The Amplifier: 8 rising pop girls you should hear now

Reneé Rapp, Ethel Cain, Suzy Clue and more

All Newsletters Read online For subscribers June 24, 2025 8 rising pop girls you should hear now 8 songs, 27 min 58 sec By Joe Coscarelli Reneé Rapp Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Dear listeners, This is Joe from The Times's music team, once again filling in for Lindsay, a.k.a. taking any opportunity to foist my taste onto all of you. I've been thinking, as I often do, about the nature of stardom and whether its essential ingredients are becoming more scarce, or have long since dried up. Despite coalescing conventional wisdom, I'm invested, personally and professionally, in the idea that they have not, and that many of our most promising young musicians still possess an ineffable magnetism and some amazing hooks, even if they may never reach the heights of their monoculture forebears. Online, where music fandom gets messy but also meaty, the idea of the Pop Girls (and especially the Main Pop Girls) looms large. This constantly regenerating hierarchy includes — arguably; all of this is arguable and should be argued — the mostly emeritus legends (Madonna, Mariah, Britney), the modern imperialists (Beyoncé, Taylor, Ariana) and the lame duck in-betweeners (Katy, Gaga, Rihanna). Endless debates can be had about who fits where, and what that means for Billie, Cardi, Dua, Charli and anyone else who can get by with a single name. In the last few years especially, the field has blown open: Even the niches have niches and one person's pop queen can be another's "who?" (Justice for Rosalía, etc.) Even as Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan have solidified their footing, not just on the internet but also the radio, streaming and IRL in concert, there are infinite iterating tiers of singers who are alternately reverent, irreverent, brash, manufactured, original and otherwise. These eight new songs are my summer picks from the current class of hot prospects, all of whom are doing something I see as undeniably modern, while also recognizing their place in the Pop Girl lineage, defined most broadly. Your money's not coming with you to heaven, Joe Listen along while you read. 1. Sabrina Carpenter: "Manchild" An instant No. 1 hit, Sabrina Carpenter's new single — from her forthcoming album, "Man's Best Friend," a waste-no-time follow-up to last year's breakout "Short n' Sweet" — is everything that made her finally transcend her Disney past: brassy, genuinely clever ("Why so sexy if so dumb?" she asks of the titular manchild) and genre agnostic, with live instrumentation and a touch of Dolly Parton twang. Teaming up once again with the writers Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, she may have made "Please Please Please," Part Two, but look, we live in an age where smashes get sequels. This one works. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 2. Reneé Rapp: "Leave Me Alone" Still probably best known as the actress who left Mindy Kaling's "The Sex Lives of College Girls" to pursue social media chaos, Reneé Rapp has finally found a song worthy of her verve. More Kesha than anything Kesha has done in years, this droll and profane anthem of apathy and antipathy is too specific to be as dumb as it's pretending it is. "I took my sex life with me," she deadpans in the second verse, "now the show ain't" — something unprintable. But let's go with: now the show ain't funny. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 3. Suzy Clue: "Uneasy" Yes, this is a nu-nu metal song produced in part by Dylan Brady of 100 gecs, a duo that is doing its part to rescue the most reviled music of the recent past. Suzy Clue, a young New York artist, is in the beginning stages of her career, but she's starting with a strong point of view: bringing an alt-rock palette and pop image-making together without shame or winks. The punishing, distorted riffs with harmonic squeals are a throwback to a time when Korn could coexist with Christina Aguilera on "TRL," and the video for "Uneasy" has both in its DNA. "I'm a Slave 4 U" goes Evanescence? Why not. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 4. Addison Rae: "Money Is Everything" One of TikTok's earliest pandemic success stories has — gasp — a mind of her own. A recent guest on our show Popcast ahead of the release of her debut LP, "Addison," Rae made a cohesive 33-minute album entirely with two female students from Max Martin's school of pop perfection, Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser. The result, as heard on this confection, displays a comfort and confidence in the contagious silliness that the best pop can offer. "When I'm out dancing, please D.J., play Madonna," she sings, in case there was any doubt. "Wanna roll one with Lana, get high with Gaga." ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 5. Summer Walker: "Spend It" An Atlanta R&B gem, Summer Walker is following her first two albums, "Over It" and "Still Over It," with "Finally Over It," hopefully soon. On "Spend It," she sticks to the theme: "Give me the last four of your credit card / buy back my love, you can keep your heart." It's less lovesick and more sick of love — a post-feminist take on breakup boohooing. It stings, but also goes down smooth. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 6. Audrey Hobert: "Sue Me" It doesn't get much more Los Angeles than this: Audrey Hobert, the daughter of a "Scrubs" writer and sister to another rising pop singer, is also best friends with Gracie Abrams, daughter of J.J. and acolyte of Taylor. After trying out TV writing, Hobert switched creative pursuits, collaborating on songs with Abrams before releasing a couple of her own. "Sue Me" leans into the ridiculousness of the trappings, with comedy-writer verses and an indie-pop chorus of pure mantra repetition: "Sue me, I wanna be wanted." ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 7. Julia Michaels: "Try Your Luck" A songwriter for Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and many more, Julia Michaels is a master of the run-on melody that telegraphs her own skittishness. "Issues," her debut single as a solo artist from 2017, was pure anxiety, in sound and subject matter, and also a huge hit. Still, Michaels seems to have slow-walked her own career in favor of the studio's shadows. But "Try Your Luck," from her recent "Second Self" EP, turns her trademark nervous energy into a come-on, betraying a new confidence and maybe another go at the spotlight. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 8. Ethel Cain: "Nettles" Let's end with Exhibit A for just how out-there a new-school Pop Girl can be: Ethel Cain followed her star-making 2022 debut, "Preacher's Daughter," with "Perverts" in January, an album that consisted of nearly 90 minutes of ambient droning. That makes this gentle, lore-heavy, eight-minute lead single for "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," due out in August, qualify as pop song. Hell, put it on the radio! ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube The Amplifier Playlist "8 Rising Pop Girls You Should Hear Now" track list Track 1: Sabrina Carpenter, "Manchild" Track 2: Reneé Rapp, "Leave Me Alone" Track 3: Suzy Clue, "Uneasy" Track 4: Addison Rae, "Money Is Everything" Track 5: Summer Walker, "Spend It" Track 6: Audrey Hobert, "Sue Me" Track 7: Julia Michaels, "Try Your Luck" Track 8: Ethel Cain, "Nettles" Thank you for being a subscriber If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. 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