Damn if the CHAINSMOKERS and HALSEY's "CLOSER" hasn't worn on me in the best way: The more I hear it, the more I want to hear it. I am not alone. It's been the #1 song in BILLBOARD for 11 weeks, and for the past five of those weeks it's been the top-selling, most-streamed and most-played song in the US. While the pop world was searching in vain for an Official Song of the Summer, the Official Song of the Year was bubbling under their noses. (Disclaimer: I don't actually believe in such a concept. But still.) CHARLIE HARDING and NATE SLOAN, in their SWITCHED ON POP podcast, offer one of the better explanations of the musical appeal of a song that combines a "nursery-rhyme-like" melody, a synthesizer earworm, some well-worn EDM production tricks and dry, "crispy" vocals. The ATLANTIC's SPENCER KORNHABER zeroes in on how the lyrics reflect an economic malaise that has cast a shadow over a lot of 2016 pop. The ex that DREW TAGGART is singing to—and singing *with*, a la the HUMAN LEAGUE—can't afford that RANGE ROVER and had to steal that mattress, and the two of them are already thinking about their mortality. The song itself may never have to worry about mere mortality. We take a closer look at the music, politics and inevitability of a great single—from a group that has yet to release an album—in our REDEF MusicSET "SINGLE-MINDED: The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey, 'Closer'"... ERIC CHURCH, MAREN MORRIS and CHRIS STAPLETON are the top nominees for the CMA AWARDS, which air at 8 pm ET tonight on ABC... VP candidate TIM KAINE furthers his well-established dad-rock credentials with the first-ever VP wannbe playlist to feature the KINKS' "WATERLOO SUNSET," ALABAMA SHAKES' "DON'T WANNA FIGHT" and two REPLACEMENTS songs... RIP BAP KENNEDY.