Buckle up, bitches – it’s #DALEYPOP by Dale Melita

Music has been embedded in my life ever since I was in the womb, my Mum and Dad basically raised me on music, especially POP music! I grew up listening to Madonna, Mariah, Kylie, Spice Girls, Britney… even AQUA! I’m excited to share my favourite songs and album every month with you all from Scene HQ! Follow me on Twitter @DaleMelita and Instagram @itsdalemelitabitch and listen to all the songs I’m loving in this article via my Spotify playlist here.

P.s. sorry in advance for how many times I say the word BOP in this article but I can’t help that there’s so many BOPS out right now!

Madonna, Sickick & Fireboy DML – Frozen – Fireboy DML Remix. Only the Queen of Pop and Queen of Reinvention could re-release one of her own singles 24 years later! I love the original 1998 version, such a classic, but this remix is a vibe. The remix has a dark and intense production thanks to Sickick who originally unveiled his remix of the song via TikTok in March 2020 that went viral, and now Nigerian singer-songwriter Fireboy DML has added extra vocals. Check out the video below too, Madonna looks like a GODDESS. P.s Madonna has now announced another remix coming out a day after I’ve written this with American rapper and singer 070 Shake, hopefully it’ll be sick but I think it will be, it’ll have another video too!

Normani – Fair. Normani posted about Fair on Instagram saying “this song really captures me in one of my most vulnerable moments. sharing this record makes me uncomfortable because you have never really seen me in this light. definitely aware that you might feel like you don’t know much about me but that’s only because it’s what makes me feel protected. I am really forcing myself to let go here. this is huge for me and hopefully this piece of art resonates. love is beautiful yet so soooo terrifying” and “ohhhh and believe me the uptempo shit is coming lmaooo” YAY Normani knows we need BOPS even though this song is lovely to be fair and rather….healing.

Sam Ryder – SPACE MAN. Emerging singer-songwriter & TikTok-er Sam Ryder has been announced as the UK entrant for Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with Space Man. I think this is the UK’s best entry in bloody years, and I’m already imagining really good staging and maybe Sam in an astronaut outfit?! Twelve points from Scene HQ!

LIAMOO – Bluffin’. Omg if you’ve never watched Melodifestivalen before then you need to, well if you’re a Eurovision fan and a fan of POP music that is! Melodifestivalen is basically an annual song competition in Sweden and the winner, yep you guessed it, goes to Eurovision to represent Sweden.

I was hoping the winner would be LIAMOO because this song is so catchy and so fresh and….dramatic. Unfortunatley LIAMOO wasn’t chosen in the end but I’m still enjoying this bop and the winner that was chosen to represent Sweden in Eurovision’s song is a bop too to be fair (Cornelia Jakobs aka an Emma Willis look-alike)!

Griff and Sigrid – Head on Fire. Griff and Sigrid met sharing a pizza at Fashion Week in London, such a cool way for a collaboration to manifest right?! Norwegian singer and songwriter Sigrid said about Head on Fire: “It’s about that feeling when you meet someone who just flips everything upside down and you can’t focus on anything else but that person,” and that “[Griff’s] just lovely, and it’s been so much fun working with her.”

Naww, and English singer and songwriter Griff said “I’ve looked up to Sigrid so much, especially as a young girl who broke through making powerful, credible pop music. So I was excited to hear she wanted to write.” Well I for one am grateful because their voices compliment each others so well!

Keep Shelly In Athens – Among Wolves. Sometimes, and only sometimes, I like to have a break from bops (gasp) and listen to something a lot more chilled, especially when I’m in the bath, and Keep Shelly in Athens are a Greek synth pop chill downtempo duo that I can’t recommend enough.They bring out DELICIOUS music consistently and Among Wolves is LUSH and is giving me hypnotic, summer vibes, το αγαπάει!

Darren Hayes Do You Remember?. OMG remember the hot one from Savage Garden?! Actually they were both hot to be fair eeeep, but Australian singer-songwriter Darren Hayes is back with a brand new solo song and guess what….it’s a BOP! Darren said “From a production point of view this is what I have always wanted to do but never had the skills until now.  It reminds me of what I loved about songs from George Michael’s Faith and some of my favourite Prince records from the late ’80s. It’s all about the groove.

I spent ages trying to tune a Linn drum machine to sound like those snare drums.  In doing so I went down this amazing rabbit hole of vintage synth sounds – understanding what it is I loved about ’80s tech like the Synclavier and the Fairlight.’ And he tweeted ‘This is the sound of 2022 me looking back at 1997 me remembering the first time I kissed a man on a dance floor.’. Fun fact: Darren mentions Madonna’s best album ever Ray of Light album in the lyrics, YAS QUEEN.

Janey Jacké x Lady Bee – Turned Heads. Oh just a casual FIERCE collab alert! Dutch RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs The World’s star Janey Jacké is officially a recording artist now with her first single with Lady Bee and I can’t stop listening to it to be 100% honest with you… and you!

ALBUM OF THE MONTH – Todrick Hall – FEMULINE Gaymeova. Self-professed Bop Queen Todrick Hall isn’t giving us time to breathe and snatching our wigs at the same time and has released ANOTHER new album phew, well it was out in January but I’m still obsessed because it’s basically a massive dance party (of course) and the gayme is ova for real bitches!

The album includes a sick collab with RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Kylie Sonique Love called 69 and is one of the best tracks on the album although LA LA Boom, Gay Gangsta, Museum and Lover Boy are bops too. Oh and while we’re here I might as well mention that Todrick Hall will be performing at We Are Fabuloso on Saturday, August 6 for Brighton and Hove Pride’s official fundraiser for the Brighton Rainbow Fund! See you there Todrick!