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Thanks once again for the comments <3 Pleased to see we are all in agreement re: the Anxiety and Maneskin

 

-x-

 

 

26. Arlo Parks - Caroline

27. NewDad – Waves

28. Holly Humberstone - Scarlett

29. TAXI KEBAB – Ttabla

30. The Weeknd – Save Your Tears

 

The next section contains two artists you may have seen around. I'm still sort of in the process of exploring Arlo Parks a bit more, I know this one apparently came out in November the year before, but I didn't hear it until early this year. The soulful, quite beautiful vocals fitted with the downbeat production remind me of the early 00s trip-hop/indie sound. It's excellently written too, describing an incident for a couple from the perspective of a bystander. I've only heard a handful of songs from her, but I'd really like to explore more. Following the now modern classic, Blinding Lights, The Weeknd has continued with this 80s synth sound that has suited him brilliantly, I'm not sure how long it will take before it gets old/pandering but if Save Your Tears is anything to go by, it's not yet. Another great synth-drenched anthem and one that allows his soulful vocals to soar more than its predecessor, it's another surefire timeless classic for him. I'm kind of indifferent to Ariana Grande's presence either way, but she does add some nice vibes when she is there.

 

I didn't know Holly Humberstone at all until recently but Radio 1 spamming brought me to Scarlett, it proved to be rather addictive and I rather love the 'we go together like bad British weather' and is ever the more relevant after this year. I've not heard enough to really know that she's justified in being tipped loads by critics, but she's giving me slight early Ellie Goulding vibes which is good by me. The other two are very under-the-radar discoveries which I would highly encourage you to listen to, NewDad are an Irish pop-rock band, Waves is a very atmospheric, building song that starts out hushed and restrained before building to a big guitar-led soundscape of a finale, I debated sending it to a song contest, but never got round to it, one I did end up sending was the beautifully named TAXI KEBAB, a French-Moroccan duo whose Arabic influences are all over this fun and frantic track that builds to an epic instrumental outro, never fails to get me hyped up x

 

Nice to see "Caroline", "Scarlett", "Ttabla" and "Save Your Tears" on here.

Discovered "Ttabla" because of the BJSC Contest and I love arabic influences in music.

Caroline was my introduction to Arlo, I loved it and everything since. I agree about the trip-hop sound, nice to see it making a comeback. Scarlett is my fave from Holly Humberstone by far and of course Save Your Tears is a very deserved smash hit :wub: I remember enjoying Ttabla in BJSC too!
Ttabla was a fairly solid BJSC track from this year! And Save Your Tears was another refreshing song from The Weeknd as well, agree that this sound is still yet to get old!
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Thanks all, pleased to see Ttabla made a good impression ^_^

 

 

 

21. CHVRCHES – He Said She Said

22. Silk Sonic – Leave the Door Open

23. La Femme – Le Sang du Mon Prochain

24. Worakls & Rusanda Pafilis – Storm

25. Self Esteem – I Do This All The Time

 

Final five before my top 20 of the year. The first of two entries here for CHVRCHES, He Said, She Said caused quite a stir and showed this album was certainly a lot angrier and dramatic than previous offerings, the lyrics are a wonderful put-down of mansplaining and double standards of male-female conversations, it's production was a lot more PC Music-esque with a hell of a lot more autotune than necessary, it caught me off guard but it really started to fit together after a while and now remains a sold favourite, albeit not quite the best single from the album. Silk Sonic - AKA Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak - released a rather retro and soulful offering that fit both artists to a tee, I didn't know a lot about Anderson. Paak before this (apart from that irritating to spell name x), but his more active, funky verses fit very well with Bruno's slowed-down, soulful chorus. A nice throwback that could've been played in any decade and had its charm. Self Esteem, as we already covered with her album, has been a real breakout star this year and it all came from this, still easily the highlight of the album which I grew to appreciate even more after giving it small points in BJSC (at least from what I recall x). As has been compared many times, it is pretty much Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free from a modern woman's perspective, with some witty and at the same times profound daily observations and pep talk, and there's an added big choir and beautiful string production that accompanies the track as it builds and it's all such a luscious vibe. How I wish this could've actually broken through to become a small hit, but at least it infiltrated Radio 1 early morning radio x

 

The two lesser-known songs are the first of two from La Femme, of the confectionary of genres that Paradigmes offered, this is probably one of the more sticking points. A great slice of classy, French disco-pop with a synthy undertone and a suitably creepy and extravagant video, it's similar to what I already know from them and is certainly one of the highlights of the album. And finally, another one from BJSC and the winner of the first contest of the year. I really like what I've heard from Worakls in past song contests and this excellent seven-minute classical-influenced dance track has many builds and crescendos reached and is a marvellously hypnotising track to listen to, it was the perfect track for lockdown walks and I still hold it as one of my favourite discoveries this year (three more BJSC ones to come x)

 

That's it for this year, I will start the top 20 hopefully from tomorrow, Happy New Year :cheer:

 

ooh I was secretly hoping to see Storm here, yay! I recommend the follow-up Inked if you hadn't heard that one already too, which is in my top 40 EOY (with Storm in my to-be-revealed top 10).

 

Also enjoy from your 21-40 bunch: IDTATT, Ttabla, Save Your Tears, Zitti E Buoni, TTSAB, When Is The Future, Higher Power

'He Said She Said' was such a good revelation from CHVRCHES, glad to see it ranking highly for you! Love ZITTI E BUONI naturally and Self Esteem is a really great one.
'Save Your Tears', 'Storm' & 'I Do This All The Time' are some good picks from those sections. The latter immediately made me think of that Baz track with the spoken thought provoking lyrics throughout!
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Thanks all for the comments! (I'll ensure to check that one out, Dan!), now let's start the top 20 B-)

 

-x-

 

 

19. Camelphat feat. LOWES – Easier

20. Bicep – Apricots

 

Two excellent discoveries early in the year. Camelphat is really the producer we need in contemporary dance music, especially as so many of the ones I hear on Radio 1 are the exact same identikit, mainstream pandering shit (looking at you, Joel Corry x). There's a real depth and intrigue to both his production and lyrics, Easier is helped by the presence of LOWES, whose great, Florence-esque lead vocals add a real dramatic heft to the song and the lurking, minimal yet still noticeable production complements it nicely to create an atmospheric yet still very danceable song.

 

I forgot to include Bicep's album, Isles, in my EOY albums so I'll use his presence here to justify that - there was lots of very cool sounds as well as some rather wonderful vocal cuts with Clara La Sun, but this rather infectious electronic cut with some great use of repeated, distorted vocals really caught my attention. Reminiscent of 90s house, it was another lockdown song that really kept my spirits up and remains a real fun listen when on my exercises.

 

“Apricots” is wonderful, it cheered me up too - I remember the November lockdown in 2020 being so utterly depressing but this lifted my spirits up so much. There was a lot of dance music around at the end of 2020 that did the same, when I'm at my most anxious/depressed it is my 'go to' and never ceases to help. Glad it was a favourite for you too! x
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Indeed, Dance music really has that power!

 

-x-

 

 

17. Let’s Eat Grandma – Hall of Mirrors

18. CLANN – I Hold You

 

I was a bit late getting into Let's Eat Grandma after first being introduced to their wonderfully weird song, Eat Shiitake Mushrooms, through Unknown Pleasures. But I really loved Falling Into Me from their last era, and this time I was a bit more timely with their new release. Hall of Mirrors is a great synth-laden song that allows you to drown in the dreamy production and soundscape and be taken away by their hypnotic and quirky vocals. It's got a great retro vibe and even has a saxophone solo to take you back even further. A rather wonderful concoction of styles.

 

CLANN have my third favourite BJSC discovery this year. A building and beautiful nine-minute song that really makes you stop in your tracks and listen to every word said through the sparse piano and orchestral soundtrack accompanied quietly by a minimal electronic trip-hop-like beat makes way for the wistful and melancholy vocals. The inviting lyrics really work well to immerse you in an epic and hypnotising trance throughout the song. There was a wonderful accompanying video sent to BJSC linked below showing it with the natural world which really brings out the beauty of it, Hoppipolla on Planet Earth style. I'd never heard of this band before, but now I really want to find out more.

 

 

I'm pleased to see I Hold You by CLANN this high in your chart. Wardy also picked it as his favourite BJSC entry of the year.

 

I'll let you know if the film it's intended for ever gets completed and released.

I'm the same as you were with Let's Eat Grandma - I remember the Unknown Pleasures entry but haven't explored them further so giving Hall of Mirrors a listen. It's sounding very nice actually, sounds like something I'd want to listen to again. I should definitely check out more from them!
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I'm pleased to see I Hold You by CLANN this high in your chart. Wardy also picked it as his favourite BJSC entry of the year.

 

I'll let you know if the film it's intended for ever gets completed and released.

 

I didn't know there was a film for it, but thanks, I'd be really interested to see.

 

I'm the same as you were with Let's Eat Grandma - I remember the Unknown Pleasures entry but haven't explored them further so giving Hall of Mirrors a listen. It's sounding very nice actually, sounds like something I'd want to listen to again. I should definitely check out more from them!

 

Do check out Falling Into Me and Hot Pink, I need to listen to their first album but I did really like those.

 

-x-

 

 

 

15. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

16. Coldplay – Coloratura

 

The title track from Billie Eilish's album is one of her best ever for sure. A track that starts out deceptively simple and strangely from her actually sounds calm and mellow. This is a wonderful deceptive trick as the song progresses on, it gets higher in tempo, guitars fly in, expletives arrive and she has fully turned from enjoying the perpetrator's absence to ranting to just how awful they are. It's not only a great Avril-esque rock track that you don't see that often in the charts, but also a masterclass in turning a song completely on its head, genius x

 

From one similarly building track to another, though this one is to a far greater extent. At ten minutes long, it's Coldplay's longest song yet, and it more than packs enough twists and turns into it to make it a captivating listen. I still haven't listened to the parent album due to the lukewarm reviews, which isn't great but then when you do a song like My Universe, what do you expect x It's kinda sad for what would still be my favourite band, but they still have the individual cuts like this that make it worthwhile. It's a bit difficult to describe this in verbal format - the best way I can is Pink Floyd mixed with ELO soundtracking Fantasia. But honestly, there are some truly beautiful moments - a heavenly piano twinkle, a great guitar solo and Chris Martin's trademark anthemic stadium-ready concert. If nothing else, it'll sound AMAZING in a live concert and really reminds you of how anthemic and truly huge they can manage to be.

 

 

 

 

Apricots is a great track and it was a nice surprise seeing it do pretty decent on the UK charts! Happier Than Ever really is Billie at her best, and I hadn't listened to Coloratura but wow, very space-y and not what I was expecting from recent-era Coldplay!
  • Author

Thanks for commenting! Coloratura is such a wonderful moment indeed :wub:

 

Slowly getting there x

 

 

13. Lykke Li – BRON

14. Fix8:Sed8 – Human Harvest

 

Lykke Li's BRON (Bridge) was technically a song I discovered towards the end of 2020, but I enjoyed well into what is now last year. I can't pretend to understand any Swedish, but the song has a beautifully melancholic feel and a chorus that feels really powerful that it can still really pack a punch and I do really appreciate it as something very different after the many English Language releases she has done. I didn't hear anything else from Lykke Li last year, I don't know if that's just me being out of touch, but this was a great reminder that she still can produce some gorgeous pop.

 

The highest track from Fix8:Sed8 and former BJSC entry from me is the ominously titled Human Harvest. It may have failed a bit there, but you were all missing out as it's a wonderful concoction of sounds that exemplifies the grinding, industrial wall of sound of the parent album. This song has so much thrown into it - a vocal sample, crashing drums and the Dalek vocals at their finest, yet that wonderful, anthemic chorus and synth line is the main sticking point of the song and its continued return to it really brings the track together and makes it an industrial anthem for the ages that no one else knows x

  • Author

 

11. Go_A – SHUM

12. La Femme – Pasadena

 

Manéskin may have been the success stories of Eurovision this year, but for me, nothing could beat Go_A for pure inspired insanity and uniqueness. Combining traditional ethnic folk with fast-paced electronic drum'n'bass-esque music, it's the sort of off-kilter sound that only Eurovision can give us, and seeing it become a small hit here (and making many across the UK wonder what on Earth they're listening to) is wonderful as it would've flown entirely under the radar otherwise. The speeding up of the song in the second half of the track makes it go down an absolute storm on my running playlist too, a treat x

 

The highest track from La Femme is perhaps unexpected, it's the one chilled out Lounge Music from the pick'n'mix of genres on the album, but it's very endearing to me, maybe it's the unpretentious feel of the style compared to the rest of the album, the mix of vocal styles from the two leads from fast-paced rap verses to a slowed-down chorus and it's general chilled and quirky aspect that French pop does so well. I have a weakness for the Language anyway, but this really does feel drenched in French vibes and nostalgia. If you do listen to any songs from the album, make it this one.

 

 

Onto the top 10!

Bron and Shum :heart: I'm so glad Shum's become a fan favourite and did so well in this year's contest!
  • Author

Thanks for your continued interest, let's get this top 10 done!

 

 

 

10. Taylor Swift – All Too Well (Taylor's Version)

 

Safe to say that All Too Well completely passed me by at the time, but through...some means (think it was an AF Idol round), I did become familiar with it over the years as it gained a cult following. However, it was only this year as part of Taylor's own re-recording of Red where this remastered, newly elongated version really made it click with me. It's fitting as Taylor's recent move away from pure pop to a more folksy indie sound does make this song very worthy of a re-recording, her vocals feel so much more mature and experienced than ten years ago and it adds a lot to what is still a beautifully told and show-stopping song. You really do experience every bit of joy, sadness, pain, heartbreak, acceptance, overcoming, and looking back in her voice and it never loses your engagement throughout its ten minutes. It's a showstopping moment and proves that even with re-recording old material that she can still find something new.

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