Friday Five: Miley Cyrus' disco-chic single, another unreleased Prince gem, and more
Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images; Miley Cyrus/YouTube; Steve Jennings/FilmMagic; Unique Nicole/Getty Images; Slow Pulp/YouTube
Every Friday, EW's music team runs down the five best songs of the week. In today's edition, Miley is making midnight disco music, Rico Nasty teams with 100 gecs, Slow Pulp mix psychedelia with heavy-eyed melancholy, 03 Greedo loads it up, and more unreleased Prince heat.
"Midnight Sky" — Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus seems to be shedding her disillusionment with the pop music that garnered her biggest mainstream successes but left her overexposed. Her first single of 2020 takes the harmony of Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen," signature rasp and all, and matches it with a disco-inflected beat. The single lets her still be the rock star she's branded herself over the last five years while catering to those who first embraced her during the Hannah Montana era. —Marcus Jones
"Witness 4 the Prosecution (Version 2)" — Prince
Part of a massive forthcoming reissue of Prince's Sign 'O the Times, "Witness to the Prosecution (Version 2)" is a stripped-back take on its funkier, Revolution-assisted predecessor. The follow-up is all bass slapping and booming kicks, with Prince begging his woman to stick around. "Gimme death row, gimme solitaire / But don't you leave me, baby," he sings. For the Purple One, love is a matter of life and death. —Alex Suskind
"iPhone" — Rico Nasty
Maryland rapper Rico Nasty is mostly known for making rap music to kick down doors to, so it's a pleasant surprise to hear her delve into something as unexpected as hyperpop. That's not to say this song, produced by Dylan Brady of 100 gecs and from Rico's forthcoming debut album, loses any of the volcanic energy synonymous with her earlier work, just that it showcases her versatility. —M.J.
"Falling Apart" — Slow Pulp
There's no shortage of young bands currently making gloomy-yet-glowing indie rock, but few are doing it better than Slow Pulp. On their forthcoming debut, Moveys, the Wisconsin group cast a wide net — encompassing dreary emo, dusky shoegaze, warm alt-country, and bristly folk — while still forging their own unique identity. Their latest single, "Falling Apart," is a nodding gem that falls somewhere between the drifting psychedelia of Alex G and the heavy-eyed melancholy of Soccer Mommy. The track even features beautiful violin strokes by frequent G collaborator Molly Germer, adding shades of splendor behind Emily Massey's syrupy murmur. It's a beaut. —Eli Enis
"RonRon Load It Up" — 03 Greedo
In the intro of his new mixtape Load It Up Vol. 1, 03 Greedo calls from a prison phone to explain that the project was conceived when he was on the run from a drug-trafficking case (one he's now serving time for). The phrase "load it up" was apparently Greedo's command to RonRon the Producer when they'd be churning out new tracks from dusk till dawn — an era documented on the fittingly titled "RonRon Load It Up," a booming trap banger that brings a wild, Chief Keef-like zeal out of the typically suave and soulful Greedo. —E.E.
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