This Is the Banger for…Your Bang

“I don’t wanna be in love, I don’t wanna be your baby.”

Litany/Twitter

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This week: “Call On Me” by Litany (Litany, 2018)

Why we’re into it: There’s no time wasted with this track, because it throws you right into the fray with blunt lyrics and music to match.

There’s something to be said about honesty—well, there’s a lot to be said about honesty. But how do you find those pearls of truth in all the songs about that never-ending chase for love, or heartbreak, or the possibility that, in fact, sometimes love isn’t necessarily what you’re looking for?

Jake Nicolaides, who’s in charge of production, and Beth Cornell, who rules the vocals, seem ready to play when they get into their newest track, “Call On Me.” They waste no time bringing you into the fun, with beats and keys that allude to the sense of playfulness Cornell’s vocals construct. “You know I got a free house tonight/I’ll rent some films for us to see” opens the track, with no subtlety—but who wants subtlety when so much else is possible?

As the chorus rolls around, the plainness of the lyrics are refreshingly bold: “I don’t wanna be in love/I don’t wanna be your baby.” Nicolaides’ production bounces with joy, as the two artists are so obviously connected and eager to indulge in happiness that’s fun and guilt-free.

By the time the bridge rolls around and the song begins to close, Cornell’s tone shifts, inserting a frisson of insecurity that gives depth to the track. It’s only a moment—a fleeting thought in the night while waiting for a lover. She breaks out of her trance and shakes it off before belting out the final chorus.

The song balances a tone that can be either slow and sensual or strong and aggressive, but it doesn’t lose its pace as something playful and light. Cornell and Nicolaides have made something quite special with this track, and it’ll be on repeat all December long.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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