101. Tyler, The Creator — WUSYANAME (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign)
At this stage in his career, Tyler is no stranger to dropping devotional sweetness into his tracks, from the tender moments of intimacy that peppered Flower Boy to the overflowing unrequited heartbreak that underscored the entirety of Igor. ‘WUSYANAME’ builds on the soft-hearted persona that Tyler has spent the last few years cultivating in his shift away from shock material, bringing his otherwise gangsta rap-aligned guest star YoungBoy Never Broke Again on the same trajectory for this track. Following the format of the 2000s mixtape-inspired Call Me If You Get Lost, the track kicks off with a lush G-funk-inspired sample of H-Town’s ‘Back Street Wit No Sheets’ as Tyler mutters ad-libs, Ty Dolla $ign works his gorgeous vocal runs and DJ Drama continues his role as the album’s host, shouting a slightly incorrect name drop of the album title. It’s a very busy intro to an otherwise quite straightforward love song, but it’s all in service of amplifying the impact of Tyler’s first verse once it falls away when he drops what he himself dubbed “the worst pick-up line ever”. Calling the target of your affection “malnourished” is obviously a pretty terrible start, but rapidly spinning it on its head by proposing they jet away to France, eat beautiful food, watch indie movies at Cannes and go out dancing in quick succession is enough to whisk you away from just how much side-eye that line would generate in the hands of a weaker artist. Tyler is in full charm offensive mode here, and that combined with his erratic sense of humour and the beauty of the production’s sultry groove, which gets a chance to breathe over the verse and the hook, is simply dream-like.
The real head-turner when this track dropped on the album in June was the performance of YoungBoy Never Broke Again (AKA NBA YoungBoy, AKA yb better). His presence as a hyper-aggressive, macho trap rapper amongst fans and detractors alike took on a whole new layer with this verse, with that angle almost totally sidelined (though not entirely as he’s aware those who are out for him may cut his date short). Instead, he is totally in sync with Tyler as he declares his attraction to this mystery girl in a completely sincere fashion, noting his time with her would be worth more than the materialistic trappings he usually surrounds himself with. YoungBoy brings his typical intensity into a new light with just enough melodic touches that compliment the beatwork and Ty Dolla $ign’s continuing background vocalisations beautifully, and building into the final hook barely two minutes in with Ty’s powerful harmonisations making it hard to leave the track not feeling totally swept up in the rapid whirlwind romance of it all. It’s not the only love-struck moment on Call Me If You Get Lost, but it is perhaps the most direct and most efficient with its short runtime. It’s hardly surprising that this was the breakout track from the album, as it really feels like an entire dreamy summer’s day with someone you love condensed into two minutes of bliss, and it’s hard to get enough of that sensation. — camerinian
“Tyler, The Creator — WUSYANAME (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign)”
100. Troye Sivan — Angel Baby
I can see it, it’s Prom day and the night is winding down, some people have already left to go get drunk and pass out in a McDonald’s parking lot, but I’ve decided that the night can’t end until I’ve had my dance. I can see him from across the room, my lab partner who’s also my locker neighbor who’s also the person who consoled me when Artpop flopped; and he’s just as nervous as I am, but I know he wants it just as much as I do. I’ve seen it in all those movies and all those books and all those songs, I NEED my prom fantasy, and just as the first word of Troye Sivan’s ‘Angel Baby’ hits my eardrums, I know I will. We finally make eye contact, I swallow the pit in my throat and make my way to the center of the dancefloor, and like it was a movie, we meet right as the first chorus starts. I can feel the world melting away, he pulls me in close, locked in an endless embrace, I whisper into his ear, “Stan Loona”.
Self-described “Gushy juicy doting adoring power bottom gay ballad”, Troye Sivan’s ‘Angel Baby’ was one of my personal favourite songs of the year (despite coming out in September). While I can’t confirm or deny whether or not ‘Angel Baby’ is power bottom anthem (we would need to test it with a large enough sample size, a control group, and other parameters), the song definitely hits a spot (and for some, it’s their g-spot). Filled with heavenly synths, Troye’s light vocals, lyrics of love, longing, and lust (lots and lots of lust), the song lives up to its title and fully delivers on the lovestruck, freshly out of the closet gay boy who is enamored with the 1 other gay guy in his town fantasy. The chorus in particular makes me ASCEND, the way those synths kick in really does make me feel like I’m levitating. Throw in a throwback line to the song ‘Heaven’ from Troye’s first album with the line “Until you gave up heaven so we could be together”, and the six(?!?!?!) year-old nostalgia takes ME to Heaven. Ava Max is shaking. — 1998tweety
99. Nick Jonas — This Is Heaven
You know what they say: first the worst, second the best. So, it only makes sense that ‘This Is Heaven’ would be the second song revealed on the list. [Editor’s Note: I did not tell our writer this year’s list is 101 songs, not 100]. The last we heard from Nick was in 2019 when he reunited with his brothers on Happiness Begins, with some singles sprinkled in there afterwards. So it came as quite a surprise to see him releasing solo music again. ‘This Is Heaven’ was first heard as a performance on a Nick Jonas hosted episode of Saturday Night Live, where the sweet sounds of Lenny Pickett of sax pulled every viewer in. In the years of constantly being reminded of Covid and “unprecedented times”, it’s upbeat anthems like this that keep us going. A beat of familiarity to that of ‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Richie, while still sounding fresh and like it belongs in 2021. The song builds dramatically, with what starts as just Nick turns into impressive vocal layering of an entire choir with him during the chorus and the later verses. As well, if ‘Run Away With Me’ by Carly Rae Jepsen has taught us anything, it’s that r/popheads loves a good saxophone, and ‘This Is Heaven’ has one of the most memorable sax solos in recent memory. Seeing Nick grow from a virgin teen with a promise ring, to singing about needing to sex up his wife has really been a journey where you can’t help but root for the guy. All of this accumulates to it becoming an entry as one of the best songs of 2021 — This (song) Is Heaven. — NapsAndNetflix
98. Doja Cat — Get Into It (Yuh)
Doja Cat entered the public consciousness with ‘Mooo’, and in the eyes of many, became the go-to goofball of pop. The endlessly talented singer/rapper/producer packs punchlines and silly references into much of her work (including last year’s top 10 finisher ‘Boss Bitch’, packing bars about tripping and falling over one of the hardest electro-beats of the year). So when Planet Her’s rollout began, some fans noticed that the early singles smoothed out those edges a bit, and it became apparent that she and her team had pursued a sound far removed from the DIY silliness that attracted her fanbase. There was plenty to love in Planet Her, but starting out the album, it seemed like the old, scrappy, silly Doja was gone.
And then the opening synth twinkles of the fourth track began.
‘Get Into It (Yuh)’ takes every morsel of energy and edge Doja had on her best loved tracks and packs all of it into one song. From the first use of the goofy voice in the chorus to the last cultural reference, this song has everything an old Doja fan could ask for (and plenty for new fans too). It’s obnoxious, it’s cutesy-hard, and it’s endlessly replayable — I have 120 plays as I write this, and that number will probably go up significantly by the time this goes up. Planet Her was a disappointment for some fans, but this song is too big, too annoying, too Doja to be anything short of electrifying. — akanewasright
97. aespa — Next Level
SM entertainment was the home of many divisive K-Pop songs in 2021 and one would assume’ Next Level’ takes the crown based off its initial reception (though they would top themselves later in the year with ‘Savage’). All eyes were on them following the highly-anticipated late 2020 debut with ‘Black Mamba’, having introduced the æ-s/KWANGYA/SMCU/etc., and after a quick seasonal gift-for-the-fans song (Forever), aespa’s first comeback was announced to be a… single. There was disappointment that their discography was following a BLACKPINK-like trajectory but ‘Next Level’’s visual teasers dialed the hype right back up, along with the MV teaser 2 days before it came out. Then, less than 24 hours before release, SM confirmed that ‘Next Level’ was a… remake of a random song of the same name off the Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw OST. SM was no stranger to giving their girl groups remake songs (aespa just released a cover of S.E.S.’s ‘Dreams Come True’ at the end of 2021) but something from a random Fast & Furious soundtrack? “What is SM doing?” was a common sentiment among aespa and K-Pop fans.
The sentiment continued once the song itself came out. A quick look through the r/popheads release thread for Next Level shows a mixed reaction at best. The I ‘Got A Boy’/‘Red Light’/‘Zimzalabim’ comparisons were immediate but backhanded as Next Level was deemed an inferior attempt at SM recreating a “mashup of songs” song for aespa. Not to mention the lyrics… if ‘Black Mamba’ was clowned on, ‘Next Level’ was… refer to the song title. But as Nicki Minaj once said, “yeah they switch like f-” anyway, ‘Next Level’ started going viral in South Korea and as is the case with songs that chart well, the wider K-Pop community at large shifted their opinion of the song. By awards show season, ‘Next Level’ was solidly a SOTY contender in the charts and impact. — throwaway-7650
96. Yola — Stand For Myself
There is a certain implicit expectation for the crowning jewel and ultimate track that Yola’s sophomore effort takes its name from. I mean, just take a look at the cover for this album, which after track after track of contemplating the turmoil of her relationships, finding joy in sadness, fighting in the face of being mistreated, what else could cap off a record like this that wasn’t a self-empowerment anthem? But in a way, ‘Stand For Myself’ is indirect and direct at the same time. Rarely through the verses does she allude to some new-found power that had been self-actualized, let alone describe how potent and strong such a feeling would give akin to something out of a Katy Perry blueprint, but she makes it clear that this song is dedicated to you, the listener.
Amidst a quietly introspective yet firmly thumping rock and roll beat, Yola extends an olive branch of firm empathy, an acknowledgement of the past, passive, cowardly self that she had grown out of, making it clear that she isn’t berating her past self or the listener but crooning about her understanding of that state of internalized pain and fear. But still with every chorus, the instrumental swells, the guitar hums a little louder, it is as if Yola’s power is actually emanating more, until everything comes to a head on the outro and the song finally blossoms into the anthem that you had been here for the whole time. It might not be obvious that Yola is controlling her voice’s power so much throughout the song — but that makes it all the more cathartic and gratifying when she finally scream-shouts her 3rd “I used to be nothing like you, I used to feel nothing like you” — a passionate, goosebumps-inducing cry that doesn’t mean that she and you are unlike, but rather to say that she had been worthless in her state of passivity. When she declares with her voice soaring, “now I’m alive”, hearkening back to the question of the album’s beginning track, you know that she has finally found her true self and meaning of her existence.
Of course, several hats off are due for the production — there really is just no way to end a country soul record like this that wasn’t a country rock, banging instrumental that would get an entire arena pumped up as hell, but there’s just something special about the vocal performance this whole track, flawless and powerful and well-utilized all the way until the final “ooh coo coo”s that seem to almost blast off into the atmosphere. Stand For Myself as an album is just chock-full of great performances and song-writing, and in some ways of course it makes sense for the titular track to be have these at full display. This song has a singular mission, and it succeeds at that mission with flying colours — that is to drop you off happier, more satisfied, fired up and ready to go, and most of all — alive — than when you first entered the album. — __Avaritia
95. STAYC — ASAP
The time is right for love, you are perfect, your man is… well, your man does not exist, or as STAYC would put it, your man does not exist YET! But a change is one the horizon, or at least is should be. From the first notes and the iconic ‘stayc girls it’s going down’ ASAP knows how to capture your attention. The breaktrough single of STAYC focusses on finding a partner as soon as possible, who cannot relate? (couples please dni.) What really sells this song for me is it’s juxtaposition of heavier sounding instrumentals with the light bubblegum pop instrumentals. This makes it both a nice summer jam and a cool winter bop. All in all this song was one of the highlights of 2021 kpop and a song I will revisit over and over for my years to come. — runaway3212
94. Poppy — Flux
One could say that flux is the most appropriate word to describe the progression of Poppy’s musical career. Her evolution as an artist is constant with each new release unveiling a different layer of both her persona and talent, while still maintaining the best qualities of her previous endeavors. As outlandish as a journey through bubblegum-ish synthpop and nu-metal may seem, it still somehow clicks and makes for a genius and surprising combination.
On Flux, her most recent album, she mostly abandons the metal characteristics of I Disagree and takes inspiration from the rock and grunge music of the 90s. The title track and second single off the project starts with a passage of screeches and creaks, in a way making the listener prepare for what’s to come next. The song then bursts into guitars, quickly making space for Poppy’s vocals to come in. She alternates between a quieter style on the verses, separating the lyrics into shorter, three syllable pieces, and a much more energetic hook, where she almost belts each line. Musically, while the song is closer to rock than probably any of her previous material, she still includes callbacks to her previous eras with the electronic elements of production, screamo adjacent vocals and even semidirect lyrical references. She displays her evolution for everyone to witness and each time she becomes stronger. Because after all, what else can one do than just go with the flow? — iniekcja_
93. Normani — Wild Side (feat. Cardi B)
The last time we heard from Normani was in early 2020 when she dropped ‘Diamonds’ (no it wasn’t a Rihanna cover) with Megan Thee Stallion for the Birds of Prey soundtrack. After that everybody thought that Normani would finally make a comeback and drop new music. But instead she went silent and we didn’t hear from her for a long time. At least until she FINALLY made a comeback in July of 2021 with ‘Wild Side’. I remember when this song dropped, I decided to watch the music video along with it….. safe to say I was very overwhelmed. The song starts off with a sexy interpolation of Aaliyah’s One in a Million and with Normani flowing over the beat. The melody is an instant earworm and is fun and easy to sing along to, especially when Normani sing the “load it up and Do-Do-Doot” parts (you’re lying if you’re saying that part wasn’t stuck in your head for a week after you first heard it.) The song then flows into the pre-chorus as Normani sings smoothly over the heavy bass, while also adding a small, but sweet, run before each line. The song then transitions into the quite possibly one of the best choruses of 2021. The simple, yet memorable, melody is very smooth and catchy. Normani sings over the beat showing off her vocal prowess with graceful runs and beautiful harmonies! The second verse is probably the most memorable part of the song and even inspired one of the best dance trends of 2021 (and it has one of the most iconic lyrics of the year, “Fuckin’ it up like oopsie-daisy.”) Now there are 2 version of this song. A regular and an extended version. I choose to listen to the extended version. Why? Because it has the bridge. One of the best bridges of the year I might add. The way Normani flows through the melody! The angelic harmonies! The way she flip into her head voice at the end of it! Truly amazing! After the bridge, comes one of the most iconic, memorable and funniest rap features of the year… and it’s from none other than Cardi B. Cardi B originally had a different verse for the song, but then Normani’s team asked her if she could make something… nastier. Safe to say they got what they wanted (lets be honest we all had to pause the song after her verse just to recover from shock.) The verse includes some of the most jaw-dropping lyrics of 2021 that will make you do the :eye: :mouth: :eye: emojis face. Some of my favorites are “it’s my dick and I want it now, ow,” “I could probably suck a watermelon through a straw, believe me,” “I wanna put these pretty pink toes in you mouth” and “drop this pussy down low like bombs away, boom.” Truly iconic! After one final chorus the song then fades into the outro. Although the outro may seem strange at first, it quickly becomes an earworm. Normani also shows off her range in the outro as she flips into her falsetto for the adlibs. Normani knew what she was doing when making this song. She knew she was making a song where if one part didn’t get stuck in your brain, another part was sure to. Well all of that was just to say that ‘Wild Side’ is truly one of the best and most underrated R&B songs of the year!
It’s also Grammy worthy, but we’re not gonna talk about that just for my sanity’s sake. — Tr1skaid3kaphobia
92. Lady Gaga — Replay (Dorian Electra Remix)
TW: sexual assault
In my Chromatica review from 2020, I glossed over ‘Replay’ without giving it much second thought, because I didn’t think it merited it, scoring the album 7/10. It’s been a year and a half since I wrote it, and while I wouldn’t change my score, I have a far bigger and more nuanced appreciation for Chromatica which I didn’t have as I hastily shared my thoughts on an album which I’d only heard maybe 4 times total at that point.
Since then, I’ve learned that ‘Replay’ is a very personal song for Gaga, yet again revisiting the trauma of her sexual assault, which she revealed to have left her pregnant afterward. It’s impossible not to have those thoughts on replay.
Gaga’s revisited her trauma in other songs, namely on ‘Till It Happens To You’ and ARTPOP cut ‘Swine’, which saw an infamous performance at the 2014 SXSW festival wherein Gaga was vomited on whilst riding a gagged mechanical pig. Reviewing the set for Rolling Stone, Gavin Roberts wrote:
“For the rest of the show, Gaga would have this black sheen, marking her as a metaphorical survivor of rape and an actual survivor of performance art.”
While the ‘Replay’ remix is nowhere near as grotesque and challenging for audiences as the “Swine” performance was, I’m inclined to echo Roberts’ sentiments on this track as well; whereas “Replay” on Chromatica was Gaga baring her trauma for all to see, “Replay” on Dawn of Chromatica is a loud, brash reclamation of her body and self, assisted by a performer whose artistry is often challenged or mocked, appreciated by an esoteric yet captive audience.
This time, instead of Millie Brown (not the actress), in comes Dorian Electra.
Since ‘Flamboyant’ appeared at #90 on Popheads’ top 100 of 2019, Dorian’s career has grown immensely and gone in a myriad of directions, thanks in no small part to their sophomore album My Agenda, its deluxe version from last year, and their inclusion on a remix of 100 gecs’ “gec 2 Ü” for their own remix album, *1000 gecs and the tree of Clues*, which all but certainly inspired Gaga’s own feature list for Dawn of Chromatica.
The two remix albums, while sonically and conceptually different, contain a considerable overlap of artists, including Dorian, Charli XCX, A.G. Cook and Count Baldor, the latter of whom coproduced ‘Replay’ remix alongside Dorian and Chris Greatti. And this trio’s production is brilliant. The first verse and chorus are upbeat and melodic, consistent with Lady Gaga’s musical style, but with rumblings below the surface of what’s to come. And then the rug is pulled out in the second verse when Dorian’s verse begins, a mishmash of harsh industrial electronica with thrash metal guitars, coming to a big head at the end of the second chorus, before the song completely unloads in the final chorus.
Despite having only a feature credit, this song is perhaps one of the best illustrations of Dorian Electra’s artistry to date: they have a sharp understanding of what a hit song sounds like, while also knowing how to warp and distort said song to fit their anti-conventional persona. And there’s no better musical superstar to amplify Dorian’s talents than Lady Gaga. — twat_brained
91. Hikaru Utada — One Last Kiss
Speak to different people and you will likely get different responses to how people know Hikaru Utada best. Utada’s legacy as Japan’s answer to Adele is impressive enough, but many will also know them for their longstanding associations with either Kingdom Hearts or Evangelion. Utada’s contributions to both series are marked by a sense of wistful nostalgia, something that they have grown into more effectively over the years with a natural pivot from 90s R&B to more adult contemporary strains. It is however a surprise seeing an established legend like Utada work with a trailblazing upstart like A.G. Cook — but the combination makes for one of the most powerful moments of the entire year. ‘One Last Kiss’ certainly doesn’t hide its intentions as a universal song about longing and the passions of love and heartbreak — Utada pivots from rapidfire anecdotes about the Louvre (“My first time at the Louvre was no big deal/Because I’d already met my own Mona Lisa”) to totally wordless emotion with the song propelled by its wistful sing-along “oh oh oh”s. It’s surprisingly simple a concept for all the apocalyptic leanings of Evangelion and for roping in a producer equally as future-thinking as the franchise in mind. The song is certainly not as experimental as some of A.G. Cook’s other material, but his subtly forward-thinking electronic pop touches elevate the emotions of the song into something that feels infinite and timeless. There’s real interplay between Utada’s sometimes casually devastating lyrics and the production — pianos suspended in space and subtle beats blipping into the mix — but it’s in the final minute that the song tips over as a stuttering synth and churning bass erupts from the cracks in the song. When Utada nonchalantly sings a totally new melody in the outro (“Chasing after a breeze that blew by one dazzling afternoon”), it’s them standing in the broken aftermath, in beautiful acceptance. — Rai
90. Conan Gray — Overdrive
Conan Gray feels like a natural precursor to Olivia Rodrigo’s meteoric rise to stardom this year. While never having enjoyed the same level of success, his dedicated fanbase and appeal to Gen Z through confessional platitudes and coming-of-age ennui was clearly a formula with huge potential. ‘Overdrive’ takes this formula and sets it to the blarings of 80s synthpop, a formula that Conan manoeuvres with suitable panache. The song is only really a stone skip’s away from the likes of ‘Into You’, ‘Run Away With Me’ or the colossal shadow of ‘Blinding Lights’ but considering the universal love for the aforementioned songs, it’s almost impossible to actively dislike something that sounds like any of them. The song sounds supersized, but Conan Gray’s star potential is more than enough to match it. — Rai
89. Cassandra Jenkins — Hard Drive
Earth is overstimulated. It’s hard to keep up with what’s going on around us as our surroundings compete to occupy our attention. 2020 will be remembered for dozens of reasons, but I think one of the year’s most important lessons was discovering how to stop… think… and focus. As 2021 roared into view and the world swung back into full gear, many people still held on to those important memories. Why do we put up with all of these stressors that only cause us grief? ‘Hard Drive,’ the pinnacle song of the year by Cassandra Jenkins, addresses these worries and subdues them, if only for five minutes.
I personally have never heard a song sound like a therapy session before. Cassandra’s voice graces the listener with a hypnotic form of spoken-word poetry — half sung, half murmured. She reminisces about pivotal moments in her life that may seem trivial to most. To her, however, these glimpses brought a fresh perspective and added clarity. When stopped at an art gallery to discuss Mrinalini Mukherjee’s ‘Phenomenal Nature,’ the security guard explains how the soft fabrics remind the viewer to consider a gentler reality. A spiritual bookkeeper, who muses philosophically about the cosmos and chakras, converges these notions into a simple metaphor: the mind is a hard drive, storing bits and pieces of our lives and saving those moments to learn from later on.
Afterward, ‘Hard Drive’ fades into the final act, an encounter with a psychic at her friend’s house. ‘Oh, dear, I can see you’ve had a rough few months,’ she observes, ‘But this year, it’s gonna be a good one. I’ll count to three and tap your shoulder. We’re gonna put your heart back together.” Softly, Cassandra’s narration leads into a calm breathing exercise, healing not only her own mind but the listener’s mind, too. ‘Hard Drive’ is the most peaceful form of meditation I’ve encountered, and I beg anyone whose past year has felt overwhelming to experience this song in its rawest beauty. — Mudkip1
88. Cardi B — Up
Cardi B’s ‘Up’, a two-and-a-half minute song, contains six seconds where Cardi is not rapping or delivering the hook — the opening two measures. The only solo track Cardi released in 2021 wastes no time diving into a vignette that leaves as quickly as it arrives: “once upon a time man I heard that I was ugly / came from a bitch who ***** wanna fuck on me.” And that’s all we hear about it. The hater bad-mouthing Cardi’s appearance, like many lines Cardi introduces, is quickly left in the rear-view of her bag-filled Bentley Bentayga.
‘Up’ was co-produced by Yung Dza, DJ SwanQo, and Sean Island. The instrumental serves as more of a minimalist backdrop — a mid-tempo beat with interspersed creaks, water drops, and three piano chords reminiscent of ‘Savage (Remix)’ played on a loop during the verses. A growling bass replaces the piano on the hook and a horn sound effect blares towards the end for comedic effect. Cardi and horn sounds — name a more iconic duo.
The main attraction in ‘Up’, however, is Cardi. The vast majority of the song’s runtime is filled with a nonstop barrage of boasts, taunts and insults. Cardi delivers memorable and eyebrow-raising lines (“dirty-ass, dusty-ass bitch you got pinkeye” comes to mind) with such confidence and rapid-fire delivery that the listener is left with no time to dwell — just nod your head and listen to a masterclass in talking shit. The verses are sewn together with an air-tight hook filled with energy built for a TikTok dance challenge — which, fittingly, it did receive.
It is difficult to think of an MC that could pull off some of the left-field bars about Cap-anese and the smell of horse sex with the success that Cardi and her unflinching, all-caps delivery does here. Up is a verbal braggadocio beat-down, a tour-de-force brimming with bravado and vim driven by Cardi’s bigger-than-life persona, and a song that I was so thrilled to vote for as one of my favorite songs of 2021. — seanderlust
87. aespa — Savage
You will never listen to another song like ‘Savage’. ‘Savage’ ferally revels in its own inhuman beauty with incredible creativity, and its deliciously satisfying. Rarely seen are songs that manage to balance intense idiosyncrasy in both its production AND the story it clearly lays out. There is no need for words here: you hear the struggle of the humanity of NingNing and Winter’s melismatic shrills attempting to overcome the highly noisy, PC-lite hip hop production that may well sound like a factory would in Brave New World. Something is evidently wrong, and it’s hard to decipher if “I’m a savage” is an accolade or a cry of defeat, but regardless it is all-consuming to the listener. The raps are surprisingly adept for K-Pop, and add on the gospel-like bridge that is just a pleading tribute to god knows what overlord, and you may just have, genuinely, one of the most unique songs of the decade, if not the century. — Therokinrolla
86. Regard, Troye Sivan, Tate McRae — You
It’s rare for a Mad Libs collaboration like “You” to work so well, but each artist here channels their talents perfectly. Regard sets up an eclectic canvas, full of throbs and distortions and occasional sparkles of synths; Tate McRae proves that her solo output being awful is by no fault of her excellent, malleable voice; and Troye Sivan demonstrates the hypnotizing powers of a twink iterating “yuh”. The result is a dark, brooding tale about a lost love that’s not fully lost — a love that might even be as intoxicating as its torch song. — letsallpoo
85. Elton John & Dua Lipa — Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)
The construction of ‘Cold Heart’ is pretty strange when you think about it. It’s an assembly of four Elton songs — a verse from ‘Sacrifice’, a Dua Lipa-sung chorus from ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘Kiss The Bride’, and an outro from ‘Where’s the Shoorah?’ — labelled as a remix from Australian trio PNAU despite no original version preceding it. Yet listening to it, its theoretical clunkiness is nowhere to be found. The flow of the lyrics and melodies is so seamless that it would come to a surprise to most that it’s an amalgamation of old material. PNAU’s glossy, peppy production is a balance of classic and contemporary; a natural fit for Dua who is now two years into an era built off that premise. And perhaps natural is the word. Beyond the mechanics of ‘Cold Heart’ is a breezy, enjoyable dance pop tune which doesn’t need much thought at all. — Travo
84. Bleachers — Stop Making This Hurt
“Just say goodbye like you mean it.”
Melodrama, Masseduction, Reputation, Norman Fucking Rockwell, Arizona Baby, Lover, Gaslighter, folklore, Chemtrails over the Country Club, Daddy’s Home.
After four years of being chained to the Electric Lady Studios’ radiator by the main pop girls Jack Antonoff was finally freed from his shackles and got to return to his personal projects, as a treat.
‘Stop Making This Hurt’ by Bleachers was released on May 18, 2021 alongside their third album unveiling, titled Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night, and piggybacking off of their comeback singles ‘Chinatown’ and ’45’ from the year prior.
Stop Making This Hurt is quintessential Bleachers. The lyrics are depressing as hell but the sound is instrumentally euphoric. It’s written like a folk song, telling the stories of many people in short glimpses. Fathers, mothers, sisters, Lana Del Rey. It’s about how we all have struggles we’re trying to overcome and move on from. Jack says “[I] Found myself banging at the door of the next phase of my life and to open brings up all the darkness from the past and what’s holding you back.”
The music video for ‘Stop Making This Hurt’ was shot at the Bendix Diner in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. A flash mob of customers and staff charmingly dances to the song somewhat off beat over fried breakfast. r/popheads field trip, maybe?
Personally I love this song and it has all the makings of classic Bleachers: absolutely infectious energy with a shoutable chorus and a saxophone. If there’s one thing these guys know how to do it’s incorporating a saxophone. — shhhneak
83. Aly & AJ — Slow Dancing
“I don’t need anything fancy — I just need you and me slow dancing”
Released as the first single off ATOTBGYUOYFGYOATITS at the tail end of 2020, ‘Slow Dancing’ is a understated, yet gorgeous track that doesn’t try to pull out any fancy vocal tricks or intense production to get its point across, though this really ties together the song’s primary lyrical message is based around the ‘sometimes less is more’ approach.
The song opens with “It’s been days and weeks and months. Feels like forever since I saw you” and off the bat there is the craving for nothing more than a simple reunion. It’s made clear through the song that there is no other desire that matches in comparison. Like a lot of music written over the past year, the song is influenced by the ongoing pandemic where not everyone is able to safely visit their loved ones for one reason or another. And the lyrics are longing for the day they can remedy that fact.
At this point there’s no ask for extravagant trips, fancy gifts, or shows of excessive romance. It’s enough to just spend a nice low-energy night with your loved one, cleaning up the house’s ordinary features to turn it into a (if only slightly) more romantic setting, and then slow dancing to a track much like this one. And to top it off it ends with a pretty killer guitar section too!
Sometimes it’s all about wanting the small & subtle joys in life and ‘Slow Dancing’ really does embrace this mantra wholeheartedly. — TiltControls
82. Yves Tumor — Jackie
Yves Tumor has been a fixture of the experimental scene for quite some time now. They have evolved from an architect of looped ambient soundscapes to the bonafide art-rocker that helmed last year’s Heaven To A Tortured Mind and 2021’s The Asymptotical World EP — the latter of which features standout track ‘Jackie’. The song moves between passages of heavily filtered backbeats and explosions of blustering, mournful guitar licks (courtesy of Poppy and Grimes collaborator Chris Greatti) as Tumor laments the titular “old flame.” Accompanied with a frenzied and feverish visual, it’s no wonder this song soundtracked a summer rife with libidinous uproar. — Dylan Bedsaul
81. Wolf Alice — The Last Man On Earth
The inspiration for this track is a sentiment that I think we can all relate to — “why does everything need to mean something more?”. Opening gently as an introspective ballad, whispered vocals an unspoken question, the song swells into an impassioned put-down of self-importance. A glittering piano line lays the foundation for a company of strings and Joff Oddie’s guitar, until, finally, the surge shorts out.
The band takes a more post-Britpop direction with their latest album — some the soundscapes would fit right in on a Travis or Stereophonics release — but frontwoman Ellie Rowsell’s dreamy vocals, as ever, set them apart. She can scream and shout with the best of them, yet it’s her choral harmonies and plaintive belts that buoy ‘The Last Man on Earth’. And who are you to ask for anything more? — cherryices
80. Lorde — Stoned at the Nail Salon
Lorde has had possibly one of the most unexpected years of any of popheads’ darlings, and yet looking back on it now it seems to make complete sense. With effort to not dive into a full fledged essay on both the flaws and successes of Solar Power, I will simply say I think it’s main flaw in many people’s eyes was its simplicity compared to the grand highs of Melodrama, but that that might be S’toned at the Nail Salon’’s greatest success.
In an album largely inspired by floating in the saltwater of the sea and laying your crystals across a beach towel on the sand, ‘Stoned at the Nail Salon’ feels significantly more in land, to mean if ‘Mood Ring’ is set at the beach, Stoned is firmly set in a small cabin in the forest. Largely about the small fears and regrets of life, the song doesn’t attempt to be anything epic, but rather a melancholic acceptance that maybe we don’t have all the answers, maybe we’re all high wandering around trying to enjoy the simpler pleasures, and maybe that’s okay.
Lyrically the second verse is one of my favourite moments on the whole album, and is convincing enough to me that Lorde never lost it. The idea of ”dancing all over the landmines under our town”, to know wherever you walk you are stepping on so much history but that you yourself are making more of it right there, is so rich in concept and complexity to me. I think this song tackles the overarching theme of Solar Power so well, that Lorde is not a higher power, she is confused herself, and this album is not for you or me or any awards or critics, but for herself, simply because she wanted to. — Awkward_King
79. Halsey — Honey
“Dripping like honey
Down the back of my throat and on the front of my mind”
On an album full of songs about anxiety, uncertainty and familial love, Halsey takes a short break to remind us that she’s still a sexual being. This song. is. gay. as. fuck. Rarely, if ever, do we get mainstream artists singing about women eating pussy. Halsey has a couple other songs explicitly about women (Strangers, Bad at Love, wipe your tears etc.) but they’re usually about a romance. Honey however, melds together the sexual with the romantic in a perfectly sweet blend. — CarlieScion
78. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo de Augustine — Back to Oz
Label mates Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine join forces to write The Wizard of Oz fanfiction on ‘Back To Oz’, the third single from their collaborative album, A Beginner’s Mind. ‘Back To Oz’ raises the stakes of the album’s carefully crafted cinematic universe, where each of 14 tracks takes inspiration from a movie that the pair watched while living together in California. As Dorothy finds herself cast into a dream of Oz in ruins (from the 1985 dark-fantasy unofficial sequel, Return To Oz), the duo’s (virtually identical) vocals narrate her internal monologue and guide her through the unfamiliar world in the face of constant antagonism.
A lush instrumental of bass and percussion joins the mix and contrasts the eerie, sparse strumming and light vocals that reprise the care-free guitar melodies of previous singles ‘Reach Out’ and ‘Olympus’. This mixture of instruments is not particularly genre-bending, but for the likes of confessional folk guitarists, entire sections of electric guitar solos are new and exciting and, on first listen, give an unexpected boost of energy to reflect Dorothy’s disillusionment and anxiety surrounding an unknown Oz. More importantly, this rich and dynamic songwriting makes Back To Oz a massive bop!
Following the intense action and emotional turmoil of these sections, the song’s finale delivers a heartbreaking confession from Oz as it pleads for Dorothy’s help: “Don’t be my last call / Do you mind that I’m falling apart?”, yet no response returns. Curtains close to a bluesy guitar solo and the pair leave our protagonist where they found her — melancholy and alone — to accept the fate of the ruined land she could not protect, and begin salvaging something good from the rubble. — Stryxen
77. St. Vincent — The Melting of the Sun
Considered by many to be among one of St. Vincent’s best songs, ‘The Melting Of The Sun’ is a tribute to famed women artists of the 20th century; Nina Simone, Tori Amos, and Marilyn Monroe are among the names dropped throughout the verses. Annie has said that this song is about the abuse, hardships, and hostility these women faced in the industry and society. Hazy and psychedelic, ‘The Melting Of The Sun’ meanders through the verses before triumphant backing vocals on the chorus swoop in to drive the song forward.
I had the pleasure of seeing St. Vincent perform this live at the All Things Go festival a few months ago! She closed her set (filled with fan favorites from throughout her 15 year career) with ‘The Melting Of The Sun’. To call the performance transcendent would be underselling it. Perhaps no song on Daddy’s Home best captures the vibe, sound, and general attitude of the album quite like this one. Seeing it close such a phenomenal set made me wonder if this song would be better placed as the album’s closer; a thrilling capstone to one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. — ReallyCreative
76. Spellling — Boys at School
‘Boys at School’ is the centerpiece of an album full of centerpieces, sprawling across seven and a half minutes of shifting, haunting instrumental movements. Spellling (government name Chrystia Cabral) pulls us into the adolescent drama of the lyrics — raw at times, vague at others, shrinking like a wallflower but seeking the sun — with mounting piano, swirling synth, and slinking guitar.
I got the assignment to write up ‘Boys at School’ the day before I turned 29, and it is still remarkably easy to go where Cabral is taking me: “tomorrow I turn 16 years, and I don’t want to grow older.” Cabral evokes the images of this time without mentioning them. The hallways of the high school, reflected back ugly and twisted like a funhouse mirror; the corners of the childhood bedroom; the rows of rainy streetlights down the block.
Despite the atmosphere Cabral sustains throughout the song, ‘Boys at School’ is not a nightmare. The climax of the song comes in the minute-long outro, a passage that can only be described as triumphant. It’s cathartic for the listener, who has undoubtedly just spent the better part of ten minutes thinking about adolescent struggles at the hands and minds of young men. Whether it serves as a real resolution — for Cabral, for her younger self, or for any other listener who hated the boys at school too — is up to you. — anothertown
Intro & Honorable Mentions | 101–76 | 75–51 | 50–26 | 25–1 | Full List
