall Horan – On The Loose
10. Halsey – Alone
9. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
8. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me
7. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
6. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back
4. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me
3. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me
2. Walk The Moon – One Foot
1. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Overall Score: 72/100 = 72% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way

Most Missed Countdown Song: Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: OneRepublic/Logic – Start Again

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#3)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Bad Wolves – Zombie
2. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)
3. Walk The Moon – One Foot
4. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days
5. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me