Ed Masley

The Republic | azcentral.com

Beyonce returned with a vengeance, most of it directed at her wayward husband Jay Z (also known as The Man Who Would Cheat on Beyonce), dropping a “visual album” titled “Lemonade” on HBO. It topped the charts, of course, in a week that also featured five Prince albums in the Top 10 as people continued to mourn his unexpected passing.

D’Angelo’s heartbreaking tribute to Prince with a tearful rendition of “Sometimes It Snows in April” joins Beyonce on our playlist of best April singles, although they’re not technically singles.

April also brought the final single from the final David Bowie album, new music from Drake and another alternative-radio smash for Kongos, the Valley-based rockers most likely to bring home the platinum in 2016.

MORE MUSIC: 20 local music picks fro May | Top concerts this week | Latest concert announcements | May concert guide for Phoenix

Here’s a look at those titles and more.

16. Drake featuring the Throne, “Pop Style”

You know that sense of atmosphere he’s always done so well? I’m talking the shadowy vibe where it sounds like he’s creeping along in the back of a slow-moving limo, stalking some old flame or future conquest? This song is definitely part of that tradition. Lyrically, Drake is all over the map here. “Dropped outta school / Now we dumb rich” is a great first line. Then he follows the ominous, “Tell my mom I love her if I do not make it” with the groan-inducing wordplay, “Got so many chains / They call me Chaining Tatum.” No, really. He put that on a record.

Jay Z drops two lines before passing the mic to Kanye West, whose guest rap peaks when he rhymes, “Jay about his business” with “And I’m-a let you finish,” a smile-inducing reference to the night he stole the mic from Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Released as a single, it ended up topping the Digital Songs chart and hitting No. 16 on the Hot 100.

15. The Julie Ruin, “I Decide”

Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill/Le Tigre fame is releasing a second album with the Julie Ruin (which also features Kathi Wilcox of Bikini Kill) in July. “I Decide” is the album’s lead single, complete with a lyric video that features Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield wandering the streets of Austin during SXSW. The song starts with a droning, hypnotic guitar part underscoring Hanna’s vocals as she sets the tone with “You might be a bit outrageous and I might scream with anticipation / but I’ll decide.” The track gets noisier as it goes on, Hanna making a mantra of “I’ll decide,” an empowering reminder of a woman’s right to call her own shots.

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14. The Big Moon, “Cupid”

It starts with a wistful finger-picking pattern on guitar and a promise of “I’m gonna get this perfectly right,” which she repeats before putting the quest for the perfectly right kind of love in perspective with “I’ve been tryin’ to catch a knife for a lifetime.” The lyrics are brilliant – deadly honest, self-aware and darkly comic. And the chorus hook could not be more contagious, recalling the catchier side of alternative radio in the ‘90s with breathtaking power-pop harmonies. Best line: “ ‘I’m gonna get this perfectly right,’ / he said. ‘I’m gonna make the Earth shake tonight.’”

13. Paper Foxes, “Indica Feels”

These local rockers dropped this post-punk track as one of three acts on an EP titled “PHX Singles Compilation.” And those other acts, the Psychedelephants and Bad Neighbors, also rose to the occasion. Paper Foxes make their entrance in a hail of feedback, following through with a pulsating dance-punk groove, a squealing guitar hook and a great lead vocal from CJ Jacobson, who sets the scene with an opening verse of “I don’t believe / I don’t believe / There’s nothing to see / Nothing to see here, dear / It’s clear.” He’s all empty inside and pleading for “one kiss before you go” on an urgent chorus hook that gives way to some killer disco bass.

12. Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, “This is What You Came For”

Speaking of dancing, Calvin Harris and Rihanna return to the club. And the third time may not yield a hit as massive as the nine-times-platinum “We Found Love,” but it’s a charm regardless, exploring both sides of Rihanna’s vocal range, from sultry lows to silky high notes on the chorus hook while Harris rides the house beat like a man who knows exactly how to keep a dancefloor packed and moving. This one topped the iTunes charts in 15 countries for a reason. The hooks are undeniable, much like the beat, and that vocal is classic Rihanna, from the opening pout of “Baby, this is what you came for.”

11. The Coral, “Holy Revelation”

That opening riff is psychedelic gold as it passes from one guitar to the next before the vocals arrive on the scene to sing a melody that makes me think of the Clique’s “I Am Superman” as R.E.M. recorded it. This happens every time. And not because they sound that much alike. It’s more about the feel. The arrangement is flawless, holding back on the perfect piano hook until the song is almost over and pulling out the overdriven Motown beat in exactly the right place.

10. Drake featuring Whizkid and Kyla, “One Dance”

Released the same day as the other Drake song on our countdown, this one didn’t just fare better on our playlist, it outcharted “Pop Style” on the Hot 100, hitting No. 2, which puts it in a three-way tie with “Best I Ever Had” and “Hotline Bling” as the rapper's highest-charting single. Unlike “Pop Style,” it’s an upbeat dance song, riding a tropical house beat on an ode to the kind of connection two people who meet on the dancefloor are likely to have. It features a prominent sample of the Kyla single “Do You Mind?,” slowed down to deliciously soulful effect. Also, if Hennessy isn’t paying for that product placement on the chorus hook, these are dark days for capitalism and greed. And you know that’s not true.

9. A$AP Ferg featuring Missy Elliott, “Strive”

The A$AP Mobster hits the club with Missy Elliott on an uplifting banger that preaches a gospel of following your dreams instead of sitting back and hoping they come true. “So get off your ass and create your life,” as he sings on the chorus. But he serves the uplift with a side of humor. The opening verse finds him working at Ben & Jerrys. “You got talent / Why’s you here?” he raps. “I’m thinkin’, ‘Yeah, plus I am gettin’ a belly.’” It only gets better when Elliott drops by to steal the spotlight. “Auntie Jean was kinda mean, but she had dreams,” she raps. “She used to sing like Tina Turner / She said, ‘Bring my wig and bring my dress / My high heel shoes from a Sunday mornin' service.’ ”

8. Rihanna, “Needed Me”

This anti-romantic anthem is one of the edgier moments on her latest album, musically and lyrically. The production is dark and futuristic, slinking along at an ominous crawl as Rihanna brushes off a lover with an attitude that would destroy most men on the receiving end.. “I was good on my own,” she begins. “That’s the way it was / You was good on the low for a faded f—k / on some faded love.” She doesn’t need his white horse or his carriage. She got what she wanted, and now it’s time for him to get his own damn cab ride home.

7. D’Angelo, “Sometimes It Snows In April”

We were flooded with tributes to Prince as musicians attempted to wrap their heads around his unexpected passing as musicians will inevitably do, by covering his songs. But nothing compares D’Angelo’s heartbreaking version of this existential ballad as performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” The most inspired Prince of his generation played piano to accompany himself, with spot-on harmonies by Princess, a Prince tribute act that features “SNL” star Maya Rudolph, whose mom was Minnie Ripperton. It’s a beautifully understated yet emotionally devastating tribute, with D’Angelo changing the words at one point to: “I often dream of heaven and I know that Prince is dead.”

6. Dawn Richard, “Honest”

In which Richard bleeds brutally honest soul over skittering beats and an atmospheric bed of synths. In the opening verse, she lays it on the line with “I never really got over that dumb s--t you put me through / Still bringing up old shit like its brand new / Just gotta be honest / Loving you is like smoking spliff / It's a temporary high laced with side effects / Damn, I rather be honest.” Then she hits you with the honesty she promises and result is devastating. Best couplet: “I’m over you / I’m not over you.”

5. White Lung, “Below”

Is this the third month in a row I’ve had a White Lung single on my singles-of-the-month list? Could be. But in my defense, they’re really good. “Below” is a shimmering anthem that builds to a fiery climax after wandering in through a dreamy haze of ethereal chorused guitars. Mish Barber-Way has called this her “Stevie-Nicks-meets-Celine Dion ballad,” and you can definitely pick up some Nicks in the quieter parts but it’s hard to imagine her shouting the bridge with the punkish intensity Barber-Way invests in the lyrics, “You know this means nothing if you go die alone / They’ll bury your beauty / Transient living stone.”

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4. Kanye West, “Famous”

If you haven’t heard this song, there’s still a fairly decent chance you’ve heard about this song. You know, the one in which he infamously raps, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b---h famous?” In a form of music where misogyny is King – and the Queen had better learn to love it – West was called out on the carpet for misogyny, inspiring impassioned think pieces about how he had crossed a line on this one, when it fact it isn’t nearly as dehumanizing as that line about your Hampton spouse on “Yeezus.” The difference is it’s Swift, and we don’t even know if the Hampton spouse exists.

But here’s the thing: We all know he’s just talking darkly comic trash while assuming the role of the Kanye West the media has cast him in since that night at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. You know, the night when Kanye stormed the stage while Swift was accepting the award he thought Beyonce should have gotten. Why? Because he knows it made him famous, too. And here’s the other thing: It’s just a great pop record, from Rihanna’s vocal hook to that well-chosen sample of dancehall legend Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam.”

What if Kanye made a song about Kanye? A best March singles playlist with Rihanna and Charles Bradley

3. Kongos, “Take It From Me”

Could "Take It From Me" be the single that builds on the breakthrough these Paradise Valley brothers enjoyed in 2014 when a three-year-old single called “Come With Me Now” became their double-platinum calling card? After two weeks as the most-added song at alternative radio, it sure does feel that way. Written by Jesse, the drummer, who also sings lead vocals, the song tops a pulsating dance beat with a commanding accordion riff that's sure to speak to anyone who came on board with that big single, a chant-along chorus, a pitch-shifted vocal hook, hiccups in all the right places and a brilliant slide-guitar lead. "Take It From Me" has been part of the live set for a while now.

There’s a video on YouTube of them playing an early version of the song at Summerfest in 2014, but the single sounds more like a pop hit. They’ve refined what worked and added elements that lend a more contemporary vibe to the proceedings while Jesse reflects on how our egos can take on a mind of their own until “you're hypnotized, your feet follow your shoes / It's kinda like a cigarette smokin' you.”

2. David Bowie, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”

It makes sense that the final track on David Bowie’s final album, “Blackstar,” would also be the final single released from the album, a haunting reminder of what we lost when Bowie died within days of the album’s release that feels more like an existential meditation on the afterlife than he may have intended. It’s a breathtaking ballad recalling his work in Berlin to the point of directly referencing the harmonica part of “A New Career in a Town” from “Low” in the opening moments.

There’s a wistful quality to Bowie’s vocal on the verses as he sings of “seeing more and feeling less / Saying no but meaning less,” but there’s a hint of desperation in the way he sings the chorus, pleading “I can’t give everything away.” And that vocal is brilliantly complemented by two amazing solos played by jazz musicians – Donny McCaslin on a beautifully expressive sax break and Ben Monder playing Bowie home with the stunning majesty of his overdriven guitar lead.

1. Beyonce, “Hold Up”

Setting the tone for a clearly wounded yet defiant portrait of the problems she’s been having in her marriage with a sample of the Andy Williams easy-listening classic “Can’t Get Used to Losing You?” That’s brilliant. And the airhorn at the end of each line only makes it that much better. But then, everything about this song is brilliant, from the production (by Diplo, Beyonce and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig) to Beyonce’s assertive delivery. She pleads “Can’t you see there’s no other man above you? / What a wicked way to treat the girl that loves you” on the chorus hook while serving notice on the verses that she is not going down without a fight.

“How did it come down to this?,” she wonders. “Going through your call list / I don’t wanna lose my pride but I’m-a f—k me up a b---h.” Then she turns her attention to Jay Z, adding “Know that I kept it sexy and know I kept it fun / There’s something that I’m missing / Maybe my head for one.” Apparently, Father John Misty wrote the lyrics. He is one of 16 people with a writing credit on this single, after all. But even if it took to village, there’s no questioning the raw emotion bleeding through that vocal track, from the hint of a pout in her voice on “What a wicked way to treat the girl that loves you” to “What’s worse, lookin’ jealous or crazy? Jealous or crazy? Or, like, being walked all over lately, walked all over lately? I’d rather be crazy.”

