International Pop Music - 2022 Edition
July 24, 2022 1:32 PM Subscribe
I've asked this question before, for the same reason. Next month I will be working an event with participants from all around the world. I have a Spotify playlist of international pop music that I would like to expand and update. Any suggestions?
The existing playlist: International Tunes
I am looking for pop music in as many non-English languages as possible. My only rules are that the song needs to be available on Spotify, and that it is broadly in the radio-friendly pop genre. Hit me with your current favorite bops from all around the world. The more diverse, the better.
The existing playlist: International Tunes
I am looking for pop music in as many non-English languages as possible. My only rules are that the song needs to be available on Spotify, and that it is broadly in the radio-friendly pop genre. Hit me with your current favorite bops from all around the world. The more diverse, the better.
Best answer: The music review website I sometimes write for also reviews pop singles from all around the world (with the broadest possible definition of pop) so you can also look here for interesting music. The Singles Jukebo
(Also apologies, I might have never actually answered your last few asks! misremembered)
posted by yueliang at 2:03 PM on July 24, 2022
(Also apologies, I might have never actually answered your last few asks! misremembered)
posted by yueliang at 2:03 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: I like Albin de la Simone, who’s a French indie-pop kind of guy.
posted by kevinbelt at 2:04 PM on July 24, 2022
posted by kevinbelt at 2:04 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: Veronica Maggio is good and super popular. She sings in Swedish.
posted by gemmy at 2:59 PM on July 24, 2022
posted by gemmy at 2:59 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: Or how about Jay Chou from Taiwan. Suave and catchy.
posted by gemmy at 3:09 PM on July 24, 2022
posted by gemmy at 3:09 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: Three folks I know from the Singles Jukebox also write very comprehensive Japanese-language pop and Mandarin-language/experimental music pop newsletters, and I believe everything in their newsletters should have spotify playlists or are findable on Spotify.
This Side of Japan (This Side of Japan's 50 best songs 2017-2021)
Mando Gap (2021 best of playlist)
Tone Glow
The Quietus (there's a stretch on my playlist that is a direct pull from here)
posted by yueliang at 4:17 PM on July 24, 2022
This Side of Japan (This Side of Japan's 50 best songs 2017-2021)
Mando Gap (2021 best of playlist)
Tone Glow
The Quietus (there's a stretch on my playlist that is a direct pull from here)
posted by yueliang at 4:17 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: This is a few years old now, but I am *still* obsessed with this song: "Mantissa" by Greek singer Marina Satti. If you want more recent songs by her, I also like "Pali" and "Ponos Krifos" a lot.
posted by lysimache at 4:44 PM on July 24, 2022
posted by lysimache at 4:44 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: Italian: Diodato, Che Vita Meravigliosa
Spanish: C. Tangana, Ingobernable
posted by fruitslinger at 6:02 PM on July 24, 2022
Spanish: C. Tangana, Ingobernable
posted by fruitslinger at 6:02 PM on July 24, 2022
Best answer: In Māori: Patea Māori Club: Poi E. I would also nominate the wonderful Alien Weaponry, but I suspect anti-colonial death metal is not what you are looking for with this particular request.
Some other songs in Māori here, including one by Lorde.
posted by Pink Frost at 7:03 PM on July 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Some other songs in Māori here, including one by Lorde.
posted by Pink Frost at 7:03 PM on July 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Francophone Belgian: Stromae has a new album from this year.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:03 PM on July 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 11:03 PM on July 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: In Dutch: Froukje - Niets Tussen & Een Teken & Ik Wil Dansen + S10 - De Diepte
In Finnish: Lauri Tähkä - Morsian + Olavi Uusivirta - Kielletty Leikki + Paul Elias - Kato kun mä meen
In English + Sámi: KEiiNO - Spirit in the Sky
And a Swedish classic: Kent - Dom Andra & Om du var här
In Estonian: Karl-Erik Taukar - Ookean
In German: Tüsn - Küsn
posted by snusmumrik at 5:04 AM on July 25, 2022
In Finnish: Lauri Tähkä - Morsian + Olavi Uusivirta - Kielletty Leikki + Paul Elias - Kato kun mä meen
In English + Sámi: KEiiNO - Spirit in the Sky
And a Swedish classic: Kent - Dom Andra & Om du var här
In Estonian: Karl-Erik Taukar - Ookean
In German: Tüsn - Küsn
posted by snusmumrik at 5:04 AM on July 25, 2022
Best answer: Would you consider it cheating to take a Eurovision Song Contest short cut to songs in European languages? You’ll find playlists on Spotify of all the recent contests.
2022 was particularly rich in non-English language entries: Icelandic, Dutch (by De Diepte, already mentioned), Serbian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Romanian (the Moldovan entry) all featured, and the French entry was in Breton. The Italian entry (Brividi) was a huge hit domestically, and one of those artists (Mahmood) also had a solo entry in 2019 called Soldi that featured a bit of Arabic as well as Italian. For Italian there is also Måneskin’s 2021 winner, Zitti E Buoni.
As well as the 2022 winner, Kalush Orchestra, the entries by Go_A in 2020 (Solovey) and 2021 (SHUM) will sort you out for Ukrainian. Other notable entries from previous years that you might want to track down include Voilà by Barbara Pravi (2021, in French, quelle surprise), Hvala Ne by Lea Sirk (2018, Slovenian), Mall by Eugent Bushpepa (2018, Albanian), Pokušaj by Laka (2008, Bosnian), and I might be the only person still holding a candle for the Danish song Øve os på hinanden that got knocked out in the semi finals in 2021. Portugal have a noble tradition of entries in Portuguese, including their 2017 winner Amar Pelos Dois by Salvador Sobral.
All of the ones I’ve mentioned are, in my opinion, great songs and definitely radio-friendly, though a few might not qualify as party tunes.
posted by FavourableChicken at 5:35 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
2022 was particularly rich in non-English language entries: Icelandic, Dutch (by De Diepte, already mentioned), Serbian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Romanian (the Moldovan entry) all featured, and the French entry was in Breton. The Italian entry (Brividi) was a huge hit domestically, and one of those artists (Mahmood) also had a solo entry in 2019 called Soldi that featured a bit of Arabic as well as Italian. For Italian there is also Måneskin’s 2021 winner, Zitti E Buoni.
As well as the 2022 winner, Kalush Orchestra, the entries by Go_A in 2020 (Solovey) and 2021 (SHUM) will sort you out for Ukrainian. Other notable entries from previous years that you might want to track down include Voilà by Barbara Pravi (2021, in French, quelle surprise), Hvala Ne by Lea Sirk (2018, Slovenian), Mall by Eugent Bushpepa (2018, Albanian), Pokušaj by Laka (2008, Bosnian), and I might be the only person still holding a candle for the Danish song Øve os på hinanden that got knocked out in the semi finals in 2021. Portugal have a noble tradition of entries in Portuguese, including their 2017 winner Amar Pelos Dois by Salvador Sobral.
All of the ones I’ve mentioned are, in my opinion, great songs and definitely radio-friendly, though a few might not qualify as party tunes.
posted by FavourableChicken at 5:35 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Ooh, also, there's a Twitter user who runs monthly music polls on specific categories: @peoples_pop. A couple of months ago, the poll was on Not in English songs. He posts all his playlists on Spotify. Look for the NIE polls, you might want to start with A-Sides: this is basically songs that made it to the second round of voting. They are also on YouTube: here's his Not in English big playlist.
posted by Pink Frost at 4:15 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by Pink Frost at 4:15 PM on July 26, 2022
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I listen to an enormous amount of K-Pop with some favorites from J-pop and Afrobeats, and some other stuff, so here's a giant playlist that I just quickly put together. It's not really exhaustive enough, but it's based on me quickly pulling from around 5-6 playlists on my Spotify. It also has a recency bias, but that might be suitable for your convention. Link.
posted by yueliang at 2:01 PM on July 24, 2022 [2 favorites]