50. The Chicks — Gaslighter
Our last time we were acquainted with The Chicks they sang out in ‘Not Ready To Make Nice’, “They say time heals everything, but I’m still waiting”. We continued to wait for fourteen years, as the band went on hiatus from making new music. In that time, lead singer Natalie Maines went through a very public and uncivil divorce with her husband Adrian Pasdar. This birthed the scathing title track to their album Gaslighter. Acting as the lead single, ‘Gaslighter’ does not hold back the punches. Produced by Jack Antonoff, the track blends the two things people love from The Chicks — Three part harmonies and overly personal lyrics. This anthem is filled with scorching harsh lyrics, but remains upbeat to impose a “fuck you” impression that is no stranger within The Chicks discography. The Chicks have been greatly missed the past decade, but they did not disappoint with their reintroduction. — NapsAndNetflix
49. Red Velvet — Psycho
The essence of Red Velvet’s concept is their duality- the ‘Red’ side being bright, usually bombastic pop; and the ‘Velvet’ side channeling darker R&B with a retro flair. Red Velvet’s hopping between with the two genres with constant experimentation is one of their main attractions, but their 2018 single ‘Bad Boy’ is arguably their first song to bridge the gap between the two; its sassy, irresistible quality catapulting the song to immediate ‘classic’ status. ‘Psycho’ once again carries this stylistic fusion, this time with a darker and apocalyptic twist.
Commencing with orchestral pizzicatos and angelic falsettos, ‘Psycho’ has already nailed a grandiosity unmatched in Red Velvet’s discography, or even K-pop in recent memory. Fluttering synths, distant chants and trap hi-hats create a chaotic backdrop against the group’s subtle, soulful harmonies. As the song reaches its climax, the dubstep-esque bass in the chorus roars like a revving engine, threatening to shatter the explosive soundscape.
Even so, Red Velvet reassures us, “Hey now we’ll be okay.” It’s oddly believable despite the hellhole of a year it has been. After everything, it might just be the thing we need to hear the most- hope even beyond the dissonance. — MelodramaticLemonade
48. The Weeknd — Save Your Tears
The Weeknd’s After Hours album served as a bridge between his newer fans who dig his pop material better and his long-time fans who missed Abel exploring much-darker themes in his music. For an album that had bops such as ‘Blinding Lights’ and ‘In Your Eyes’ in the second half, one particular track that stood out the most was ‘Save Your Tears’. At first listen, I was shocked at how “pop-y” it sounds for The Weeknd. It’s almost made me question whether this is a filler track on an otherwise dark album. After listening to the entire album several times, ‘Save Your Tears’ is not only one of the best songs on the album, it’s also one of the most important ones as well.
Lyrically, we hear The Weeknd’s After Hours persona sharing his regrets of hurting his ex, while also questioning her ex why they broke up in the first place. In the context of the entire album, we hear his character-building up some self-awareness to his flaws, yet he is struggling to hold himself accountable for his flaws without resorting to self-destructive ways. A scene in the song’s music video perfectly shows this struggling contradiction when we see Handsome Squidward (prosthetic) botched face surgery Weeknd placing a gun on his love interest’s hand. He wants his love interest to shoot him for the things he hurt his love interest over. This is a very extreme way of The Weeknd holding himself accountable, in which he involves his ex in the most self-destructive ways possible. In a lyric on the track ‘Faithless’ where his character experiences a relapse to drug addiction, he wants his ex to die beside him if they ever overdose (But if I OD, I want you to OD right beside me). If he is going to die because of his sins, he might as well drag his ex into his downfall because he doesn’t want to be alone. It’s quite incredibly selfish, but this is the kind of tea we enjoy hearing from The Weeknd because Abel Tafesye’s storytelling is so complex. It’s almost as if The Weeknd is basically BoJack Horseman as a male popstar.
Despite the sad lyrics and its somber context, the synth-pop production backed by pop legend producer Max Martin gives this impression of the song as the album’s “lightest” track. Given the song’s placement as the eleventh track of the album, this might be close to Abel (not as his After Hours character) being genuine about his feelings about his ex Bella Hadid before his After Hours character stumbles to his presumed death in the album’s final three tracks as a result of his relapse to his self-destructive hedonism.
I really enjoy the Max Martin-produced Weeknd tracks because beneath Martin’s catchy signature pop production style is a compelling story that Abel is telling us through his Weeknd personas from different eras. In some way, this is what Ed Sheeran failed to do with his most “poppiest” album. Sheeran wasted a chance to work with Martin for a mediocre dancehall-inspired song (“I Don’t Care”) which features Justin Bieber. The song is obviously made for the radio and clubs with half-baked lyrics that feel like a shock that Sheeran actually wrote these lyrics because it feels so out-of-character. We all know Sheeran can write a better song than that and we all know Martin can produce a better catchy song than that.
‘Save Your Tears’ deserves to be in this list because it plays both to the strengths of Max Martin as a pop producer and Abel Tafesye as a songwriter. With a song that was born because Bella Hadid saw Abel in a club and left crying, Save Your Tears is surely going to be another unique classic in Abel’s diverse discography and it further solidified The Weeknd as the quintessential main pop boy of our generation. — DoctorWhoWhenHowWhy
46. 100 gecs — ringtone (Remix) [feat. Charli XCX, Rico Nasty and Kero Kero Bonito]
I wish I didn’t like this song as much as I do but it’s the fucking best song I have ever heard. The original ringtone is good, it’s fine, it’s simple. A simple pop beat and lyrics, it’s fun. But this, this is euphoric. It is the collaboration between some of the most groundbreaking genre-blurring catchy fun gay fantastic artists we have right now. Laura and Dylan are naturally amazing with their production, Charli on the hook is just unbeatable, Sarah and KKB on the first verse is flawless, it is simple but effective… and then you have Rico’s verse, IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD. Her entrance, her flow, her pacing, her wordplay. Rico is one of the greats already.
It really is the perfect storm. The way it blurs the abrasion and shock of hyperpop/pc music, with the simplistic — almost mind numbingly simple — pop hook, it is just genius to me. I remember playing the version they debuted at a gig over and over and over, and clearly I still couldn’t get enough unless my Spotify was lying to me when it said I played it 414 times this year. The song is far more genius than it has any business being.
Charli can you sing the chorus again please? And again? And again? And again? — Awkward_King
“100 gecs - ringtone (Remix) [feat. Charli XCX, Rico Nasty and Kero Kero Bonito]”
45. Kylie Minogue — Magic
Magic, as in the discipline, is fun, exciting and even brings people together. It is something that brings pleasure and that gives a break to the mind. The song by Kylie Minogue could be attributed the same qualities. As the opening chords come in the first few seconds of the track, alongside a retro-sounding synth bass line, you already know you’re in for a bop. In fact, you’re in for a whole album of them! The joyful lyrics about a love interest juxtapose perfectly with the catchy melodies and will get you immediately singing along to them. It is insanely fun, replayable and will make you dance without a doubt. This being said, ‘Magic’ isn’t a song that reinvents anything, just the prime example of how to make a great pop song. When Kylie will sing “Do you believe in magic?”, you definitely will. — _IozzoI
43. Jessie Ware — What’s Your Pleasure?
Who knew a cooking podcast would awaken Jessie Ware’s sexuality again, lurking just under that pristine ‘Say You Love Me’ surface? ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ feels like pure sex, Jessie playing the lyricism with enough mystique to give off the impression of dominatrix, the electricity of frisson hidden behind velvet curtains. The production is particularly impressive: something about the synths feels almost perfectly vintage (in the wine sense, not the dusty attic sense) and the wails of guitar add a sense of danger and Prince-like verve to the proceedings. Jessie’s vocals, all its shades of Sade, have always been most well-suited to this sort of music, even if she’s perfectly capable of running the adult contemporary gamut too. What does the future hold in store for Jessie? I’m hoping that as the number of cookbooks she releases goes up, so does the horniness in the music. — Rai
42. Halsey — 3 AM
When Halsey announced Manic’s tracklist, there was one thing people were really fucking angry about — the exclusion of the pop rock feminist anthem ‘Nightmare’. I believe this beautiful little gem took its spot, and for good reason too! Where ‘Nightmare’ is an outward explosion of anger, ‘3 AM’ is as introspective as everything else on Manic.
Essentially, what I’m saying is that ‘3 AM’ is the rock moment we all craved and wanted on Manic — a precursor (hopefully) to whatever Rock project Halsey has up her sleeve. In the lyrics, she lets us go through a drunken night out on the town (RIP going out to clubs n bars).
In this drunken state, Halsey confesses her flaws as a partner — she doesn’t know who she is and in turn molds herself on whomever she’s dating. She craves intimacy, but doesn’t know how to allow herself to be close to someone. Because of this she fills the hole in her heart with random Strangers (ft. Lauren Jauregui). — Kina
41. HAIM — The Steps
“Just scream ‘You don’t understand me’ and I swear your day will be better,” Haim told Radio 1 about the main message of their excellent Women In Music Pt. III cut, “The Steps.” The parent album is packed with melancholy and malaise, radiating summertime sadness throughout, and reflecting on heavy subject matter like depression, the exploiting parts of fame, and suffocating boyfriends. ‘The Steps’, then, is its hard-won silver lining, an act of catharsis, the moment you finally see much clearer through all the bullshit. Of course, the lyrics double as a feminist statement (“Every day I wake up and make money for myself/ And though we share a bed, you know that I don’t need your help”), but the feeling it conveys is much more universal: It results right out of the split second you suddenly remember your own value. He’s probably not worth it, but you definitely are.
Musically, it’s the simple yet melodious rock-pop song indebted in the ’70s that the three sisters had already mastered as far back as on their breakout hit, ‘The Wire’, but, ultimately, it comes off more effortless and much freer, the kind of song you write — or scream along to — when you’ve run out of fucks to give. — rebecca_now
40. Fiona Apple — I Want You to Love Me
Being assigned the monumental task of covering Fiona Apple has weighed heavy on my chest for the last few weeks. Fiona’s name is held high among music journalists, critics, and music fans in every direction you look — I’ve discovered that music lovers often regard Fiona as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time. I was left feeling intrigued yet similarly intimidated amongst the enormous acclaim. A couple years ago I dabbled my toes into some of her earlier works but was left unfulfilled. I felt like I was missing out on something special, but sometimes things aren’t meant to click at first glance. My love for indie, female singer-songwriters was just beginning to blossom, so I promised myself to return to her catalogue at some point down the line. No rush, I told myself, I’ll only revisit whenever I’m ready.
And then *Fetch the Bolt Cutters* happened. Some friends of mine started to sing praises at the announcement of her sudden return. The frantic buzz surrounding Fiona Apple was palpable. Just when the world was starting to shut down, too! The timing felt perfect, all eyes in the music scene were locked and waiting, all ears were open for whatever she felt willing to grace us with. The album triumphed in every way possible, especially on ‘I Want You to Love Me,’ the opener track for inarguably one of the most brilliant albums of the past year.
This track in particular affected me in an incalculably different way compared to everything else in Fiona’s repertoire. Her emotions throughout the song are jaunting, shifting rapidly and more intensely as the song progresses. It begins with her yearning for the love that she’s been waiting for. She sounds patient, understanding, and willing. Her willingness to wait quickly shifts into a demanding tone. Fiona has confidence in what she wants, and she wants what she wants and she wants him to love her. And she knows he loves her and she wants him to love her in return. She knows it. Fiona’s brilliance lies within her simple, powerful, and effective songwriting. She grips the listener into an enchanting story centered around pure passion and clearheaded confidence. It’s what she does best, and I’m thankful to have discovered her during such an uncertain year.
Also, dolphin noises. — Mudkip1
39. Charli XCX — anthems
During the start of the pandemic, and when we were naive into thinking it would all go away soon. Charli XCX set out to introduce us to new music to get through the lockdown times in only a short few weeks. With the help of some genius producers A.G. Cook; BJ Burton; her boyfriend, Huck; a couple friends like 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady; and the her fans on the internet. She made one of the best songs of 2020. ‘anthems’ is loud, crazy, ever so slightly lonely, but most of all relatable. Lyrics like, “All my friends are invisible, 24/7 miss em all, I might cry like a waterfall” express a longing for what 2020 has taken from us. Physical connections that have been replaced with Zoom. With some more relatable lyrics such as, “Sometimes, I feel okay, some days, I’m so frightened” directly after, Charli screams in the air during the infectious chorus that she just wants anthems. Songs that you can scream at the top of your lungs in a loud sweaty club. ‘anthems’ comes from a place of just wanting to go back to partying, ’late nights’, and ‘feel the heat from all the bodies’ all without the worry of catching or giving a virus but never explicitly mentioning the pandemic; giving it the feeling that this can be relatable ‘anthem’ post-pandemic and possibly take on a new meaning. Many songs and albums have arrived during the quarantine times but ‘how I’m feeling now’ and specifically ‘anthems’ will be in pop lovers’ collective memories for a long time afterwards. — artifexlife
37. The 1975 — If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)
In a year where everyone seemed to try their hand at an 80s or 70s inspired song, it’s no surprise that The 1975 came out with one of their own synth-laden creations. But if the band has proven something to us it’s that they do the 80s pastiche like no one else and ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’ fits right into that category. With its boisterous synth riffs, a glorious sax solo, a pulsating synth bass line and an electrifying chorus that’s begging you to sing along to it, ‘If You’re Too Shy’ is as 80s as it gets. Most importantly though, the song is fun. It’s serotonin condensed into a 5:19 minutes song (or 4 minutes if you listen to the radio edit) that even includes background vocals from none other than FKA Twigs!
Make no mistake, the song is absolutely derivative, but it’s derivative in the way Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion is. Sonically, ‘If You’re Too Shy’ is nothing we’ve never heard before, but The 1975 imitate the ’80s sound’ so well you could almost trick someone into thinking it’s a hit song straight from 1985 if it weren’t for the modern touch ups. It’s a sound the band has perfected over the years and If You’re Too Shy may well be the culmination of The 1975’s 80s inspired sound. — SmileAndTears
36. Lady Gaga — Babylon
That’s gossip! ‘Babylon’ has all the makings of a Gaga classic; it’s campy, it’s playful, and just the right amount of stupid. ‘Babylon’ is very clearly inspired by ‘Vogue’ with Gaga’s confident commands taking center stage in the chorus. The almost snarky wordplay makes sure this bop doesn’t take itself too seriously. BloodPop’s house-derived production, a soaring backing choir, a sultry saxophone, and Gaga’s classic campiness combines into a magical club-ready bumper. The song has also cultivated a mythos all its own; who knows how long we will have to wait for the fated HausLabs remix (Soon?)! Babylon stands out as a fantastic closer to Chromatica, as well as a fun and dynamic addition to Gaga’s discography. — ReallyCreative
35. Soccer Mommy — circle the drain
In February, Soccer Mommy released their second studio album Color Theory, and planned to embark on a U.S. tour for the album shorty thereafter. Unfortunately, this was upended, like all things, by the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, leading to one of the years first virtual concerts: a night with Soccer Mommy on a bootleg re-write of Club Penguin. ‘circle the drain’ is a song about depression, and withdrawing into isolation, which hits hard in a year where everything could fall apart at any moment. The lines “I’m trying to seem strong / for my family and friends / but I’m so tired of faking” also seems prescient this year. Even when everyone has been struggling, it’s hard not to put up a shield and make it seem like everything is fine. Even then, ‘circle the drain’ is not a song without a bright side. The instrumental is a lush acoustic guitar track, with distortion and effects layer on top to make it sound like a forgotten classic from an earlier time. It acts as somewhat of a security blanket, comforting us through the lyrics, and reminding us that even in the darkest times, we still have hope. — static_int_husp
34. BTS — Dynamite
Even though a select few K-Pop artists have managed to find a certain level of success in the western world recently, none of them have ever properly challenged PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ for the most well-known K-Pop song, but BTS have undoubtedly given it their best shot with ‘Dynamite’. It is no secret that this song was tailored to an American audience, the whole song is sung in English after all and the references to Rock’n’roll, the Rolling Stones and Lebron James further pander to the target audience but that is not what makes it so great. Dynamite is so catchy, so fun and so infectious that I cannot help but love every moment of it, from the spacey synths that accompany Jungkook’s intro, to the ridiculously catchy guitar chords played throughout.
Dynamite is also ridiculously cheesy, but BTS do not pretend it is anything else, in fact they embrace the sheer camp of it all and that is exactly why the song works so well. I have already mentioned the lyrics pandering to an American audience that end up coming off as quite cheesy, but then there is also the frequent repetition of “Dyn-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na” and Suga saying “cha-ching” in 2020, but all of that would be in vain if it were not for the key change before the final chorus, I absolutely adore it. While there were many great songs released in 2020, none of them were as purely fun and explosive as ‘Dynamite’ and sometimes that is all a song needs to be great. — Thedoctordances1940
33. Rina Sawayama — Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)
31. Troye Sivan — Easy
‘Easy’ sees Troye Sivan taking on the nostalgic synthpop that made his debut album Blue Neighbourhood so successful. Released in the middle of the pandemic, ‘Easy’ calls back to simpler times — youth, teenage romances, and late-night drives — yet it captures the longing for a night on the dancefloor, contrasting the lyrical themes of heartbreak and isolation. The song’s simplicity works to its benefit; the refrain of ‘please don’t leave me’ rings through the dreamy haze, a moment of escapism that lingers as the song dissolves into its emphatic synths. — Verdantshade
30. Fiona Apple — Shameika
Right from this song’s dramatic, percussive piano introduction, it was a cultural moment in the early stages of 2020. ‘Shameika,’ one of the more pop-friendly cuts from Fetch the Bolt Cutters, is a song about time. Broken down to its most basic elements, it’s a single anecdote about one of Fiona Apple’s schoolmates offering encouragement as she deals with bullying. The music ticks a steady, self-referential pulse in the anxious pre-chorus (“In class I’d pass the time / drawing a slash for every time / the second hand went by a group of five”) and builds into an increasingly chaotic, hurricane of a soundscape (“Tony told me he’d describe me as pissed off, funny, and warm / Sebastian said I was a good man in a storm”). This all drops out and time seems to freeze each refrain as Apple reflects upon a specific moment, crystalized in time: “Shameika said I had potential.” As decades pass and faces fuse and our bodies wrinkle, this fleeting example of schoolyard allyship remains.
Perhaps the most powerful part of this moment in time was when real-life Shameika Stepney resurfaced. Her life has existed in parallel with Apple’s: she stuck up for her classmate, but was simultaneously enduring traumatic racism and eventually dropped out of the elite school. Their trajectories diverged from this moment in a world built to suppress the success and joy of Black women. Stepney has been rapping for decades, and the former classmates reunited and released a follow-up track (‘Shameika Said’) that reflects on this moment in time from the other perspective. As fact blends to fiction back to fact again, Fiona Apple was able to revisit this event as an inflection point in her life with both clarity and regret: “She stood up for me / I wish I could have done the same for her.” — waluigiest
29. Lady Gaga — 911
Just as quickly as the orchestral strings climax in the cinematic-sounding interlude ‘Chromatica II’, they fall away as the soundscape immediately pivots to a retro drum machine under a robotic, industrial bassline. With disaffected, distorted vocals, Gaga delves right into explaining the self-hatred and manic episodes that repeatedly overwhelm her conscious state. In contrast to the minor chords of the verse, the major chords and repetitive melodies in the chorus underscore the tentative relief provided by Olanzapine, an antipsychotic medication. Shifting into the second verse, Gaga confesses that her medicated state is a paradise, but one she fully understands is artificial. As the track ends, the “911, will you patch the line?” mantra explains the song’s titular analogy: Olanzapine is Gaga’s personal hotline to a neurochemical first responder.
In a year that itself felt like an alternate reality, ‘911’ was the pill we all needed. Mixing the best of Gaga’s cryptic lyricism and dramatic electronic flair with the synthesizer stylings of 2000s Kylie Minogue tracks like ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ and ‘Like a Drug’, ‘911’ is a worthy addition to Gaga’s eclectic discography. Its music video, which reiterates the song’s exploration of the mind’s construction of alternate states of reality, is every bit as thoughtfully crafted as the song itself. — Chevsapher
28. The Weeknd — After Hours
The penultimate track to the standard edition of The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, After Hours, is an immensely dense and ambitious six-minute epic, packed to the absolute brim with instrumentals which makes it ripe for repeat listens.
The song blends the dark, moody R&B sound from Trilogy, with the flourishing, and undoubtedly, in this case, the maximalist, pop sound of his last couple albums in expert fashion. It starts off slow, with the drums progressively getting more prominent, to about halfway through fully erupt into a dance track. Through the barrage of instrumentals, Abel’s vocals remain consistently sincere as he once again pours his heart out over the end of a relationship.
“Oh baby / Where are you now when I need you most? / I’d give it all just to hold you close / Sorry that I broke your heart, your heart”, he sings over the entrancing chorus.
While Abel reminiscing over a failed relationship and feeling regret over how things ended is hardly new lyrical territory for him, it is the way that the song is presented that makes it more than the sum of its parts and truly a special track in his discography. There are many things to be said about The Weeknd and all things surrounding After Hours this year, but I think no one can deny that this song is, above all, a testament to what he is able to achieve when he fires on all cylinders. — skargardin
27. Taylor Swift — cardigan
It’s safe to say that Taylor Swift’s past few lead singles haven’t had the best reception. In 2017, the Reputation era began with ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, which received a polarizing reaction from critics. Some praised her reclamation of her cultural narrative while others panned the single’s performance and musical structure. For ‘ME!’, the first single from Swift’s 2019 album Lover, the reception was arguably worse, as reviews slammed its campy lyrics and candy-coated video. Luckily for Swift, 2020’s Folklore brought an end to this lead single trend. In its first charting week, ‘cardigan’ garnered 34 million US streams, sold 70,000 digital copies, and made 12.7 million radio impressions. The following week, ‘cardigan’ debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Swift the first artist ever to debut on the top of both charts in one tracking week. The single’s critical reception far surpassed its predecessors, as critics adored Swift’s return to intricate storytelling and lyricism.
The majesty of Folklore is undeniably a product of its time. Each of the stories inscribed in its music reflect the isolation, anger, and sadness that defined 2020. These themes shine with a particular brightness in ‘cardigan’, a retrospective reminiscence of a teenage relationship. Instead of casting hatred upon her ex-lover James, our narrator, Betty, takes a different approach. Betty reflects on the relationship’s insecurities and difficulties while remembering the great comfort it fostered. Through her neglect of her anger, Betty becomes a mirror of Swift herself, who was once known for her “breakup songs”. In ‘cardigan’, Betty finds reasons to mourn and to celebrate, and to cry and to smile. As a result, ‘cardigan’ feels more like an invitation than a tale, one that inspires us to reflect on our difficult year with emotional complexity. — intheaftermath
26. Halsey — You should be sad
After the immense success of ‘Without Me’ and the commercial disappointment of ‘Nightmare’, Popheads were perched to see what direction Halsey would go in. So when she decided to go into the more commercial Top 40-direction with the release of Graveyard, t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶y̶s̶ people were let down. She won them back with this gem of a song, though.
On ‘You Should Be Sad’, a pop-country-rock-crossover, Halsey goes down the long list of every one of G-Eazy’s flaws. The song was produced by pop master Greg Kurstin, who also plays some pretty banging guitar in the bridge. In the lyrics, Halsey uses country-cliches matched with her penchant for overly dramatic Tumblr™ lyrics.
This all culminates in her stating she’s so glad she “never ever had a baby with” him — a lyric some people have called clunky and confusing. It makes sense to Halsey-stans, though, seeing as she’s been very public about her desire to be a mom and going through (at least) 3 miscarriages. It’s awkward, a powerful moment and overly-confessional all at once. Exactly what makes Halsey the great artist she is. — Kina
Intro & Honorable Mentions | 100–76 | 75–51 | 50–26 | 25–1 | Full List | Stats & Numbers
