The Radar: This Week's Tunes You Need To Know – September 1

Every Friday in The Radar, The Music breaks down the week’s top performers and the breaking new music you need to be across. 

Hear the big new tunes of the week now on The Music Hit List.
For the hottest rock, punk and metal jams, check out Kill Your Stereo’s Heavy Hitlist.
And for the latest in hip-hop and EDM, get your ears around Purple Sneakers’ Best New Music.

DSPs

Today marks the release of MAY-A’s crash-hot second EP, Analysis Paralysis, and Spotify have jumped aboard the hype train by whacking her on the cover of their New Music Friday playlist. Guilty Conscience is the record’s focus track, ranked second in the playlist itself (below Doja Cat’s Demons, which arrived yesterday alongside the controversial cover art for her upcoming Scarlet album).

Third on Spotify’s ranking was BOTH, the triple-hit joint effort from Tiësto, 21 Savage and BIA. It’s wild that Kylie Minogue didn’t make the Top Three with her hotly awaited Padam Padam follow-up Tension (it’s in at #4), but Apple Music’s editors clearly have nostalgic tastes, giving it the top spot in their own New Music Daily playlist. Demons is #2 on their list, with MAY-A’s cut rounding out the Top Three.

Fast-rising Tulmur/Ipswich rapper Lisi made both DSPs’ Top Tens with his new scorcher Remain The Same, ranked #5 on Spotify and #8 on Apple Music. Elsewhere on Spotify’s list, locals ranked high include Naarm/Melbourne’s Lithe (with his new single Money & My Vices), Eora/Sydney’s Sam Fischer (Afterglow) and Hayden James (We Could Be Love, a collaborative effort with London duo AR/CO), and Tasmania’s Casey Barnes (Never Give Up On A Good Time).

Barnes is the only pick from that list mirrored in Apple’s ranking – a big win for country music this week – but the tech giant’s own Top Ten list is similarly studded with Aussies: The Terrys’ Silent Disco is ranked #4 and Glades’ Fell Asleep At The Beach follows at #5, and I Like It by Teenage Dads is also spotlit at #9.

RADIO

This week saw the NOVA Network add three new tracks across the board (ATB): Barbie World by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, Used To Be Young by Miley Cyrus, and Single Soon by Selena Gomez. The latter two songs were also shown some love by the Hit Network, who added both ATB on Brisbane’s B105 and Melbourne’s The Fox.

Over on triple j, Greta Ray scored this week’s covered feature album spot with her (brilliant) second full-length effort, Positive Spin. Of the national youth broadcaster’s nine ATB additions, four were Australian: Teacher by Lipstick Palms, Trauma Patient by MARLON x RULLA, High School Drama by Lola Scott, and I’m So by The Tullamarines.

As for the other five, listeners tuned in to hear the latest cuts from hemlocke springs (enknee 1), Miguel (the Lil Yachty-assisted Number 9), Polo G (Barely Holdin’ On), Reneé Rapp (Pretty Girls) and Swedish House Mafia (Ray Of Solar). International spot adds were given to Hot Milk (OVER YOUR DEAD BODY) and Sophie May (Worst Thoughts In The World), joining locals 1tbsp (Sour Berry), Babe Rainbow (Juice Of The Sun) and Skin On Skin (Magic).

Looking at this week’s Radio Monitor Hot 50, Dua Lipa reigns supreme with Dance The Night holding on to #1 for a third consecutive week. Taylor Swift also held on to the #2 spot with Cruel Summer, while Olivia Rodrigo’s vampire jumped up four places (from #7 last week) to round out the Top Three.

Just like we saw last week, there are three new entries on the chart: Miley Cyrus’ Used To Be Young at #17, Selena Gomez’s Single Soon at #29, and Busted’s joint effort with the Jonas Brothers, Year 2000 3.0, at #33. The sole re-entry comes from Nicky Youre and Dazy, with their track Sunroof juuuuuust scraping in at #50.

COUNTRY

Hear the big new country tunes of the week on the Countrytown Hot Country Hits Playlist.

As mentioned earlier, it’s a huge week for Australian country with Casey Barnes’ new tune spotlit in the Top Ten on both the major DSPs’ flagship playlists. Zac & George’s latest, Nothin’ To Lose, also made it into both lists – ranked #31 by Spotify and #51 by Apple – while the latter spread featured a further 12 country songs (once again showing the Apple editors’ welcomed taste for twang). Highlights include new cuts from Kirsty Lee Akers (Physical Distraction), Sunday Honey (Silver Lining) and Amber Lawrence (Live A Country Song).

For a second week running, Barnes sits at #1 on the Countrytown Hot 50 chart with Boys Like Me. Travis Collins’ recent team-up with The Wolfe Brothers, Runnin’ The Country, has jumped one spot up to #2, and Sera Berki’s latest (A Boy That’s Into Trucks) rounds out the Top Three with a five-place jump (it was #8 last week).

There are four new entries this week: Dust by Melanie Dyer at #32, Watermelon Moonshine by Lainey Wilson at #41, No Aphrodisiac by The Whitlams Black Stump Band at #42, and Everything She Ain’t by Tori Darke at #45. As for this week’s re-entries, we see the return of Bailey Zimmerman’s Fall In Love at #39, James Johnston’s GOT IT GOOD at #43, Kaylee Bell’s BOOTS N ALL at #46, Luke Bryan’s But I Got A Beer In My Hand at #49, and Ella & Sienna’s It’s Not Me It’s You at #50.