Review | Justin Bieber and Omah Lay’s collab arrives just in time for spring, plus new music from Dua Lipa and more

Star Tracks compiles the most interesting new music from a broad range of established and emerging artists.

This week’s playlist features new music from Justin Bieber and Omah Lay, Alexisonfire, Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa, Band of Horses, Superorganism, Khalid, Floating Points, Rex Orange County featuring Tyler, the Creator, and Cochise.

Click here to listen along to the Spotify playlist, which includes additional tracks we loved this week.

Justin Bieber and Omah Lay: Attention

Justin Bieber is back again. Following hit collaborations with Burna Boy, Wizkid and Tems, the pop star and Canadian legend (according to this Belieber) has teamed up with Nigerian artist Omah Lay for a sure to be hit single, “Attention.”

The suave, chill vibe of the beat picks up the torch from the likes of Adekunle Gold and Masego.

The interlaying of vocals from Bieber and Lay carries listeners to a time of relaxation and gentle hip movements, a perfect blend as spring arrives and winter slowly thaws. — Annette Ejiofor

Floating Points: Vocoder

Last March, electronic producer Sam Shepherd, who records as Floating Points, released a stunning collaborative album with American jazz legend Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra.

One very long year later, Shepherd has moved on from the solemn esthetics of “Promises,” dropping an absolute heater that is probably already filling dance floors around the world.

The seven-and-a-half minute “Vocoder” opens with an intriguing loop of chopped up digital sounds — like a Kraftwerk sample thrown into a blender — and is driven forward by a high-tempo techno beat with edges sharp enough to cut diamonds. — Richie Assaly

Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa: Sweetest Pie

This was inevitable. Megan Thee Stallion’s pop proclivities and Dua Lipa’s prevalence have been converging forces ever since they both landed on the scene.

Over shining synths, shimmering chimes and trap drums, Meg and Dua have dropped one of the sweetest songs of 2022. “Sweetest Pie” blends the best of both artists: Dua Lipa’s beautiful vocals with Meg’s top tier rapping and blush-worthy lyrics.

Between Meg bragging “That body lookin’ nice, I got cake and I know he want a slice” and Dua’s sensual hook, it’s hard not to like ice cream on a hot pie. — Demar Grant

Alexisonfire: Sweet Dreams of Otherness

After a less-than-amicable breakup in 2011, a reunion show in 2015 and a sampling of new music in 2019, the Only Band Ever is back. And it feels for real this time.

Thirteen years since their last album, post-hardcore veterans Alexisonfire are finally releasing a new full-length LP on June 24, titled “Otherness.” The lead single — “Sweet Dreams of Otherness” — is raw and punchy, showcasing the maturity of a band that’s been through, well, a lot.

“It’s kind of about performance and embracing a new-found confidence in a state of peculiarity,” vocalist George Pettit said about the new track, adding it has become kind of a “mission statement” for the band.

Heavily distorted guitars? Check. Dallas Green crooning angelically? Check. Pettit reminding you why he’s one of the best frontmen? Check.

That mixture of hard and soft has always made Alexis a unique act, one that allows fans of a variety of different genres — or that “Otherness” — to intersect and coexist.

Alexisonfire will always be legends among those who grew up in the southern Ontario hardcore scene of the mid-2000s. And growing alongside a band that has come and gone, changed and evolved over the last 20 years or so, “Sweet Dreams of Otherness” feels like returning home after a long and arduous trip.

But it doesn’t end there, it changes direction, it keeps going — and Alexisonfire is on a journey that we sure as hell want to be a part of. — Justin Smirlies

Khalid: Last Call

Just in time for some sunnier days ahead, singer-songwriter Khalid has launched “Last Call,” a new track that’s bound to end up on your spring soundtrack.

His soothing harmonies dominate the track, giving fans the tranquility and chill vibes they know they can always count on him to bring.

“The first few steps of another chapter for myself. Thank you guys for all of the love & support through my journey as an adult. This is my gift to you,” the Texas artist wrote to fans online on the release of the single.

If you’re looking for a song to give you a sense of calmness and peace, this may be the one to add to your playlist. Khalid is currently working on his third album “Everything Is Changing.” His last, “Free Spirit,” dropped back in April 2019. He also recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of his debut album, “American Teen,” on March 3. — Madison Wong

Superorganism (feat. CHAI & Pi Ja Ma): Teenager

Does March have you feeling cooped up? Roiling with anticipation for spring?

Go ahead and hit play on “Teenager,” the latest dopamine hit from the London-based indie pop collective Superorganism.

The track augments the five-member group with contributions from Japanese rock band Chai and French alt-pop artist Pi Ja Ma. The result is a chaotic amalgam of sounds and energies, packed with crunchy power chords, bubble-gum synths and even a theremin.

But it’s lead vocalist Orono Noguchi who keeps things relatively balanced, as she warns of the downsides of getting older: “Had enough of growing up, keep making your mistakes, do misbehave,” she sings, her delivery nearly deadpan.

“Teenager” is best consumed as a video, which features wacky visuals and some pretty incredible dancing by comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez. Superorganism’s second studio album, “World Wide Pop,” arrives on July 15. — RA

Rex Orange County feat. Tyler, the Creator: Open a Window

Remember Flower Boy? Welcome back. “Open a Window” is a return of the once odd but now familiar pairing and sound. Serene strings, Thundercat-like bass and dainty keys are a welcome sound as Rex Orange County and Tyler, the Creator do what they usually do: muse about relationships.

This time it’s about feeling stuck and there’s a bit of humour in the singer’s desperation to escape on the hook: “Could I open a window? Can somebody open the door? There’s so many reasons, I can barely take it anymore.”

Tyler’s gruff vocals and raps analogizing L.A. traffic to relationships also offer a welcome contrast to a song that wants everyone to float away. — DG

Band of Horses: Warning Signs

“Small talk with a registered nurse / Not to cry in front of people at work,” sings a weary Ben Bridwell on “Warning Signs,” the opening track on the new album sardonically titled “Things Are Great.”

A stirringly melancholy track about resisting the imperative to take care of one’s mental health, “Warning Signs” contains all the elements that made BoH such a buzzworthy festival band back in the mid-aughts: Bridwell’s syrupy drawl, twinkly electric guitars and the emotionally wrenching “soft-loud” song structure that characterized the group’s early megahits.

It’s a nostalgic return to form for a band that never really managed to recreate the success of its debut album, “Everything All the Time,” despite releasing a handful of decent if mostly forgettable albums.

Though younger listeners might shrug, indie rock fans of a certain vintage will be drawn to this music like a flower crown to a polo field. — RA

Cochise: Do It Again

This track’s nearly snuck past me, Maybe it’s because the snippet Cochise released on TikTok spawned a dance craze months before the official release of the song.

Cochise’s “Do It Again” is essentially hip-hop candy. The Cartinese baby voice, spacey synths, and intergalactic laser beams and brisk bars make for a song stuck on repeat.

Take a look at the lyrics and you’ll notice this track isn’t about anything, but you’ll know all the words by the end of the day.

When Playboi Carti dropped “Die Lit,” there was a question as to whether what he was doing was replicable. The snipped lyrics, simplistic songwriting, unique vocal style and sugar rush production in “Do It Again” take root in what Carti was doing in 2018 and have turned what was punk rage into smooth dances. — DG