By Michelle Hyun Kim, Kemet High, Leah Mandel, and Vrinda Jagota of Third Bridge Creative.
In this edition of the Trending Tracks Report, we look at a surprise viral sensation from a modest indie rock band, a rising song from a pop legend, a deep house banger from Ireland, a K-Pop hit built on a track with a winding history unusual political resonance, and a smash from an Australian pop veteran.
Pinegrove: “Need 2”
Chartmetric Track Score: 43
Genre: Indie Rock
Country: U.S.
Pinegrove’s modest indie rock success couldn’t have predicted the “Pinegrove Shuffle,” a lighthearted—and extremely viral—dance set to their 2014 single "Need 2.” The sensitive folk-indebted song isn’t the sort of track that typically results in a dance trend, but fans of the band have turned it into a belated hit even while the band is technically on hiatus. Since then, it’s soundtracked over 69K videos on TikTok and has landed back in editorial playlists like big on the internet and Front Page Indie. Frontman Evan Stephens Hall has even done a few interviews here and there—perhaps a sign that the band might soon emerge from their slumber.
Kylie Minogue: “Padam Padam”
Chartmetric Track Score: 529
Genre: Pop
Country: Australia
The Australian pop icon has worked across five different decades, and the ascension of “Padam Padam” shows she’s still making tracks that resonate with fans of candy-coated pop music—especially those in the queer community. Released in May as the first single from her forthcoming album Tension, the dance-pop track has immediately been embraced by listeners, landing on charts worldwide and soundtracking over 20K videos on TikTok in just over a month. It also appears on absurdly popular editorial playlists like mint, Dance Party, big on the internet, and Good Vibes. The New York Times argues that the track’s arrival is well-timed to June, or as their headline put it: “You hear it and you know it’s pride.”
Jazzy: “Giving Me”
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 1,723
Genre: Dance
Country: Ireland
Irish-Jamaican singer Jazzy has landed the UK’s song of the summer with her debut “Giving Me,” a deep house track that’s racked up 33.1M Spotify streams and 62.1K TikToks since its March 10 release. Combining escapist Love Island vibes with a touch of melancholy lyricism, the sleek single was produced by Irish duo Belters Only, who featured Jazzy on their 2022 hits “Make Me Feel Good” (86.4M Spotify streams) and “Don’t Stop Just Yet” (16.5M Spotify streams). “Giving Me” is billed only under Jazzy’s name, marking the breakthrough of a dance vocalist who is becoming a star in her own right, instead of just a footnote in a male producer’s career.
AOORA: “Jimmy Jimmy - K-Pop Version”
Chartmetric Track Score: 5
Genre: K-Pop
Country: South Korea
The legacy of Bollywood’s hit song “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja” is neverending. Inspired by a French song, the track—composed by Bappi Lahiri and performed by then-newcomer Parvati Kahn—appeared in 1982’s Disco Dancer which became massively popular in the former Soviet Union and was covered by M.I.A. in 2007. During a COVID lockdown last fall, Chinese citizens used the song in protest: Instead of speaking out against the lack of basic supplies and necessities, they created TikToks. Recently, K-Pop audiences have repurposed the track. AOORA, a rapper and member of the boy-band AA, released this K-Pop cover of the song with the Indian label Saregama. Since being posted on May 25, the song has garnered over 1.2M YouTube views, leading to significant growth in the size of AOORA’s Indian audience.
Troye Sivan: “RUSH”
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 358
Genre: Pop
Country: Australia
It’s been five years since Troye Sivan’s sophomore album BLOOM, and his new single “RUSH” is getting a push from TikTok’s K-Pop community. He’s no stranger to the power of K-Pop: he wrote BTS’s 2020 song “Louder Than Bombs” and recently starred in The Idol with BLACKPINK member JENNIE. After meeting Hyunjin, a member of Stray Kids, at a fashion show in May, Sivan posted a fan edit of Hyunjin on TikTok featuring the forthcoming single “RUSH” (#troyesivanrush has 1M views). Spotify created a playlist of Stray Kids and Troye Sivan songs, urging a collaboration between the two.
