From Frank Ocean to Miguel via NZCA/Lines, pop music has been wonderfully reconfigured this year. Phoenix native YUS continues this vein of subtle originality with the pessimistic “Nowadays”. It’s a gentle sigh of a song that patiently builds to a weary R&B shuffle that captures the feeling of resigned hopelessness perfectly, and somehow even makes it feel like a desirable state of mind. And when you start getting tricked into thinking things like that, you know the music must be good.
