By Karen Glauber

Every Monday, I read my fearless leader Lenny’s positive take on the new normal: Workouts! Haircut! Golf! Conversations! Confidence! Such leadership! I can do this, I think, and then the kid starts freaking out because the Wi-Fi isn’t working and Trump just tweeted yet another thing that triggers my anxiety, and then it’s off to the races. I’ve read every article on “doomscrolling” (of which I am guilty), and maybe I should just accept that there’s nothing more I can do right now to change the outcome on Nov. 3, except maybe pray to my higher power (aka Patti Smith). I take a deep breath: The kid and I are healthy, and I’ll always have your back, my label and radio friends, no matter what.

In Sunday’s New York Times, beabadoobee offers her solution for dealing with stress: “I do this thing every night that I feel everyone has to do: Dance in front of your mirror in your underpants,” she said. “It’s an amazing way to make yourself feel happy. I put on Veruca Salt and I rock out.” She nodded toward the mirror on the sliding doors of her own bedroom closet. “I wanted to make something like that so girls can do the exact same thing.” What makes me happy is seeing how well “Care” is doing at Alternative radio—almost Top 20, with weekly U.S. artist streams nearing 2 million a week! Her debut album, Fake It Flowers, is out on 10/16, and, without question, 20-year-old beabadoobee is one of the most visible new Alternative artists on a global scale. At some point in 2021 (please, Patti Smith, make it happen), Bea will be on tour with The 1975, and I can’t wait for you to meet her.

My other favorite song right now is “Fire for You” by Cannons, which is already Top 20, thanks to Lisa Sonkin and Darice Lee’s passion, as well as an extraordinary Shazam story. Massive props to KKDO’s Andy Hawk for being the first programmer to recognize this song’s potential—he’s become one of the true tastemakers for the format. “What does Andy think?” is a question I hear daily from promotion people. Lisa and Darice are also Top 10 in audience with 24kGldn, and they have another streaming phenom on their hands with Ritt Momney’s cover of Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On.”

The song I want to dance (clothed) in front of the mirror to is Romy’s “Lifetime,” which Risa Matsuki and BT have just launched. Romy, for the unaware, is the singer of The xx, and “Lifetime” is the best musical mood-changer I’ve heard since March.

Marisa DiFrisco at Caroline, whom I adore, is Top 10 with Judah & the Lion’s “Beautiful Anyway,” which is a fantastic achievement for both the band and the label. As Ted and I constantly assure our promo partners: Great songs will find an audience. “Just work the record,” Ted advises, while I adhere to Lenny’s wisdom: “There are 10 records in the Top 10.” Why shouldn’t your record be one of them? This week, Clairo’s new smash, “Sofia,” is going for adds at Alternative. The song is already over 8 million streams per week, so this is a veritable GIFT to programmers. You can thank your Caroline friends by adding it this week. Also on deck is new music from Shaed—“Trampoline” is still averaging 1,000 weekly spins at the format, so the new single will be an automatic.

I’ve been thinking about music that makes me happy, and, besides the Pippin soundtrack from 1972 (John Rubinstein singing “Corner of the Sky”—what is better than that?), I can’t stop listening to Phoenix’s “Identical.” On the rare occasion when I venture out of the house, I need this song, as well as Glass Animals’ “Tangerine” to guide me.

The promotion story of this endless year is Bakar’s “Hell N Back,” which finally went Top 10 after 439 weeks on the chart. Maybe it’s “only” been 39 weeks, but Epic’s Rick Sackheim and his team refused to give up, including taking the song to #1 at Triple A. Bravo!

SONG TO HEAR: AJR’s “Bummerland”… And please, friends, VOTE!