10 Cool New Pop Songs to Get You Through The Week: Metric, NewJeans, Priya Ragu & More

Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered.

These 10 tracks from artists including Metric, NewJeans, Little Dragon, Priya Ragu and more will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your personal playlists — or scroll to the end of the post for a custom playlist of all 10.

Little Dragon, “Disco Dangerous”

Electronic oddballs with a penchant for pop, Little Dragon slither back with Slugs of Love. Yukimi Nagano’s cooing R&B vocals float atop a bed of disco percussion and airy, bubbly synths that seem filtered through the lens of A Midsummer Night’s Dreampop. – Joe Lynch

Katelyn Tarver, “Cinematic”

“What’s the point of all this living if you can’t go back and grab it?” Katelyn Tarver asks on new single “Cinematic.” The singer-songwriter’s reflective acoustic tune about the value of bittersweet sentimentality has a gentle Nashville flavor, fitting enough for a Los Angeles-based artist who originally hails from Georgia. – J. Lynch

Metric, “Just the Once”

Emily Haines, leader of long-running Canadian indie rock outfit Metric, describes new single “Just the Once” as “regret disco” — a cheeky phrase that also perfectly encapsulates the way she boogies off the bad vibes on this gorgeously produced dance track. Beneath the syncopated strings and the “woo, yeah!” adlibs lies a sense of desperation, injecting an exciting tension into Metric’s most downright fun single in recent memory. – Jason Lipshutz

Priya Ragu, “Easy”

Priya Ragu became a promising pop newcomer with her 2021 debut mixtape damnshestamil, and the Tamil-Swiss singer-songwriter has improved her craft since that project, with new single “Easy” sounding like a potential breakthrough moment. The chirping beat and soul-pop lacquer nicely complement Ragu’s delivery — yearning for resolution in a relationship, but also snappy enough to compress the hook’s impact. – J. Lipshutz

DJ Seinfeld feat. Confidence Man, “Now U Do”

Swedish producer Armand Jakobsson and Aussie outfit Confidence Man sound like they’re on a mission to make listeners worldwide move all summer long: “Now U Do,” their irresistible and unyielding new collaboration, thumps immediately and tosses out catchy refrains throughout its three-and-a-half-minute run time. If you’re looking for the season’s most cleanly euphoric crossover dance single, look no further. – J. Lipshutz

Jesse®, “Play”

Jesse Rutherford, the leader of “Sweater Weather” kings The Neighbourhood, continues an intriguing solo run with “Play,” which burrows into feelings of longing and escape as an acoustic guitar dances around his voice. As the production becomes increasingly hypnotic, the lyrics remain delightfully ambiguous, allowing listeners to wrap themselves in lines like “I’d like to be by your side” and “I just wanna play” while ascribing their own experiences to the words. – J. Lipshutz

Anna Rose, “Already Gone”

“I don’t think I could have written this song with another person in the room,” singer-songwriter Anna Rose said in a press release for new single “Already Gone,” nodding to the song’s intimate portrayal of feeling trapped in a long-decaying situation. Rose’s voice rises with an alt-country steadfastness, and “Already Gone” sports a classic rock crescendo, but the song exists as a powerful pop anthem, each declarative statement sticking in the listener’s mind. – J. Lipshutz

Local Natives, “Empty Mansions”

Local Natives recently released its fifth album Time Will Wait For No One, a fitting title for a project that wrestles with getting older. On “Empty Mansions,” the indie rockers are at their best delivering inquisitive lyrics (“Is it every really no one’s fault?/The history is cloudy”) over sunny harmonies and delicate production — all the makings of their classic and breezy L.A. sound. – Lyndsey Havens

Petey, “I’ll Wait”

Rising rocker Petey is fresh off a major label deal with Capitol Records and his latest single “I’ll Wait” (off his forthcoming album USA, out Sept. 22) is injected with the kind of hopeful energy that accompanies reaching the next level. On the surging song, Petey sings of universally felt struggles over an unrelenting drumbeat and crunchy guitar: “I was in the grocery store crying, overwhelmed by choices… I don’t really got what it takes today, to get up and put shoes on,” he sings. Yet he finds comfort in waiting such moments out, concluding: “It doesn’t really matter how I feel between now and then, it always ends.” – L. Havens

NewJeans “New Jeans”

NewJeans’ forthcoming EP Get Up is one of K-pop’s most hyped releases of the summer, and it’s not without reason. After securing three viral hits (“Hype Boy,” “Ditto” and “OMG”), the group’s Bunnies fanbase impatiently awaited new music from the quintet, and last week, the K-pop stars finally delivered with a self-titled B-side track, “New Jeans.” The chill, laidback track sees Minji, Danielle, Hyein, Hanni and Haerin exploring jungle and DnB rhythms, as they explore their love for fashion and having fun with friends. – Starr Bowenbank