Just like Fire is so beautiful and perfect choice for the soundtrack not her best song ever but lovely to briefly have her back :heart:

yaaas I really love gnash, 'u only call me when it's raining out' is probably my fav of his but 'i hate u i love u' is really good too! only heard a couple of songs from jon bellion's 2014 album but I really liked them so I had a listen to 'all time low' and it was amazing!! what a great discovery so thanks :heart: gonna have a listen to victorious next! and obviously P!nk is such a fav :wub: hyped to see what's coming ^_^

Rihanna "Kiss It Better"

Rihanna "Love On The Brain"

Rihanna "Needed Me"

Thank goodness Rihanna recovered from the tragedy that was 2015, although her chart performance still left plenty to be desired. I don't want to focus on the negative with these three brilliant songs, but when none of them chart higher than #38 in the UK there's bound to be complaints. Pushing two singles at once was definitely a horrible strategy in hindsight; she didn't bother performing either one at the Billboard Music Awards, and in the end both were overshadowed by her features on Calvin Harris and Drake's singles.

"Kiss It Better" and "Love On The Brain" were both strongly influenced by Prince, and the former was coincidentally a current single around the time of year that he passed. KIB seemed much more groundbreaking and risky as a single, while LOTB is a more straightforward ballad. LOTB feels so much shorter than it really is, ending right after the second chorus yet it clocks in at 3:44. They missed an opportunity to build it up even more and end it with an epic third chorus.

It does disappoint me that listeners seemed to favor the less-impressive "Needed Me" over both of those. That said, "Needed Me" is probably the biggest earworm, stuck in my head for a good chunk of this summer. Kudos to DJ Mustard for crafting a pulsating beat that simmers with anger, capturing Rihanna's attitude perfectly. Like LOTB, it's also a little too short, winding down just after the second chorus. It's safe to say that Rihanna left me wanting more from her this year, so it's great to have her back at the top of her game!

 

Robin Schulz featuring Francesco Yates "Sugar"

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Out of all the songs from my childhood that have been revived recently, this one is the most genius that I've seen. Who knew Baby Bash's "Suga Suga" would work so well being sampled in a deep house song? It's all about that guitar riff, so kudos to Robin Schulz for bringing that to the forefront. Francesco Yates was a great choice as well, a very capable vocalist who easily did justice to Frankie J's singing on the original.

Unlike some people on Buzzjack, I'm actually enjoying the resurgence of cover songs; just a couple years ago there were very few cover songs charting, and I was worried that X Factor and The Voice were killing them off from the charts. The video for "Sugar" a bit of a spectacle as well, but the biggest surprise as I watched was how young Francesco is! Only 19 when this was recorded, plus I remember his earlier solo singles and he sounds so much older than that. :o Very glad to see him get a hit beyond his native Canada, much like the next artist on my list...

 

Ruth B. "Lost Boy"

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Okay, so this song has the best back-story out of any that I've seen this year. I love when a song just takes on a life of its own online, and that's exactly what happened with "Lost Boy". From a 6-second video clip on Vine to a full song that climbed higher and higher on iTunes until radio gave in and played it. I love when a simple song grows way beyond the artist's expectations and it's so refreshing how that can still happen in 2016. Hopefully it is still possible in 2017 now that Vine has been put to rest (RIP).

I appreciate the story more than the song itself; much like "I Hate U I Love U" it just moves way too slow so I was rarely in the mood to listen to it. I also enjoyed that "Lost Boy" was on the Hot 100 at the same time as "Peter Pan" by Kelsea Ballerini, which made a lot of the same references in the lyrics. According to Wikipedia, Ruth is now recording her album with Joel Little, who produced Lorde's album and co-wrote "Royals". So Ruth is to blame for Lorde's second album not happening yet! My expectations have just increased by a lot.

Hey Riser! <3

 

My Faves so far: Heartbeat, Something In The Way You Move, Rise, Perfect Illusion, Me Too, Just Like Fire, Kiss It Better, Love On The Brain & Lost Boy :wub:

 

Perfect Illusion & Just Like Fire are amongst my favourites of the year, I've only got into Carrie the last couple of years & Heartbeat is one of my favourite songs she has done! (On the topic of country, really need to check out Maren Morris also!), Me Too is a jam & I hope Meghan can recover, KIB/LOTB are easily my two favourite RiRi tracks of 2016 & Something In The Way You Move is utterly fabulous, it really should have been a massive hit single but oh well :( Best song on Delirium (Bar Love Me Like You Do) and one of the 3 good tracks (+ army)!

Sugar is amazing :music: found it really catchy and so glad it did well officially!

I really like Sugar! Francesco Yates has shown a lot of promise so far I think and I'm quite excited to see what he puts out next. I didn't know until recently that it had a sample actually, I'm not familiar with the original! :o

 

I never really liked Needed Me so it's a shame that became a bigger hit than both KIB and LOTB :(

"Lost Boy": from "wtf was April thinking" to "wtf was the US thinking?!" Kelsea's was much better.

 

"Sugar" was amazing and when the album came out on pre-order I was immediately hooked but it burned on me somewhat quickly.

Shame that Needed Me became bigger than Kiss It Better and Love On The Brain!

 

Like Sugar too!

 

 

Sia "Alive"

Sia was smart not to leave too much time between albums, with this single debuting just a few months after "Elastic Heart" was done and releasing This Is Acting just a year and a half after 1000 Forms Of Fear. I mistakenly thought she was big enough at that time to smash with anything, but sadly "Alive" proved me wrong; it had a strong first week and not much else. Of course, fast forward a year and she probably can smash with anything now.

Every time I heard this piano intro I would always mistake it for "Hello" by Adele or "Writing's On The Wall" by Sam Smith, so that didn't really work in its favor. But the initial lack of distinctness goes away quickly with the absolute power of Sia's voice. Anything this song lacks, it makes up for in general loudness. I even find the cracks in her voice to be quite endearing. Thankfully the underperformance was just a one-off, and Matt singing it on X Factor is a sign that "Alive" may not be forgotten yet after all.

Alive never properly hit me like Cheap Thrills and The Greatest did but I'm glad it's at least quite remembered by the general public after its underperformance, it definitely deserved more than that!

Alive was a great song from 2015, it really is a grower, which isn't good when it only stuck around in the charts for 1 week (as you said) :(

Taylor Swift "New Romantics"

Taylor Swift "Out Of The Woods"

I was pretty much satisfied with the 1989 era once "Wildest Dreams" became a single, but still held on to hopes of my second fave "All You Had To Do Was Stay" to receive the same treatment. Instead Taylor trolled me by picking two of my least favorites from her album as the last two singles. From the day it first premiered I never got the love for "Out Of The Woods". I think it was just overproduced in my opinion, and the melody and hooks were nothing special. Its floppage was sweet validation that it didn't work as a single (ignoring that it wasn't available on streaming and millions already owned the album).

"New Romantics", on the other hand, proved to be a major earworm once it was on the radio! As an album track I couldn't see past the cliched lyrics and endless similes, but that chorus especially won me over in the end. It's basically the "22" on this album with its synthpop sound and euphoric, carefree mood. I love Taylor's ability to release seven singles from one album, especially this era where six out of seven were post-album and she didn't have a re-release!

 

The Lumineers "Cleopatra"

The Lumineers "Ophelia"

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The Lumineers are one of my favorite bands, and I'd been craving new music for quite a while. Their folky sound may not be as high in demand anymore, but they stayed true to their style and gave us an album that I thought was equally as good as their debut. Case in point, lead single "Ophelia" crosses familiar territory without attempting to replicate "Ho Hey". It is nearly as short though, with a running time of just 2:40.

While "Ophelia is mainly piano-driven, second single and title track "Cleopatra" is more guitar-driven, giving it the slightest rock edge. I think it's the strength of their songwriting that keeps songs like this from sounding derivative. Plus, seeing The Lumineers live a few months ago made me appreciate their energy when they perform, more than you'd expect for a group of otherwise understated musicians. More on that later!

 

The Pretty Reckless "Take Me Down"

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It's hard to keep up with rock music these days when most of the heavy-hitters are playing it safe and the bands that are pushing boundaries don't get enough attention. The Pretty Reckless have kept things interesting since they belatedly broke through in the US, so there was hope that their next lead single might do the same. "Take Me Down" is indeed nothing like "Make Me Wanna Die" or anything else I've heard from them. It's more restrained and surprisingly bluesy!

To be fair, you can tell this is a little outside of Taylor's wheelhouse vocally, but it's certainly good enough to show she has some versatility. It's a song I would expect to hear from Grace Potter, who's an even bigger fave of mine. It gave the band a fourth consecutive #1 on US rock airplay, which nowadays is pretty irrelevant. I just listened to their current single "Oh My God" and it isn't very good, so we'll leave it at that.

 

The Strumbellas "Spirits"

This song :wub: :wub: :wub: Without knowing much else about them, Canadian band The Strumbellas sound like a cross between The Lumineers and Sheppard. I would guess that quite a few casual listeners thought this was The Lumineers when they first heard "Spirits", although it has a bigger sound more like Of Monsters & Men. Either way, they certainly have their pop sensibilities with a spectacular sing-along chorus, even better than the likes of "Ho Hey" and "Geronimo".

In a way, this song is the victim of bad timing, breaking through when songs derivative of Mumford & Sons are no longer hugely popular. You can bet it would have been big in 2013 or 2014, but instead it went relatively unnoticed in 2016. It was a big hit in a few countries anyway, so fair play to them! I'd like to think the song itself is strong enough to do well no matter where current music trends are, so being partially proven right is good enough for me.

 

 

 

Really liked Kiss It Better of those Rihanna tracks, sounds like something that would have been bigger earlier the decade which I'm always a fan of.

 

Sugar was quite a nice song but I never loved it especially, seemed to stick around in the Charts for ages despite a modest peak.

 

Nice write-ups as always!

Hi Jordan

 

Yay at someone else appreciating The Lumineers this era, they seem to have just totally fallen off the map since the massive Ho Hey which is a huge shame because for me, this album was even stronger than the last. Ophelia is now my favourite track by them, there's just something about that tinkly piano that I adore :wub:

 

A shame none of the 1989 singles took off after Bad Blood but I guess it was to be expected after so many people owned the album already. I imagine if they were singles earlier in the campaign then they would have been huge smash hits too. New Romantics always deserved more than bonus album track though, it was better than the majority of the main album :lol: :heart:

 

:D

Spirits! Love this track, a real surprise favourite of mine!

Tori Kelly "Hollow"

This is a year old and it still gives me chills. Most new artists don't get a third chance if their first two singles fail to smash, but Tori's second single "Should've Been Us" garnered enough attention from her VMA performance to keep her momentum going. The timing was right for third single "Hollow" too, because she had a Grammy slot and performed it with none other than James Bay. They basically just did vocal runs the whole time and it was so amazing I could've collapsed.

Just like "Nobody Love", "Hollow" is a powerful song that was love on first listen. When she belts out the chorus with nothing but drums in the background :shakingcheeseblock:. For a while it seemed like the version with Big Sean would be getting the single push, but thankfully they thought better of it. Now we wait for her second album and hope that this time the world will finally give in to this unbelievably talented artist.

 

Tory Lanez "Luv"

Because five Canadians in the charts just wasn't enough, Tory Lanez threw his hat in the ring to capitalize on Canada's biggest domination in music since the mid-90s. He was off to a good start a year ago with "Say It", and then second single "Luv" arrived just before his album and did even better, crossing over to pop radio in America and nearly making the UK top 40. As an artist he's impressed me a little bit, but not with either of these two songs.

It's kind of obvious that the dancehall influence on "Luv" was probably an attempt to piggyback on the success of "One Dance". If so I'd say it's a pretty poor attempt; the beat is very catchy but the melody is weak and the vocals are too. Obviously it worked out pretty well for him though, with a Grammy nomination to boot. I'd be much more interested in him doing more rap-rock and would recommend that people hear "LA Confidential", which reminded me of Lil Wayne's rap-rock phase due to the raspiness of Tory's voice :wub:

 

Tove Lo "Cool Girl"

Queen Of The Clouds has to be one of the most solid pop debuts of the decade, and it seemed everything was going right for Tove Lo based on how many features she had on other people's songs. Keeping her name out there was a great setup for her second album, until hearing "Cool Girl" for the first time killed my excitement in three and a half minutes. The lyrics and chorus aren't up to her usual standard, and her vocals are easily overshadowed by that hypnotic beat, which to be fair is the highlight of the song, but it relies way too much on that.

Once I got over my initial disappointment of her lead single totally bombing, I was able to appreciate the song for what it was. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea for a lead single, though. It's a shame because one misfire like this can ruin someone's career, and I'm worried that radio will be fickle and not give her another chance. Hopefully I'm speaking way too soon, especially having not listened to "True Disaster" or anything else from Lady Wood yet.

 

Troye Sivan "Youth"

2016 seemed like the year the world was properly introduced to Troye Sivan, and I'm so glad "Youth" was the song that made the most impact. For someone who's fairly new at this, he has amazing craftsmanship and a whole lot of self-awareness, because this Years & Years-esque sound really suits him perfectly and the songs themselves are fantastic and well-written. I've never fully loved Years & Years because Olly's vocals grate on me at times, so I really appreciate Troye's deeper, more pleasant-sounding voice.

"Youth" actually had one of its best chart performances in the US, thanks to a well-timed discount on iTunes that brought it to a #23 peak. It was amazing to hear this on the radio, especially the "drop" (or whatever you call it) after the chorus which is SO euphoric. Beyond that it's hard to pick out any certain element of the song as being the best, because they all complement each other so well. Artists like Troye, Tori, and Alessia reassure me that the next generation of music is in good hands, as long as they get the attention they deserve.

Troye :wub: :wub: :wub: I'm glad it was given more attention in the US than it was in the UK, such a criminal underperformance :(

 

Tori is of course a really promising artist, I like Hollow more than I originally thought I think, I never gave it that much attention at the time of its release sadly. It's aged very well though and it's been getting exposure in the background of a couple of shows over here :lol:

 

We seem to agree on Out of the Woods. I like it but always found it overrated, I never thought it was the huge pop moment that everyone else seemed to think it was. I do like its video though, I must admit. New Romantics is fun but I'll always be Team Wonderland from the deluxe songs :heart:

Walk The Moon "Work This Body"

After the massive success of that one song, the name of which escapes me right now (no, not really), Walk The Moon's second single "Different Colors" was dead on arrival in the UK (damn you Radio 1) and wasn't even pushed for a second crossover hit in the US, so any hopes I had for the rest of the album were dashed pretty early. Nevertheless, "Work This Body" is my second favorite song of theirs so I was happy to see it get a video and a little extra attention, even if it didn't amount to much.

For starters, it's every bit as instantly catchy, upbeat, and 80s-influenced as "Shut Up And Dance", which is getting harder to enjoy due to continued overplay. Alas, the most attention this song got was from its use in the trailer for Hailee Steinfeld's movie Edge Of Seventeen. I won't let anyone write off Walk The Moon as one-hit wonders yet, because they could very well come back with something amazing, hopefully sometime in 2017.

 

Young The Giant "Something To Believe In"

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Young The Giant's previous two lead singles, "My Body" and "It's About Time" were both heavy-hitting and anthemic, and I was expecting more of the same when they released their third album last summer. They proved me wrong as "Something To Believe In" is a more understated affair. The well-crafted production sounds like the Black Keys, and the melodies sound like Arctic Monkeys, but it's undeniably Young The Giant with frontman Sameer Gadhia's distinct and very capable vocals (especially his falsettos :wub:).

But the understated-ness comes at a price, as this fails to live up to the potential shown by the band's previous hits. I kind of spam-played this just to get myself to like it, and even now I can barely remember how it goes. On its own it's good but by their standards it's just not memorable, nor did it stand out on alternative radio. They haven't lost it though, judging by "Mr. Know It All" which was a highlight from the last Unknown Pleasures!

 

Cool Girl is the first thing I've liked from Tove - it's surprisingly catchy! I actually think it was a good lead single - she's just not got the fanbase

Capsize is an interesting one, had a massive run in my chart although I must echo what you said - where did it come from? :P I never took any notice of it in BJSC (didn't even point it or remember it until I rediscovered the track around a month later), so looking back it's very strange how it seemingly popped up out of nowhere.