2022 Year End Lists: Top 100 Singles Of 2022
till the dominant mode of musical virality. While there were a number of albums this year that succeeded while dodging singles altogether, the year will still be discussed, remembered, and preserved by its best singles. This is the list where everything is taken into consideration. The quality of a song, its success within its target audience and reception among them, and where it fits into the cultural landscape with things like videos, performances, and yes, even memes. While it's not a ranking of commercial success, this is the only place in the music corner calendar where it's taken into consideration. With the rules put in place as simply as I can think to state them, let's do it. These are the 100 best singles dropped by artists in 2022.
100. Empress Of - Save Me
Save Me is the perfect #100 for a list like this. A largely quite simple pop song with just enough flare to grab your attention and a hook to keep you around, but also a song that doesn't really require much context to digest. You pretty much get what you get.
Last Appearance: n/a
17 18 19
ISM's feisty new album came with a few singles that I enjoyed quite a bit, but the best of the bunch is this bouncy dance number which comes partnered with the band's typically tribal take on dance music and a pretty irresistible hook. This list has many songs worth dancing to, though this might be the one that compels you further than any other.
Last Appearance: n/a
98. Denzel Curry - Walkin
Denzel Curry's Walkin and the sci-fi music video that came attached to it got one of the year's most anticipated rap records off to a good start. With a message of pushing through adversity Denzel delivers a series of reserved but memorable flows almost all of which are hooky enough to spawn their own songs around.
Last Appearance: Psycho - 2019
Technicolour
The most recent in a long line of great singles from Shabaka Hutchings projects, this blistering piece of neo-jazz is exotic, spacious, and intoxicating. Unsurprisingly, the jazz is far less swooning and far more ecstatic, giving the band an opportunity to build an expansive sound palette around it. Technicolour was instantly one of the jazz standouts of 2022.
Last Appearance: n/a
96. Kurt Vile - Mount Airy Hill
Kurt Vile's new record is long, lackadaisical, and indulgent, if you can believe it. If for some reason you were expecting something else, along came Mount Airy Hill which is yet another satisfying long-winded indie folk cut in Vile's discography. With the wandering refrains and accompanying psychedelic instrumental, the track is somewhere between dreary and dreamy but just as easy to get lost in regardless.
Last Appearance: Loading Zones - 2018
95. Tkay Maidza -
Nights In December
Tkay has been defined so far by her versatility and this single is yet another expansion of her potential. This appropriately nocturnal pop song is brief but incredibly memorable and has a repetitive circular little chorus that sells it perfectly. The result is a cute and cozy wintertime pop song that pulls off its ambitions without ever dipping into cliches.
Last Appearance: Syrup - 2021
94. R.A.P Ferreira - ours
While a catchy single may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of R.A.P Ferreira this is a slice of oddball hip-hop whose creativity is as obvious as it is catchy. The minimal beat and bouncy flows may not read as instantaneous but if you let the song work on your a bit, it's a satisfying slow burn.
Last Appearance: n/a
93. Bill Callahan - Coyotes
A 6-minute singer-songwriter ballad from Bill Callahan also doesn't exactly ring the bell as an attention-grabbing single, but it's a testament to his great songwriting, compelling metaphors, and subdued but perfect vocals. His sweeping balladry is thoroughly enjoyable and makes perfect use of both the song's runtime and format.
Last Appearance: n/a
92. Future Islands -
King Of Sweden
There are a lot of artists who are called singles artists, but aren't really. Future Islands are, they even warned us in 2014. Despite never really putting together a great album they have pumped out one great single every year like clockwork for over a decade now and this year was no different with the rousing Kind Of Sweden, which doesn't rewrite their formula, just add to it.
Last Appearance: Peach - 2021
Cannibal Capital
89. Fever Ray - Carbon Dioxide
Can a band be so chaotic that they defy genre altogether? I don't think so but Guerilla Toss are gonna try their hardest to make their strikingly unique blends of electronica, punk, and pop feel like something else entirely. In the case of this song it's the shrill unkempt intro that transitions into a pretty digestible little noise pop number that never blew me away but always managed to keep itself in my rotation.
Last Appearance: n/a
90. Preoccupations -
Death of Melody
In an era where it feels like there's a great new post-punk band popping up every 20 minutes, Preoccupations made their much-anticipated return with a lead single that I can best describe as "questionable" Thankfully they followed it up with this brooding but very much still alive second single. Death Of Melody isn't exactly one of thre darkest songs Preoccupations have ever written, but what it lacks in edge it makes up for with refrains that start off memorable and stay that way throughout.
Last Appearance: Disarray - 2018
As if the return of Karin Derjner as Fever Ray wasn't reason enough to be excited, her working in combination with her brother and fellow The Knife member Olaf pushed it over the cliff. Thankfully, she had the song to meet the moment, Carbon Dioxide which serves as both a blast of personal expression from Karin but also a challenging and ultimately quite rewarding piece of blitzed out electronica.
Last Appearance: n/a
88. Moor Mother - RAP JASM (Feat. AKAI SOLO& justmadnice)
We can just get straight to the point with this one, Moor Mother and AKAI each deliver verses so good that it almost defines the muttering lo-fi hip-hop sound of the song, resulting in something surprisingly catchy and intriguing in its execution. It was another song that followed me all year and on reflection what they do here is not only incredibly unique but also incredibly impressive.
Last Appearance: n/a
This feels like a song that should be higher on a list like this. Not only does it tap into a massively relevant social event, but it also chronicles the outcome and mental processes of those who experienced it. Whether because of extra stiff competition or the continued sameyness of what Pinegrove releases every year, it lands here.
Last Appearance: Alaska - 2021
PUSSY is a moment that didn't last nearly as long as it should have. In defiance of the idea that female rappers have to be attacking each other, Latto stands up for her sisters on this song. What's the best way to do that? By attacking men, and she really does let them have it. Not only is the message worthwhile and pointedly directed but the song itself is exciting and well-executed.
Last Appearance: n/a
Heloise
While the decidedly random team-up of Julia Holter, Harper Simon, and Geologist isn't something I had on my 2022 bingo card, the song they made is quite beautiful. It also came out earlier in the year and I was really hoping we might hear more from any of these artists, given that it's sort of been a big year for Animal Collective and its various members. Maybe in 2023, but in the meantime the one release they did have still holds up well.
Last Appearance: n/a
84. DOMi & JD Beck - WHATUP
These two had quite a year and while some of the places they popped up in and some of the people they were able to collaborate with are impressive, they are also just super talented. In the long run some of their instrumental deep cuts have turned out to be my favorites and that playful thirst showed up on the incredibly underrated WHATUP too. The pair probably have a LONG career of great songs ahead of them and I think this is a perfect launching off point.
Last Appearance: n/a
If you read some tweets from stan accounts you might think that I'm the predominant Mitski hater in the entire world, but that isn't true. While I wasn't crazy about her album this year I did like this song quite a bit. It's an aching indie love ballad that actually has both the lyrics and performance to back up its yearning and it deploys Mitski's taste for electronic crescendos in a way that feels emotionally satisfying rather than draining. Combined with The Only Heartbreaker it makes for a genuine one-two punch of character-building for Mitski as an artist and person.
Last Appearance: Nobody - 2018
82. Shame Fingers Of Steel
After showing up last year with an album that massively improved on their debut Shame aren't staying quiet for long. Much like the B-Side they dropped late last year that became a personal favorite of theirs, Steel isn't immediate but man did it grow on me over time. With a new album already announced, Shame could be well on their way to a dynasty of great post-punk.
Last Appearance: This Side Of The Sun - 2021
81. Coi Leray - Blick Blick (feat. Nicki Minaj)
Coi Leray caught a lot of shit on social media this year for sexist reasons that really don't warrant going into here. Despite all that, or maybe in spite of it, she managed to have quite a breakout year with a decent debut album under her belt. Along the way, she dropped this banger of a singer with who else but Nicki Minaj along for the ride infusing the song with her unmistakable energy.
Last Appearance: n/a
It doesn't really feel like Broken Bells had that great of a 2022 with their comeback. Some of that is no doubt leftover bad memories from recent Shins work, but both their album and this song Saturdays impressed me right away and stayed impressive throughout all my re-listens. There's a tangible composure to what the pair are doing that comes from their experience and the results are dreamy indie pop that is touching while walking a line between gentle and rousing that's hard to pull off.
Last Appearance: n/a
79. Florence + The Machine - King
I'll get this out of the way quick. Much like The 1975's new record this year, this song succeeds in spite of Jack Antonoff's presence, not because of it. Why the hammy overwrought finale is added onto this beautiful ballad of self-expression is completely beyond me, but it only manages to be that shocking because the melodies and performance here are so compelling in the first place.
Last Appearance: n/a
This song pulls off contrasts as well as any single on this entire list. From the thick dreamy instrumental that backs Obongjayar's gentle singing on the verses to the rush of the sped-up and energized hook. It's such a great tune that shows off pretty much all of the qualities that made Obongjayar's new album such a fascinating and ultimately rewarding listening experience.
Last Appearance: n/a
77. Cola - Water Table
Last year the spirit of Candaian indie bakc Ought returned with Cola and I wasn't particularly impressed by how they started. But when I first heard Water Table it reminded me all over again why I love frontman Tim Darcy's neurotic observations so much. With the exact same stiff drums and spacious mix you'd expect to accompany the track the band continues to spin pessimistic fantasy into their songs with lethal proficiency.
Last Appearance: n/a
This is the perfect little Phoenix single and luring Ezra Koenig out of whatever hole he crawls into between Vampire Weekend records is a plus. There are synth lines on the song that might read as icy in a darker tune but the sentiment here is fun and infectious in a way that just draws me right in and keeps me there. Phoenix didn't get nearly as much attention this year as I think they deserved and this single should have been the stepping-off point, or hopefully, it still has the potential to.
Last Appearance: n/a
The Mr. Morale experiment was never meant to spawn big hit singles, just listen to the album in full and that will become clear enough. But everybody involved seemed to know that this song would succeed and it did. While the hype of new Kendrick may have taken over the critical realm, the success of a commercial single needed to be a bit more attention. To the surprise of nobody it took off for a few weeks and became one of the better hit singles in the rap world this year.
Last Appearance: HUMBLE - 2017
74. Anxious - Let Me
Thanks to some great groundwork done by Brooklyn Vegan I got to be in on the front side of Anxious and boy am I happy about that. It allowed me to hear Let Me the ripping emo meets pop punk single they released at the start of this year that did a lot to get me pumped for their debut album. As with the success of the album this song combines the ferocity of their performances with the emotion of their songwriting and structuring to make for one memorable moment after another.
Last Appearance: n/a
The Garden Path
In a year where Kamasi releases music, you can generally expect to see it on my year-end lists. Even though his often expansive jazz compositions may not seem right for a singles list he does it in a way that is so welcoming that it ties back around to being completely irresistible. Though some jazz heads have a problem with his playing style, I can't help but find what he does to be magnetic, and the supporting instrumentation and soaring compositions he works into his songs do nothing but heighten the experience.
Last Appearance: Fists Of Fury - 2018
72. Kilo Kish - NEW TRICKS: ART, AESTHETICS, AND MONEY
Kilo Kish and Vince Staples are a combo that I just can't get enough of. Even though Vince only appears on this track with backing adlibs he manages to feel like the narrator of a fun and exciting journey through Kilo's most infectious electro pop number yet. From the slamming percussion to her short and slick refrains everything about this is confident and served with a sledgehammer impact.
Last Appearance: Bloody Future - 2021
One of the best things that happened this year is the revitalization of NxWiorries, the combo of Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge that released a criminally underrated album back in 2016. The pair re-introduced themselves with this sensual
-sounding R&B cut that has more going on under the surface than you'd expect. It's a layered song both thematcally and instrumentally and just another reminder of the versatility Anderson .Paak is capable of.
Last Appearance: Suede - 2016
69. Saba - Survivor's Guilt (Feat. G Herbo)
70. Maren Morris - Circles Around This Town
This was the little country hit that could this year being released in the first week of 2022 and lasting the whole year through. Helping Maren overcome the stain of Zedd's The Middle and re-defining her ability to subvert the expectations of country music as a songwriter. The story of her journey to Nashville is just as exciting as the results and she's going into 2023 as one of the voices to look out for in country music
Last Appearance: n/a
I whiffed on this song at first and publically said I didn't like it. Well, turns out I should have known that whatever Saba was doing was gonna grow on me. The hard-hitting wild beat the track has in combination with the exciting flows show off the talent of both Saba and G Herbo. The latter being quite a new revelation as I've never loved much of Herbo's material before, but he steps into an uphill battle on this song and still manages to hold his own.
Last Appearance: Haagen Dazs - 2019
Like many people, I did NOT like the new Bloc Party record this year but the one consolation I gave it is that some of the more emotional ballads really did translate. The one single they releassed that took that approach was similarly satisfying and was one of the main reasons I was even anticipating the album in the first place. This genuinely adorable meditation on young love won me over immediately and continued to be enjoyable every time I heard it afterward. Maybe if Bloc Party ever releases an album full of these songs it would finally live up to the expectations they set for themselves early in their career.
Last Appearance: Virtue - 2016
67. Kelela - Happy Ending
Kelela being an R&B innovator is absolutely nothing new, but even in her new run of great singles hoping on a drum and bass instrumental for Happy Ending felt like a bold swing that paid off big time. Maintaining the lush and sexual demeanor she's been able to bring to so many great songs before while this high-energy instrumental rumbles away in the background is intoxicating and gives the song a surreal fascination that I couldn't get enough of this year.
Last Appearance: Blue Light - 2017
Western Wind
The response to Carly's new album was a bit more mixed than her last two and that also applied to the singles where opinions were all over the place. Personally, even after the whole run of singles leading up to the record, I continued to return to its lead single Western Wind. The song has a gentle and appropriately breezy demeanor that just feels irresistible. The charming sway and memorable hook sees Carly near her cutest, which is saying something for one of the most consistently adorable artists in all of music.
Last Appearance: Let's Be Friends - 2020
65. Black Thought & Danger Mouse - No Gold Teeth
There were quite a few songs from the new collaborative record between Black Thought and Danger Mouse that got people talking, often for some of the highest profile collaborations. But for this list we're keeping it simple. The focused, impressive and endlessly entertaining lead single is the point where it most feel like pairing these two together is a genuine cheat code.
Last Appearance: Good Morning - 2020
Much like the Bloc Party record earlier I didn't like the album this single ultimately landed on much at all. Thankfully, there's actually two great singles from this record and I had my choice of this of Spitting Off The Edge Of The World with Perfume Genius. I went with Burning because I just can't express how excited I get every time this song really kicks into gear with that awesome rising hook. The rush of blood that accompanies the soaring hook is classic YYY material and I wish this had been the blueprint for their entire record, because it's the best song they've made in well over a decade.
Last Appearance: n/a
63. Zola Jesus - Lost
Zola Jesus is another artist you may not expect to be on a singles list, but her murky chamber sounds are somehow applied in a genuinely catchy way on Lost. The song lives in the same dark margins you'd expect from Zola Jesus but has a genuine pop sentimentality to it that starts to feel irresistible after just a few listens. Even funnier is that this is one of the only points on the record where she sounds like this, but it works so well regardless.
Last Appearance: Siphon - 2017
If you think you know what Jane Remover is all about, you don't. At least not until you've heard the dark, expansive walls of sound on Royal Blue Walls. The song is a tragic reflection that feels like an entirely new space for Jane Remover to exist in that accompanied a change in name and style perfectly. From the languid but beautifully performed singing across the first half of the song to the thick walls of chilling distortion on the back, it's a journey in every sense of the word.
Last Appearance: n/a
61. Four Tet - Mango Feedback
The death of house music has been greatly exaggerated, see Four Tet's new single Mango Feedback for example. The song is a playful, bright, and shimmering piece of house that is dancy on the surface level and just as worthwhile to break down into its individual pieces. It wasn't a year where I thought a lot of great dance music came out on an individual level, but this was an outlier I was more than happy to spend some serious time with.
Last Appearance: Her Revolution - 2020
I wasn't as enamored with Charli's new record as a lot of critics have proven to be with their year-end lisrt, but the one song that hit me just as hard as most of hers is Baby. It's a short, sexy, and hard-hitting electro-pop number which is pretty much exactly what Charli makes her bag in, and unsurprisingly it was a hit with both fans and critics alike. Even in a year where she released a less inspired album than usual, she still delivered on her expectations.
Last Appearance: claws - 2020
59. Father John Misty -
Funny Girl
One of the first singles to really wow me this year was Fathe John Misty's old Hollywood love song Funny Girl. It has stuck with me for pretty much the entire year on account of its suave memorable melodies and hilarious dialogue. While I wish some of that could have been more apparent across the deep cuts from the record he dropped this year, this first taste was a continually satisfying one that uses its aesthetic to perfection and achieves a level of charm I wasn't sure FJM was capable of.
Last Appearance: Mr. Tillman - 2018
Of all the "best new tracks of the week" picks I made this year, Intrusive was the one I thought had the potential to age the poorest. It didn't help that Rico once again released an album I wasn't crazy about, but I'm happy to report that this insane, off-the-wall banger has stuck with me all year. Rico has always been crazy but this may be most unhinged I've ever heard her on a song and I'm eating it up. Between the frenetic distortion, the random jumps in energy and intensity of her performance and just the impromptu messiness of it all this never stopped being a song that surprise me with just how wild it is.
Last Appearance: IPHONE - 2020
57. Cryalot - Touch The Sun
This one took a while to grow on me and it isn't really at it's fullest effect until you hear it as a part of the narrative on the very conceptual EP it comes from. But Sarah Bonito's turn to solo music started to feel more and more purposeful he more she got into it and that made the soaring highs and sunny finale of Touch The Sun feel both more thematically tragic and more sonically infectious as the year went on.
Last Appearance: n/a
As you can probably expect, Wild means wild by Spoon standards. The band isn’t leaving their comfort zone on the track but as they’ve proven time and time again throughout the years, they don’t have to. The same bouncy riffs, infectious lead vocals, and catchy refrains that the band has been known for across their entire discography litter this song and it was absolutely no surprise that it found a home among alt-rock this year.
Last Appearance: The Hardest Cut - 2021
55. Earthgang - AMEN (Feat. Musiq Soulchild)
Every year there are artists I realize more as the year goes on that I’m really starting to like. I really enjoyed Earthgang’s new album earlier this year but I didn’t know at the time just how much I enjoyed it. As a result, I began to fall in love with more and more songs on the record as time went by and one of the beneficiaries of that was AMEN. The track whose hook proclaims “Get down on your knees for me if you really love me” is a clever and evocative look into the duo’s spirituality that hit all the right buttons for me as I continuously relistened.
Last Appearance: Proud Of U - 2019
My thoughts on the new Big Thief record this year didn’t go over well with some of the band’s many huge fans, but ultimately it just felt too long and too inconsistent, with the time between good songs occasionally being far too taxing to bare. But the breakout song from the project, seemingly agreed upon by almost everyone is Simulation Swarm. Hearing the song felt like finally seeing what everyone likes so much about this band as their gentle indie folk jangle meshed perfectly with some adorable and instantly memorable refrains. The song does have all the great musicianship and songwriting you’d expect but it doesn’t insist on showing it to you constantly. I admire the restraint on display quite a bit and if the band continues to make tracks like this going forward, maybe they can eventually win me over.
Last Appearance: n/a
51. Nilufer Yanya - the dealer
50. Zach Bryan - Something In The Orange
53. Lana Del Rey - Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean BLVD
Lana Del Rey is one of those artists that divides people. With her classic aesthetic that gets contrasted with often strikingly contemporary and highly feminine lyricism and her consistent public antics, you often love her or hate her. I love her, and her unique style almost always lives up to my expectations. While last year's Blue Banisters was probably my least favorite record of hers thus far, it felt more like a compilation of leftovers than a proper album. This lead single assures that anyone who has her upcoming new album as their most anticipated for 2023 is once again in the right.
Last Appearance: Chemtrails Over The Country Club - 2021
52. Whitney - BLUE
I'm still on the Whitney train, even if sometimes it feels like I’m the only one. After releasing a bit of a questionable lead single that seemed like it pointing to something else entirely than what we’ve come to expect from the group, they still dropped exactly the album I was hoping they would. That album brought with it a few more enjoyable singles with the highlight of the bunch being BLUE. If you know Whitney then you probably already know that this is an irresistibly catchy piece of indie folk but it also brings a sunny demeanor to the table that adds to the complete inescapability of its sound.
Last Appearance: Giving Up - 2019
Nilufer Yanya had quite the breakout year and having her on my schedule at Shaky Knees this year meant that I got very familiar with her music. Among her collection of good singles this year was the best of the bunch, the dealer which kicks off with an infectious combination of tight drums loops and bouncy guitars that perfectly support Nilufer’s understated singing. Then when it all swarms together on the hook it makes a tight and exciting moment that I enjoyed returning to all year.
Last Appearance: n/a
Tik Tok giveth and Tik Tok taketh away. For every terrible artist that the platform spawned hits for this year, looking at you, Jax, there absolutely were NOT the same amount of good artists to go with them. Zach Bryan is the exception and while his expansive debut was a little bloated for me, Something In The Orange was one of the best breakthrough songs I’ve heard in years. His fusions of country and folk feel studied and his storytelling on the song feels focused, making for a rewarding listening experience that relies on talent and detail above all else. Zach Bryan instantly became a name I was looking out for anywhere I could the moment I heard this song.
Last Appearance: n/a
49. Black Midi - Welcome To Hell
Post-punk had a big year in 2022 and this isn’t the first time the genre appears on the list nor will it be the last. Between last year and this year, it feels like the genre is in a full-on renaissance and one of the two bands carrying the torch is Black Midi. They followed up last years fusion of post-punk and prog-rock with an even crazier, more difficult to define record this year. All of that was forecasted by this insane lead single that fittingly introduces you the sheer technical and emotional chaos that the band was about to throw us all into. This is what great lead singles are made of and Black Midi already seem like they’re tightening their grip among the best artists of the decade with a spectacular run of music to lead the 2020s off.
Last Appearance: John L - 2021
48. Bjork - Ancestress
Bjork's new album is full of contrasting songs. Half of the record is more intimate and personal meditations on her mother's passing and the other half feels more like a wander through a magical mushroom forest. While both styles have their peak, the best of the singles and the best song on the record is this expansive and ultimately beautiful meditation on her own mother. The song manages to be both achingly personal but also somewhat universal in the way it comments on the idea of motherhood being passed down through generations. And just as you’d expect it’s all done with ornate instrumentation and unconventional refrains that give everything a magical and alien sensation.
Last Appearance: the gate - 2017
47. Stormzy - Hide & Seek
This year Stormzy dropped an album that didn’t really sound like what everyone expected from him. While there was a banger or two in the mix the tracklist is dominated by gentler and more reflective songs. That change was forecasted by this lead single which definitely rubbed some people the wrong way, but it clicked with me instantly. While Stormzy himself is great on the song serving up not only genuine sounding lyrical intimacy but also a performance that achieves quite a level of emotion for how cool he’s playing it, the real pull of the song is the hook. Not only are the lead vocals infectious but the soft little backing chorus is absolutely perfect and it all adds up to a song that it feels like only Stormzy could make.
Last Appearance: Vossi Bop - 2019
46. Flume - Palaces (Feat. Damon Albarn)
If Sirens with Caroline Polachek proved that Flume was willing to make something more reserved and expansive than his audience was expecting, then Palaces takes that to an entirely new extreme. The first half of the song sounds more like field recordings than EDM with bird sounds fluttering over bright ambient tones. But once Damon Albarn’s unmistakable vocals come into play the song really starts to kick. What it may lack in parts to its progression it more than makes up for with intimate details that make the steps it takes feel like thorough and satisfying sonic changes. In a year where almost any Flume single could have made the Singles list, this one stands above the rest.
Last Appearance: The Difference - 2020
45. Dry Cleaning - No Decent Shoes For Rain
There are definitely some people out there who will claim that this is some kind of make-up gift because I’ve been pretty critical of both Dry Cleaning albums so far despite their success. I would counter that first with the fact that in my review of Stumpwork I mentioned how much I liked the record’s singles and that this track was included on my best songs of the week when it came out. This kind of multi-faceted, artsy, and verbose post-punk song is exactly what the band thrives at. Their ability to convey nihilism with a sense of genuine energy is consistently impressive and while I don’t think either of their first two albums have lived up to expectations, songs like this are the reason I can’t stop paying attention to the band.
Last Appearance: n/a
44. Spiritualized - Crazy
One of the most underrated records of the year, Spiritualized’s new album relies often on layers and layers of dense sound building songs up to massive climactic conclusions. In stark contrast, Crazy is a short and instrumentally sparse folky love song that wears its sentimentality on its sleeve. What makes it so infectiously adorable is a combination of an impossibly sweet performance with genuinely great songwriting that I haven’t heard as much in a song like this since 69 Love Songs. The result is a moment of perfect brevity on the album and a universally appealing single on its own.
Last Appearance: n/a
43. Jimmy Edgar - Everybody
Last year Jimmy Edgar was a reliable source of absolute bangers with artists you’d probably never expect and he kept that momentum going right into 2022. One of the craziest records of the year came accompanied by an impressive set of singles, the best of which is Everybody a banger that sounds so futuristic I’m not even sure the right words to describe it exist yet. Jimmy’s massive warping beat feels like a challenge that both Zeelooperz and 10.kCaash are more than up to. I can’t confirm for sure what kind of electronic music or hip hop people will be listening to in 10 years, but if you told me it would sound like this I’d believe you.
Last Appearance: METAL - 2020
42. Teen Suicide - new strategies for telemarketing through dreams
All the singles from Teen Suicide’s new album felt like they were from different records, arguably different bands entirely. Thankfully, many of them were quite good and they contribute to a versatile and thoroughly enjoyable new album. The one that stands alone better than any other is telemarketing, a ripping lo-fi shoegaze number that lives between those often slim margins of heavy and dreamy. It’s an injection of intimacy from the band but never one that loses track with the core singer-songwritery touch that Sam Ray seems to be able to infuse into almost anything.
Last Appearance: ban this book - 2019
41. JID - Surround Sound (Feat. 21 Savage & Baby Tate)
The combination of JID with 21 Savage and Baby Tate feels like somebody rolled dice to pair them all together. Despite how decidedly random it all is they manage to assemble a damn good song that took a while to catch on, but became beloved by fans and critics alike once JID dropped his era-defining The Forever Story. In a tracklist packed full of bulkier and more thoughtful hip-hop meditations, Surround Sound is a versatile and high-octane banger with good performances from all parties and yet another example of JID’s entirely unique talent.
Last Appearance: Down Bad - 2019
40. Kae Tempest - More Pressure (Feat. Kevin Abstract)
This song slipped by me the week it came out but I heard it shortly after and I assure you that I immediately thought it was one of the best singles of the year. That may be jumping the gun a bit but even after the excitement of seeing Kae and Kevin teaming up wore off the song continued to impress me. It’s definitely one of the hooks that was stuck in my head for the longest this year but it’s really the impressive wordplay and flows that Kae brings to the table that makes the song work. Even being one of my most played songs of the year its appeal only drifted on me slightly over the whole time and I would argue most of that comes from the album's deep cuts failing to live up to the high expectations set by its great singles.
Last Appearance: n/a
39. Gorillaz - Cracker Island (Feat. Thundercat)
I'm not sure why it took so long for Gorillaz and Thundercat to team up on a song, but it feels like it was meant to be. The pairing brings together two artists who just know how to write the catchiest most infectious songs you can imagine. Pairing Damon Albarn’s vocals with Thundercat’s is a match made in heaven and the resulting song is one of the breeziest of the year. The Song Machine era of Gorillaz has delivered on one excellent collaboration after another and this might be the biggest lay-up of the bunch. Everyone sounds on their A-Game on Cracker Island.
Last Appearance: Pac-Man - 2020
38. Jockstrap - Concrete Over Water
Jockstrap has sort of become the breakout indie band of the year as they pile up accolades and spots high on year-end lists. I was similarly impressed by their entirely unique avant-pop stylings which are on display better than ever across Concrete Over Water. I say across because the song really is a journey with distinct phases that play into each other to build-up a wonderful composition. The song is somehow both a ballad and a banger and the fact that Jockstrap is the only band who could have made it this year adds even more mystique to its undefinable other-worldliness.
Last Appearance: n/a
37. Fontaines D.C. - Jackie Down The Line
Fontaines D.C. is just a band that has always failed to impress me. Once again this year I was pretty let down by one of their albums, but I only let myself have expectations in the first place because this lead single is easily their best song to date. Once I first heard the song's memorable chorus, sung with that accent so thick you can’t cut through it I was just completely sold. I mentioned at the time that it might be the long overdue year that what the band does clicked with me. Even though that didn’t turn out to be the case this song hasn’t waned on me a bit and if anything I can imagine a future where I wish it was even higher on the list.
Last Appearance: n/a
36. The Garden - Freight Yard
The newest album from The Garden is easily their best so far and yet another record that could be represented on this list by a number of singles. While I was quite a fan of both Orange County Punk Rock Legend and Chainsaw The Door I’m going with the lead single Freight Yard which manages to contain the band's catchy indie rock sentimentalities and their hardcore ethos all within one song. It perfectly encapsulates the frenetic energy and surprisingly charming personality of the band, succeeding in pretty much every way a good Garden song should.
Last Appearance: Call this # Now - 2016
35. Alice Longyu Gao - Make U <3 Me
Alice Longyu Gao has always been a curiosity of mine. Despite hyperpop being a genre full of outcasts, she still finds a way to feel like the odd one out due to both her inspirations and aspirations. Make U <3 Me is one of the first times that her whirlwind of styles and emotions really worked for me, and “worked” is really an understatement because I love this song. With its slamming distorted beat, jittery synth lines, and vocals that bounce between charming raps and furious screams, this song is just as hard to predict as any of her tracks but every individual facet of it is even better done than I could have possibly expected. I didn’t know she had this chaotic of an anthem in her, but this is easily one of the standout moments for hyperpop this year.
Last Appearance: LEGEND - 2021
34. Tove Lo - How Long
After emerging as one of the best in a crop of songs released in tandem with the Euphoria phenomenon that took over pop culture earlier this year, How Long managed to land at the end of Tove Lo’s new album Dirt Femme. That gave a whole new subset of fans the opportunity to connect with it, which is great, but it was gonna land on my list regardless. While it never really had a chance to be a hit, Tove Lo’s nocturnal realization of infidelity is one of the best pop songs of the year. I never had any doubt that it was among the best singles, in fact, the only reason I ever considered taking it off is to replace it with the similarly excellent No One Dies From Love later in the year.
Last Appearance: Bad As The Boys - 2020
33. Chat Pile - Slaughterhouse
Chat Pile found new ways to pummel their listeners into submission with pretty much every new song on their debut album. The first taste of that was Slaughterhouse, which combines the pummeling metallic drums with truly harrowing screamed vocals for a furious combination that really lives up to the song's name. While the kind of fans who eat up this style of hardcore aren’t the ones to really give a shit what the best song of the year is, Slaughterhouse might be the single filthiest piece of hardcore you can find in 2022 and the stiffest competition is really just all the other songs on the tracklist of the band's debut album. As far as introductions go, it’s hard to do any better than this.
Last Appearance: n/a
32. The Weather Station - Endless Time
I'll be the first person to admit that this is a surprise, probably as much for you reading this as it was for me first hearing this song earlier this year. After last years “breakout” Weather Station album sounded just okay to me I thought I wasn’t really ever going to click with the project. So the very next year she turns around and drops a lead single to her new stark record of piano ballads that I think is the best song she’s ever made. It turned out to be quite predictive too as I thought her new record was far and away her best yet. If you’re the type of person who can enjoy singer-songwriter music at its most reserved and you somehow haven’t heard this yet, do yourself a favor and check it out because it’s beautiful.
Last Appearance: n/a
31. Arctic Monkeys - Body Paint
The first single from the new Arctic Monkeys record was decent but it had me wondering just how much there was left to explore in the new lounge sound the band has gravitated towards. The second single showed just how wrong I was. While the album itself may have actually gone on to prove me right, we’re ignoring that right now. The point is that Body Paint is a swelling Beatlesey piece of lounge-pop that has proven shockingly infectious as I haven’t been able to remove it from my brain for months. It’s the point where Alex Turner’s lead vocals really start to bend into shape with the swagger and confidence that the style demands and the point where he most sounds like a compelling cabaret singer with everyone in the room eating from his hand. It’s great.
Last Appearance: Four Our Of Five - 2018
30. Ethel Cain - Gibson Girl
If you’re not a trans femme then this is the year you were probably introduced to Ethel Cain, the southern gothic-flavored indie rock and folk breakout star of 2022 who ended up on Obama’s best songs of the year list. While Gibson Girl probably isn’t the song that will go down as her breakthrough hit, it’s easily the best thing she’s ever done. Not only is it a perfect dip into the heavy thematic characterization of the Ethel Cain persona, but it’s also a perfect fusion of her various styles. The dark flavors of the song are crossing genres even before the searing guitar solo on the song's back end comes in to tie everything up in a little bow. It’s gothic, erotic, dark, and unmistakably Ethel.
Last Appearance: n/a
29. Pusha T - Diet Coke
There's this game that Pusha T fans like to play whenever he drops a new song or even a new featured verse. How long will it take King Push to spit a bar about cocaine? Safe to say he didn’t even give us a chance on a song called Diet Coke. Thankfully, on top of just coke bars Pusha T fans can anticipate something else whenever he releases a song, it’s gonna be a banger. Diet Coke isn’t the craziest lead single Push has ever dropped but what it lacks in experimentation it more than makes up for in memorability on both the lyrical and performance front. The slick beat and catchy refrains throughout have been drilled into my brain since February, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Last Appearance: If You Know You Know - 2018
28. Harry Styles - As It Was
Songs like this are why the Singles list demands context. While Harry Styles' generally unambitious new lead single may not seem impressive on it’s own, that’s for the Songs list to assess. Ultimately, the first thing I will always think about when As It Was comes up is how it saved 2022 from an unbearable drought of hit songs. After a slog of a year for the first few months the cozy brevity of the track felt like a space heater saving our lives from a frigid wasteland of terrible songs on the radio. For that, pop music fans owe Harry Styles permanently.
Last Appearance: Lights Up - 2019
27. Angel Olsen - All Of The Good Times
Angel Olsen is one of those songwriters who just understands how to craft compelling songs. Like so many of her best tracks before it, All Of The Good Times practices the patience that great songwriters maintain so that everything comes together in the absolute perfect moments. The chorus of this song isn’t just a chorus, but a catharsis both emotionally and sonically. It almost feels like I don’t even have to say what makes it so good because its excellence is obvious. Just listen to it and you’ll understand right away.
Last Appearance: Like I Used To - 2021
26. Toro Y Moi - Postman
I have no idea what context I can conjure up to make this make sense, or if I even need any context in the first place. Postman is a silly song, a very silly song. And yet within those silly refrains and goofy instrumental is a level of charm I wasn’t sure was possible. From just how catchy every little idiosyncrasy on the track is to how funny it is as a full listen I’m just not sure how to put into words the spell that it casts over me. In combination with an equally adorable and difficult-to-explain music video this song grabbed my heart all the way back in January and hasn’t let go since.
Last Appearance: The Difference - 2020
25. Black Country, New Road - Snow Globes
I've talked about Black Country, New Road and their new album Ants From Up There a genuinely exhausting amount this year, ask the girls I live with how sick of it they are for proof. That will extend to this list, and the next one, and the one after that. But then I’ll be done, maybe. As far as singles go Snow Globes is the rumbling 9-minute crescendo of a song which had me humming “God of weather, Henry knows, snow globes don’t shake on their own” to myself for pretty much all year. From the drums so loud they became meme worthy to the hectic decay of the instrumentation it’s yet another brilliant display of musicianship from the band that has compelled me more than any other over the past two years.
Last Appearance: Chaos Space Marine - 2021
24. 100 Gecs - Doritos & Fritos
100 Gecs have the difficult task of following up what has become THE defining hyperpop record of the genres mainstream breakout. While waters have been a bit shaky overall there are tracks that prove the band is still capable of working at a high level, Hey Big Man is one, Doritos & Fritos is another. The song has a weird off-kilter groove that is seemingly irresistible and comes packaged with the boat loads of charm that the duo have managed to seep into nearly every song they’ve ever made. It’s funny, unpredictable and refuses to take itself too seriously all of which translates perfectly from Laura and Dylan to the audience.
Last Appearance: mememe - 2021
23. LCD Soundsystem - new body rhumba
Normally I wouldn’t include a soundtrack single on this list as even the biggest tend to be smoke in mirrors in terms of long term memorability, but I couldn’t help myself. Noah Baumbach’s new film White Noise got us a new LCD Soundsystem song for the first time in 5 years and it feels like they spent that entire time whittling their sound down to a perfect specimen and then expanding it right back out again into an irresistible sonic epic. Despite the supposed grandiosity of it all the tongue-in-cheek demeanor that LCD Soundsystem has always owned is present throughout. Bring it all together and you’ve got a song that feels like the band has grown without ever really missing a beat, it’s great.
Last Appearance: American Dream - 2016
22. Destroyer - Tintoretto, It’s For You
Another early single that I just couldn’t get enough of this year, Destroyer’s new album was full of artsy coffe shop indie with witty reference points and bouncy instrumentation. At the end of the day the selling point was always going to be just how much charisma Dan Beyar can muster and as usual, it’s a lot. The song starts slow but it’s for a good reason, the synth line-led eruption into the songs core passage is explosive and it has enough energy to lead the track through everything that comes after.
Last Appearance: Cue Synthesizer - 2020
21. Warpaint - Champion
One of the most underrated and under appreciated comebacks of the year was when Warpaint returned with some great singles and a pretty good album that they all came together to form. That all started with Champion, the lead single that grabbed me right away featuring a short but perfectly placed percussion loop and one catchy refrain after another. Not only did the band re-introduce themselves, but they advanced stylistically in the process and all the quality musicianship they’ve been known for came together exactly how I hoped here.
Last Appearance: n/a
20. The Smile - You Will Never Work In Television Again
Speaking of comebacks, Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood were back in all of our lives, together again as a part of this project The Smile. After playing some live shows last year to pretty rapturous acclaim the project debuted early this year with the most punk rock sounding thing either musician have done since the 90’s. While Thom’s snarl may not have the same nasal that it did in 1995 this track still bites with an evocative title that isn’t just for baiting listeners. The Smile became the newest critical darling of the Yorke and Greenwood universe this year and their lead-off single predicted all of it.
Last Appearance: n/a
19. Alvvays - Pharmacist
I guess when it rains, it pours because another beloved artist who returned this year was Alvvays. Previously pretty exclusively an indie pop and dream pop band they turned heads instantly when they dropped Pharmacist the heaviest and most layered song of their career. The tightrope walk of dream pop and shoegaze is something many bands flirt with but they purposefully threw that dichotomy out the window, clearly settling on one favorite. It was a moment that turned heads all across the indie circuit and clearly stuck in peoples minds as the band have dominated so many year end lists across the past month. Mine is no different as they earned all that attention and more with this rager of a track.
Last Appearance: Dreams Tonite - 2017
18. Nicki Minaj - Super Freaky Girl
To all of the indie boys with their heads up their ass, I’m sorry. To everyone else, I think we all knew this was coming. I love Super Freak, I love hard-hitting girlboss ass rap music and I love Nicki Minaj. Her music, just her music, don’t cancel me. This song is just such a banger. Nicki’s confidence is absolutely unstoppable as she rattles through great flow after flow with all the proficient lyricism and dynamic performing that we’ve come to expect. While the sampling is on the lazier side she did it in service of a really good idea, executed perfectly by the best artist for the job, as usual.
Last Appearance: Say So (Remix) - 2020
17. Viagra Boys - Troglodyte
When I covered Viagra Boys in 2021 I said that they had something, they just weren't there yet. Well, they're there now. This hilarious lead single equated some of the stupidest elements of modern-day discourse to literally being a divergent path of evolution in a song so funny you might not even realize at first just how catchy and exciting it is. All of that catchiness comes on a song that is genuinely grating and harsh at points which proves just how impressive of songwriters the band really are. As a song, Troglodyte is great, but as a statement, it's spectacular.
Last Appearance: Girls & Boys - 2021
16. Jessie Ware - Free Yourself
There's a lot of things that are common on this list that Jessie doesn't have. This track wasn't a big hit song, she hasn't been gone that long, it didn't have a viral music video, and it wasn't one of the most talked about songs of the year. All of that speaks to the fact that she just made a song that is so good it's almost unbelievable. Free Yourself is a continuation of Jessie's disco-inspired dance-pop numbers and she hasn't missed a beat. Like almost all the songs from her last album this is both immediate and infinitely satisfying on return listens. After proving that even some of her B-Sides were incredible last year, it should be no surprise to anyone that she was going to return with something even more exciting and unforgettable in 2022.
Last Appearance: Hot N Heavy - 2021
15. Melody's Echo Chamber - Alma
I'll be the first person to admit I didn't see this coming. While I certainly like Meoldy's music and both of her previous albums have contained good singles, I wasn't even sure if she was capable of a song as good as Alma and it blindsided me. This multi-language and multi-layered indie pop gem felt like a voyage in itself before it was even granted an extended version on the album proper. The vocals, harmonies, and gentle little instrumental embellishments all come together to create a fragile but absolutely beautiful listening experience that took both talent and restraint to achieve. Clearly, there's plenty of both going around in this song because they over-achieved in every way.
Last Appearance: Breathe In, Breathe Out - 2018
14. Soul Glo - Driponomics
On the punk and hardcore side of things one of the biggest breakout artists of the year was Soul Glo who showed up with an insane album full of smart and intense fusions of rock and hip hop. There's no one song that better defines what makes Soul Glo so unique and so strikingly good at what they do quite like Driponomics. With its memorable hook, fiery performances, and sharp lyrical commentary, not to mention an amazing feature from Mother Mayrose this is a track whose appeal reaches far beyond almost all of the band's hardcore punk contemporaries.
Last Appearance: n/a
13. Pharrell Williams - Cash In Cash Out (feat. 21 Savage & Tyler, The Creator)
In a year where 21 Savage seemed to absolutely dominate anywhere he showed up, this might be his magnum opus. Which is funny because he doesn't really do anything different on this song than on most of his others, just excellent execution of his formula. In fact, that's sort of what makes the song great. Everyone here is operating at the highest caliber of what they do and given the talent involved, its no surprise at all what resulted.
Last Appearance: n/a
12. Joey Bada$$ - Survivor's Guilt
The second song on this list to be titled "Survivor's Guilt" is a much more personal and autobiographical take on the phenomenon. Arguably a little bit too personal for Joey as he can't help but stop the song to make a painfully out-of-place gay joke. But aside from that moment, the track is a wonderful reflection on the loss of Capital STEEZEZ, as well as a hallmark of how far mental health awareness has come since his tragic passing. From the way the song's title mirrors the pair's best collaboration to the fact that it appears on a sequel project to that very album made 10 years later, it's a tribute done right in all the best ways.
Last Appearance: Left Hand - 2019
11. The 1975 - I'm In Love With You
The 1975 just always do it. Every single album cycle without fail they have at least one single that just proves why they are one of the best pop rock bands on earth. Even when the album is bloated, misconceived or produced by Jack Antonoff, they've always got some kind of ace up their sleeve. This time around that's I'm In Love With You, a love song whose appeal feels almost too easy to explain. In the unique way that only Matty Healy can he proclaims his love over an impossibly memorable instrumental with soaring refrains on the hook that lift hearts and spirits. I don't know how they do it, but The 1975 did it again.
Last Appearance: If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) - 2020
10. SZA - Shirt
SZA owns the singles list. Almost any time she releases anything she manages to end up here without even trying. The first reason for that is her seemingly bottomless bag of great hooks which is on display all over her new record and on this song. She's such a good songwriter that even her verses and bridges sound like hooks. Everything on this song superceeds the nocturnal and minimal instrumentation to feel immediate and impossible to ignore. This song doesn't cover new ground for SZA sonically or conceptually. Instead, she chooses to stay right where she's comfortable and prove that nobody can do this lane of R&B anywhere near her level. They couldn't keep up 5 years ago and as it turns out, they still can't.
Last Appearance: I Hate U - 2021
9. Animal Collective - Strung With Everything
It's been a LONG time since we've heard an Animal Collective song this good. Despite a handful of records and dozens of various side projects from Panda Bear, Avey Tare, Geologist, and Deacon, nothing they've done since their psych-pop classic Merriweather Post Pavillion has hit with this level of surreal awe. From the mystical ebbs and flows of the composition to the rousing harmonies sung with group vocals everything on this track feels like exactly what the band promises when they all come together. It's a dash of pop sentimentalities mixed in with freak folk experimentation and brought together by warm and rich production throughout. In a year that had many great moments for the various members of Animal Collective, they all came together to make one of THE moments of 2022 on Strung With Everything.
Last Appearance: Prester John - 2021
8. Steve Lacy - Bad Habit
While Steve Lacy isn't the last artist on earth you'd have expected to break through with a mainstream hit this year, anyone who says they called this is lying. The thing I love so much about its success as a single is that Steve Lacy didn't change a thing to get here. The song is just as imperfect and weird as his music always tends to be and yet he just struck the right chord over and over across its runtime. And I really do mean over and over because this thing has a new hook every minute and they're all amazing. It's a testament to just how great the songwriting is here that none of the distinctively uncommercial things Lacy did on top of it could stop the song from succeeding.
Last Appearance: n/a
7. Megan Thee Stallion - Plan B
I stuck my neck out for this song the moment I felt I had to as it seemed to land on deaf ears. Even though I didn't particularly care for the album it ultimately landed on, Megan still had a stallion of a year once again and Plan B feels like the inciting incident. Not that men have ever had it easy in Megan's music, but this particular takedown feels like it puts the entire ethos of toxic masculinity to bed permanently. The point was only furthered by Megan coming out on top of the Tory Lanez trial, ousting and embarrassing men all over the internet who cried out his pleas for years. Going into 2023 Megan is one of the biggest stars in music and perhaps the hardest to ignore, plus she made one of the best songs of 2022.
Last Appearance: Thot Shit - 2021
6. Weyes Blood - It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody
It's hard to imagine someone just being a casual fan of Weyes Blood's music, not after her 2019 album Titanic Rising. Either it isn't for you, or you're obsessed with it. That meant that stepping into a follow-up expectations among fans were through the roof. With producer Jonathan Rado once again on hand, they immediately silenced any doubt with this immaculate lead single. It isn't just Natalie's vocals which can perfectly transition from crackling emotional intimacy to cathedral-sized soaring balladry, or the instrumental opulence of the song which waits for just the right moments to pull its best punches. It's the pure craftsmanship of it all. Every single moment feels like a technical marvel of both songwriting and production resulting in a monumentally successful and thoroughly realized chamber pop epic. While Movies may still be the Weyes Blood song I love the most, it's hard to argue that this isn't her best single yet.
Last Appearance: Movies - 2019
5. Sam Smith - Unholy (feat. Kim Petras)
This is easily going to be the most controversial and probably the most hated on thing I say in all of my year end lists. This song really divides people and more than a few pop critics have come out and just said they outright hate it. The sledgehammer bluntness of its instrumentation, the unexpected change of pace from its primary artist, and the controversial past of its feature are all reasons I've heard for why the track is a bad hit and just an all-around bad song. But then I turn it on, and none of those complaints mean a thing. The soaring drama of the hook pairs perfectly with the patient tick of the verses creating tension so thick it borders on genuine suspense. And god when it's all released on that hook. The sea of backing vocals led by the one thing we know Sam Smith is more than capable of doing well, singing massive dramatic hooks. With Kim sprinkled in to give the song the exact sensual edge it needs to pull off the dark cabaret veneer it's going for. It's all a tightrope walk and if plenty of people out there think they crash and burn right away, that's fine by me. I listened to this song as much as anything else since it came out and all it's done is grow on me.
Last Appearance: n/a
4. Petrol Girls - Baby, I Had An Abortion
In case you live under a rock, America walked back on decades of women's rights progress this year via abortion bans. While some of Petrol Girls' subject matter on this track may feel played out it also perfectly mirrors the frustration so many feel. There's no advantage to debating anymore, while so many spent time intellectualizing exactly why they're pro-choice, the pro-life movement stuffed the courts and stripped away rights. All that there is even left to do is let out all of that frustration, rage at the intolerance. This isn't the loudest or the brashest song of 2022, but it might be the angriest. It felt appropriate at a time when music couldn't possibly have had all the answers. There are no solutions proposed, just spite leveled and hypocrisy decried. Petrol Girls new album baby presents one anthem after another infused with radical feminist politics and fiery punk music and this single was its thesis. It's a song that could have been made in any year, but was at its most essential this year.
Last Appearance: n/a
3. Rosalia - SAOKO
I've made the argument that 2022 was the year of Rosalia. It's extremely rare for an artist to be simultaneously as critically acclaimed and commercially successful as latin pop's new experimental princess, but it's even less common that you can point out the exact moment where she reached that seemingly unattainable status. SAOKO might be that moment. The song has everything that makes Rosalia a sensation that is impossible to ignore. It's a latin trap and pop banger that pulls from the most relevant genre trends at the moment while also looking forward into its future with experimental leanings. While the term crossover appeal gets thrown around a bit too often these days, SAOKO has it in spades crossing over not just language barriers but even taste barriers. Reading all of that back feels like over-criticalization. All of those are reasons why SAOKO is great, but beyond all else, it's just an incredible fucking song.
Last Appearance: LA FAMA - 2021
2. Beyonce - Break My Soul
I said this in my video about the best and worst hit songs of the year (shameless plug). The biggest thing of the year is rarely the best thing, but 2022 is an exception. When Beyonce returned from a 6-year studio album gap she had the eyes of the world on her and she chose to act like she'd been there before. Casually dropping this song in the middle of the week with no extravagant music video or obnoxious promotional campaign. I think that's because she knew just how good the song she had on her hands really was. Everything about Break My Soul is great, from the care it takes to pay tribute to the innovators of house and dance music that she's inspired by, to the sea of great refrains she delivers throughout its runtime. It's been years since a song in the mainstream had this much weight on its shoulders and handled it so well. There was nothing that would be big enough to match the expectations of fans, critics, the radio, the industry. So she didn't try to do the biggest thing anyone has ever done, she just released a song, a song so good that everyone had to acknowledge the talent and ambition of Beyonce as an artist and not just as a star. It's a triumph in every sense of the word and serves as a benchmark for what we should expect from an all-time great single going forward.
Last Appearance: Savage (Remix) - 2020
1. Jenny Hval - Year Of Love
In years past, I've always felt like the best Single of the year had to really mean something. It had to be tied to the year it came out in a way that was inseparable, allowing it to serve as the beacon for the period of time it was released into and went on to thrive in. Harry Styles' Sign Of The Times saw one of the biggest voices in music completely redefining himself as a solo artist in 2017, The 1975's Love It If We Made It basically felt like a 2018 recap, and most recently Noname's Rainforest translated youthful frustrations at failing institutions which felt like an undertone throughout 2021. But the best single doesn't always have to perfectly encapsulate the year it's from, at least not for everyone. The more I mused on this list, the first time maybe ever that I haven't gone into it with a very obvious #1 picked out, the more I started to feel a connection to the order itself. I decided that this year it's MY list, and the song that spoke to my year more than any other was Jenny Hval's Year Of Love. Jenny starts the song the way I start every year, feeling like you know everything. When she sings about her year of love it's almost sarcastic, using codeine to relax her nerves and explaining how it's "just for contractual reasons". But when a man proposes to a woman in the crowd of one of her concerts she's forced to face the reality head-on that she isn't above it all, she deals in the same institution as everyone else. It's a song that is so poised in its songwriting and musicianship and it does so while being so comfortable wading through different sonic and thematic water throughout. There was no other song this year that made me confront my own feelings the way Year Of Love did. Jenny's reflections on marriage are more than just a challenge to the institution itself, they're a challenge to individualism. The resulting meditation is not only beautiful music but also a meaningful message to take the beliefs you've internalized and put them to the test because you can never be sure what will hold up.
Last Appearance: Jupiter - 2021
Thanks for reading!
To listen to all these tracks in one place check out the playlist on Spotify here
You can check back on the blog homepage for my EPs list from yesterday and I'll be back soon with the best songs and albums of the year. <3
