The Radar: This Week's Tunes You Need To Know – October 20

20 October 2023 | 11:40 am | Ellie Robinson

From bubblegum bangers to ripping rock, cruisy country and rousing rap, here are the tracks that should be on your radar for this week.

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3% (Credit: Savitri Wendt)

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

DSPs

Three of the biggest and brightest names in the First Nations hip-hop scene – Nooky, Dallas Woods and Angus Field – have joined forces to launch a “collective” called 3%. Their debut single, Our People – which features The Presets and samples their iconic 2008 anthem My People – made huge waves when it dropped earlier this week, and Spotify have hopped aboard the hype train with a first-class ticket; the track headlines this week’s edition of big green streamer’s New Music Friday playlist, ranked above the new songs by Charli XCX and Sam Smith (In The City), The Rubens (Good Mood) and even blink-182 (ANTHEM PART 3).

Apple Music chose to spotlight a different song from blink’s just-released ninth album, One More Time..., instead swinging for YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT. It’s ranked second on Apple’s New Music Friday playlist, sandwiched between Pretty Vicious by The Struts and You Make Me Sick by Carla Wehbe. Just missing out on the Top Three is Desert Land by Matt Corby – the only song shared between Apple’s and Spotify’s respective Top Tens, being ranked at seventh place in the latter’s spread.

Rounding out Spotify’s Top Ten are the latest cuts from Vv Pete (Mamas Car), The Rolling Stones (Mess It Up), 21 Savage and d4vd (Call Me Revenge), Vacations (Close Quarters), and A1 x J1 (Scary, featuring Aitch). And over on Apple Music, you’ll see the new gems by Sampha (Suspended), The Veronicas (Perfect), merci, mercy (Silver Lining), Ninajirachi (a new ‘4x4’ mix of Undo U), Squid The Kid (Late Night Antics, featuring Induschia and Alisya Rae) and Max Jackson (Little More Country) ranked high.

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RADIO

This week marks the second in a row that no new songs were added across the board (ATB) at the NOVA Network – but Smallzy’s Surgery did gain the Jack Harlow-assisted 3D by Jung Kook, and the late-night rotation was bolstered by AEIOU (the new joint effort from PNAU and Empire Of The Sun) and Asking (the Clementine Douglas-assisted collab from Sonny Fodera and MK). Over on the Hit Network, Paul Russell’s Lil Boo Thang was added to the national drive rotation.

Meanwhile, Sydney’s KIIS 1065 had one new song added ATB – Hands On Me by Jason Derulo, featuring Meghan Trainor – while the nighttime rotation was shaken up with get him back! by Olivia Rodrigo and What It Is (Block Boy) by Doechii.

This week’s triple j feature album was The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest, the first full-length effort from Adelaide pop-punkers Teenage Joans. Its 13 tracks bolstered an ATB rotation that also welcomed nine standalone additions, including international cuts from Ice Spice and Rema (Pretty Girl), Lola Young (Conceited),

Lovejoy (Normal People Thing) and Mitski (My Love Mine All Mine). As for the five Australian ATB adds, we heard the latest tracks from Djanaba (F.U.), Lithe (Signs), tiffi and City Girl (Bored), The Moving Stills (Best Friend), and Thornhill (Viper Room).

There were also five spot adds, two of which being international – Me & U by Tems and Can’t Play Myself by Skepta (a tribute to Amy Winehouse, featuring a posthumous guest spot from the late soul-pop icon) – and the other three coming from local legends: Theia by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Undo U by Ninajirachi and Tell Me What The Cost Is by Yb.

Looking at this week’s Radio Monitor Top 50, Taylor Swift remains indomitable with her undying Lover hit Cruel Summer. The Weeknd’s Popular (featuring Playboi Carti and Madonna) held on to the #2 spot, too, but Olivia Rodrigo and Miley Cyrus have swapped their #3 and #4 spots (with the former’s vampire toppling the latter’s Used To Be Young). Also rounding out the Top Five is Calm Down by Rema, bumped up from last week’s #6 spot.

There are no new entries in this week’s chart, but there are five songs re-entering: Sunroof by Nicky Youre and Dazy at #42, 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) by Lizzo at #43, Tension by Kylie Minogue at #48, Wake Me Up by Avicii at #49, and Closer by The Chainsmokers (featuring Halsey) at #50.

COUNTRY

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

In addition to that new drop from Max Jackson, Spotify and Apple Music both gave a platform to Tori Darke and her crash-hot Somewhere In Mexico. The latter streaming giant bolstered their New Music Daily playlist with the new releases from Sam Hunt (Came The Closest), Craig Morgan and Luke Combs (Raise The Bar), Sinead Burgess (Ain’t Thinking About You), Dolly Parton (Wrecking Ball, a Miley Cyrus cover featuring the ex-Disney star herself), Cody Jinks (Outlaws And Mustangs), Katie Thompson (Do You Think Of Me?), and Luke Grimes (Where It’s Blue).

After a mighty reign spanning more than a month, The Wolfe Brothers and Travis Collins have finally been dethroned from the top of the Countrytown Hot 50 chart. Their collaborative single, Runnin’ The Country, has been pushed down to #3 this week, while Casey Barnes takes the coveted #1 position with Never Give Up On A Good Time (up from #4 last week), and Morgan Wallen slides to #2 with Everything I Love (up from #3). Also notable is the #5 placing for Lane Pittman’s Love In A Country Town (up from last week’s #10 spot) and a leap of a whopping 31 spots for Tyler Hubbard’s Back Then Right Now (up from #38 to #7).

Meanwhile, this week’s chart brings us four new entries: God Already Knows by Kingswood at #38, In Your Love by Tyler Childers at #39, Nothin’ Like A Sure Bet by Courtney Keil at #42, and Same Damn Walls by Jimbo Stokes at #46. And lastly, there are three tracks re-entering the chart: Standing Room Only by Tim McGraw at #29, Last Night by Morgan Wallen at #44, and Hair Of The Honkey Tonk Dog by Gord Bamford at #49.

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.