Tracks of the week reviewed: Years & Years, Kara Marni, and Chinah

Years & Years

It’s a Sin

To tie in with the must-watch TV show, Olly Alexander tackles the Pet Shop Boys classic, accompanied only by a piano and a penchant for emotional vocal dynamics. It’s a shame not to hear it performed with all the 80s bombast of the original, but by removing the high-kicking synths, its confessional poignancy is laid bare. Simple but highly effective.

Sabrina Carpenter

Skin

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The pop machine relishes a love triangle almost as much as it enjoys pitting young women against each other, so it’s no real surprise to see Disney star Sabrina Carpenter capitalising on the success of Olivia Rodrigo’s Drivers License with her own infidelity response ballad. It’s not quite Becky With the Good Hair, but it’ll certainly ruffle enough feathers to keep the TikTok gossip-boat afloat.

Kara Marni

Trippin

Borrowing the chorus of what is surely one of the greatest pop songs of all time (Amerie’s 1 Thing), Kara Marni sashays around Trippin with the poise of someone who knows they’ve already got a hit in the bag. It never quite reaches the giddy exuberance of its source material, but it’s an irresistibly slick interpretation nonetheless.

Chinah

Mysterious

Despite sharing a name with Donald Trump’s favourite ostentatious enunciation, Danish trio Chinah have quietly thrived under the radar, honing their brand of subdued synthpop. Much like Trump, Mysterious is a slippery thing that answers to no one; unlike Trump, it’s almost universally likable, a come-hither dose of electronic eyelid-batting that would seal the deal on any grubby dancefloor.

Deadletter

Fall of the Big Screen

Post-punk politicism draws loyal fanbases, but a tedious lecture will turn them off just as quickly. The butter-knife bluntness of Deadletter’s tirade against televisual streaming services feels gratingly ill-timed: a smug, pseudo-intellectual finger that waggles at the listener without realising they’re on the same side. Go on lads, give yourself the day off; Bling Empire won’t save our souls, but right now it’s the only joy we have.