Week of October 20th, 2026
Credit: Tate McRae
Hey Weekly New Music Friday Reviews~ long time no see! After a grueling International Baccalaureate summer (no hot boy/girl summer here) and a rough touchdown back into senior year, I’m finding small increments of time to start returning to my weekly writing habits! This week comes with a myriad of classic pop-heavy hits, new career milestones, and overall choices that are great picks for your “going into fall playlists.”
1. Most Streamed Song of the Week – “Housewife” by Tate McRae (6.75/10)
With over 5.67 million streams in its first 24 hours, a No.1 debut on both Spotify Top 50 Global and U.S., a sustainable presence at this milestone, McRae’s first-ever Apple Music No.1 hit, and her biggest career debut, it’s clear that Housewife is a culturally enticing song. Featured in McRae’s Victoria’s Secret performance and perceived as an “incredible performance” by the popular show’s wide audience, it’s easy to find happiness for McRae’s new success and the potential to even hit No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and possibly No.1 in Week 2 if sustainability and radio play swoop in). It’s clear Tate has hustled to reach the throne, but the extent to which I am enthusiastic about the artistry is difficult to state. Prioritizing her athleticism and dance-ability, much of her music seems to center around her visual identity and movements. When watching the music video to “Housewife,” the vision felt clearer as the song morphed from normal self-confidence to an elusive tale about feminism and individualistic ability.
Yet, the song on its own was slightly disappointing compared to the anticipation I had felt as her discography saw a near two-year pause between two album projects. Naturally, I was under the impression that McRae would be spending more time to slowly process her songwriting abilities and coming up with a critically strong or more introspective album. Not all pop albums should be philosophically unique or life-changing, but the “Housewife” song—though maybe one of the more interesting metaphors within the Canadian artist’s discography—is not individualized in the way it was expected. Hopefully, the next single from TM4 (Tate McRae Album 4) will listen to the general critical feedback and ensure the lead single was just a preview transition from her traditional Britney-inspired sound to not alienate her fanbase.
2. Sonic Standout – “Lies” by Zach Bryan feat. Lana Del Rey (8/10)
Teased as a stripped-back piano clip that took over TikTok in the spring, “Lies” finally arrives as the centerpiece of Bryan’s surprise eight-track EP, Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs. It’s a quick follow-up to his sprawling 25-song With Heaven on Top from January, and Bryan is clearly not someone who believes in rest periods (a work ethic I wish I could borrow during IB season). Lana confirmed the collaboration on Instagram last month, and for a pairing that would have sounded like a fan-made mashup only a few years ago, the two co-wrote the song together, which shows on the final product. The track opens with a piano line and a delicate string arrangement before Bryan takes the first verse, and in one of the more charming production choices of the week, Lana’s faint laugh can be heard in the background before she even sings. It’s a small detail, but it makes the recording feel like a room rather than a studio.
What makes “Lies” the sonic standout is its restraint. The studio version keeps the intimacy of the original demo instead of inflating it into a stadium ballad, and Bryan pushes his voice in ways his rougher Oklahoma folk catalogue rarely asks him to. Lana, meanwhile, does what Lana does best: she brings her hazy, cinematic melancholy into someone else’s world without overpowering it. The song’s premise is two lovers who know the relationship won’t last and choose to believe each other’s sweet untruths anyway. It isn’t a groundbreaking metaphor, but the way their voices meet in the final stretch sells it. Not everyone is convinced; fan reactions have been split, with some arguing Lana could have passed on the feature. To me, though, this feels less like a crossover cash grab and more like two writers who understand that heartbreak sounds best when it’s whispered. Hopefully, it’s not the last time we hear them together, especially with Lana’s long-promised Stove still simmering somewhere in the distance.
3. Lyrical Standout – “Japan” by Fontaines D.C. (8.25/10)
Released alongside the band’s fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber (a strong career milestone following the Grammy-nominated Romance in 2024), “Japan” is the penultimate track and arguably the album’s emotional thesis. Musically, it’s one of the gentler moments in the Irish band’s discography: dreamy, mellow, and patient in a way that lets every lyric land. Yet underneath that soft production from longtime collaborator James Ford lies one of the most unsettling stories Grian Chatten has written. The song centers on a woman whose boyfriend is quite literally in Japan, a physical distance that mirrors how emotionally absent he is from her life. Chatten casts her as a mime, someone performing a role silently, and the most devastating image of the song describes her mentally leaving her body during intimacy, a line that reframes the entire track as a portrait of dissociation rather than simple long-distance longing.
What earns “Japan” the lyrical crown is how much it says without spelling anything out. The Luna Carmoon-directed music video, starring Charlie Heaton, makes the subtext much harder to ignore, pointing toward an abusive relationship and a darker escape than the song alone suggests. Like with “Housewife,” the visuals sharpened the vision for me, but unlike Tate’s single, “Japan” never needed the video to be interesting. The writing carries itself. Rather than relying on a catchy hook or a viral metaphor, Fontaines D.C. trust their listeners to sit in discomfort, which is rare for a lead promotional single. If Dopamine Chamber continues at this level of storytelling, it may very well end up as one of the stronger rock records of 2026.
