--- description: New music from Kesha, HAIM, Zedd and Liam Payne, and fresh sounds Jez Dior and Opia. title: 5 Songs to Listen to This Week image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Music](/tag/music/) ## Music Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Week (7 Jul 2017)  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2017 9:56 PM CUT  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2017 9:56 PM CUT Kesha makes her musical return with the powerfully emotional ballad “Praying,” signaling a comeback — and a rebirth. HAIM’s sophomore album is full of fresh rock-pop tunes of sharp production like “Kept Me Crying.” German producer and DJ Zedd taps One Direction’s Liam Payne for his second solo outing on an easy-listening summer track. Meanwhile, under-the-radar grunge-rapper Jez Dior leans into his rap side on catchy new single “Sober,” while electro-pop production team Opia drop an EP of unusual — and infectious — new songs. ### “Praying,” Kesha After a long, [embattled hiatus](http://motto.time.com/4672631/kesha-dr-luke-emails-body-shaming/ "undefined"), former pop party starter Kesha is back and all grown up in “Praying,” the first single off upcoming album _Rainbow._ This is Kesha at her rawest: from her emotional lyrics of overcoming adversity and finding self-confidence to the authentic catches in her unrestricted vocal delivery, the gospel-forward ballad is hard to turn away from, especially when you know the fraught [back story.](http://motto.time.com/4546563/kesha-body-shaming-dr-luke/ "undefined") And when she breaks out into a flawless whistle tone, it pretty much seals the deal: this new Kesha is stronger than ever, both as an artist and, seemingly, as a human. ### “Sober,” Jez Dior The fittingly somber piano-key intro of “Somber” belies its potential as a casual banger, because this is a grunge-rap party track with growing power. Dior, a young L.A.-based artist who’s been simmering on the edges of the rap and rock scenes for a few years now, pivots on this track to a more hip-hop sound than his earlier, more melodic songs. But it works: “Sober” is, oddly enough, a clear-headed recollection of a night of mistakes, all told in the catchy key of a looping rhythm. ### “Kept Me Crying,” HAIM The sister trio of HAIM can, it seem, do no wrong. With the release of their long-awaited sophomore album, _Something to Tell You_, the talented group has refined and zeroed in on their ability to craft tightly-structured pop-rock jams, this time leaning in to their pop tendencies. “Kept Me Crying” feels both old-school and fresh in its orchestration: plenty of guitar, a breezy melody (it [was co-written](http://pitchfork.com/features/song-by-song/haim-break-down-every-single-song-on-their-new-album/ "undefined") with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, after all), and a hand clap beat. But that special HAIM touch comes in the way they follow an angelic backing vocal with a distorted synth on the chorus — and then kick things up with an electric guitar solo. ### “Get Low,” Zedd feat. Liam Payne German producer Zedd has been behind a string of club hits lately, most notably the Alessia Cara collaboration “Stay.” “Get Low” may be his biggest-name project to date, thanks to the assist from former One Directioner Liam Payne and a pop-forward tone. This is vocalist Payne’s second outing as a solo artist — the first was his hip-hop track [“Strip That Down”](http://time.com/4794885/song-of-the-summer-2017/item/strip-that-down-liam-payne-feat-quavo/ "undefined") with Quavo — and it suggests he’s going to be just fine carving out his own lane. “Get Low” melds the two artists’ styles into a tropical-flecked summer bop that you can easily imagine blasting at a pool party. ### “Faded,” Opia Opia’s “Faded” is something a little different. At times shimmering scales, at times dark, reverberating beats, it’s a song that doesn’t settle for being slotted into one category or another, rather like the L.A. duo themselves. Fresh off a national tour with similarly vibe-y group [Marian Hill](http://time.com/4596550/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-2/item/back-to-me-marian-hill-feat-lauren-jauregui/ "undefined"), Opia’s sweet spot is somewhere in the vicinity of electro-pop, their creative use of vocal elements and instrumental riffs — in this case, a minimalist guitar — setting them apart. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4849770/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-18/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4849770/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-18/"},"headline":"5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Week (7 Jul 2017)","datePublished":"2017-07-07T21:56:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:45:13.667Z","description":"New music from Kesha, HAIM, Zedd and Liam Payne, and fresh sounds Jez Dior and Opia.","url":"https://time.com/4849770/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-18/","keywords":["Music","Newsfeed","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4849770/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-18/","name":"5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Week (7 Jul 2017)"}}]}] ```