To be fair I wasn’t expecting them when I first read the column (even though their album is my second favorite of the year). Always considered this list as more of a “best songs that get played on radio/major label releases.” Under those parameters, my top 5 pop songs of the year would be (5) Happier Than Ever (4) Industry Baby (3) deja vu (2) Good ones (1) Need To Know
And speaking of artists that are considered pop but don’t fit in the pop framework, I’d like to single out Laura Mvula and Agnes. Pink Noise and Magic Still Exists are two of the very best pop albums this year. I’m also excited to hear what DRAMA has in store for 2022. Their singles this year have been excellent. Hoping a full length follows next year.
I remember when this column started and it definitely wasn’t 8 years ago, was it??? Thanks for the years of excellent content. Excited for the future of this feature! Excited for Rachel. An excellent choice to carry the torch.
This Tinashe album is the best thing I’ve listened to all year. Have to get a special shoutout to “Small Reminders”; that song is next level, as is that whole album. I knew she had something special when I heard Aquarius and I’m glad she’s fulfilling that with her last two albums. Can’t imagine a major label fucking up a talent like Tinashe worse than they did with her.
As far as everything else goes, love that The Weeknd is going even further into pure pop with his new era. I thought for sure “Blinding Lights” and After Hours was going to be his commercial peak, but he’s setting up this next era to blow that one out of the water. HOB will always be my favorite of The Weeknd, but this pop run he’s on is one for the ages. Just thinking of all the hits he’s put his name on since “Can’t Feel My Face” is remarkable, and he’s not stopping anytime soon.
With all the singles we got, “Dear Tommy” has to be the greatest “lost” album of all time, right? I’m sure there have been some legendary acts with albums that never saw the light of day as well, so I’m open for a friendly debate! I’ll always for Valentine’s Day...
Kill For Love is one of my favorite albums, and I’ve truly loved everything I’ve heard from them. And it sounds like this could be for the best as we’ll be hearing more from the members, and maybe this frees up JJ to work on a new Glass Candy album (hey, I can dream). Absolutely phenomenal band and I look forward to whatever everyone creates in the future. Thanks for the music!
He clearly needs to shut up, but this feels more like ignorance than him coming from a place of actual hatred. (His comments “clarifying” the inciting incident shows he hasn’t really put too much thought into this.) HIV/AIDS isn’t a “dirty” disease; That’s some thinking straight out of the Reagan administration.
The whole “my gay fans are classy” defense is honestly pretty damn funny. Like, what point is he even trying to prove? When sucking dick, please suck responsibly? It’s not a bad idea, but he’s got to work on the messaging.
That’s honestly not that hard to believe. I doubt they spent a ton of time together to come up with “left foot, right foot levitating pop stars Dua Lipa with DaBaby.” But I’ll never understand why she got him on the remix when Megan Thee Stallion is right there! Or Missy Elliott, who had already worked with her on the Club Future Nostalgia version of Levitating!
Felt the same about the lead single, glad the whole thing lives up to it! Stacked week though; Billie, Dam, Yola, Isaiah and Bleachers are all in the queue.
Honestly pretty excited for his Rebirth, even if (especially if) it’s bad. I’m surprised it took us this long for Young Thug to reach this point of his arc. on an unrelated note, it would be cool if he had a sequel to Jeffrey lined up eventually.
This brings me back. I remember when I first discovered this album and was so excited about the sound of it. I rushed to tell my best friend and we had this soundtrack our summer that year. And Powa is seriously fantastic. I return to that one often. Just an incredible vocal performance. And the fact that nothing she’s done since has captured my attention like w h o k i l l just adds to the albums charm.
Last year I got really into “Faraway Look” from her debut and it just recently started to get stuck in my head again. Yola is one hell of a talent and I hope she gets the recognition she deserves. And I should also give credit to Dan Auerbach. His work with Yola, as well as on Ultraviolence, is much more interesting than what goes on with Black Keys records.
Solid list! Glad to see Rain On Me at #1. A lot of these songs ended up on my best of the year list (People I’ve been said, Physical, Care, and Hard to Forget being the highest ranked for me). And “betty” is probably my favorite song from Taylor Swift this year (or last). Justice for Comme Des Garçons though! That was my favorite Rina Sawayama track this year. And one final point: I remember someone somewhere said the Kings & Queens chorus sounds exactly like “You Give Love a Bad Name” and I can’t not hear that whenever that song comes on now. Still enjoy it!
Best Album: Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (sometimes the easiest answer is the right answer)
Best Song: Yves Tumor - Kerosene!
Rest of my top 5 albums and songs (both alphabetical):
Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately; Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher; Sault - Untitled (Rise); Yves Tumor - Heaven To a Tortured Mind
Chloe x Halle - Do It; Christine and the Queens - People, i’ve been sad; Phoebe Bridgers - Garden Song; Special Interest - Street Pulse Beat
Such a strong (official) debut! Shots Fired is a great opener. Definitely a fun listen all the way through. It seems like a lot of people were expecting more hard rap cuts, but these are mostly in the vein of “Hot Girl Summer” and I don’t see that as a bad thing at all.
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