Billie's 'Hit Me Hard and Soft', I thought was fantastic, weren't that much of a fan of her material until this year that is.

Ooh I'm happy to hear that HIT ME HARD AND SOFT won you over! 'when the party's over' is still my favourite Billie song but I do think each of her albums has been a stronger body of work than the last.

 

thank you for commenting <3

TOP 100 SONGS: 80-71

 

 

80. salute & Disclosure - lift off! | 175 points

79. akiaura, LONOWN & STM - Destruction Age | 176 points

78. Levin Goes Lightly - Liebhaber | 177 points

77. ROSALÍA - Omega (feat. Ralphie Choo) | 178 points

76. Dua Lipa - Houdini | 180 points

75. Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue | 184 points

74. SWIM - The Ride | 185 points

73. Shygirl & Cosha - ​​thicc | 186 points

72. Clark - Green Breaking | 187 points

71. Sam Quealy - Cluedo | 194 points

 

salute is an Austrian producer who is based in England. They released a brand new album this year called TRUE MAGIC which featured some brilliant collaborations, including 'lift off!' with Disclosure. This team-up was born after salute had previously remixed a track for the British electronic duo's Alchemy project. 'lift off!' marries their two sounds together to create a bouncy, choppy, muffled speed garage moment. A YouTube comment states that this song samples 'Boogie Oogie Oogie' by A Taste of Honey, which I've never noticed before, so perhaps it's subtle... akiaura, LONOWN & STM made a very positive first impression on me as I awarded them top marks in BJSC, for Kathaldazia's entry 'Sleepwalker'. I continued to follow them after this and discovered another gem in 'Destruction Age'. This is also a haunting Crystal Castles-esque trappy witch house song, so was naturally up my street. There are minimal lyrics but they do include emotive pangs such as: "I need to feel, just something real... or else I might self-destruct". The drop following those words is wonderfully atmospheric and dark. It must be about a decade since I started getting into witch house now and this style never tires on me. Doctor Blind's BJSC nation Cumulonimbia was in fine form last year and that run includes my top pointer from contest 167, 'Liebhaber' by Levin Goes Lightly. This is one of those entries that I knew I was going to love after about 10 seconds. 'Liebhaber' is a thrilling German language post-punk song with a music video that lights up the dark with a lot of pink colouring. I don't speak German but I can if you'd like the lyrics appear pretty passionate upon translation. Thankfully this unearthed gem managed a respectable placing of 18th in the BuzzJack Song Contest. #77 in the countdown crosses over from German to Spanish as ROSALÍA teamed up with Ralphie Choo for her latest droplet 'Omega'. She has explained that this song is about "firmness with the one you love that makes you not want to be anywhere else but there". Good to see her in a happy place after the well-publicised split with Rauw Alejandro back in 2023. 'Omega' taps into ROSALÍA's more folky, flamenco side rather than any of the crazy electronic glitchiness that was prominent on her last album, MOTOMAMI. She is no stranger to an impressive vocal performance and delivers just that on the chorus, where her higher register soars. Collaborator Ralphie Choo opts for more of a vocodered presence, which did not gel for some, but I don't mind his contributions at all. They look very happy in the music video while riding both a real rollercoaster and also what I think is the Apple Photo Booth rollercoaster filter, which always gives me serious flashbacks to goofing around with friends on my laptop in sixth form. 'Omega' may not be top tier ROSALÍA but still enjoyable and it has certainly got me hungry for a new album; hopefully 2025 will be the year that delivers the follow-up to MOTOMAMI. Dua Lipa's 'Houdini' registered a strong #40 position in my EOY last year after just two months of release. This fantastic lead single is back once more, this time at #76, after charting into the new year. All I have to add this year is that, after dropping out, 'Houdini' came back for one more week following an infectious Glastonbury set from Dua. I think her big live moments, from Glasto to the recent televised Royal Albert Hall arrangements, have been the secret weapon of the Radical Optimism era, what a star.

 

Last year, Ireland decided to shock in Eurovision when they were represented by an entry that was far more outside of the box than they'd typically opt for. This was the spellbinding 'Doomsday Blue' by Bambie Thug, which ended up being my favourite entry of 2024. This is a genre-bending take on heartbreak, deception and unrequited love that Bambie Thug describes as an 'electro-metal breakdown'. Naturally, such a heavy sound mixed with themes of witch craft was bound to divide. But I was fully team 'crown the witch' and couldn't believe how fresh and exciting this entry was. Bambie's presence and the staging was also a work of art; I got chills when I watched the full performance of 'Doomsday Blue' for the first time. Thankfully Ireland's bold move paid off and they were rewarded with a 6th place finish! SWIM is a producer from Melbourne who also featured in my countdown last year. This time he is back with 'The Ride' which was an essential for my summer playlist. The simple music video transports me back to that time of year with the carefree, passenger princess drive while wearing sunglasses. 'The Ride' takes Imogen Heap's 'Just for Now' (which is on the same album as 'Headlock' and 'Hide and Seek') and turns it into a loopy dance banger. Plenty of artists really do seem to love the influence of Imogen, from Ariana's 'goodnight n go', to Jason Derulo's 'Whatcha Say', to my BJSC entry from o0o and now this. 'thicc' by Shygirl and Cosha is another song that made my 2023 countdown, finishing at #63 last time. This club banger reappears at #73 for 2024 after hanging around at the start of the year. All I have to add this year is that I'm delighted about the Brat-related opportunities that came Shygirl's way in 2024, from supporting Charli on tour to featuring on the remix of '365'. Seeing names like Caroline Polachek and Shygirl appearing on the U.K. Spotify chart as a result of that remix album was wild. Clark is a progressive electronic name who featured in my countdown last year too. This time he was back with some work in the movies. The British producer provided the soundtrack for the drama film In Camera and 'Green Breaking' was chosen as the lead single from it. This eerie instrumental, save for some indecipherable pitch-shifted vocals, is incredibly atmospheric so I could definitely imagine it working in the context of film. My overall highlight of the song is the intense transition at around the 2-minute mark; it is breath-taking. I checked out Sam Quealy's album Blonde Venus during a quiet patch at the very start of 2024, after Kath recommended it to me. 'Cluedo' ended up becoming my favourite album track from this project! Quealy mixes a fun blend of electro-pop and tech house sounds in her music. 'Cluedo' has an infectious, bouncy instrumental with melodic synths and similarly toe-tapping drum machines. She uses a certain murder mystery board game as a source for metaphors towards a guy who has wronged her. Do not cross Sam Quealy!

'wacced out murals' might be the best song Kendrick has released in ages. Not many songs are able to just feel menacing in the way that one does. Although I love the album, I do wish we would have got a full project with this sound as that would have been something special.

 

'Noid' has grew on me loads after initially thinking it was quite weak for a lead single. The sample is great and the smooth transition from 'Rah Tah Tah' into it is perfect.

 

'Houdini' is really good but I think the fact that 'Radical Optimism' on the whole was a big step down from 'Future Nostalgia' has soured the track for me slightly. I agree that her Glastonbury performance was great so I'm hoping that seeing her on tour this year will help win me over with the album.

 

I'm obviously delighted to see some Ari representation in 'supernatural' & 'i wish i hated you' :wub:

'wacced out murals' might be the best song Kendrick has released in ages. Not many songs are able to just feel menacing in the way that one does. Although I love the album, I do wish we would have got a full project with this sound as that would have been something special.

 

'Noid' has grew on me loads after initially thinking it was quite weak for a lead single. The sample is great and the smooth transition from 'Rah Tah Tah' into it is perfect.

 

'Houdini' is really good but I think the fact that 'Radical Optimism' on the whole was a big step down from 'Future Nostalgia' has soured the track for me slightly. I agree that her Glastonbury performance was great so I'm hoping that seeing her on tour this year will help win me over with the album.

 

I'm obviously delighted to see some Ari representation in 'supernatural' & 'i wish i hated you' :wub:

Happy to hear that your thoughts towards 'wacced out murals' are so positive too, what an opener to the album!

 

Oh yes I just saw that 'Noid' made your countdown as well, yay for that growing power then *.* 'Rah Tah Tah' was another highlight from the album for me, agreed that the transition is great.

 

Future Nostalgia was a very high bar to follow (was my favourite album of 2020 <3) but sadly Radical Optimism did miss the mark a bit despite promising pre-release singles. I hope you have an amazing time seeing her live! I was lucky enough to attend a concert of hers in 2022 and it was such a fun night.

 

:wub: unsurprisingly there is definitely still some more Ariana to come!

 

thank you for commenting <3

Less familiar with this batch than the previous two. Can't remember if I've heard the SWIM song before or not but it sounded great listening to it tonight, I've liked pretty much everything I've heard from him but this must be up there with his best imo, Imogen Heap's voice really lends itself well to sampling! Likewise salute is usually reliable for a good dance tune (although I wasn't super keen on their recent Jessie Ware collab) and no exception here :music: Liking the akiaura et al. song about the same amount as the one that was in BJSC (gave that one 10 points so this is a good thing), and also another pretty nice sounding track from Clark, can certainly tell it's from a soundtrack but not a bad thing. I think I'd only heard the Sam Quealy and ROSALÍA songs once each before, I was more taken by 'Sad Summer Daze' from the songs you charted from the former's album but this one is sounding better than I remembered albeit I like the instrumental more than the vocals, as for 'Omega' that's another one I just heard on shuffle when I was with you and it didn't blow me away on first listen but giving it a more focused listen and watching the very cute video has made it click with me a lot more, particularly loving the guitar parts, giving me some 'Dolerme' vibes :heart: Admittedly don't greatly care for Ralphie's part but it doesn't ruin the song or anything (and it's pretty short anyway). She has said on social media that it is one of her main goals for the year to drop a new album so fingers crossed!

 

The others I'm ofc more familiar with, I think it might have been in this thread last year that I heard 'thicc' for the first time but much more familiar with it now, a big earworm and still my favourite from the Club Shy era. Have to agree with the general consensus that Dua's album was a little underwhelming but I still think all 3 of the pre-release singles hold up well (especially 'Illusion' for me). Had a snap Eurovision fave with you this year, 'Doomsday Blue' was an iconic leftfield swerve from Ireland and was great to see them rewarded so heavily for it, think I saw that the national final songs for Ireland 2025 are out there now but not sure if there's anything worthy of following in Bambie's footsteps, I kind of expect the Irish public to immediately regress to 'safe' pop again regardless though :kink: and 'Liebhaber' was 'only' a 15 pointer for me in BJSC but definitely one of my strongest ones of the year (alongside a couple of songs that will presumably still be to come here :magic: and Geordie Greep who definitely won't be x) and would probably now give it my 18 over anna luna who beat it that month, I do now like it more than Cumulonimbia's other German post-punk entry of the year which did get my 18 for one! It's a great song to come on shuffle when driving in the dark x

Less familiar with this batch than the previous two. Can't remember if I've heard the SWIM song before or not but it sounded great listening to it tonight, I've liked pretty much everything I've heard from him but this must be up there with his best imo, Imogen Heap's voice really lends itself well to sampling! Likewise salute is usually reliable for a good dance tune (although I wasn't super keen on their recent Jessie Ware collab) and no exception here :music: Liking the akiaura et al. song about the same amount as the one that was in BJSC (gave that one 10 points so this is a good thing), and also another pretty nice sounding track from Clark, can certainly tell it's from a soundtrack but not a bad thing. I think I'd only heard the Sam Quealy and ROSALÍA songs once each before, I was more taken by 'Sad Summer Daze' from the songs you charted from the former's album but this one is sounding better than I remembered albeit I like the instrumental more than the vocals, as for 'Omega' that's another one I just heard on shuffle when I was with you and it didn't blow me away on first listen but giving it a more focused listen and watching the very cute video has made it click with me a lot more, particularly loving the guitar parts, giving me some 'Dolerme' vibes :heart: Admittedly don't greatly care for Ralphie's part but it doesn't ruin the song or anything (and it's pretty short anyway). She has said on social media that it is one of her main goals for the year to drop a new album so fingers crossed!

 

The others I'm ofc more familiar with, I think it might have been in this thread last year that I heard 'thicc' for the first time but much more familiar with it now, a big earworm and still my favourite from the Club Shy era. Have to agree with the general consensus that Dua's album was a little underwhelming but I still think all 3 of the pre-release singles hold up well (especially 'Illusion' for me). Had a snap Eurovision fave with you this year, 'Doomsday Blue' was an iconic leftfield swerve from Ireland and was great to see them rewarded so heavily for it, think I saw that the national final songs for Ireland 2025 are out there now but not sure if there's anything worthy of following in Bambie's footsteps, I kind of expect the Irish public to immediately regress to 'safe' pop again regardless though :kink: and 'Liebhaber' was 'only' a 15 pointer for me in BJSC but definitely one of my strongest ones of the year (alongside a couple of songs that will presumably still be to come here :magic: and Geordie Greep who definitely won't be x) and would probably now give it my 18 over anna luna who beat it that month, I do now like it more than Cumulonimbia's other German post-punk entry of the year which did get my 18 for one! It's a great song to come on shuffle when driving in the dark x

I agree that 'The Ride' is one of SWIM's best to date and it hits even more in the summer, so be sure to return to it when we have nicer weather :lol: I did chart the salute/Jessie Ware collab, but only in my top 30, so was not as blown away by that combination of artists as hoped. 'Sad Summer Daze' is great and I agree that the instrumental of 'Cluedo' is really cool, one of my favourite production moments on the album. Oh yeah I remember being very hyped to hear 'Omega' for the first time when I saw 'Dolerme' comparisons, as that's still my favourite of hers to date :heart: I missed ROSALÍA posting that on social media so thanks for alerting me, that's fantastic news *.*

 

'thicc' is also my favourite from the Club Shy era :music: yeah Dua's three pre-release singles are all worthy additions to her catalogue, although 'Illusion' would rank 3rd for me. The album track 'Maria' is also wonderful so I'm grateful that the existence of Radical Optimism provided that one too. Hooray for having a snap Eurovision favourite last year, was such a big standout. I'm a bit out of the loop with 2025 Eurovision news so far but it would be disappointing for them to go back to a bland entry, so here's hoping they choose something good even if not in the same league as Bambie. Ooh I forgot that 'Liebhaber' wasn't a top pointer for you as well :o I could imagine that being a good night-time driving song, especially after refreshing my memory of the music video yesterday.

 

thank you for commenting <3

TOP 100 SONGS: 70-61

 

 

70. Cynthia Erivo - Defying Gravity (feat. Ariana Grande) | 197 points

69. Eartheater - Mona Lisa Moan | 200 points

68. Charli xcx - Talk talk (feat. Troye Sivan) | 201 points

67. Charli xcx - Apple | 202 points

66. TEMMIS - ICE 579 | 207 points

65. Heartworms - Jacked | 212 points

64. Echoberyl - Weird Boy | 217 points

63. TR/ST - Dark Day | 221 points

62. Nilüfer Yanya - Like I Say (I runaway) | 224 points

61. Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves) | 225 points

 

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande took on the roles of Elphaba and Glinda respectively in last year's blockbuster adaptation of the musical Wicked. This meant Cynthia would have to tackle the majority of the beloved Broadway show's most famous song, 'Defying Gravity', with assistance from Ari. I couldn't wait for their rendition and needn't have worried as Cynthia is a powerhouse who captures a range of emotions during its 7:39 runtime. Ariana is a worthy support system on the song as well and provides some beautiful harmonies. I love the faithful and grand instrumental too, especially during the final 30 seconds when there is a focus on huge sounding drums and choral vocals. I won't spoil the film for anyone, but the accompanying scenes were spectacular and sewed up a #1 placing in my chart for 'Defying Gravity'. Wicked-fever hit the U.K. chart too as it has so far peaked at #7 here which is pretty remarkable for such a long musical theatre song. Powders by Eartheater was a standout record from 2023 and album track 'Mona Lisa Moan' hung around my weekly chart into 2024, notching up a round 200 points this year. This song is about reality vs. fantasy, as Eartheater sings about a love interest who appreciates them physically as a work of art, but doesn't properly connect with them outside of that. Her longing vocal performance and the art pop meets electronic production are both ethereal components. 'Talk talk' by Charli xcx originally appeared on her much talked about sixth studio album Brat as its fifth track. This solo version did initially scrape into my weekly top 40 chart. However, the remixed version featuring Troye Sivan was the big hitter for me and peaked at #7, so that has amassed most of the points here. The original version was a vulnerable look into Charli's headspace when she had a crush on now-fiancé George Daniel, but hadn't started dating him yet. This remix flips the original on its head, with a brand new hook (which borrows from the outro of the solo version) and more of a party feel, thanks to high energy Balearic house production and carefree sexual lyrics. An uncredited Dua Lipa also joins them for the ride with her bilingual contributions that act on the "talk to me in French, talk to me in Spanish" lyrics. This remix of 'Talk talk' achieved a #24 peak on the U.K. chart. It's a double helping of Charli xcx in this section as 'Apple' has placed at #67, with one more point than 'Talk talk'. This earworm appears to be a bouncy, synth-pop offering on the surface but the lyrical content is about generational trauma, using idioms about apples (e.g. "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree") to illustrate this. 'Apple' did originally make my chart upon album release, but its later virality helped it click with me further as the nation fully embraced Brat summer with a dance craze. This song was a new top 10 hit for Charli (peaking at #8 in the U.K.) and has also been Grammy nominated for 'Best Pop Solo Performance'. TEMMIS represented my BJSC nation Jadakissnia in contest #168 with German-language entry 'ICE 579'. That brilliant title apparently references the name of a train that the protagonist is on, feeling disappointed after dreaming about someone the previous night and realising that their relationship is different now. I love the pounding, relentless post-punk production that carries these words along. This was a surprise medallist for me in the BuzzJack Song Contest, as 'ICE 579' finished in 2nd place, my joint best result of the year.

 

Heartworms achieved my 2023 EOY #1 placing with 'Retributions of an Awful Life' and is back with an entry in 2024 too. 'Jacked' is the first single from her upcoming debut studio album Glutton For Punishment. It may be the start of a blank slate but some Heartworms hallmarks are there, including a long instrumental introduction. We are treated to a striking blend of guitars, drums and beats for a whole 1 minute 34 seconds before her unmistakable vocals begin. Jojo Orme aka Heartworms has explained that 'Jacked' is about a "darkness or entity which you are running away from... but it is really you that holds it". This theme is perfectly explored in the music video, which opens with an interrogation where Orme discusses loneliness, then spends the majority of the remaining screen time running away from paranoid thoughts. She even plays chess with the only other figure whose face hasn't been scratched out during the intense frenzy - a stuffed toy dog. Her visions (along with long time collaborator Gilbert Trejo), bite and gothic sound are as appealing to me as ever. Bring on that debut album - out exactly a month today! Echoberyl first came to my attention when potential hunting for song contests on the forum. I had a few of their songs in my back pocket and eventually settled on 'Salome (Suffer Me)' for a Halloween edition. This decision paid off as it was my joint highest placing in the spooky spin-off to date, finishing 3rd. The Parisian duo would later turn up again in BJSC, but this time in a main contest, with 'Weird Boy' in #166. This was sent by Jim's nation Bronzil and probably would've got top marks for me in any other contest; it was unlucky to run into my favourite of the year which will feature later on in the countdown. I missed the relevant semi-final listening session but Bré reported back that this song was up my street. I quickly realised that this assumption was correct after the intro sounded very similar to 'Fade to Grey' by Visage, an all-time favourite. 'Weird Boy' is a darkwave delight with vocals and lyrics that are both haunting and sensual. The accompanying video explores the connection in the song with a suitably dark setting as a female figure and the "weird boy" embrace quite intensely in a graveyard. This entry was a 16th place hit in the BuzzJack Song Contest. TR/ST delivered another of my favourite albums of the year in Performance. The single 'Dark Day' follows on well from 'Weird Boy' in the countdown as it's another darkwave song. TR/ST worked with both Cecile Believe and Nightfeelings on the production for 'Dark Day' and created a moody synth backdrop that creeps up on you effectively as the chorus drops. The words vent frustrations about when you're trying to sleep but are met with flashbacks to unfinished business instead. Nilüfer Yanya also delivered with her latest album, My Method Actor. This release was preceded by the excellent lead single 'Like I Say (I runaway)', which was her biggest hit in my chart to date. Yanya has explained that the song is about how you spend your time and the overwhelming feeling that you're never going to get it back. The accompanying music video, directed by her sister, suitably flicks between slower scenes in a wedding setting and more chaotic ones where she becomes a runaway bride, which matches the shifting tempo of the song well. I love the fuzzy guitars in the production and the thrill of how in-your-face they become during the chorus. 'I Remember Everything' by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves featured in my 2023 EOY thread and is back for 2024 after holding up well into the new year. This song reached #51 in my countdown last year and follows that up with a #61 placing this time, so 10 places lower just like the trajectory of Shygirl and Cosha's 'thicc' in the previous section. 'I Remember Everything' may have missed out on a round placing twice but it does receive the embedded slot again instead! This stunning duet has become a Grammy winner since appearing last year; 'I Remember Everything' won the award for 'Best Country Duo/Group Performance'.

The Sam Quealy album was an unexpected find and 'Cluedo' was one of the standouts for me too. Other favourites (new this year) for me in the last couple of sections: 'Green Breaking', 'Jacked', 'Dark Day' - don't think I charted that one but it was close, I've liked all I've heard from TR/ST this year - and of course 'Weird Boy' :cheer: very pleased you were such a fan, I did think it may be one you'd like, and I'm glad you got to see the video too as I remember you weren't at that listenthrough! I'm very impressed that TEMMIS got you a runner-up spot, I gave it a few points but thought that was a pleasant surprise! Also on the subject of BJSC, on the back of the song here I did also check out Eartheater's 'Scripture' which was entered before my time and liked that a lot too.

The Sam Quealy album was an unexpected find and 'Cluedo' was one of the standouts for me too. Other favourites (new this year) for me in the last couple of sections: 'Green Breaking', 'Jacked', 'Dark Day' - don't think I charted that one but it was close, I've liked all I've heard from TR/ST this year - and of course 'Weird Boy' :cheer: very pleased you were such a fan, I did think it may be one you'd like, and I'm glad you got to see the video too as I remember you weren't at that listenthrough! I'm very impressed that TEMMIS got you a runner-up spot, I gave it a few points but thought that was a pleasant surprise! Also on the subject of BJSC, on the back of the song here I did also check out Eartheater's 'Scripture' which was entered before my time and liked that a lot too.

Agreed, I was craving some new albums to listen to during the quiet Christmas/New Year period last year so it was perfect timing for Kath to recommend Sam's album to me, great stuff.

 

'Weird Boy' was fabulous and I see there's an accompanying album called Through the Chaos, really should give that a go.

 

Yeah I did not see such a high placing for TEMMIS coming at all but was thrilled, love when BJSC throws up a pleasant surprise like that.

 

Ooh 'Scripture' was actually entered to a contest that I co-hosted so I remember it well, glad you enjoyed :wub:

 

thank you for commenting <3

...and here is one of my other fave silver medals from BJSC last year from TEMMIS :magic: felt like a conclusion to the trilogy started by 'mitleerenhänden' and 'Liebhaber' and this is the catchiest of them all for me, just missed out on my 18 to Lady Blackbird which I think I still stand behind although 'ICE 579' is more easily replayable of the two. Ofc another great dark synthy entry here from Echoberyl which also got a medal from me, I didn't know they released an album last year, seems to have been quite an under the radar release, will add it to the long list of 2024 albums to catch up with as I was a big fan of the song you sent from them to the Halloween spinoff too. TR/ST and Heartworms making for a great 4 in a row of gloomy jams in this section, think 'Dark Day' is my favourite of the singles I heard from the TR/ST album, looking forward to catching up with that one, and Heartworms definitely seems to have a bit of a formula for her songs but it hits every time so I guess if it's not broken ~ great that it's not too long until we get a full album from her now! (Also kinda stanning the video for 'Jacked' tbh x)

 

Back to back Charli also *.* 'Apple' was initially one of my least favourite songs on 'BRAT' but it has grown on me a lot with more exposure, still think it's a bit odd that was the deep cut to take off the most as it doesn't have much of an obvious hook and I still think the production is a bit tame compared to the rest of the album but still happy to see the big success for it and her in general last year. 'Talk talk' was one of the songs I thought was most improved by its remix, turning a good song to a great one, making the original outro the new hook was a good move and Troye's addition to the hook is super infectious too. Also still loving 'I Remember Everything' as much as ever (love that it had such legs commercially to make the 2024 year end top 40!) and 'Mona Lisa Moan' was a cool discovery from your chart around this time last year. First time hearing the Nilüfer song and I think it's another that will be a grower for me but I do love the fuzzy guitars on it and her album is another one on my list to catch up with, really enjoyed her previous album.

 

I'm not a massive fan of 'Defying Gravity' as a song no matter who does it but Cynthia does sing it very well and the last minute or so of this version is a pretty grand finale. Happy for Ariana to get the Wicked role as it's obviously a big deal for her but I am glad she gave us some non Wicked music as well rather than devoting her entire career to that for years on end :kink:

...and here is one of my other fave silver medals from BJSC last year from TEMMIS :magic: felt like a conclusion to the trilogy started by 'mitleerenhänden' and 'Liebhaber' and this is the catchiest of them all for me, just missed out on my 18 to Lady Blackbird which I think I still stand behind although 'ICE 579' is more easily replayable of the two. Ofc another great dark synthy entry here from Echoberyl which also got a medal from me, I didn't know they released an album last year, seems to have been quite an under the radar release, will add it to the long list of 2024 albums to catch up with as I was a big fan of the song you sent from them to the Halloween spinoff too. TR/ST and Heartworms making for a great 4 in a row of gloomy jams in this section, think 'Dark Day' is my favourite of the singles I heard from the TR/ST album, looking forward to catching up with that one, and Heartworms definitely seems to have a bit of a formula for her songs but it hits every time so I guess if it's not broken ~ great that it's not too long until we get a full album from her now! (Also kinda stanning the video for 'Jacked' tbh x)

 

Back to back Charli also *.* 'Apple' was initially one of my least favourite songs on 'BRAT' but it has grown on me a lot with more exposure, still think it's a bit odd that was the deep cut to take off the most as it doesn't have much of an obvious hook and I still think the production is a bit tame compared to the rest of the album but still happy to see the big success for it and her in general last year. 'Talk talk' was one of the songs I thought was most improved by its remix, turning a good song to a great one, making the original outro the new hook was a good move and Troye's addition to the hook is super infectious too. Also still loving 'I Remember Everything' as much as ever (love that it had such legs commercially to make the 2024 year end top 40!) and 'Mona Lisa Moan' was a cool discovery from your chart around this time last year. First time hearing the Nilüfer song and I think it's another that will be a grower for me but I do love the fuzzy guitars on it and her album is another one on my list to catch up with, really enjoyed her previous album.

 

I'm not a massive fan of 'Defying Gravity' as a song no matter who does it but Cynthia does sing it very well and the last minute or so of this version is a pretty grand finale. Happy for Ariana to get the Wicked role as it's obviously a big deal for her but I am glad she gave us some non Wicked music as well rather than devoting her entire career to that for years on end :kink:

*.* I'm happy that TEMMIS connected so much in the contest after loving Cumulonimbia's post-punk offerings so much myself too. I didn't see it coming but very true that it is a massive earworm. That Lady Blackbird entry is the best song I've heard from her to date by some considerable distance, so no hard feelings there B-) you'll have to let me know what you think of the Echoberyl album and I'll get around to it during a quiet week - Ethel Cain's album is now out and I suspect it's going to brain drain me a lot, with those track lengths and the intense subject matter! Hope you enjoy the TR/ST album as I found it consistently fab. I love the Heartworms formula so much and can't wait to hear a full album of it! Glad you checked out the 'Jacked' video, revisiting it yesterday made me realise that I'm somehow not subscribed to her on YouTube so I have swiftly amended that.

 

<3 forced to stan back-to-back Charli and there's still plenty more to come from her, what a year she had. Happy to hear that 'Apple' grew on you more post-virality too, TikTok works in mysterious ways it seems :lol: in Charli and Troye we trust after '1999', '2099' and now this. Same with Ariana and Troye actually - with 'supernatural' appearing earlier and 'Dance To This' also being great. Oh yes, I was also pleased to see 'I Remember Everything' registering an EOY top 40 placing officially <3 here's hoping that bubbling under country hit 'Indigo' can blow up ASAP and follow a similar trajectory... Ooh I forgot that you hadn't heard the Nilüfer song yet! I seem to remember both that and 'Method Actor' getting better and better for me with each listen, so hopefully growing power for you too.

 

Yessss the final minute of 'Defying Gravity' is epic, I understand why radio stations need to cut it short but I much prefer experiencing it in full with the whole instrumental! eternal sunshine was such a pleasant surprise on top of her filming commitments and looks like she'll be focusing on both this year too, with the proper deluxe and Wicked: Part Two coming out in 2025, yay :cheer:

 

thank you for commenting <3

TOP 100 SONGS: 60-51

 

 

60. Taylor Swift - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) | 229 points

59. Temples - Day Of Conquest | 240 points

58. Ariana Grande - imperfect for you | 241 points

57. Taylor Swift - So High School | 243 points

56. Charli xcx - Von dutch | 244 points

55. Taylor Swift - Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus | 246 points

54. Sadness - I want to be with you | 254 points

53. The Cure - Alone | 255 points

52. Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi | 258 points

51. Ethel Cain - Punish | 260 points

 

Taylor Swift's unreal work ethic showed no signs of slowing down in 2024 as she was back with an eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. 'Fortnight' was chosen as the lead single and ended up breaking the record for most streams on Spotify in a single day, casual. This song is an ode to 80s new wave / synth-pop music which becomes evident very quickly with those gorgeous downtempo Drive-esque synths. Swift sings about about a two-week long romance between two people in unhappy marriages who wish to escape to Florida. She peppers this tale with dark, amusing melodramatic lyrics that feel quintessentially her. Post Malone was chosen as a featured artist and I find that he particularly shines on the outro when their two voices intertwine. The accompanying music video evokes flashbacks to the black-and-white cinematography of films like Frankenstein. The storyline, that begins with Swift being experimented on by mad scientists, has also drawn parallels to one of my favourite movies of the decade so far, Poor Things. I am most fond of the dramatic shots where Taylor is sat on top of a phone box in the pouring rain with Posty singing in front of her. 'Fortnight' is one of two U.K. #1 singles that will feature in this countdown. Temples had an impressive year in my 2022 EOY countdown and are back this time with 'Day Of Conquest'. The band celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut album with an EP called Other Structures, which contains B-sides and this never before heard song. James Bagshaw from the band said: "'Day of Conquest' was part of the Sun Structures album demos, and it probably would have been on the album, but we ran out of run time on the LP." Well, I'm glad that it has now seen the light of day, as it quickly managed to get lodged in my brain despite not having an obvious chorus and their neo-psychedelic instrumentation hits as always. They kept it simple for the music video as it cuts between live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. 'imperfect for you' is the penultimate track on Ariana Grande's eternal sunshine album. She has expressed in interviews that the song is about the unconditional love and acceptance from her family and friends despite imperfections. This album track contains some pretty lyrics in the build-up to the chorus such as: "how could we know, we'd rearrange all the cosmos?" and there's a reference to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind too, when she sings: "I'll hold your hurt in the box beside me"; this line took me back to the memory removal clinic scenes in the movie. The words in the chorus are vulnerable, as Ariana openly talks about her anxiety, but with the happy conclusion that "I'll love you like you need me to" - she won't be held back. My favourite moment in the song is execution of the title, where Ariana applies what appears to be called 'chromatic embellishment' in music theory. This is when there are notes from outside the key or mode of the rest of the song. I found this clever as the words "imperfect for you" are made to sound odd and unnatural, but it does create such a hypnotic effect. Ariana chose to perform this song on SNL and delivered it beautifully. Taylor Swift also places at #57 in this section with 'So High School'. This song was an add-on to the main body of The Tortured Poets Department, known as the Anthology version. I found the production of the standard album to be a bit homogenous after a while but the Anthology songs piqued my interest more on that front, especially the refreshing 'So High School'. This has more of a dreamy 90s indie rock sound that melted me. Swift is writing about a relationship that takes her back to the careless days of high school. There are a few choice lyrics on this one but I can let them slide as they fit in well with the teenage awkwardness that she is trying to convey. I was lucky enough to see Taylor live last year on the Eras tour and was pleased that some of this song was squeezed into The Tortured Poets Department set, even if not quite the full thing. 'Von dutch' was the lead single from Charli xcx's Brat album and swiftly got me on board with the era. This song feels like a throwback to 2000s electroclash so it checks out that Charli was inspired by her teenage Myspace days when creating it. The timing of this song was on point as 'Perfect (Exceeder)' by Mason vs. Princess Superstar, a 2000s song from the same genre, was experiencing a revival in early 2024 too thanks to the movie Saltburn. I adore the aggressive, blaring synths and Charli's confident delivery as she embraces being an object of gossip. The chaotic music video, which contains some fantastic transitions, is filmed at an airport which is pretty cool when you consider that Charli would later go viral with the "...to the airport" lyrics from 'Apple'. 'Von dutch' charted at #26 in the U.K. before Brat summer had fully commenced.

 

'Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus' is Taylor Swift's third and final appearance in this section. This is another track that appeared on the expanded Anthology edition of The Tortured Poets Department. 'Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus' details a rocky relationship that caused a lot of pain and self-reflection. The line "you needed me but you needed drugs more" highlights the crux of the problem that left Taylor feeling abandoned. This relationship may have been in the past but still impacts her thoughts now, as she works through moving on from the hurt. The title 'Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus' is quite ambiguous but suggests that this ex-lover in question may be bisexual, as one of these names could be who they've moved on to. I enjoy the juxtaposition of quite sad subject matter mixed with possibly the most whimsical production on the album. The guitar work would not sound out of place on folklore or evermore. 'I want to be with you' by Sadness is my latest BJSC entry to drop out in the countdown. This is an intense, goosebump-inducing blackgaze instrumental, save for some muffled vocals. The words are expressions of being deeply in love, with colourful lines such as: "and I burn orange, watching you resplend" and "pink like you, pink burning in me". The song starts and ends with slower guitar sections, but the middle is filled with a gut-punching explosion of loud, fuzzy sound. Thankfully, BJSC participants really took to this song and I achieved my joint best position of the year, as 'I want to be with you' finished in 2nd place in BJSC 164. I got into The Cure about four years ago after being transfixed by 'Pictures Of You' on an early 90s Top of the Pops repeat. At the time, a new album had already started being teased, but this material would not be released until 2024. Songs of a Lost World is their first studio album of original material in sixteen years and the campaign started off strong with lead single 'Alone'. We are kept waiting for Robert Smith's evergreen vocals for a whopping 3-and-a-half minutes, a bold decision, but this crashing, melancholic gothic-rock instrumental is strong enough to carry half of this song. The lyrics are characteristically doom-laden as Smith discusses themes such as loneliness, mortality and nostalgia through images of birds falling from the sky and stars growing grim with tears. They came back swinging with this one, what a triumph. Bat For Lashes was back with a sixth studio album named The Dream of Delphi. I was stunned by the beauty of the title track and its accompanying video, with the ethereal performance art set on a shoreline and in the forest. Much like Madonna's Ray of Light album, this is Bat For Lashes' motherhood record too, named after her daughter Delphi. The lyrics touch on this new, unconditional love with lines such as: "deeper my love is soaring, soaring so very high". I love the gorgeous flutters of harp and the recurring synth in the production, plus the sudden explosion at the end that delivers more bass and a cacophony of sounds all at once. 'Punish' by Ethel Cain just misses out on the top half of my countdown but has done well to be here in the first place, after just two months of charting. This song clocks in at 6 minutes and 40 seconds but that is actually the second shortest track on her new album Perverts, out today. The majority of the song is a haunting, piano-led experience before morphing into an overwhelming electric guitar transition for the last couple of minutes. It is pretty genre-bending and seems to be categorised as folk, drone and ambient music. The lyrics are all about shame and she expanded more on the specifics of her song-writing via Tumblr, after being questioned about the line: "He was a natural Plauché, saying, "You won't forget this". Her answer revealed very dark subject matter that quickly explains the new album title: "['Punish'] is about a pedophile who was shot by the child’s father and now lives in exile where he physically maims himself to simulate the bullet wound in order to punish himself." She goes on to say that the listener can interpret the song however they want, but yeah, that's the true inspiration which is pretty chilling. The black-and-white music video isn't graphic or anything - just dark and moody.

 

Half way there :cheer: having this week off work has been a godsend for progress on this.

First time hearing the Ethel Cain and Bat For Lashes songs, both quite similar in being quite lowkey and hypnotising until exploding towards the end, I really liked the synth line on 'The Dream Of Delphi' <3 and 'Punish' is quite an experience, will have to check out her new album, was quite intrigued by it on the song lengths alone and even moreso now after finally hearing the single. Also not too familiar with the Temples track but a fine bit of psychedelia from them as ever, I think despite their debut album being their commercial peak I didn't actually hear anything from them until the last few years so interesting to hear an old unreleased track from the sessions of that first album.

 

My highlight from this batch is definitely 'Alone', an absolute triumph of a comeback single after so many years of not knowing if it'd ever actually happen, and indeed the instrumental alone really holds its own for the first half of the song before finally hearing Robert's voice again. Just heard the album the other day and genuinely loved every song on it, think it may be tough to beat as my 2024 album of the year! Also ofc love 'Von dutch', a real attention grabbing banger to introduce the 'BRAT' era (unfortunately don't really care for the A. G. Cook/Addison Rae remix but we can ignore that xx). And Sadness is another standout Jadakissnia entry ofc, think I actually underrated it a bit only giving it 7 points, really creates a strong atmosphere. Have seen when scrolling through the RateYourMusic chart of 2024 that Sadness released 3(!) albums last year, all in the same week, and all of them are top 100 for the year or just outside, shall have to check out. Definitely seems to be in the leagues of King Gizzard for prolificness x

 

'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' was a mixed bag for me but all 3 songs here from it are among my top 10 of the album, 'Fortnight' my fave of the three, interesting for her to push such a lowkey song as the big single but it worked really well for me, the line 'I love you, it's ruining my life' is such a simple but compelling hook. Agreed that the breezy 90s radio indie sound of 'So High School' gives it the vibes to look past its lyrical shortcomings, was a breath of fresh air in an album that got a bit samey sounding at points, and 'Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus' is a lovely sounding return to the 'folklore' style. As you know I don't really care too much for 'imperfect for you' but it's almost a tradition at this point that one of your faves from an Ari album is one of my least faves :lol:

First time hearing the Ethel Cain and Bat For Lashes dongs, both quite similar in being quite lowkey and hypnotising until exploding towards the end, I really liked the synth line on 'The Dream Of Delphi' <3 and 'Punish' is quite an experience, will have to check out her new album, was quite intrigued by it on the song lengths alone and even moreso now after finally hearing the single. Also not too familiar with the Temples track but a fine bit of psychedelia from them as ever, I think despite their debut album being their commercial peak I didn't actually hear anything from them until the last few years so interesting to hear an old unreleased track from the sessions of that first album.

 

My highlight from this batch is definitely 'Alone', an absolute triumph of a comeback single after so many years of not knowing if it'd ever actually happen, and indeed the instrumental alone really holds its own for the first half of the song before finally hearing Robert's voice again. Just heard the album the other day and genuinely loved every song on it, think it may be tough to beat as my 2024 album of the year! Also ofc love 'Von dutch', a real attention grabbing banger to introduce the 'BRAT' era (unfortunately don't really care for the A. G. Cook/Addison Rae remix but we can ignore that xx). And Sadness is another standout Jadakissnia entry ofc, think I actually underrated it a bit only giving it 7 points, really creates a strong atmosphere. Have seen when scrolling through the RateYourMusic chart of 2024 that Sadness released 3(!) albums last year, all in the same week, and all of them are top 100 for the year or just outside, shall have to check out. Definitely seems to be in the leagues of King Gizzard for prolificness x

 

'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' was a mixed bag for me but all 3 songs here from it are among my top 10 of the album, 'Fortnight' my fave of the three, interesting for her to push such a lowkey song as the big single but it worked really well for me, the line 'I love you, it's ruining my life' is such a simple but compelling hook. Agreed that the breezy 90s radio indie sound of 'So High School' gives it the vibes to look past its lyrical shortcomings, was a breath of fresh air in an album that got a bit samey sounding at points, and 'Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus' is a lovely sounding return to the 'folklore' style. As you know I don't really care too much for 'imperfect for you' but it's almost a tradition at this point that one of your faves from an Ari album is one of my least faves :lol:

"dongs" was an unfortunate typo :lol: but I am glad you enjoyed the music x Really looking forward to checking out the new Ethel album in the coming days although better make sure I'm in the right headspace. Yeah I don't think I discovered Temples until they were in BJSC oops but fully on board now.

 

'Alone' is such a gem <3 I need to revisit the album in full again really... high praise to be your #1 (so far). I am aboard the Addison hype train more now post-'Aquamarine' but I can take or leave the 'Von dutch' remix as well. Oh wow, I forgot that Sadness didn't get double figure points from you (7 still good of course x), agreed that it's very atmospheric. I also noticed that he was very prolific last year but didn't realise that all three of the albums dropped in the same WEEK, oh my *_*

 

Taylor's leads do seem to hit for you more often than not as I remember you really liking 'cardigan' and 'willow' too (let's just forget about you not caring as much for 'Anti-Hero' -_- xx) ~ yeah I remember 'So High School' being a very welcome shift in direction sonically, after sitting through such a long album. 'Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus' feels very underrated from this Taylor project so I'm glad that you're a fan too. Poor brave 'imperfect for you' :cry: although I knew that comment was coming :lol: well, still more Ari on the way and I think you'll appreciate those more...

 

thank you for commenting <3

TOP 100 SONGS: 50-41

 

 

50. Charli xcx - So I (feat. A. G. Cook) | 265 points

49. Beyoncé - DAUGHTER | 270 points

48. Fontaines D.C. - Bug | 272 points (peak: #5)

47. Charli xcx - Guess (feat. Billie Eilish) | 272 points (peak: #4)

46. Caroline Polachek - Coma | 276 points (peak: #6)

45. JADE - Fantasy | 276 points (peak: #5)

44. Chalk - Tell Me | 279 points

43. Fontaines D.C. - Sundowner | 281 points

42. Boo - Hyper Feminine | 283 points

41. Fat Dog - All The Same | 285 points

 

'So I' by Charli xcx and A.G. Cook can be found as track 9 on Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, the Brat remix album. It begins with a callback to 'party 4 u' in the production, a previous Charli and A.G. Cook collaboration, setting the tone for a celebratory song in memory of the revolutionary producer SOPHIE. This flips the more upsetting original 'So I' on its head as Charli is now fondly looking back on her cherished experiences with SOPHIE, as she prefaces many anecdotes with: "Now I wanna think about all the good times". I enjoy the new production too, which develops to become quite metallic and harsh throughout. 'DAUGHTER' is my favourite track from Beyoncé's latest album, COWBOY CARTER. This song explores qualities that the protagonist may share with her father; these musings emerge after violent thoughts enter her head in the face of infidelity. I adore the classical influences in 'DAUGHTER' - from the strings, to Beyoncé's stunning operatic vocals and even the bridge featuring lyrics from the Italian aria 'Caro Mio Ben'. On top of the genre-blending, I also appreciate the vivid imagery and her scorned delivery throughout. 'Bug' is the fifth single to be taken from Fontaines D.C.'s latest album Romance, but caught my attention as an album track. This song looks ahead to new beginnings, following a past that has been marred with a fear of commitment. Grian Chatten's defiant yet intimate delivery sells this perfectly. The "28 years are coming to an end" line ensures that I have a new option to play on my next birthday on top of Zach Bryan's '28'. I enjoy the dreamy, complimentary light-and-shade in the production too. The music video consists of scenes from the movie Bird, featuring lead actor Barry Keoghan, so Sabrina Carpenter's 'Please Please Please' isn't the only music video that he showed up in last year. 'Guess' was originally a solo track on Charli xcx's Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not deluxe album. However, it would soon attract a Billie Eilish feature and be promoted to a single. 'Hello goodbye' was originally my favourite Brat bonus track but the new feature and music video helped 'Guess' to click with me a lot more. It is a wildly unserious song about "guessing the colour of my underwear" while backed with bold electroclash production, courtesy of The Dare. The interpolation of 'Technologic' by Daft Punk and house party music video throw this back to the 2000s even more. Billie makes a spectacular entrance in the music video and provides a smoky contrast to Charli's delivery. The girls are having a blast and even end up on top of a mountain of 10,000+ pairs of underwear, which were later donated to a domestic violence charity. This team-up was a U.K. #1 and is the highest chart-topper to feature in my countdown this year. Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek was my favourite album of 2023. Last year, an expanded version called Desire, I Want To Turn Into You: Everasking Edition was released with 8 additional tracks. 'Coma' is a cover of 'Pharmacoma' by Default Genders from 2019; this song inspired Caroline while creating the standard Desire, I Want To Turn Into You album. She also adds an interpolation of her own 'Hopedrunk Everasking' to it. Caroline's vocals are otherworldly as ever, especially when she lets them flow free at around the 3:20 mark for a whole minute. The jungle production from the original is exhilarating and the heart monitor beeps are a moving touch too.

 

JADE has so far impressed me with her post-Little Mix solo music. 'Fantasy', her second single to date, was admittedly a slow burner but hit me after a few weeks of release. It is far less in-your-face than her first single 'Angel Of My Dreams' as she instead opts for a floaty, funky disco sound that wouldn't sound too out of place on Jessie Ware's What's Your Pleasure? album. JADE takes a sex positive approach to the lyrics and sings about feeling safe enough with a partner to explore what you're both into. The music video is very heavy on 1970s nods as JADE channels her idol Diana Ross and also references the movie Carrie, as the video takes a bloody turn. Unfortunately this failed to replicate the success of her debut in the U.K. chart which was a shame! Irish band Chalk were more on my radar last year after hearing some of their releases on 6Music. 'Tell Me' was recently released as a single in the lead up to an upcoming EP named Conditions III, out on February 21st. This is a sub 3-minute whirlwind of intense electronic beats, drums and a post-punk vocal delivery. 'Tell Me' is all about a protagonist who is entering the unknown after running away from a dark past. The music video is suitably claustrophobic and captivating with a confined car setting and some manic head shaking, inspired by 70s horror such as Suspiria. I could definitely do with another minute of this song but it is enthralling nevertheless. Fontaines D.C. register another appearance in this section with 'Sundowner'. I can clearly picture my first listen of accompanying album Romance during a lunch break at work and immediately claimed this as my favourite album track. I do love the distinctive vocals of front-man Grian Chatten but this is actually the first Fontaines single to feature lead vocals from another member, instead guitarist Conor Curley. The two collaborate dreamily on this ode to friendship. I am a sucker for the shoegaze style production too. Boo returns to the countdown for a second appearance with personal chart #1 'Hyper Feminine'. Doctor Blind's nation Cumulonimbia sent this to BJSC 166 and I fell in love, awarding it top marks. 'Hyper Feminine' is a loopy, hypnotic techno song that revolves around the hook "hyper sexy dance music, what you gonna do about it?". Boo has described this euphoric almost-5 minute floorfiller as "emotional body music" and says it is about doing things on your own terms. Her vocals are dreamy and sensual, while the production boasts electronic beats and impactful kick drums. The music video, just like the artwork for the song, takes place under a filtered grey lens. It features a lot of carefree, slow motion dancing and 2000s influences in the styling and make-up. 'Hyper Feminine' finished in a respectable 14th place in the BuzzJack Song Contest. I first discovered Fat Dog in 2023 after 6Music playlisted their brilliant debut single 'King of the Slugs', later a huge BJSC winner. It was always going to be difficult to follow up that standout entrance but they did a pretty good job with 'All the Same'. This sophomore single is less chaotic, with more of a traditional structure and run-time, but still has an exciting, synthtastic industrial-dance feel to it. Fat Dog stated that 'All the Same' is about pondering what you would do if you could turn back the clock to change something. The music video, starring Neil Bell, illustrates this with quirky Fat Dog flair as it features time travel ("I'm going back to '89") and a man getting kicked in the nuts. They said: "Just a single, well-placed kick, that perhaps could change the whole course of your life. Perhaps the party never has to stop?". Their accompanying debut album WOOF. was released in 2024 too.

Nice to see I Want To Be With You here, one of the better BJSC entries of this year! I think I had missed Bat For Lashes releasing new music this year - The Dream of Delphi is definitely on the more experimental side.

Nice to see I Want To Be With You here, one of the better BJSC entries of this year! I think I had missed Bat For Lashes releasing new music this year - The Dream of Delphi is definitely on the more experimental side.

Glad that you enjoyed Sadness! Just reminded myself of the points exchange and you awarded it 9, yay.

 

The Bat For Lashes album did feel quite low key (it doesn't even have a Wikipedia page unlike the rest of her discography </3) but yeah, the title track was a big keeper!

 

thank you for commenting <3

Ooh another double bill of Charli tracks - I actually heard the Billie version of 'Guess' before the original and since it's one of the few remixes that was just adding a guest vocalist rather than being a radical overhaul it does make the original feel quite incomplete as a result, Charli and Billie have such great chemistry! But it's another strong electroclash-esque song from her either way and pretty funny on the lyrical front (I love her alluding to the Google Drive leaks lol). 'So I' on the other hand is definitely one where both the original and the remix stand on their own feet and are both great for their own reasons, the original was by far my favourite of the more downbeat songs from the original album and the remix is such a beautiful complement to it focusing on different aspects of her history with SOPHIE (plus the new production is great and a good call to bring in A. G. Cook for it). Also cool to see two Fontaines songs together here, I wasn't wowed on my first listen of 'Bug' but revisiting it now it's definitely growing on me a lot albeit it just sounds like a fairly typical album track from them (which is still not a bad thing x) so I am a little perplexed at it becoming so popular to be honest, although at least has been good to see 'Favourite' and 'Starburster' getting second winds alongside it. 'Sundowner' stands out a lot more to me, beautiful track and interesting to hear another member of the band getting the vocal spotlight.

 

First time hearing this Chalk song and they're definitely a band I need to be paying more attention to, loving the mix of post-punk and electronic elements here, actually quite similar to the sound of the Fat Dog song in this section I guess but I think I like it even more! 'All The Same' is great too if not quite as memorable for me as their more wacky songs.

 

'DAUGHTER' stands alongside 'RIIVERDANCE' for me as the most effective implementations of Beyoncé's genre bending on 'COWBOY CARTER', I do appreciate the diversity but it felt a little bit too on the nose at some points, kinda wish she left out a couple of the skits that were alluding to it as it makes it come across a bit forced. The incorporation of operatic elements into the country sound really works well here though and it's definitely one of the most lyrically compelling songs from the album too. Wasn't really on the hype train for Caroline Polachek until this album but it really blew me away and the additions from last year's deluxe were very much just a gift that kept giving, 'Coma' was my fave of the additional tracks, I probably ought to give the original version a listen at some point oops but an inspired choice of cover. As I've just posted in the chart forum I thought 'Fantasy' was actually better than JADE's bigger hit and it's a shame it fell so flat commercially as I don't see why it couldn't have been a bigger hit, maybe it's just the 'What's Your Pleasure?' stan in me talking but I think she does this sound really well, think this has overtaken 'Don't Say Love' as my favourite solo Mix release to date. And I don't want my earlier comment re 'Hyper Feminine' to come across as if I don't like it, I still gave it 1 point in BJSC, just thought it was one which sounded like the artist had potential to make something I would like more and obviously that did prove to be the case! Could probably have done with the vocal line in this one being repeated a little bit less but it's still great on the instrumental front.

Ooh another double bill of Charli tracks - I actually heard the Billie version of 'Guess' before the original and since it's one of the few remixes that was just adding a guest vocalist rather than being a radical overhaul it does make the original feel quite incomplete as a result, Charli and Billie have such great chemistry! But it's another strong electroclash-esque song from her either way and pretty funny on the lyrical front (I love her alluding to the Google Drive leaks lol). 'So I' on the other hand is definitely one where both the original and the remix stand on their own feet and are both great for their own reasons, the original was by far my favourite of the more downbeat songs from the original album and the remix is such a beautiful complement to it focusing on different aspects of her history with SOPHIE (plus the new production is great and a good call to bring in A. G. Cook for it). Also cool to see two Fontaines songs together here, I wasn't wowed on my first listen of 'Bug' but revisiting it now it's definitely growing on me a lot albeit it just sounds like a fairly typical album track from them (which is still not a bad thing x) so I am a little perplexed at it becoming so popular to be honest, although at least has been good to see 'Favourite' and 'Starburster' getting second winds alongside it. 'Sundowner' stands out a lot more to me, beautiful track and interesting to hear another member of the band getting the vocal spotlight.

 

First time hearing this Chalk song and they're definitely a band I need to be paying more attention to, loving the mix of post-punk and electronic elements here, actually quite similar to the sound of the Fat Dog song in this section I guess but I think I like it even more! 'All The Same' is great too if not quite as memorable for me as their more wacky songs.

 

'DAUGHTER' stands alongside 'RIIVERDANCE' for me as the most effective implementations of Beyoncé's genre bending on 'COWBOY CARTER', I do appreciate the diversity but it felt a little bit too on the nose at some points, kinda wish she left out a couple of the skits that were alluding to it as it makes it come across a bit forced. The incorporation of operatic elements into the country sound really works well here though and it's definitely one of the most lyrically compelling songs from the album too. Wasn't really on the hype train for Caroline Polachek until this album but it really blew me away and the additions from last year's deluxe were very much just a gift that kept giving, 'Coma' was my fave of the additional tracks, I probably ought to give the original version a listen at some point oops but an inspired choice of cover. As I've just posted in the chart forum I thought 'Fantasy' was actually better than JADE's bigger hit and it's a shame it fell so flat commercially as I don't see why it couldn't have been a bigger hit, maybe it's just the 'What's Your Pleasure?' stan in me talking but I think she does this sound really well, think this has overtaken 'Don't Say Love' as my favourite solo Mix release to date. And I don't want my earlier comment re 'Hyper Feminine' to come across as if I don't like it, I still gave it 1 point in BJSC, just thought it was one which sounded like the artist had potential to make something I would like more and obviously that did prove to be the case! Could probably have done with the vocal line in this one being repeated a little bit less but it's still great on the instrumental front.

I did know the original 'Guess' first but it feels so naked without Billie now, same with 'girl, so confusing' sans Lorde :lol: I need to revisit the original 'So I' more as the transformative remix completely stole my attention away from it. I guess the more downbeat songs on the original were fighting for my attention more against such in-your-face production elsewhere, but the lyrical themes did stand out straight away. I am quite surprised that 'Bug' has been a chosen one too but not complaining :lol: glad you're into 'Sundowner' too, did think that might be the case with the shoegazey direction.

 

Yesssss you should definitely check out the new Chalk EP when it comes out next month, their sound really hooked me in last year *.* can see that 'All the Same' comparison sonically.

 

Happy that you picked out 'DAUGHTER' as a COWBOY CARTER highlight too. I haven't felt that compelled to return to the full project since those initial listens (I blame the length) but I did chart a handful of songs from it and 'DAUGHTER' may be one of her best album tracks ever for me. It took me a little while to jump aboard the Caroline hype train too (I can't believe I didn't even care for 'So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings' when it first came out, what was I thinking :x) but 'Welcome to my Island' changed everything and now I love her. I've only heard 'Pharmacoma' once I think, agreed that it was an inspired choice of song to rework anyway, shame the original isn't on Spotify. 'Fantasy' falling a bit flat commercially was such a shame :cry: I'm pleased that her new song could potentially be some chart course-correction as I want her to do well (and release an album!!) but yeah, that one deserved so much more.

 

thank you for commenting <3

'Von dutch' runs it close but 'Guess' is probably my favourite moment from 'BRAT'. I like both versions but I think I give the slight edge to the original. I thought Billie didn't suit the sound at all on my first few listens but I've got into it now. 'So I' is a really emotional track but it wasn't one I went back to often. However, I was so happy that both versions got their chance to shine on the tour as they really felt like a moment.

 

'Fortnight' and 'So High School' both exploded for me after the Eras Tour. I didn't know what to expect from Taylor and Post Malone but they work together surprisingly well. It would have been nice for him to get a verse though instead of almost just getting the Lana Del Rey backing vocal treatment :lol: 'So High School' is the fun, bordering on cringe style of pop that she's mastered.

 

It's nice to see your namesake appear with 'FANTASY'. I really liked it but I never fully got to the stage of loving it. I think I'm enjoying 'IT girl' more already. I'm interested to hear what your early thoughts are on it!

 

And I'm of course happy to see more Ari since I last commented :heart: