Hi! Welcome to the penultimate post of the summer special, and as the series comes to its close, we have a bit of a throwback... I'm doing my first countdown review post in almost half a year! No, this will not become a regular series again (I will have a new biweekly series soon however), but this is to catch you up on how I feel about the current Hits 1 scene. Yes, I will be reviewing every song on the countdown in today's post. Overall, I think the music is pretty good right now... let's get into it.
Exits:
Tate McRae - Just Keep Watching
Jonas Brothers - Love Me To Heaven
Miley Cyrus - End Of The World
#30: Olivia Dean - Nice To Each Other
#29: AJR - Betty
#28: Blackpink - Jump
#27: Justin Bieber - Daisies
#26: Huntr/X - Golden
#25: Jessie Murph - Blue Strips
#24: Sombr - Back To Friends
#23: Audrey Hobert - Sue Me
#22: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae - What I Want
#21: Charli XCX - Party 4 U
#20: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind
#19: Mgk - Cliche
#18: Alessi Rose - Same Mouth
#17: Lewis Capaldi - Survive
#16: Tate McRae - Revolving Door
#15: Maroon 5 & Lisa - Priceless
#14: Miley Cyrus - Easy Lover
#13: Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else
#12: Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman
#11: Myles Smith - Nice To Meet You
#10: Jonas Brothers - No Time To Talk
#9: Sombr - Undressed
#8: Ed Sheeran - Azizam
#7: Ariana Grande - Twilight Zone
#6: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical
#5: Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not
#4: Alex Warren - Ordinary
#3: Rose - Messy
#2: Role Model - Sally When The Wine Runs Out
#1: Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild
Tate McRae's Just Keep Watching & Jonas Brothers' Love Me To Heaven left this week and will not be missed. Miley Cyrus' End Of The World also left and had a good run here but deserved to be a bigger hit outside of Hits 1.
I was pleasantly surprised by Olivia Dean's first appearance on Hits 1 with Nice To Each Other. Of course, none of the many many Olivias will ever come close to the Olivia...
Bubby said in their countdown review that they like every song called Betty. I'm the opposite, with even Taylor Swift's song of the same name being among her very weakest. Betty from AJR is just way too overproduced and I don't like the vocal effects.
Jump is one of the better non-solo Blackpink songs I've heard. Of the genres that I've just kinda come to like this year, k-pop is among them.
Justin Bieber's long-awaited comeback Daisies is getting too much hate. I quite like it, particularly the production.
Huntr/X is a rare appearance of a fictional band getting radio success. Golden is one of my favorite songs from the pretty stacked Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack.
Jessie Murph's Blue Strips continues the noticeable trend of "country-rap" in the past few years that may have arisen due to Beyonce's album, and so far no one has matched up to her in my opinion.
Hits 1 finally picked up on my second-favorite Sombr song, Back To Friends. I wish We Never Dated would get more traction, but I'll gladly take this.
Gracie Abrams' friend & cowriter Audrey Hobert might be one of the new contenders for artists who might have Chappell Roan moments. Sue Me has the potential to become one of the biggest songs of the year. I'd love it if Bowling Alley could become just as, if not more, successful.
Wow, Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae. Riveting collab there. But actually... What I Want isn't that bad? It's honestly a lot better than I expected from these two artists.
Party 4 U, a Charli XCX song from five years ago that is becoming viral for whatever reason, is my second-least favorite song currently in the top 30. I genuinely do not get the appeal in songs that are this repetitive.
On a better note, On My Mind, a surprise-not-surprise amazing collab between Alex Warren & Rose, is my second-favorite song in the top 30. This doesn't even play that much on Hits 1 but it just so happens to be playing every time I turn it on lately, and with every listen I like it more.
The idea of a song called Cliche is hilarious to me, but Mgk actually does it quite well.
Same Mouth is giving major Fearless-era Taylor Swift vibes, and I am here for it. Alessi Rose should be one of the big new artists of the year.
"Until the day that I die, I swear to God I'll survive" - Lewis Capaldi, 2025. This former AT song has faded on me slightly just because I can't unhear that.
Revolving Door is (unfortunately) my favorite Tate McRae song since Run For The Hills, as I've been underwhelmed by her recent music. This song is nowhere near Run For The Hills or You Broke Me First, but it's pretty good and has only grown on me. Also, am I the only one who hears a Wii sound effect playing multiple times in the intro, first verse, and outro?
I like the sound of Priceless from Maroon 5 & Lisa. It's not a song I listen to often, but I enjoy it whenever I do. This could debut AT soon.
Easy Lover is no End Of The World, but it's a nice Miley Cyrus song. The melody here reminds me a lot of Million Dollar Baby by Ava Max, but I really like that song so I don't mind.
You all know my opinion on Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else. Benson Boone has yet to make a song I don't like.
...and speaking of yet to have a song I don't like, Sabrina Carpenter had yet to do so until Busy Woman. I kinda liked it on first listen, but unfortunately when I listened to the lyrics I realized just how annoying it is. It's not my least favorite Sabrina song now though.
Nice To Meet You by Myles Smith suffers from an unfortunate combination of distracting vocal effects and a production style that blends in with everything else on Hits 1.
The Jonas Brothers' No Time To Talk has one of the weirdest samples I've ever heard, using Staying Alive in a way that I wasn't even sure whether it was a sample or not at first listen.
I've been moderately conflicted about Undressed, as Sombr has far better songs, but right now I've been really liking it.
Azizam is my least favorite Ed Sheeran single in a while, but it's still pretty good, particularly production-wise.
Twilight Zone feels like a strange single choice from Ariana Grande's deluxe album when Dandelion was right there.
"MOONBEAM ICECREAM" - Benson Boone, 2025. Yeah, Mystical Magical is one of my favorite songs charting right now, and I want it to hit #1. Unfortunately this song has a pretty avid crowd of haters.
Some of you might be surprised to find out what my least favorite song on Hits 1 is right now, because from a distance it seems like a song I would like. Unfortunately, due to pretty grating vocal effects, repetitive lyrics, and a clunky, discordant melody, Ravyn Lenae's Love Me Not ultimately feels like a song I'd create in a dream, which is not exactly a compliment. As it enters the top 5 and is performing very well everywhere right now, I fear this will be our next #1.
Alex Warren's Ordinary has faded on me quite a bit.
And now for my favorite song on Hits 1 right now... Rose has had quite a few songs that I've been a fan of, but Messy takes the cake for my favorite. If this technically counts as k-pop, this may just be my all-time favorite k-pop song. The lyrics have a surprising amount of emotional depth, and the production reminds me a bit of Taylor Swift's Reputation non-singles like Dancing With Our Hands Tied or This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things but honestly a bit better produced than those. I wish this could get to #1 soon.
Sally When The Wine Runs Out by rising star and Laufey collaborator Role Model would be green-tier if it weren't for the bridge. I'm moderately surprised Hits 1 didn't pick up on Role Model & Laufey's The Longest Goodbye, and I'm starting to think Laufey may only get one Hits 1 song.
*sigh* And our #1 is Sabrina Carpenter's Manchild, aka my least favorite Sabrina song I've heard. I don't know why, but this song just really doesn't hit for me. The lyrics seem moderately clunky and the production & melody don't really capture me... but it's not a bad song. I like the folk-infused bridge, and some of it is kinda funny. But I do hope we get a new #1 song soon.
That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!