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[Jade]

TOP 100 SONGS: 10-01



10. Måneskin - SUPERMODEL | 301 points
09. Mitski - The Only Heartbreaker | 313 points
08. Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero | 314 points
07. Vandal Moon - Queen Of The Night | 319 points
06. Röyksopp - Oh, Lover (feat. Susanne Sundfør) | 322 points
05. Gabe Gurnsey - Push | 325 points
04. Mahmood & BLANCO - Brividi | 335 points
03. Metric - Doomscroller | 387 points
02. ROSALÍA - CANDY | 510 points
01. Working Men's Club - Widow | 992 points

Eurovision winners Måneskin kick off the top 10 with their victory lap moment. The live debut of 'SUPERMODEL' was saved for the 2022 contest in Turin, although not under ideal circumstances, as front-man Damiano David was suffering with a leg injury. Still, they were determined to deliver and this performance helped the single to fully click with me. I finally got the chance to see them live myself, in London, last month and their energy in a concert setting is something special. 'SUPERMODEL' was more of a throwback 90s sound for them, with the introductory riff clearly taking inspiration from Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. I do prefer their Italian material, but with an inevitable English return I was happy to hear a bit of a switch-up and not another 'I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE' soundalike. 'SUPERMODEL' was inspired by the band's short time staying in LA - it details a fictional character obsessed with celebrity status. Måneskin had hit the big time at this point and got Max Martin on board for production duties also. The memorable video is inspired by some of the band's favourite movies - such as: Run Lola Run, Pulp Fiction, Hitchcock and Reservoir Dogs. I do still enjoy this song but it does feel a bit too high, as I'd say I return to the likes of 'Mary On A Cross' and 'The Foundations Of Decay' more and those missed out on this upper echelon, but the stats don't lie! Album track 'MARK CHAPMAN' turned out to be my favourite on their latest record. Mitski is here with a carry-over from 2021 that was doing very well into the new year as 'The Only Heartbreaker' was my first chart-topper of 2022. I can recall 'Working For The Knife' being pretty instant for me but I needed a bit more time with this one. In time it hit me like a tonne of bricks and became an easy #1. Mitski fully embraced 80s synth-pop here with a little help from Dan Wilson, as she was having trouble finishing off the song. 'The Only Heartbreaker' is about someone who seems to always be always making mistakes in relationships, but explores the idea that it is because they're the one who is trying. The accompanying music video shows Mitski in the forest and she unintentionally kills anything she comes into contact with. This is a mighty fine sad banger and the accompanying album Laurel Hell is well worth a listen too. Taylor Swift has done very well to appear in this top 10 when 'Anti-Hero' was released so late in the year. She was becoming a bit of a favourite in recent times, scoring personal chart #1s for: Lover, folklore, evermore and Red (Taylor's Version). But I did wonder if Midnights wouldn't quite scale these heights as 'Anti-Hero' merely debuted low top 10 for me, with both 'Bigger Than The Whole Sky' and 'Snow On The Beach' higher, yet none of them #1. However, in time, 'Anti-Hero' would rise to this coveted position following some strong growing power. This lead single details Taylor's struggles with very personal subjects such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. She says sometimes her life can be a little too much and that she doesn't feel like a real person. These themes are illustrated in the music video. A scene where she reads 'FAT' on the scales caused enough controversy for it to ultimately be removed. The video also depicts her future kids arguing over what they will get in her will. As per usual, I enjoy her direct story-telling and lyricism here a lot. I also think her vocals sound great and appreciate the choice to use dark synth production. Vandal Moon score their highest placing in my countdown with an album track. This is the titular song from their latest, brilliant, studio album Queen Of The Night. This figure in question has a dark back-story as she is attempting to navigate a claustrophobic world that is falling apart. I love the contrast of this with the romantic phrasing such as "sing of my faithfulness" or addressing her as "my highness". Blake Voss sounds as commanding as ever on lead vocals and delivers a very sticky chorus. I also adore the pounding goth drums and moody synths. I think the band have now moved on from this era with new song 'Sad Sad Girl', but it does still encapsulate similar themes and sounds from Queen Of The Night. Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp and singer Susanne Sundfør are a match made in heaven. Both 'Running to the Sea' and 'Never Ever' were essential for me so I couldn't wait for another instalment. 'Oh, Lover' was once again a slam dunk and became a multi-week chart topper. I love the brooding synth-meets-nu-disco sound, with a keyboard solo thrown in for good measure. Susanne details conflicting feelings that spring up off the back of a break-up in the most dreamy way that she always seems to nail. She wants to move forward but cannot let go of the euphoric times that the relationship did bring quite yet. This song is taken from Profound Mysteries II, part of an excellent trio of Röyksopp albums. I admire how prolific they were last year - especially with the quality of the music.

Gabe Gurnsey was a revelation for me last year. He's responsible for some very exciting electronic music with influences rooted in house, electro-pop and techno. 'Push' immediately commanded my attention with its pulsating beats and wobbles. Uncredited vocalist Tilly Morris has a very nonchalant yet charming vocal delivery. This song is laced in ecstatic feeling with lyrics such as: "This is a prime example of a pure temptation, your touch is heaven". The accompanying album DIABLO was a fantastic listen, with 'You Remind Me' standing out as my favourite album track. Mahmood & BLANCO at #4 benefit massively from two separate hype periods. I watched Italy's Sanremo Festival last year intently and fell in love with this song. I was familiar with Mahmood from his 2019 Eurovision runner-up 'Soldi' and also knew BLANCO, as I'd sent him to a BJSC-adjacent contest, BJFestivalen. So I was intrigued to see how their two styles would merge. They somehow came together smoothly and delivered a beautiful song in Italian about insecurities that people have in relationships. I thought the two had great chemistry on stage and was pleased that they won and would be representing Italy at Eurovision. Unfortunately, at the final, the magic wasn't quite there with the vocals and France ended up as my favourite performance on the night. So this does feel a bit too high for 'Brividi', but again, the numbers don't lie and I was pretty obsessed around Sanremo time and during the lead up to the Eurovision final! Metric achieve the bronze position here with a 10-minute epic. It's fantastic to see a band who have been together for around 25 years still approaching their work with this level of ambition. 'Doomscroller' boldly comes at you with cutting lyrics such as: "ruling class trickling piss from champagne glasses". They truly take us on a ride, opening with a dark bassline that morphs into rave-like beats, then later slowing down to an emotive piano-laden section, only for guitars to then kick back in with full force. Phew! As per the title, this commentary, delivered brilliantly by Emily Haines focuses on the anxiety-inducing hellscape that today's news feels like and how it's so accessible, leading to doom-scrolling. I enjoyed the accompanying album Formentera but this song is the clear ultimate standout from it and a career best. ROSALÍA has to settle for runner-up but boasts a huge points jump compared to anything else so far, with over 500. She can also claim highest position for a non-English language song, as this is in Spanish despite the title. 'CANDY' warmed my heart with its emotive mid-tempo style. I was excited to find out that this song contained a Burial interpolation and this would turn out to be the vocal melody borrowing from his own 'Archangel'. The very in-your-face 'CUUUUuuuuuute' was originally my favourite song from MOTOMAMI, which has done well here itself, but my attention soon focused more on this and I clung on to it tightly in my chart for a while. I admire her fresh takes on reggaeton music. The accompanying visuals for this heart-break anthem are shot in Tokyo and are inspired by the film Lost in Translation, hence ROSALÍA's pink wig in the video. Working Men's Club may have my second favourite album of 2022 but they claim an extremely decisive victory in this portion of the countdown with almost 1000 points!! 'Widow' was quite easily my longest running #1 last year with 11 non-consecutive weeks at the top. I knew a few songs from their debut album but hadn't gone out of my way to check it out in full yet yet. 'Widow' then arrived, to launch the Fear Fear era and initially 'only' debuted at #9 in my chart before becoming a total juggernaut. I loved that this song sounded like a modern update on Depeche Mode or New Order, that type of sound that is always right up my street. Here they tackle the subject of isolation which was unfortunately ravaging through society when the Covid pandemic was at its height. I appreciate how dark the lyrics can be, e.g. "look into my eyes, hollow dead inside" and how they're fighting against that upbeat 80s synth backing. Syd Minsky-Sargeant has such a captivating voice, it's so mature and conveys these dark sentiments so perfectly. I am rather intrigued by his dance moves now too after watching their Glastonbury set yesterday. Shame they left 'Widow' off their set-list though! Really I couldn't be toooo mad as they still highlighted so many great songs from their catalogue. In time I have become very familiar with both of their albums. 'Widow' may be gloomy but it's thrilling all the same, so was highly addictive for me and nothing truly stood a chance of dethroning it as my #1 song of 2022, congratulations to Working Men's Club