🔥 Thermo's hot hits | EOY 2022 🔥


it's about damn time!

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Merry Listmas! :cheer:

now that spotify wrapped is out, it is the time of the year where we reflect on the year that has just passed. throughout the month of Dancember I will be counting down the top songs of the past 12 months as based on my point system. until the countdown is finalised, over the next week I will start by going through some of my favourite album releases of the year eventually culminating in my crowning of Album of the Year (won last year by Porter Robinson with 'Nurture').

but before anything though, let's take a look at last year's top ten singles.

01 Grandbrothers ~ What We See
02 Shouse ~ Love Tonight
03 Felon ~ Fine Lines (feat. Eke)
04 Rain Radio and DJ Craig Gorman ~ Talk About
05 Worakls and Rusanda Panfili ~ Storm
06 Embrz ~ Where You Are [feat. Lizzy Land]
07 Aly & Fila and Plumb ~ Somebody Loves You
08 Archaellum ~ Reflections
09 Oliver Heldens ~ Never Look Back (feat. Syd Silvair)
10 Boris Brejcha ~ Spicy (feat. Ginger)

it was Grandbrothers who had the very first fully-instrumental hit to reach #1 in the EOY. they followed up with another #1 hit 'Yonder' this year, as did Shouse whose 'Won't Forget You' was the year's longest-running #1 hit. Felon still have yet to follow up 'Fine Lines' which finished in 3rd. Rain Radio had a couple of minor hits this year whereas Worakls had three #1s. Embrz' 'Where You Are' continued to hit into the new year, so much that the song could contend for top 10 again this year. Aly & Fila managed a top 20 hit this year but nothing to live up to the epic SLY. Archaellum took the year off sadly due to the war in Ukraine affecting one half of the duo. Oliver Heldens and Boris Brejcha had a couple of minor hits. so it's going to be mostly a shake up at the top end once again...

now let's take a quick look at the current hall of fame

Songs of the Year
2010: Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup - We No Speak Americano
2011: LMFAO (feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock) - Party Rock Anthem
2012: Psy - Gangnam Style
2013: Avicii (feat. Aloe Blacc) - Wake Me Up
2014: Mr. Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)
2015: Avicii (feat. Simon Aldred) - Waiting For Love
2016: Kungs vs. Cookin' On 3 Burners (feat. Kylie Auldist) - This Girl
2017: Jax Jones (feat. Raye) - You Don't Know Me
2018: Avicii (feat. Rita Ora) - Lonely Together
2019: Avicii (feat. Chris Martin) - Heaven
2010s: Avicii (feat. Etta James) - Levels

2020: Boris Brejcha (feat. Laura Korinth) - Gravity
2021: Grandbrothers - What We See

Albums of the Year
2011: Nero - Welcome Reality
2012: Calvin Harris - 18 Months
2013: Avicii - True
2014: Calvin Harris - Motion
2015: Avicii - Stories
2016: Rihanna - Anti
2017: Avicii - Avīci
2018: Above & Beyond - Common Ground
2019: Avicii - Tim
2010s: Avicii - True

2020: Gareth Emery - The Lasers
2021: Porter Robinson - Nurture

looking forward to running this again and hopefully a few of you to follow it too - although it will once again have a very small amount of actual chart hits oops!

Looking forward to following this. I should imagine LF System will be a big contender if not #1 here.

They certainly will be contending

Album of the Year Contender: Tinlicker - In Another Lifetime

 

 

Distinguished Utrecht-based duo Tinlicker (Micha Heyboer and Jordi van Achthoven) have revealed that their forthcoming album 'In Another Lifetime' is out February 18 via independent record label Anjunadeep. The announcement follows their single release 'Be Here and Now' and comes alongside the release of new album single 'You Take My Hand' featuring Jamie Irrepressible, out now.

 

Written during lockdown, 'In Another Lifetime' was heavily influenced by Tinlicker's experience of the past two years. Reflecting on the album name, the duo explain; "These last two years saw the creation of a parallel universe in which human beings had to reinvent themselves whether they wanted to or not. We experienced a lot of lows in this process, but also beautiful highs - in some moments it felt like everything was about to slip through our fingers, while other days the process brought a lot of peace. For us, the title 'In Another Lifetime' captures this journey."

 

Featuring eleven previously unheard tracks and an ensemble of vocalists, 'In Another Lifetime' reflects this dichotomy of highs and lows. Whilst invoking the familiar Tinlicker sound of powerful progressive house, the album also explores tangential styles of electronica, deep house, and melodic techno. Tracks such as 'Always Will' featuring Nathan Nicholson and 'You Take My Hand' featuring Jamie Irrepressible are characteristic of the duo; masterful compositions of fervently driving percussion, considered synth design, and hypnotic vocals that make for darker, memorable club anthems. Other tracks, such as 'I Am Free' and instrumentals such as 'Healing Forest' and 'Just To Hear You Say' convey a less conventional approach from the duo, where they favour breakbeat arrangements and brighter melodic elements. The end result is an album that reflects Tinlicker's artistic and personal growth.

 

'In Another Lifetime' represents a brand new chapter for Tinlicker as they emerge from the past years' uncertainty and demonstrate their vast personal and artistic growth. The album lands February 18, 2022 via Anjunadeep and will be accompanied by a global album tour, with more details to come soon.

Tinlicker were one of the DJs I saw live at the Anjunabeats London festival who put on one of the best sets. I'd been a fan since their previous album. 'Lost' which featured on it is better than anything on this new album, however as a whole 'In Another Lifetime' was a step-up in quality. 'Rebirth' particularly is a great album closer and it was nice to see 'Light Beam' make the tracklist too, having previously only been released as part of a mixed compilation. Of the album's 12 tracks, over half made a chart impact with four reaching the top 40 - two of these to feature in the year-end top 200.

 

Charting songs from the album:

16 Light Beam

28 Just To Hear You Say

37 You Take My Hand [feat. Jamie Irrepressible]

40 Rebirth [feat. Hero Baldwin]

54 Always Will [feat. Nathan Nicholson]

61 Be Here and Now [feat. Nathan Nicholson]

70 Healing Forest

RecommenDANtions:

And so the EOY season begins! Just giving Light Beam a quick listen now, sounding like a nice enough instrumental! Very funky-sounding.

This should be interesting! I'm starting to make my Year-End list for the year as well.

Also, I've never actually heard Tinlicker's album before, the only time I heard this artist is because of "Because You Move Me" played here in Germany a lot.

And so the EOY season begins! Just giving Light Beam a quick listen now, sounding like a nice enough instrumental! Very funky-sounding.

Glad you like it. It has a great bass line and string sample to it.

This should be interesting! I'm starting to make my Year-End list for the year as well.

Also, I've never actually heard Tinlicker's album before, the only time I heard this artist is because of "Because You Move Me" played here in Germany a lot.

That track made my EOY 2021, unfortunately the song was never a UK hit though. This album is a bit different to BYMM though.

Album of the Year Contender: Craig Connelly - Believe In Magic

 

 

The 3rd artist album from international Trance DJ Craig Connelly featuring collaborations with That Girl, Gid Sedgwick, Tara Louise and more. An hour long journey spanning the full spectrum of modern club music from House to Techno, Progressive and Craig's signature uplifting vocal Trance sound.

 

Presenting my 3rd artist album Believe In Magic, released May 27th and available to pre-order right now on Vinyl, CD, Digital Download and Streaming. Whatever you can do to support this project would be greatly appreciated, whether it’s grabbing an ultimate bundle or simply just pre-saving on your favourite streaming portal, it really goes a long way to making projects like this possible. Vinyl and CD's are limited to 300 copies each, so if you’re a collector make sure to pre-order early. For this album I really wanted to go back to making whatever I felt like, rather than just making a straight up Trance album again like A Sharper Edge. That being said you’ll hear Techno to Progressive House and of course some of my trademark vocal bangers, from 123BPM all the way up to 142BPM. I feel like this album is the most fun I’ve had in the studio for a while, I really just went with the flow and focused completely on the art rather than the outcome. I have a ton of new music to show you but for now all I will say is I wouldn’t be able to sit around making music for a living if it wasn’t for my amazing loyal fans that keep supporting me, for what is now a whole decade in the Trance scene. Thanks for your support and roll on May!

 

Having been a fan of Craig's since his 2nd album release 'A Sharper Edge' in 2020 this was one of the year's anticipated albums. On the singles front it was a marked improvement with five of the album's singles contending for a place in my EOY top 100 this year. The album tracks weren't quite up to the same standard and I felt that ultimately the previous album worked better as an album. He is however still one of the most exciting names in trance at the moment particularly for his vocal trance efforts, bringing back the feel of classic trance.

 

Charting songs from the album:

01 Little Mystery [feat. That Girl]

03 You Are Alive [feat. Tara Louise]

09 Reach Out [feat. Gid Sedgwick]

12 Headed For the Sun [feat. Numa]

13 Summer Nights [feat. Ellysse Mason]

27 Keep Me Believing (feat. Megan McDuffee)

41 Quantum Eraser

49 Cast A Spell

59 Amnesia

60 Rabbit In A Hat

73 Voodoo

RecommenDANtions:

Album of the Year Contender: Le Youth - Reminders

 

 

Los Angeles-based producer Le Youth has been making sensational house tracks since he first stepped onto the scene. In his early days, he make some groovy house tunes that ignited dancefloors worldwide but found a passion for the sound of progressive house in recent years to praise from fans and tastemakers alike. During this time he’s graced This Never Happened while also starting his own label, PRGRSSN, to further cultivate and mentor other artists while growing his discography as well.

 

Now, Le Youth has returned to his home at Lane 8‘s coveted label, with his biggest body of work to date, his debut album Reminders. Clocking in at 15 tracks in total with four additional extended mixes on the second disc, this album tells a story of the deep connection he’s had with music since he was young. It’s personal at its core, showcasing the emotions that seep through Le Youth’s creative abilities, while also enlisting the help from some of his friends along the way.

 

If all you remember Le Youth for is his hit 'Cool' from back in the day, well he has changed his sound a lot since going in the melodic house direction. It was great to have him release an album after all this time and especially one of laidback chill dance like its lead single 'Lighthouse' - a big standout of the year. If luscious synths are your thing, then this album can serve as great music to relax, vibe or study to.

 

Charting songs from the album:

03 Lighthouse [feat. Rbbts]

31 Dreaming [feat. Tailor]

32 Pattern [with Sultan + Shepard feat. Emily Falvey]

39 If Only (You Could Be Here) [with Ocula feat. Nathan Nicholson]

40 Hang On [feat. Gordi]

48 New Love [with Sultan + Shepard feat. Panama]

78 Then It Rained All Night

79 Damaged

RecommenDANtions:

 

Album of the Year Contender: Grum - Unreality

 

 

Anjunabeats stalwart Graeme Shepherd, aka Grum, releases his fourth artist album, ‘Unreality’. Out now. ‘Unreality’ is his most reflective work to date, putting human connection in the digital age under the microscope. A story in two halves, the album is introspective, ideas-driven and song-heavy, holding a mirror to Graeme’s own emotional journey over the last two years.

 

On his new album 'Unreality', there’s an undeniable summer euphoria to ‘Don’t Look Down’ and ‘Taking Over Me’, written alongside regular collaborator Natalie Shay, a rising star of the U.K. indie-pop scene. ‘Faded Memory’ and ‘Come Alive’, both featuring Sarah Appel, are a synth-heavy shot of adrenalin, channelling the glossy optimism of 1980s pop in a punchy contemporary production.

 

Another recognisable voice, Dom Youdan, enters the fold. Having previously worked with Grum on 'Tomorrow’ and ‘Invisible’, there’s a tangible yearning for deeper human connection in ‘Be The Horizon’ and ‘Virtual Companion’. Lead single ‘Disconnected’, featuring Daniel Sealine, is designed for the darkest corners of a club; a techno-infused helter-skelter ride with Daniel’s vocal bursting out of the shadows. We close with a moment of hope in ‘Look To The Light’, Graeme’s first vocal performance on a record, and the introspective acceptance of ‘Our Cosmic Insignificance’.

 

I had known Grum's name for a long while for his electro house track 'Heartbeats', however it was just two years ago I started to really become a fan of his work having picked a couple of tracks out of 'Deep State' to chart with one of those 'Afterglow' taking a slow climb to #1 in my chart. Thus 'Unreality' became the first album of his I had pre-release hype and expectations for which were certainly met. With big synths and anthemic drops found all throughout it was really an all killer no filler of an album experience, though we do get a short interlude as a breather in the middle - besides that and the introduction, the entirety of the album reached the top 50 of my chart. Grum was also at the Anjunabeats festival in London I went to where he did an energetic set featuring many of these tracks. Current BJSC entry 'Look to the Light' as well as 'Don't Look Down' look to be serious contenders for the top end of my EOY chart.

 

Charting songs from the album:

01 Don't Look Down [feat. Natalie Shay]

02 Look to the Light

12 Be the Horizon [feat. Dom Youdan]

19 Come Alive [feat. Sarah Appel]

22 Pattern Recognition

24 Disconnected [feat. Sealine]

25 Faded Memory [feat. Sarah Appel]

31 Virtual Companion [feat. Dom Youdan]

36 Closer Apart [feat. Natalie Shay]

37 Taking Over Me [feat. Natalie Shay]

39 Only A Dream

50 Our Cosmic Insignificance

RecommenDANtions:

Looking forward to following this! Hoping Röyksopp can bag an entry in the singles.

 

I'm not familiar with these albums so far but did like the Grigorè remix of 'If Only (You Could Be Here)' from this Le Youth era quite a bit, a great Release Radar find.

Album of the Year Contender: Lane 8 - Reviver

 

 

Lane 8 has built a mini-empire around his slow-evolving melodic house. Nearly a decade on from his first release on Anjunadeep, his albums have continued to shift what he does in small, but noticeable ways. He broke out with his debut LP Rise in 2015 and has slowly added more complexity to his melodies and even a dose of energy with each passing album. He launched a label This Never Happened the following year, which has served as the home for his music and touring structure where phone cameras get covered to keep the attendee in the moment. He has remained quite prolific, releasing an album almost every other year, including 2020’s Brightest Lights. Now today, he returns with another new album Reviver. When Daniel Goldstein aka Lane 8 first announced the album, he indicated that this would be a new a chance to “reinvent himself as a producer” and to “avoid repeating himself.” You can hear that from the outset on “Survive” that leans more into progressive house, but still is quite mellow to link the past and present. The hands go straight up for the next track, the title track, that goes big on the melody and the kick drum drives the song and album forward.

 

Lane 8, in the same note referenced earlier, says that this is the “most dancefloor focused album yet.” He was able to road test some of the songs towards the end of 2021 and that affirmed to him, this was the way. The vocal tracks can give the dancefloor something to work with, but it is often the instrumental ones that drive the feeling of this being better live. “Watermelon Wormhole” is a distant and deeper progressive cut, but other songs like “Reviver,” “Illuminate” and “Nuclear Lethargy” all bring some no-nonsense dancefloor energy. Lane 8 brings back previous collaborators Arctic Lake, Solomon Grey, Emmit Fenn and POLIÇA’s Channy Leaneagh to help give the album a little more character and emotion. “All I Want” relies on the gentle vocals from Arctic Lake to start and then kicks into high gear with booming synths at the end. “Red Lights” is a short break from the wall of synths in the middle with Fenn’s deep voice guiding it along.

 

Things start to settle down towards the end of the LP with “Trampoline Counting Stars,” the closest to an ambient interlude on this album. “Automatic” has the characteristics of some previous vocal tracks, but the explosion at the end is much more subdued. The finale "I'll Wait" featuring Channy Leaneagh brings Reviver full circle with a blend of energy and calm captured by skittering drums and high-pitched synths. As he intended, Goldstein evolved and put out an album that is indeed more dancefloor focused, but still doesn’t diverge too much from his past music. There are bigger peak time moments with a shift towards progressive house, but that makes the valleys mean much more.

 

Likewise for Grum I only started to become a fan of Lane 8's following his previous album release so this was the first of his I was hyped for. Pre-release single 'What Have You Done To Me?' quickly became my favourite of his yet and will be a top 10 contender in the EOY. Meanwhile the rest of the album was great and it all made my singles chart top 40. His brand of melodic house is very much suited to my current musical taste so no surprise really. Certainly his strongest collection yet anyhow.

 

Charting songs from the album:

03 What Have You Done To Me? [feat. Arctic Lake]

05 All I Want [feat. Arctic Lake]

06 Survive [feat. Channy Leaneagh]

08 Automatic [feat. Solomon Grey]

11 Reviver

16 Illuminate

18 Red Lights [feat. Emmit Fenn]

27 I'll Wait [feat. Channy Leaneagh]

28 Nuclear Lethargy

29 Watermelon Wormhole

30 Together [feat. Solomon Grey]

34 Trampoline Counting Stars

35 Closer

RecommenDANtions:

Looking forward to following this! Hoping Röyksopp can bag an entry in the singles.

 

I'm not familiar with these albums so far but did like the Grigorè remix of 'If Only (You Could Be Here)' from this Le Youth era quite a bit, a great Release Radar find.

thanks! "Oh, Lover" has spent 10 weeks in my top 10 now so it should certainly be making the EOY top 100.

the Grigoré remix was quite good though I did prefer the original version.

Just giving 'What Have You Done To Me' a listen now - really enjoying the beat and the vocals are lovely as well!

glad you still like it after the revisit - I guess you forgot but you'd also given it +05 points in BJSC 143! the Arctic Lake vocals are indeed very easy on the ears.

glad you still like it after the revisit - I guess you forgot but you'd also given it +05 points in BJSC 143! the Arctic Lake vocals are indeed very easy on the ears.

Oh dear, that must've completely passed me by! :lol: I can't remember too many songs from that contest looking at my votes although I think it probably deserved a few more than 5 points.

Album of the Year Contender: I_o & Lights - Warehouse Summer

 

 

Armada Music has released ‘Warehouse Summer’, a posthumous album by DJ and producer i_o (stage name of Garrett Falls Lockhart), who passed away on 23rd November 2020. The 14-track album features the vocals of alt-pop artist Lights and serves as "a tribute to the talented young man whose music changed lives".

 

“This is a body of work that I’m immensely proud of and am very emotionally connected to," says Lights. "Garrett was endlessly talented and he inspired me to give my all and be my best. It’s safe to say making this album with him was life-changing. I hope you immerse yourself in it, there is a lot to feel in 'Warehouse Summer'.”

 

Lockhart's family has also issued an accompanying statement: "We’d like to thank all who have patiently and lovingly stood by waiting for us, G’s family, to say yes to releasing these last tracks. Thank you to the i_o management for bringing together all the teams necessary to release these last tracks of music produced by Garrett & Lights. We are grateful to them and so many others for their regular 'check-ins' with us, allowing us time and space to miss him and grieve his absence.

 

"We loved hearing from so many, as each of us remember Garrett in different ways. Some of your stories made us laugh or smile, others made us cry, for it is in those stories we relived much of what Garrett was about as a person and in the many ways his life impacted each of us," they said. They continued: "Thank you for sharing yourselves with us, it has truly helped in the healing. We hope with this music release there will be healing for others as well. Continue to take gentle care of yourselves and each other, remembering how fragile life can be".

A late addition here as this album was only recently given a surprise release - it had been two years since I_o unexpectedly passed away and it looked as if we wouldn't get any unreleased music of his however all along his team had this project ready to release when the time was right. It's a solid album with some of his best work yet, with Lights' vocals a great addition on each track - oftentimes with Garrett also singing. If you enjoy Deadmau5 then there's probably something here to your liking.

 

Charting songs from the album:

64 Anything But Wet

67 IDK

72 Nothing New

76 Don't Let Me Go To Sleep

99 T9

RecommenDANtions:

 

 

 

Album of the Year: Gareth Emery - Analog

 

 

Why stop at five albums? Why not continue forever? I've never been one to stick with a formula for long. In fact, I've always been fascinated with acts who stopped releasing albums when they clearly could have gone on.

 

The moment I started ANALOG, it always felt like the end of a story I'd been telling. A story that started back with Northern Lights in a sweat-drenched basement of Sankeys in Manchester, and ended in 2022 in a hopeful post-pandemic world. A story that took many winding twists and turns: from the Route 66 Americana inspired Drive, to the uplifting positivity of 100 Reasons To Live, and finally to the pandemic message of hope THE LASERS. It's been a wonderful 12 years since the release of Northern Lights, but sometimes, you need to know when to end the story.

Realistically what else was it going to be? It is congrats to Gareth Emery who has a second AOTY following 2020's 'The Lasers', and if he stays true to his word, his last too. He has always been great and delivering the trance anthems but more recently has turned towards more song-driven efforts similarly to Avicii in his last few years. The album only came out today officially however I decided to pre-order it to have it a month early (so it's not just blind stanning, I've had a fair bit of familiarity with the ATs!). Gareth again has proven himself as both a producer and songwriter with an album full of memorable upbeat and uplifting tracks.

The pre-release singles This Is Not The End, Breathe and Love You For All Time you can expect to see in the EOY top 100, whilst my current #1 Where Do We Go From Here is a very fitting closing track to mark the end of Gareth's album cycles (he will continue to release music albeit through singles and EPs only). That song is the only trance one on the album, so naturally it is my current favourite. However that's not to say I don't really enjoy the rest of the tracks here as it's really solid dance-pop. Well, for the most part dance – 1999 is a rare mid-tempo ballad from him, assisted by the lovely voice of Annabel (who provided all the vocals to 'The Lasers'). There's even a couple of guitar solos here too in Call To You and Electric Life. The five lowest peaking tracks from the below section were the pre-order exclusive tracks, clearly not quite as great as the main record but a great addition regardless, made up mostly of instrumental pieces.

 

Charting songs from the album:

01 This Is Not The End [feat. Roddy Woomble]

01 Where Do We Go From Here

02 Breathe [feat. Annabel]

05 Love You For All Time [feat. Annabel]

09 Call To You [feat. Danny Starr]

10 California [feat. Gid Sedgwick]

11 Rome [feat. Evan Henzi]

12 Electric Life [feat. Sarah De Warren]

13 1999 [feat. Annabel]

24 Running That Gun

25 M4L

33 Finality

38 Kyoto

39 Chicago

RecommenDANtions:

 

Recap:

Album of the Year: Gareth Emery - Analog

Runners-Up: Lane 8 - Reviver // Grum - Unreality

Contenders: Le Youth - Reminders // Craig Connelly - Believe In Magic // Tinlicker - In Another Lifetime // I_o & Lights - Warehouse Summer

No surprise that Gareth Emery got your album of the year, really like some of the tracks from the i_o & Lights collaboration as well.

Can't say I've heard much of that album but I'm skimming through a few of the songs you've put on there now and they're sounding great! I really should pay him some more attention.