Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, and More: Best New Music Friday

This week's Best New Music Friday roundup features plenty of pop heavyweights, plus music you need to hear from Chiiild and Mahalia, Audrey Nuna, and Baekhyun.
Olivia Rodrigo in Film Out BTS in their Dynamite concept photo
Composite. YouTube/BigHit Entertainment

Olivia Rodrigo, “deja vu”

Olivia Rodrigo’s new single proves once more her penchant for catchy, wrenching pop. “Deja Vu” is a strawberry ice cream jealousy-turned-infatuation fantasy, in which she and her music video costar don matching outfits and attempt to see in each other what their mutual male love interest sees in the both of them. Among many staggering lines: “I hate to think I was just your type.”

BTS, “Film Out”

BigHit music videos may have a new intro sound effect (farewell, water droplets), but BTS is as sincere, cinematic, and ready to destroy us emotionally — and build us back up again — as ever. Their new song and video “Film Out” is a Japanese track for the film Signal the Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit, and it definitely has a movie vibe, harkening back to the epic storytelling we last saw from the septet earlier in 2020. Co-written by Jungkook alongside Back Number vocalist Iyori Shimizu and producer UTA, “Film Out” is a gorgeous ballad that spotlights each member's individual strengths while bringing them back together into the unit. The lyrics are spacious and moving, creating room to reflect on memory until it turns from vivid pain to something more poignant.

Demi Lovato ft. Ariana Grande, “Met Him Last Night"

Demi Lovato’s newest album Dancing With the Devil…The Art of Starting Over features a slew of collaborators, including Saweetie, Noah Cyrus, and Ariana Grande. Ariana and Demi are a natural pairing in many ways — their soaring vocals, their child star beginnings, their experiences with trauma and loss. “Met Him Last Night” fuels all that together in a sweeping duet atop low-key trap beats. The pair sing of seeing the devil and being enthralled by him, before committing to each other that this will be the last time: “Watch me bounce before I give you my all/So, I promise tonight is the last call.”

Chiiild ft. Mahalia, “Awake”

Speaking of excellent collaborations, psychedelic soul artist Chiiild and songwriting force Mahalia (whose voice is a dream) are a match made in heaven on his forthcoming album Hope for Sale. Chiiild described the feeling of the song in a statement: “When the week’s finally over and you need to take the weight off." It’s an apt way to describe chill, fuzzy guitars, and a lazy bedroom kind of weekend; their voices intertwine in the ultimate mood. “One night can feel like four days.”

Audrey Nuna, "Space"

Rising star Audrey Nuna is definitely one to watch. Her newest single “Space” is lovely, an ambient R&B song in which she ponders her need for some space. Shining in its simplicity, “Space” is a perfect spotlight for Audrey's high vocals and her natural cadence that gives her sparse words extra weight.

Baekhyun, “All I Got”

Baekhyun, member of EXO and SuperM and all around artist, flexed his solo muscles this week with the release of his third mini-album Bambi. A largely R&B record, Bambi lets his voice take center stage, right where it belongs. The opening seconds of “All I Got” could be an Ariana Grande song, before Baekhyun slips down his register low and back up again, at home in any note, effortless as ever.


Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: On BTS, Anti-Asian Racism, and Reliving Trauma