Part 2 - #80 to #61
80. Vera Blue – “All The Pretty Girls”
Vera Blue’s latest single is a perfect mid-way point between the folksy sound of her early EP’s, and the electro-pop sound of songs like “Regular Touch” and “Lady Powers”. The result is a breezy, bright bop inspired by Fleetwood Mac-era soft rock.
79. Halsey – “Without Me”
This year, Halsey scored her biggest solo hit yet by refining her identifying characteristics; a pop-R&B instrumental similar to the ones found on Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, and lyrics about a relationship gone wrong. There’s even an interpolation of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” snuck in there.
78. Pale Waves – “Eighteen”
This song makes being 18 feel like a thrilling ride of young love. Unfortunately, all I had at that age was university assignments and a lot of awkwardness talking to girls.
77. Walk The Moon – “One Foot”
One of Walk The Moon’s biggest strengths has always been making anthemic songs that sound as joyous as possible. With that in mind, “One Foot” makes moving onwards from an empty situation sound triumphant.
76. Panic! At The Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
Panic! At The Disco exploded back into pop consciousness this year with this single, with Brendon Urie sounding more operatic than ever. Get a load of that huge falsetto near the end.
75. The 1975 – “Give Yourself A Try”
Matty Healy goes all in and pretty much calls out all of his own unwanted behaviours and being a “millennial that baby boomers like”. Call it a meta diss track, if you will. The rest of the band work around a fuzzy guitar riff lifted from a Joy Division track.
74. Travis Scott – “SICKO MODE”
When I first heard “Sicko Mode”, I didn’t like it. It had no central hook and jumped all over the place. As it turns out, the fact that it is daring enough to cohesively stitch together three different beats into one song is its entire appeal.
73. Janelle Monáe – “Django Jane”
72. Janelle Monáe (feat. Zoe Kravitz) – “Screwed”
After listening to Dirty Computer so many times, I just cannot mentally separate these two tracks, because they just flow into each other so perfectly. The funky “Screwed” acts perfectly in contrast with the fierce “Django Jane”.
71. CXLOE – “Show You”
It’s crazy how much great pop music is coming from the Australian indie scene. “Show You” feels like a towering pop song that wouldn’t sound too out of place on Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman album. CXLOE already sounds like a fully-formed pop superstar on the track.
70. G-Eazy & Halsey – “Him & I”
I knew when I first heard this that it would be embarrassing for when these two eventually break up (to which they did multiple times this year). Still, as overused as it is, the Bonnie-and-Clyde trope never fails to grab my attention.
69. Twenty One Pilots – “Levitate”
The shortest track on Trench, “Levitate” features two straight minutes of Tyler Joseph rapping some of his most impressive bars over a haunting instrumental. At the end of the song, a distorted voice introduces the listener to the world of the album; “Welcome to Trench”.
68. Drake – “God’s Plan”
Drake started out his mammoth year all the way back in January, when he handed out loads and loads of money to unsuspecting fans and proclaimed his undying love for his bed and his mama. He’s sorry.
67. Confidence Man – “Out The Window”
Confidence Man as a musical project has always intrigued me. A band of pseudonymous art dorks making obnoxious yet maddeningly catchy pop music. This song specifically has a funky, psychedelic vibe.
66. Kacey Musgraves – “High Horse”
I’ve never been interested in popular country music anyway, but the current state of the genre has almost made me give up on it completely. Thankfully, there’s artists like Kacey Musgraves are still out there pushing the boundaries of what country is capable of.
65. Drake – “In My Feelings”
“In My Feelings” is a perfect signifier of how memes are more important to popular music than music videos now. The song does actually have a video, but you wouldn’t know that because you’d still associate it with the image of people dancing beside their cars.
64. Taylor Swift – “Getaway Car”
What did I tell ya? I’m a sucker for the Bonnie-and-Clyde trope. And speaking of criminals, the fact that this was never pushed as a proper single is, indeed, criminal.
63. Marshmello & Anne-Marie – “Friends”
I remember when I was a teenager and I used to think being stuck in the “friendzone” was such a big deal. It’s kinda funny to look back at now. I can listen to this song and laugh at flashbacks of how naïve I used to be.
62. Migos – “Stir Fry”
“Stir Fry” sounds different from Migos’ usual material; instead of a modern trap beat, the group rap over a beat that Pharrell made back in 2008 but never got to use. To me, the percussion sounds a bit like ladles hitting pots and pans while someone’s making stir fry. I’m hungry now.
61. CHVRCHES – “Graffiti”
Chvrches’ latest album is called “Love Is Dead”; quite blunt for a synthpop band usually known for poetic lyricism. But the opening track “Graffiti” explores the nostalgia that comes from looking back at an old love that has indeed long since died away.
#100 to #81 | #80 to #61 | #60 to #41 | #40 to #21 | #20 to #1 | Full List
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