SINGAPORE – In this final column of a weekly series, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Ace Album: Usher – Coming Home

American R&B star Usher’s big return to pop culture’s mainstream consciousness goes beyond his much-praised Super Bowl half-time performance – he has a brand new set of songs, too.

Coming Home, his ninth album, comes eight years after his last solo album Hard II Love (2016). In it, the 45-year-old dives deep into what he does best – sensual R&B that is sometimes cheesy, but always entertaining.

In songs such as the title track and Cold Blooded, the singer leans heavily into his reputation as a ladykiller. And if the innuendo of him holding a peach on the cover is not obvious enough, he makes it clear in the lyrics that there is nothing chaste about his intentions.

And while On The Side, a song about being unfaithful, is rather dodgy, tracks such as Ruin ground him and show that even Usher can have his heart broken.

Stylistically, the album covers a lot of ground, from funk and Afropop to ballads and dancefloor pop, but his smooth, silky pipes make it all sound cohesive.

Like in many of his popular works, Coming Home sees him collaborate with contemporary stars. They range from rapper 21 Savage and R&B singer Summer Walker on Good Good, to South Korean singer Jungkook on a remix of the BTS member’s Standing Next To You, first released in late 2023.

Stream This Song: Energy – Reunite

Anyone who was a fan of Mandopop in the early 2000s would know that the scene back in the day was ruled by two top Taiwanese boy bands: 5566 and Energy. Both groups debuted in 2002 and went on hiatus in 2009.

While 5566 staged reunions on and off over the years, Energy did not – until April 2023, when all five of the group’s original members showed up for a surprise performance at Taiwanese rock band Mayday’s concert in Kaohsiung, which found huge success.

It was the first time Energy’s original line-up – Toro, Milk, Ady, Kunda and Shuwei – had performed onstage in 20 years. Toro left the group in 2003 and Milk, in 2005.

Mayday’s record label B’in Music announced in January 2024 that it had signed the re-formed quintet and that they would be releasing new music.

Fittingly, the band’s first new song is titled Reunite. The ballad’s lyrics can be read as a story of rekindling an old love affair after both parties have matured, but it is also an ode to the members finding their way back to one another after so many years apart.

In behind-the-scenes clips of the filming of Reunite’s music video, Toro and Ady are seen tearing up at the group’s reunion and shared memories. It was shot in the same studio Energy used to film the music video of their most famous song, Let Go (2002).

Chart Champ: The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

In December 2023, British indie band The Last Dinner Party won the Rising Star prize at the Brit Awards, an accolade previously earned by now-superstar Adele.

A month later, they collected another prominent British music award, the BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 poll.

The quintet now have another reason to celebrate. Their debut album Prelude To Ecstasy went straight to the top of the British album charts after it was released in early February.

Its grand ambitions hark back to baroque, classical-meets-rock music from past decades, albeit with gender-fluid lyrics that are very much rooted in the present.

The band – who once said their name alludes to a “hedonistic banquet” – sing gleefully about lust, revenge and indulgence, peppering their songs with strong historical characters such as Joan of Arc and Caesar.

Melodies dip and soar as they confidently merge pop smarts with infectious enthusiasm and sophisticated songcraft.

Formed in 2020 and fronted by expressive frontwoman Abigail Morris, The Last Dinner Party have been compared with singers Kate Bush and David Bowie, music icons who seamlessly marry pop with the avant-garde.

It is a tall order for an act in the beginnings of their music career, but rarely has the hype been so real.

Must-see MV: David Tao – Shining Star

Music lovers of a certain vintage will remember browsing the racks in DVD rental stores and finding the perfect movie for the evening.

While streaming platforms and social media have decimated that industry, Taiwanese singer David Tao’s latest music video, for his new song Shining Star, is a valentine to such simple joys of yesteryear.

The R&B ballad centres on two people finding love, and features classic synths and drum machines to create a retro sound reminiscent of European and American pop music from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The music video ups the nostalgia factor, depicting two patrons – played by Taiwanese-American actress Christina Mok and Tao – meeting in a DVD rental store. The magic lies in its special effects, which bring famous movies to life to convey the blossoming of love.

For example, one scene shows the pair floating above a cityscape, a la the Disney animated movie Peter Pan (1953). Another depicts Tao saving Mok from a falling shelf, as if they were in the disaster film Earthquake (1974), while a sequence features them in a flying car straight out of the Back To The Future sci-fi films (1985 to 1990).

Beyond these cinematic callbacks, Shining Star’s music video is a transportive experience in itself.

Singapore Scene: Opposition Party – Rethrashed

Singapore’s oldest punk band revisit their past with their latest album Rethrashed, which features re-recorded versions of songs dating back to the early 1990s – the period where the 38-year-old group’s sound evolved into a hybrid of hardcore punk and thrash metal.

Two significant tracks are Impending Death and Crawl Out Alive, previously included in New School Rock (1991). The ground-breaking compilation CD was released by defunct home-grown music magazine BigO, which introduced local underground music to the masses.

Opposition Party fans will be pleased to know that Rethrashed also has new versions of songs previously found in Nightmare Visions (1991).

While the original recordings were raw, muddy and distorted, the Rethrashed versions offer clarity without losing any of their ferocious energy.

The album also features two new tracks, The Ballad Of Jack Hack and Jack Hack Is Back!, which are named after Opposition Party’s ghoulish mascot and tap their horror-punk tendencies.