This week Spotify dropped their annual Spotify Wrapped, literally marketed as a gift of infographics and playlists for users to unwrap – and probably share on social media. And let me just say: if you are one of the people who share your yearly takeaways to your insta story or wherever else, THANK YOU! I sincerely love seeing them. Please keep on.
I’ve had such an entertaining time listening through my Top 100 playlist in order, not skipping any songs or queueing anything else and just remembering why I love each song and the mix of memories now associated with them.
So before closing this chapter (I promise I won’t mention Spotify Wrapped for another year), I want to break down my top 10. I’ve already written about a handful of these songs on the blog before, so I will keep things short, sweet and hopefully non-repetitive.
10. Rooting For You by Alessia Cara
Kicking it off at number 10 with an artist I was very happy to see on this playlist, Alessia Cara. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of all of her music but she has a few irresistible gems, Rooting For You absolutely being one of her best, and she just generally strikes me as a really cool, unique and talented woman --- not to mention she’s Canadian, which we love to support.
My guess for why this song made top 10 is that for about 6 months straight in lockdown, every day after work I’d put on my 5pm on the back porch playlist and wait for my siblings to join me for a drink and game of cards. But what might sound bleak was actually very fun and of course led to hours and hours of streaming of 5pm on the back porch, with Rooting For You on the rotation every time.
9. All The Debts I Owe by Caamp
Coming in at number 9 is All The Debts I Owe, a truly *perfect* song to me because it has all of the emotional intensity and instrumental roughness that I adore about folk music, but with perfectly non-triggering, playful lyrics. (Non-triggering might seem like a dramatic word to use – but when you’re feelin’ fragile and not in the mood to be weighed down by some heart wrenching / introspective verse, it’s the perfect description for what you need.)
Every time I listen to this song, I get the same feeling of grateful excitement about how good it is. Its energy subtlety brings you to the edge of your chair, building even more suspense by tossing in a near-whispering chorus right before the big crescendo two minutes in.
I also generally don’t think there’s anything Taylor Meier could sing that I wouldn’t love – that earthy raspiness of his voice is one-of-a-kind.
8. Back To Life by Chiiild, Shungudzo
One of the first posts I wrote for the blog back in May was a review of Chiiild’s debut album Synthetic Soul, a record from which three of my Top 100 have come: Pirouette, Count Me Out, and Back To Life. I love all three tracks so much for their smooth soulfulness and pristine production, but Shungudzo’s feature on Back To Life makes the track a clear standout. Her dreamy voice brings such a lightness to Chiiild’s sound, and if you listen closely you can hear the choirs of subdued harmonies that fill the edges of the song. Too much to say…breathtaking?
7. Love You For A Long Time by Maggie Rogers
By now, all of Maggie Rogers’ music is among the most comforting and fun and memorable in my Spotify collection. I was lucky to see her twice in concert in 2019, and both times was blown away by (and fell completely in love with) her electric energy and the sweet sincerity of her persona.
I’d be equally excited to write about any of her songs, but it’s no surprise that Love You For A Long Time was my most relied-upon of them this year. I love this song for how simple it feels – when I hear it, I always picture her (and my beloved friends) dancing around to it, basking in happy, sun-filled energy.
6. Peaceful Life by Guts, Lorina Chia
It only takes a quick queue of Guts’ singles to see that he’s a master of producing fresh and funky beats, always making you want to sway along. (Don’t listen if you’re not free to DANCE.) After a friend introduced me to him early on this year, a few of his hits were immediately on my constant rotation for months.
One of them was And The Living Was Easy --- which I wrote about here --- and another was Peaceful Life. Admittedly my obsession with the latter was pretty short-lived, but only because I listened to absolutely nothing else for a few weeks and wore it out.
The great thing about that, though, is that now I’m getting to rediscover it after months of neglect – and man, is it ever good.
5. Glitter by BENEE
Continuing in the same vibe, BENEE’s Glitter is a perfect song for any and every fun, groovy mood (right until you hit drunk, and then it starts to seem a bit too slow). This is another fantastic hit that was eventually slightly ruined (maybe that’s dramatic – at least tainted?) by its going viral thanks to a TikTok challenge.
Regardless, it’s a stunning piece of music – a catchy flow of pop with the added corny charm of a band of horns and other samples.
4. Witness by Mt. Joy
There is so much to love about Witness.
For starters, Mt. Joy themselves are an extremely loveable band: a group of friends that come across as unique, thoughtful, friendly, politically-conscious – and, of course, talented as hell. Their second album Rearrange Us (which I reviewed here) was one of my favourite record releases this year, and Witness is a song I’ve queued over, and over, and over again.
I think it helps that the song has several different parts – makes it less repetitive and harder to get sick of. We start off with a Matt Quinn acoustic ballad, joined slowly by the drums, and then those haunting keys in the second verse. “Can everybody see how a woman changed me / Does my darkness start to leak?” – this line still gives me goosebumps every time. Halfway through, the song pivots completely as the keys beautifully paint a path upward towards the let-it-all-out peak, Jackie Miclau shining more than ever.
I’m still in the process of trying to understand the song’s title, but right now have settled on something about him bearing witness to his own heartache while also witnessing his ex-love moving on and fading from view. Sound about right?
3. Psychic City by YACHT, Classixx Remix
I heard Classixx’s remix of Psychic City for the first time at Echo Beach last summer, as Maggie Rogers’ pre-concert playlist was blasting around the venue while we (a few hundred people) waited for her to come onstage.
In the excitement of the eve I didn’t pay much attention to it – until I heard the familiar-sounding tune again on January 2 of this year (coincidentally my birthday). I was at a house on the coast south of Sydney, Australia with a dozen or two people, drawing out the NYE celebrations for an extra night. The song came on the speakers in the morning as we were all hungover and packing the place up, and its disco energy made for a funny score to the scene – everyone taking inventory of the night before, possibly still drunk. In any case, it’s a song that has clearly stuck with me all year. Top three seems about right.
2. And It Breaks My Heart by LÉON
Second last but certainly not second least comes a cherished LÉON single, And It Breaks My Heart. I’ve written once already about my obsession for this song in my post on her first three singles of the year. Since then she’s released her full second album Apart, another beautiful collection of songs which I’ve been getting to know over the past month.
But of its 11 gems, And It Breaks My Heart still feels to me to be in a league of its own. The fullness of its composition – the multitude of harmonies, synths, guitars, beats and strings – invites a grand nostalgia that is so unique to LÉON’s style in general, and especially to this song. Even now as I listen, I feel just as drawn into its vibrant intensity as I did when it first debuted.
Hats off to the queen, as always.
1. Goodnight Moon by Boogie Belgique
Things do come full circle: Boogie Belgique’s Goodnight Moon was among the first SotW that I shared eight months ago. I was obsessed then and have remained obsessed ever since, so it’s no shock that the track takes the spotlight this year.
Correction: it might be a surprise to friends of mine who associate me as the indie-folk-pop-rock lover. An electro mix of a forties' love song with an interpolation of swing? Add that to my music brand, I guess.
Happy listening!
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