2
THE OPENING ACT
MAY 18–25, 2022
STAFF
What we’re into
THE NUMBER ONES
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Lisa Britton
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Sarah Smith
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SUBMIT NEWS
RAISING THE CURTAIN
ON THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
A
t some point in our lives,
many of us have turned on
the radio and thought, “This is
what passes for popular music?”
Maybe we suddenly find our-
selves out of sync with modern
trends or perhaps there are other
contemporary artists we feel are
more deserving of mass adula-
tion. But, for better and for worse,
every hit pop song is a product
of its time and place, whether the
song becomes an all-timer or a
disposable blip in time.
That’s one of the central
themes of Tom Breihan’s The
Number Ones, a triweekly
column that runs on the music
website Stereogum. Since 2018,
Breihan has been reviewing
every song that’s hit No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts since
its inception in 1958.
Breihan scores every song
on a 1-10 scale, but the score
isn’t really the point. For people
with terminal trivia brain like me,
he does a deep dive into every
song he reviews, providing not
only a history of the song and
the artist, but also the songwrit-
er, producer and countless other
facts and figures.
Even if Breihan doesn’t like
the song he’s reviewing, he
attempts to figure out why the
song resonated with so many
people at that particular point in
time. Although some years are
stronger than others, reading
the Number Ones made me
realize that there’s never been
a golden era in popular music:
every period in pop has its fair
share of mediocrity and drivel.
But that’s also led me to the
conclusion that even some-
thing designed for mass appeal
www.stereogum.com
can be an art form. Because
when you get to masterpieces
like Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,”
or Stevie Wonder’s “Supersti-
tion” or TLC’s “Waterfalls,” they
hit especially hard because
they make you feel something,
like all good art.
You can catch up on past
Number Ones by visiting
stereogum.com/category/col-
umns/. At the time of this writ-
ing, Breihan has made it all the
way to 1996.
romantic track that stood out.
“DMFU” is a lush R&B track that
was another single off the album
about the risk of romance and that
it might go sour. Her track “Feels
Like” shows that she takes power
and control back in a relationship.
— ANTONIO SIERRA, FORMER EAST
OREGONIAN REPORTER
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Wednesdays in the  Wallowa
County Chieftain and Blue
Mountain Eagle. It publishes
New releases
‘HEART ON MY SLEEVE’
BY ELLA MAI
Thursdays in The Observer, Baker
City Herald and East Oregonian.
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Hermiston Herald
541-567-6457
B
ritish singer, Ella Mai, is back
with even more R&B bridges
in her second album, “Heart on
My Sleeve.”
While this album radiates
Mai’s finger-snapping tracks and
smooth melodies similar to her
debut, it’s also more passion-
ate and sung by someone who’s
a little older and wiser. Mai’s
debut album released in 2018,
went double platinum and her hit
single “Boo’d Up” went on to win a
Grammy for best R&B song. She
was 23 when her debut album was
released, now at 27, this album
proves who she is as an artist and
that she knows love isn’t clear cut.
Mai has never shied away
from love songs but this sopho-
more album shows more sides
of Mai. The tracks highlight all
the sides to falling in love, the
healthy sides and even the toxic
relationships. “Leave U Alone”
shows the uncontrollable nature
of being in love, while “Hide” is a
ballad finding vulnerability.
Her sound stays true to R&B
but also brings in fun pop vibes.
“Fallen Angel” is a true lovestruck
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS