Twelve months ago, I was sinking into my couch, endlessly scrolling through Coachella highlights on TikTok and feeling a massive amount of FOMO, when suddenly, an idea struck me. Why not take something I already spend too much time talking about—pop music & pop culture—and turn it into a monthly column right here on KSDT’s blog? Because, obviously, everyone wants to be subjected to my rambling. (Oh, and maybe also to help music lovers stay up to date on the wonderful world of pop, but that’s a secondary benefit).
Twelve months later, I’m still consuming Coachella content from my couch, but now I’m officially writing issue #12 of The Pop Drop, which feels mildly monumental. What started as a little column is still a little column, but now it’s a little column with 12 issues, so clearly we’re moving up in the world!
I was hoping that every pop artist would subconsciously know that this was my 12th issue and put out an abundance of incredible music to celebrate. Unfortunately, March’s pop releases were few and far between. But no worries, I still managed to compile a list of some of the most notable ones.
If you’ve read even a single issue of The Pop Drop, I appreciate you so much. And without further ado, here’s another one for your greedy eyes to consume:
- RAYE - THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.
If easy listening is what you’re looking for, RAYE’s latest album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. will probably not be your cup of tea. But in a world of TikTok snippets and two-minute songs, this project feels like a breath of fresh air. A hard reset for your brain, forcing you to rediscover what having a longer attention span feels like.
RAYE’s classical background is more evident than ever. With cinematic strings and grand harmonies, each track feels like it could be performed in an orchestral hall or an Old Hollywood-style lounge, without ever feeling dated. Her lyrics and references stay rooted in the present, name-dropping WhatsApp, Jimmy Choos, and fake eyelashes. She isn’t concerned with timelessness, which might sound like a critique, but it isn’t meant to be. Instead, she’s writing in the now: the messy emotions and unfiltered vulnerability that feel far more relatable than crafting songs with longevity or “viral” potential in mind.
The album itself is structured to tell a narrative, beginning with romantic despair and evolving into a rediscovery of happiness. As a result, it needs to be listened to in the tracklist order to truly unlock its full impact. When listened to like this, the experience is transcendent. That said, I’ll admit I’m typically a shuffle listener, and THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. is not ideal for this style of listening. At times, the album leans heavily on monologue, which can limit its replay value.
But this is both its greatest weakness and its greatest strength. Ultimately, RAYE has created a beautifully inconvenient album, one that is difficult to put on shuffle, but also one that offers a cinematic, transformative journey that feels unlike anything else being released right now.
- Harry Styles - Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
I’ll be the first to admit that when I initially heard “Aperture,” I was a little worried about the direction the rest of the album might take. “Aperture” fell flat for me, never quite reaching the level of intrigue its experimental production seemed to aim for.
Fortunately, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. proved to be far more melodically engaging than the lead single led me to believe. It’s noticeably sticky and ultimately more enjoyable than I expected. While it’s not his strongest body of work, tracks like “American Girls” and “Taste Back” have quietly wormed their way into both my heart and my playlist (not to mention my roommate’s playlist, which has basically been reduced to “Pop” on repeat around the house).
That said, there’s something to be noted about Styles’ growing tendency toward vague lyricism, which at times keeps the songs from fully resonating. Still, this feels like the kind of album that grows on a person. For now, I can confidently say I like it, but I’m not sure I would go as far as “love” just yet.
- Suki Waterhouse - “Back in Love”
Suki Waterhouse’s “Back in Love” is a dreamy, 70s-rooted ode to the euphoric sensation of surrendering to love. Backed by grand horns and booming drums, Waterhouse proclaims her “lust for life,” explaining to Fame Magazine that the song goes beyond romance: “for me, it’s about coming back to your sense of self after having an identity shift.”
The instrumentation has a psychedelic, liberating quality, like it could soundtrack a sun-drenched road trip scene at the end of a 70s coming-of-age film. “Back in Love” also marks her first release under Island Records after signing with them just last year, and it feels like a promising first step into this new era.
- ella jane - “We Were Just Dancing”
From the first breezy piano chords, “We Were Just Dancing” feels like floating across the floor. The track sees ella jane reflecting on a past love, carrying the emotional weight of a relationship that the other person never fully acknowledges.
She reframes the phrase “we were just dancing” in different ways throughout the song, with the first verse using it from the other person’s perspective—reducing intimacy to a surface-level moment. In the second verse, however, the meaning of the phrase shifts as jane becomes more self-aware, questioning whether love is worth holding onto when it isn’t being felt equally on both sides.
Ultimately, she reveals a willingness to bottle up her own feelings if it means she can keep “dancing” with the other person. The result is a track that feels tinged with nostalgia and filled with warmth.
To end off my March issue of The Pop Drop, here are a few more tracks I’ve had on repeat this month—not all released in March, but all worth a listen:
1. Baby Queen - “Feel Something”
2. Erin LeCount - “ALICE”
3. Bella Kay - “iloveitiloveitiloveit”
4. Charlotte Cardin - “The Way We Touch”
5. Kevian Kraemer - “down under”
Check out the full playlist here: The Pop Drop: March 2026 (Issue #12)