Shawn Mendes (2) – Week Of July 21, 2018

Summer seems to be going by pretty fast. We're already getting close to the end of July. I guess time flies when you're having fun. I do have a summer special in mind though, which I'll try to present sometime this upcoming week. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Dua Lipa – New Rules (#37) [x2]
• G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#41)
• Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Friends (#43)
• Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – In My Blood

The Countdown

45. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#44)

44. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (#38)

43. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#42) [2 Weeks At #1]

42. Bazzi – Mine (#33)

41. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe (#40)

40. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar (#25)

39. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#34)

38. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#31)

37. Maren Morris – Rich (#24)

36. MNEK/Hailee Steinfeld – Colour (DEBUT)

35. Post Malone – Better Now (DEBUT)

34. U2/Cheat Codes – Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way (#29)

33. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#36) [1 Week At #1]

32. Madison Beer – Home With You (DEBUT)

31. The Wrecks – James Dean (#28)

30. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#30) [1 Week At #1]

29. Twenty One Pilots – Jumpsuit (DEBUT)

28. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#25)

27. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#15)

26. Alessia Cara – Growing Pains (#35)

25. Maroon 5 – Wait (#22)

24. Halsey – Alone (#16)

23. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#19) [1 Week At #1]

22. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#20)

21. Hundred Handed – Too Good (#39)

20. Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right (#21)

19. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#17)

18. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#23)

17. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#32)

16. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin – I Like It (#18)

15. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#27)

14. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#14)

13. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#7)

12. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#8)

11. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#3) [4 Weeks At #1]

10. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#12)

  9. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#9)

  8. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#10)

  7. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#13)

  6. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#2)

  5. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#5) [1 Week At #1]

  4. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#4) [9 Weeks At #1]

  3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#11)

  2. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#6) [1 Week At #1]

  1. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#1) [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (3)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Liam Payne – Familiar (–15)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Hundred Handed – Too Good (+18)

New Entrants
~ Not a very exciting group of debuts this week. First up, we have MNEK with Hailee Steinfeld on the song Colour. MNEK, being a British singer and all, I'm sure is more popular over in the UK. He was featured in Zara Larsson's hit Never Forget You, which I really liked. Although Larsson was the stronger vocalist, I still liked MNEK's contribution. I kinda have mixed feelings on Colour. I think the vocals here are really good. Both artists sound great together. The lyrical content is good too talking about someone making another person's life more exciting and bringing color into their life. Though the production here is slightly annoying and that's enough to make the song blue. Though I will say the vocals are really good and that alone could potentially boost this song into green territory in the future. No promises though. I don't even think this song will last very long. But we'll just have to wait and see.

~ Next we have Post Malone with the follow-up to Psycho, titled Better Now. I think this song is a big step up from its predecessor. Post Malone shows here that he actually does have a pretty good voice. He showcases his range much more on here than his previous singles. I will say the production is still a little bland. But I really can't expect much from a hip-hop track nowadays. I'm just happy with how much of an improvement this is. I can see myself putting this song in green sometime in the future. I'll give it more listens to see if it's worthy.

~ Next we have Home With You by Madison Beer. I don't really have much to say about this one. It's a decent song. Madison Beer has a unique voice. I don't love it. But I can appreciate the fact that she has a distinguishable voice that can allow me to recognize her just from hearing her sing. The production is pretty good. I guess the song is just not very memorable. I can't see myself remembering this song a few months after it leaves. That's really the only criticism I have. It doesn't stand out very much from what we usually hear on the radio.

~ Finally we have the return of Twenty One Pilots. My brother, who is a big fan of Twenty One Pilots, has been anticipating new music from them. So he's enjoying these new songs right now. They debut this week with Jumpsuit. I don't really like the song, but I don't hate it. I do kinda like where they're going though in a way. I think the instrumentation and production here are really good. It's very energetic and it would make an enjoyable listen. The problem is Tyler Joseph's vocals. I think he sounds kind of annoying. He's one of those singers who can sound pretty good if he uses his voice well. He does not do that here and it's a shame. The song would be pretty enjoyable if it were sung by another artist. So I can only say the song is okay. It's not bad, but it's not something I'll be listening to in my free time. I'll have to be cautious about where I say these things because I don't think it'll take much to trigger their obnoxious fanbase.


Best Debut of the Week: Post Malone – Better Now


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

• Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess
• Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (DEBUT)
• Brown & Gray – Top Down
• Imagine Dragons – Natural (DEBUT)
• Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind
• Big Boi – All Night
• The Chainsmokers/Drew Love – Somebody
• lovelytheband – Broken
• Julia Michaels/Trippie Redd – Jump
• Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (DEBUT)
• Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir
• Justin Timberlake – SoulMate
• Dan + Shay – Tequila
• Years & Years – If You're Over Me (DEBUT)
• BTS – Fake Love

~ Of all the songs Charlie Puth could've selected from Voicenotes, he chose The Way I Am as the next single. This is nowhere near as good as Attention and Done For Me. The song is underwhelming and not in a good way. I'll save my words though for when it inevitably debuts.

~ After skipping over Born To Be Yours by Kygo and this next band, Hits 1 immediately picks up on the new single from Imagine Dragons titled Natural. I think these guys took a little bit of a risk here. But I think it worked out well in the end. Comparing it to their recent singles, it's most similar to Believer, which I've come around to as you know. I think Dan Reynolds sounds really good here and I feel like he's testing how far his voice can go. He's a great vocalist and it's nice to see him not playing it safe with something like Thunder. The production is good. Enjoyable song overall.

~ God Is A Woman seems like the kind of song I'll have to listen to more to grow into it. First time listening to it, it didn't really get my attention until the end with the fantastic background vocals and Ariana really showing her talent. I'll listen to it more this next week, but for now I'll just say it's okay.

~ We finally have some more Years & Years on Hits 1. I think their music is underrated and I'm glad one of their songs managed to make its way here. If You're Over Me is a fun song and one that I can see myself enjoying for a while. The production is nice and upbeat and I like the vocals. More on it if it debuts.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Dan + Shay – Tequila

2. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess

3. Imagine Dragons – Natural

4. Julia Michaels/Trippie Redd – Jump

5. Years & Years – If You're Over Me

Blurbsuit

~ Panic! At The Disco's two songs switch spots this week with High Hopes being the lucky one up at #3. I can definitely see this as a #1 song in the coming weeks and I look forward to it. Meanwhile, Say Amen falls to #11 because god forbid we have two songs from the same artist in the Top 10.

~ Back in the Top 10, we have Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (yay!) and Dua Lipa – IDGAF (ehhhh...). The former can stay as long as it likes. While the latter is not being an annoyance by any means, I'd appreciate it if it weren't hogging up a spot in the Top 10.

~ Our two good debuts from last week made some nice jumps into the Top 20 this week. So that makes me pretty happy. I see potential in both of them.

~ Hundred Handed – Too Good finally made that jump we've been waiting for all the way up to #21. I don't think it'll last very long up there. So I'm enjoying it right now.

~ We had drops out of the Top 20 from Halsey – Alone and Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me. The former is still good, but I've been listening to it less and less lately. Though the latter disappoints me, especially when I look at what's next in line for Charlie Puth.

~ And just like that, Liam Payne – Familiar drops just outside of the Bottom 5. With the exception of Strip That Down, this guy just can't get a hit. Even though his last two attempts were pretty bad, I actually enjoyed Familiar. Oh well.

~ As far as the exits go, New Rules should've never re-entered. Him & I had a good run and it's nice to see it go now that it has no meaning to it anymore. Fake Friends did decent-ish here. I don't really mind it leaving. At least it didn't just do poorly. Fun fact: Fake Friends was the #1 song on the Hits 1 Unknown Songs Rankdown. Finally, I'm happy with how These Days did for a song that wasn't a massive hit here in the US. It did better than I thought it would and I'm glad. Rudimental deserve all the hits they can get. So that song will be missed by me.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

1 – Bad:

19. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

2 – Mediocre:

18. Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right

17. Cardi B – I Like It

3 – Decent:

16. Dua Lipa – IDGAF

15. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know

14. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

13. Niall Horan – On The Loose

12. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry

11. Taylor Swift – Delicate

10. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood

9. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

8. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen

7. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss

6. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

5. Selena Gomez – Back To You

4. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

2. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

Overall Score: 80/100 = 80% (A)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Linkin Park – In The End (one year since Chester's passing...)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Shaggy/Mohombi/Faydee/Costi – I Need Your Love

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kygo/Imagine Dragons – Born To Be Yours (there is a lack of good new music)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#5) and Calvin Harris/Pharrell/Katy Perry – Feels (#19)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

2. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

4. Bad Wolves – Zombie

5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart