Edging closer to the big reveal, this batch sees the odd case of only 1 former SONG OF THE YEAR champion being included, meaning a new SOTY champ will be crowned:
41. CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You) (Car Seat Headrest):
indie rock at its current finest.
42. Godstained (Quadeca):
though it’s beauty won’t be evident right away, repeated listens open it up.
43. Sweet Danger (Obongjayar):
plays like a cross between a Spaghetti Western theme and an Afrobeat throwback, where Obongjayar leans into his villain era. (ROLLING STONE)
44. Enything (Quickly Quickly):
a song clearly about longing, sung exactly on the appropriate cues.
45. Waterfall (Spellling):
an all-out pop smackdown.
46. Ruminating (Lily Allen):
the sadness smeared all over and that drawl.
47. This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice (Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke):
I continue to amaze how Yorke can keep this level up even after all these decades.
48. Starburst (Danny Brown):
the lead single from his latest album Stardust, listens like his strongest change up yet, incorporating heavy, pop-driven beats and a vibe closer to a rave than his more recent Quaranta, which found him laying it all out paired with more minimal beats. “Starburst” is punchy and powerful, with hyperpop overtones, Brown showing how high he can take his sound. It’s a workout of a song, driving into a thrashing of beats that are counteracted with a cool down, a spoken word portion read by Frost Children’s Angel Prost. (TREBLE)
49. Open Hearts (The Weeknd):
a skyward synthpop hit à la ‘Blinding Lights’, ‘Save Your Tears’ and ‘Take My Breath’ (and was created with those tracks’ super pop producer/writer Max Martin), which is achieved with a carefully concocted blend of irresistible influences: Hi-NRG ecstasy, flashy trance, throbbing French electro. Oh, and it has a belter of a hook (this is the Weeknd, after all). (TIMEOUT)
50. Manic! (JPEGMafia):
from the jump, the production on “Manic!” pulls you into its whirlwind of sounds. It fuses chill textures with bursts of energy and even a few Middle Eastern-inspired melodies, resulting in something that feels both cinematic and volatile. (GETSOME MAGAZINE)
51. Full On (Perfume Genius):
Hadreas says the demo for “Full On” was “piano and gibberish,” but that making it felt “very magical and very arrival-y.” Kinetic and windswept, “Full On” is as messy and wounded as anything else on any Perfume Genius album that precedes it, as Hadreas’ narrator watches quarterbacks cry while an unmarked boy goes “limp as a veil, thrown in a cruel fashion.” And yet, the lifespan of queerness holds a particular beauty here; even in violence, a boy is “laid up on the grass and nodding like a violet.” Hedonism wanes in the glow of the living. (PASTE)
52. Salute (Cardi B):
a refined call to arms and of recognition.
53. Going Oblique (Le Reste):
straddles cross-genres to great effect.
54. Picture Window (Japanese Breakfast):
few artists can probe the multifaceted nature of grief like Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. On “Picture Window,” she confronts its long shadow in the face of love, contrasting her anxiety-racked self with a more carefree partner who “only cries on Ferris wheels.” In a note to fans, Zauner wrote that this disconnect can be “both a relief and a struggle,” but it’s not something to run from. “Picture Window” is warm and inviting — indie rock mixed with cosmic country — even as our ghosts live among us. (ROLLING STONE)
55. It’s Time (Nourished By Time):
proves than even within his monochromatic wall of sound, the variation of the music can raise its stakes very high.
56. Sunshine & Rain (Kali Uchis):
“I do nothing in the dark ‘cause I believe in karma,” the Colombian American singer-songwriter confesses over organ and light sitar. Little else in “Sunshine & Rain…” develops the Hindu concept of cause and effect except perhaps how Kali Uchis will give lovers an evening’s pleasure, reciprocity be damned. Nevertheless, she admits we all need someone to love in a world that’s “deranged” (and how nice to see this word in an R&B song). Mixed as if through an incense haze, the song asserts itself as an internal monologue and a classic fuck-or-die plea, and Uchis’ whisper register never suggests cynicism. “Sunshine & Rain…” is both not enough and just enough. (PITCHFORK)
57. BMF (SZA):
a to-the-point hip-shaker that sees the singer duel with some conflicting impulses towards a crush, with help from a skipping bassline and a gentle interpolation of the Brazilian bossa nova classic “The Girl from Ipanema.” It’s pure melodic magic. (BILLBOARD)
58. Party People (Rose Gray):
grooves on the dancefloor magnificently.
59. Honeycomb (Panchiko):
where the Panchiko sonic world truly opens up like a spring flower. Appropriately attracting bees for the “Honeycomb,” this single has a little pep in its step. It’s undeniably catchy, with video game-y choices throughout. It’s especially reminiscent of the game “Pikmin,” at least aesthetically. That chorus is divine; lyrically witty, the repeated chorus tackles dating in the modern world perfectly. Long paragraphs in text messages, while simultaneously feeling disconnected from your partner IRL, are everyday experiences for those of us in the dating pool (raises hand sadly). The song’s bridge has some “umph” to it, giving some more emotion to an otherwise flighty song. (GETSOME MAGAZINE)
60, High Tides (Saba feat. Maxx Moor):
a mix bag for the year as far as LPs are concerned but here at least Saba mines interesting gold.
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