Noahspike

This is one of those songs that is so objectively terrible but also annoyingly catchy. I really need it not to be a hit or hear it ever again so it doesn't grow and give me minor inner conflict.

Holy shit, that chorus is so good. Such a 'Roar'/'Brave' rip-off and it's generally extremely derivative, as has been said, but when it's all executed that well it doesn't really matter. I've no respect for the song but will happily enjoy it for the time being - kind of reminds me of 'Me And My Broken Heart' in that way. :lol: It's quite interesting to see an artist as bland and dated as Rachel seemingly catching on in a big way, but it's a bit premature to make that call I guess. Maybe her complete lack of edge actually gives her an edge in today's climate?! I hope it's not symbolic of an overall market shift to the unremarkable anyway~

'Shampain', 'Primadonna' and 'How To Be A Heartbreaker' are my least favourite of her singles (in that order) so I'm glad to see them miss the top 15. Annoying that her biggest hit is such a poor representative of what makes her so great, but at least that was sort of recognised here. And 'Shampain' actually gives me a headache - it's so terrible and I'm not even sure why. :puke:

^ I agree apart from Hozier. He's a homegrown talent with a statement song that really penetrated the national discourse of recent years and became a huge talking point itself. The song's chart run is phenomenal - 118 weeks in the top 100 and counting (currently at #67). I knew 'When We Collide' and 'Impossible' (and 'Hallelujah') broke through in a big way, but not to that extent. Even 'Cannonball' made the top 50! Slightly embarrassing that we're so damn basic taken by talent show winners' singles, especially seeing the trainwreck that was Six in the runner-up slot :') (Nuhdeen and her passport must be raging they missed out on that honour with 'Sound Of The Underground' nowhere to be seen). Also surprised to see 'Cheerleader' and 'Hips Don't Lie' so high, and Shaggy's 'Angel' seems like a completely random inclusion. Knew 'Jumbo Breakfast Roll' and 'Horse Outside' were big viral novelty hits but never knew they were such commercial forces. :o Interesting chart all in all. Cheers for posting it, Shaky Fan. :D

Oh Selena, what are you doing to me -_-. Just checked out the video and the song's grown so much - stylistically it suits her SO well and the visuals only complement that. When she gets it right, she completely nails it, but having a track as half-baked and generally awful as 'Same Old Love' in the middle of things makes it hard to properly buy into this whole 'revival' she's pushing (I should really get around to listening to the album to get off this rollercoaster of a singles run as a basis of judgement)! As an aside, it's quite cool that the relationship/break-up between herself and Justin is essentially responsible for them both reaching critical/cultural/commercial peaks (in the US at least) at the same time.

Add me to the list of people who completely forgot about this. :/ No real harm done so far anyway other than 'Are You Satisfied?' missing the top 20. Such a gem. </3

+120 Years & Years - King +110 Jess Glynne - Don't Be So Hard On Yourself +100 Adele - Hello +090 Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? +080 Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me +070 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do +060 KDA feat. Tinie Tempah & Katy B - Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) +050 OMI - Cheerleader +040 Tinie Tempah feat. Jess Glynne - Not Letting Go +030 Little Mix - Black Magic +020 Justin Bieber - Love Yourself +010 Justin Bieber - Sorry -010 Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor - Marvin Gaye

+18 Mumford & Sons - Believe +15 Little Mix - Love Me Like You +13 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Downtown +12 5 Seconds Of Summer - She's Kinda Hot +11 Tove Lo - Talking Body +10 Justin Bieber - I'll Show You +09 Hozier - Someone New +08 Rudimental feat. Ed Sheeran - Lay It All On Me +07 Alex Adair - Make Me Feel Better +06 Disclosure feat. Sam Smith - Omen +05 Olly Murs - Kiss Me +04 Ed Sheeran - Photograph +03 99 Souls feat. Destiny's Child & Brandy - The Girl Is Mine +02 Silentó - Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae) +01 Aurora - Half The World Away

+10 Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants +09 Taylor Swift - Style +08 Selena Gomez feat. A$AP Rocky - Good For You +07 Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck +06 Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money +05 Kodaline - The One +04 Kygo feat. Parson James - Stole The Show +03 Kanye West feat. Paul McCartney - Only One +02 Kodaline - Honest +01 Little Mix - Hair

OMG, the potential essays *.*.*.*.*.* :wub: Delighted seeing this, Jade (and no pressure re: the essays btw)! You'll fit the role perfectly. Congrats!

Josh, I am the floppiest of all floppy chart commentators as I've been checking in with this since November but never let you know until now! Sorry about that. :snif: Regarding albums, there's a lot I really like, especially 'Purpose', 'Nothing But Thieves' and 'FROOT', and it's good to see 'Delirium' do well with you because I agree that it's underappreciated in general. There's lots of great stuff on that (which I should really make a new tracklist/playlist from) but it lacks quality control/is overlong IMO. 'Every Open Eye' is a weird one for me as I've found it all too cohesive the few times I listened, which meant the individual tracks as well as the overall thing left little impression...but then I also think I was distracted at those times so I dunno :unsure: (but your praise is promising)! Also, your bit on James Bay's album has convinced me to buy it for my parents lol. I listened to it ages ago and remember being impressed but my mum and dad randomly went crazy for his voice when they saw him on Jools on NYE (albeit when they'd been going heavy on the Prosecco) so I'm thinking the album could go down well! Too many good songs featured here to mention but big shout-outs to the love for Katy B's ad libs in 'Turn The Music Louder (Rumble)' :wub:, 'Kamikaze', the Selena tracks (I think THWWIW was #24 for me last year :o), 'You & I (Forever)', double Jess in your top 20 (I realise DBSHOY is similar musically to 'Hold My Hand' but, like you, I much prefer the former...in fact I actually can't stand the latter, weirdly), and it's always good to see 'FourFiveSeconds' appreciation as it tends to get an unfairly hard time. <3 As for predictions, I'm gonna guess Taylor for the top spot (or failing that, 'Love Me Like You' :thinking:) but am rooting for 'Lean On'. :D

Was thinking 'Shine' could be your #1 when I saw this thread and it's great to see that's the case (especially over 'Doing It', which I've never liked, oops)! Huge fave of mine too, though I'm a bit worried for my commentary for it (if I ever get around to writing it) as I don't quite know why I love it so much :unsure:. It's so effective structurally and melodically but the whole bittersweet feel of the song/its lyrics that you referred to is probably a big part of why I keep returning to it. Also love your takes on 'Love Myself' and 'Love Me Like You'! Pure filth dressed up in catchy, family-friendly pop packages. <3

Ah, I was hoping you'd do a Y/E chart again so this is great to see. :D Looking through it, I'm pretty sure yours has the most overlap with my own for the second year running :o (btw, 'Runnin'' <333), so I'll forgive you the odd accidental omission a la 'Rude' last year. :rolleyes: Amazing to see 'You & I (Forever)' THAT high as I'd thought until recently that its brilliance passed everyone else by. I'm fond of all of Jessie's 'Tough Love' singles but that's perhaps the most touching of them all. :wub: Other songs that particularly stand out would be 'Vacant Space' (probably my fave Florina entry but I'd have to think hard about that :thinking:), 'Shine', 'Believe', 'Preach' (you remembered poor floppy M.O this year! :wave:), the Ariana singles, 'Paradigm', '1/M/T' and 'TV' of course!

Been following this since the start, Bal! Lovely to read your vivid words on everything as always (though I do draw a line with 'Love Me So' appreciation :nono:)! I'd consider 'I Bet' and 'Coffee' to be two of the absolute best pure R&B tracks of the year - both expertly delivered and with such slow-burning, enduring appeal. <3 All the Kacy tracks are also highlights. Love your write-up of 'Arm's Length' and fully agree on the lyrics/wanting more~

oops, wrong thread

#95 Brandon Flowers | Still Want You UK | - | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 17 The first of three Brandon Flowers singles to appear in this countdown, ‘Still Want You’ boasts an array of 80s-influenced pop/rock sounds and is thus a fitting representative of its parent album; ‘The Desired Effect’. Though embellished with flamenco strings and a gospel choir, the main appeal of the song lies in its simple charm, with brief storytelling in the verses leading immediately to a prolonged, sing-a-long refrain which proclaims a message of unflinching (marital) love in a way that’s full of natural warmth and sincerity. A particularly great moment is the middle 8’s slowed-down, hesitant delivery of ‘There’s something you should know’, which then descends into a drum solo calling back in that big, cheery chorus. The fact that this cheeriness and the song’s touching sentiment remain intact despite references to entirely uncheery things like rising crime, debt, natural disasters, nuclear distress and climate change is a real testament to a craftsmanship and songwriting prowess that’s so evident throughout all of Brandon’s work, both in and out of The Killers. vX5fAb76r-U yoZPVMEsbeQ #94 Vallis Alps | Young UK | - | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 27 Fusing dreamy synths with an acoustic guitar and echoed vocals sung with a beautiful subtlety, the debut single from Australian duo Vallis Alps is one of my favourite chillout tracks of the year. The gradual build of instrumentation is the song’s real selling point, but it also has a slow-paced chorus about being unable to keep up with time that's wonderfully effective. The nostalgic vibes inherent to the song have always been magnified on a personal level with the second verse's closing line; ‘Those nights back in Tokyo’, which puts in mind some of the best few months of my life. (Fun fact: such was my attachment to ‘Young’ back at the start of the year that it was locked in a fiercely competitive, week-long battle with Eves The Behavior’s ‘TV’ to become my February BJSC entry!) #93 A-WA | Habib Galbi UK | - | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 22 g3bjZlmsb4A I can confidently say I’ve never heard anything like ‘Habib Galbi’; an upbeat love song by three Yemeni-Arabic-singing Israeli sisters (whose surname happens to be Haim!) known as A-WA. With the risk of revealing myself to be culturally ignorant, the track strikes me as innovative, traditional and comical all at once, blending urban and rural-rooted influences into a fun-filled, infectious listen that sounds just as fresh now as it did back in April when it unexpectedly claimed BJSC glory for Persephonia - my favourite contest-related moment of the year. #92 Little Mix | Black Magic UK | 1 | Ire | 3 | US | 67 | PC | 20 I’ve always been on board with Little Mix; four girls thrown together as an afterthought who’ve continually overcome mountains of odds through sheer talent, charisma and good instincts. Surviving biased X Factor voting demographics, a limply-received coronation single and, most incredibly, an utterly awful brand name that somehow sounds just as awful four years later, they’ve released quality pop music stamped with their identity and achieved consistent prosperity in the industry. That’s partly why I find it so difficult to properly evaluate the faceless smash hit that broke the group into the big leagues (and indeed to decide on a placing for it in this countdown), even now after its massive exposure and impact over the latter half of the year has settled. In 2015’s musical landscape, the song’s ‘statement’ of unashamedly meaningless feel-good pop is simultaneously refreshing and unimpressive, feeling like the group was sapped of all blossoming artistry at a crucial juncture in favour of a soulless sure-fire radio hit with the kind of cheese-drenched chorus to be expected from an anonymous teenage Disney girl having a crack at being a pop puppet for a while. Months of airplay, technically excellent live performances and personality-filled promo appearances have made me warm to the track’s innate catchiness and element of fun in spite of myself, but I still value what ‘Black Magic’ symbolises much higher than the song itself. I’m thankful for it as the vehicle to a level of (international) prominence that hopefully sustains for a few more years, but otherwise view it as a good but throwaway moment that says very little about the four-piece’s unique appeal and capabilities. MkElfR_NPBI w1Qxxx2SQoo #91 Nothing But Thieves | Trip Switch UK | - | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 19 One of a slew of commercially-doomed Nothing But Thieves’ singles released over the last year or so that was somehow impervious to notoriously cut-throat Radio 1 playlisting criteria (not that I’m complaining), ‘Trip Switch’ is the song best justifying the Muse comparisons that the band frequently receives. The guitar-heavy track is full of anxiety in its verses, with the near-whispered pre-chorus and delicate middle 8 biding their time in order to give the explosive chorus of unrestrained, angsty vocals all the more impact. I can’t say I know or particularly care what the song’s actual meaning is – it’s all about the instruments and overall execution in this one.

Apologies for leaving this idle for so long - spent the last few days stranded on an island without internet access. :lol: (:drama:) THANKS for all the interest and comments, guys! And Lee, there's still four more to come~ :o Funnily enough, 'I'll Show You' and 'Arm's Length' were the two last songs to get cut :cry:! Very fond of them both (and 'Without' too). <3 Cheers!

DECEMBER Songs http://popcrush.com/files/2015/02/zaralarsson-630x420.jpg 01 | ** | Zara Larsson | Lush Life 02 | 01 | Adele | When We Were Young [01-02] 03 | ** | Troye Sivan | WILD 04 | 02 | Adele | Hello [09-02-04] 05 | ** | Hailee Steinfeld | Rock Bottom 06 | ** | The Weeknd | In The Night 07 | 43 | Justin Bieber | Love Yourself [43-07] 08 | ** | Twenty One Pilots | Stressed Out 09 | 34 | Justin Bieber | I’ll Show You [34-09] 10 | 25 | Nothing But Thieves | Honey Whiskey [25-10] 11 | ** | Hailee Steinfeld | Hell Nos And Headphones 12 | 03 | Ellie Goulding | Something In The Way You Move [01-03-12] 13 | 19 | Justin Bieber | What Do You Mean? [10-15-19-13] 14 | ** | David Guetta ft. Sia & Fetty Wap | Bang My Head 15 | 40 | Emmi | 60 Minutes [40-15] 16 | 06 | Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin | Runnin' (Lose It All) [01-02-06-16] 17 | 07 | Adele | Water Under the Bridge [07-17] 18 | 47 | Coldplay | Adventure Of A Lifetime [47-18] 19 | 45 | Shawn Mendes | Stitches [39-12-05-45-19] 20 | 12 | KDA ft. Tinie Tempah & Katy B | Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) [13-12-20] 21 | ** | Troye Sivan ft. Broods | EASE 22 | 18 | Fleur East | Sax [18-22] 23 | 08 | MØ | Kamikaze [10-08-23] 24 | 10 | Rationale | Fuel To The Fire [40-04-10-24] 25 | 13 | Mirror Talk | 1/M/T [13-25] 26 | 04 | Chairlift | Ch-Ching [04-26] 27 | ** | Missy Elliott ft. Pharrell Williams | WTF (Where They From) 28 | ** | HONNE | Gone Are the Days 29 | 22 | Years & Years | Eyes Shut [01-05-05-07-22-29] 30 | 09 | CeeLo Green | Music To My Soul [09-30] 31 | 21 | Justin Bieber | Sorry [21-31] 32 | 17 | One Direction | Perfect [36-17-32] 33 | 23 | Little Mix | Love Me Like You [29-06-23-33] 34 | 24 | Lushlife & CSLSX | Body Double [03-24-34] 35 | 05 | Cloves | Everybody's Son [05-35] 36 | ** | Jack Garratt | Breathe Life 37 | --- | Sia | Alive [36-32-xx-37] 38 | ** | Hailee Steinfeld | You’re Such A 39 | 27 | Rudimental ft. Ed Sheeran | Lay It All On Me [48-27-39] 40 | 49 | Taylor Swift | Out of the Woods [01-03-10-22-39-39-50-49-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-49-40] 41 | ** | Max Pope | Less Than Nothing 42 | ** | Troye Sivan | LOST BOY 43 | 16 | Kacy Hill | Arm's Length [17-16-43] 44 | 20 | Carly Rae Jespen | Your Type [20-44] 45 | 32 | Duke Dumont | Ocean Drive [12-32-45] 46 | 14 | Laura Welsh | Sex & Violence [14-46] 47 | ** | Selena Gomez | Hands To Myself 48 | 42 | Steven A. Clark | Can't Have [02-08-42-48] 49 | ** | Troye Sivan | YOUTH 50 | ** | JONES | Hoops ~~~~~ Monthly #1s 10/14 | Taylor Swift | Out of the Woods 11/14 | Josef Salvat | Open Season 12/14 | Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd | Love Me Harder 01/15 | Years & Years | King 02/15 | Years & Years | King 03/15 | Brandon Flowers | Can't Deny My Love 04/15 | Erik Hassle | No Words 05/15 | Ciara | I Bet 06/15 | Miguel ft. Wale | Coffee (F***ing) 07/15 | Years & Years | Eyes Shut 08/15 | Jess Glynne | Don't Be So Hard On Yourself 09/15 | Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin | Runnin' (Lose It All) 10/15 | Ellie Goulding | Something In The Way You Move 11/15 | Adele | When We Were Young 12/15 | Zara Larsson | Lush Life

#100 Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber | Where Are Ü Now UK | 3 | Ire | 9 | US | 8 | PC | 17 My top 100 begins with the track that heralded Justin Bieber’s musical reinvention, his transition from famed irritant to the most popular male act of the year, as well as my personal journey to fully-fledged Belieberdom. Created under Jack Ü, a collaboration between tastemaking dance heavyweights Skrillex and Diplo, 'Where Are Ü Now' sees a featuring Justin reflective, vulnerable and in a state of abandonment, repeatedly calling out for attention and comfort. Despite being distorted in various ways, his vocals feel both delicate and sincere, qualities which are afforded enough prominence throughout by contrasting waves of exotic, high-energy production. When interpreted as a rallying cry of sorts to his (former) fans, the song shows that Justin’s ready to take things seriously and hints at the career turnaround that is to come with their reinvigorated support, which, incredibly, will be accompanied in time by that of his legions of haters passionate critics. nntGTK2Fhb0 r3nertWi_Mg #99 Years & Years | Ties UK | 172 | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 16 Having heard (and loved) the majority of ‘Communion’ over the course of about a year before its July release, I was slightly worried that Years & Years’ debut album would end up disappointing, whether feeling jarring between the 'new' and 'old', or simply boasting little more of note to join the singles/promo tracks I’d been hammering incessantly. As it happened, two album cuts stood out strongly to me immediately and their appeal didn’t let up, securing themselves among a total of five Years & Years offerings in my top 100 songs of the year. Sandwiched between ‘Eyes Shut’ and ‘King’ in the record’s tracklist, ‘Ties’ defied the odds in revealing itself as a real highlight, with the unconventional chorus of repeated vocal layering set on a bed of dazzling synths proving highly effective. The condescending tone in lines like ‘It's so beautiful to see you lie/Are you having fun?’ makes the verses and pre-chorus feel almost predatory, giving the whole thing a deeply addictive quality, which I imagine would serve it very well if pushed as a single in 2016. #98 Kiiara | Gold UK | - | Ire | - | US | - | PC | 24 F1pB4rCz3dQ With a succinct, ice-cold delivery of scathing lines like ‘Your brother was a good substitute for you’, a chorus/hook consisting of chopped-up vocal samples rid of almost all intelligibility, and the whole thing underpinned by an infectious, throbbing beat, ‘Gold’ is alternative R&B at its most inventive. What’s more, the final package ends up feeling akin to a standard pop song in its catchiness and instant appeal. This is all particularly impressive considering that Kiiara is a 20 year-old Illinois-based struggling singer-songwriter and hardware store assistant (!), who released the track this year as part of her excellent EP ‘Meet Me In The Cornfield’. I'm hoping an album is on the horizon in 2016...or failing that, a promotion to store supervisor at the very least. #97 Kygo ft. Conrad | Firestone UK | 8 | Ire | 6 | US | 92 | PC | 23 Gaining global blog attention with his tropical house remixes of ‘I See Fire’ (my absolute favourite of Ed’s output <3) and Kyla La Grange’s ‘Cut Your Teeth’ (also amazing in its own right), Norwegian DJ Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll a.k.a. Kygo didn’t need much persuading to abandon his economics degree in my adopted hometown of Edinburgh to pursue a full-time career in music, releasing a predictably summery-sounding debut single in the depths of winter last. Taking 13 weeks to hit the UK top 10, ‘Firestone’ was slow to connect with me too, the combination of Conrad’s gently emotive vocals and the chilled, shimmering house production gradually revealing the track’s hypnotic beauty after months of radio/Chart Show exposure. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for X Factor’s Lauren Murray, who’d never even heard of the long-running hit and had to have its identity confirmed by a drunken Essex crowd while preparing for her next karaoke performance that weekend. Poor hen. 9Sc-ir2UwGU oyEuk8j8imI #96 Justin Bieber | Love Yourself UK | 1 | Ire | 1 | US | 4 | PC | 7 Thundering to instant hit status upon the release of ‘Purpose’, ‘Love Yourself’ was essentially chosen by Beliebers old and new as the album’s third official single, the involvement in the song of celebrated balladeer Ed Sheeran going some way toward explaining its mass appeal. A subdued, melodic, downtempo acoustic track with an ostensibly affectionate sentiment and overall vibe, it’s not hard to understand how it stood out in an album so defined by electronic thrills and experimentation. What makes ‘Love Yourself’ so interesting though is that everything about its delivery and context feels very much like it’s a ‘nice little song’ with obvious Sheeran sensibilities, when closer attention reveals its lyrics throughout to be cold and bitter. Selena A former flame is more or less being told to go f*** herself, and insults really don’t get more effective than the chorus’ first line: ‘My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone’, a real standout lyric of the year. Perhaps the song’s best moment though is the brief trumpet solo and Justin’s carefree humming along and mimicking of it, the clearest indication of anything else that he’s truly moved on.

I will get this all underway very soon but in the meantime here are some honourable mentions~ Adele | Water Under the Bridge All Tvvins | Thank You Ben Haenow | Something I Need Carly Rae Jespen | Your Type CHVRCHES | Never Ending Circles Ciara | Dance Like We're Making Love Ciara | Give Me Love Cloves | Everybody's Son Coldplay | Adventure Of A Lifetime Disclosure ft. Lorde | Magnets Disclosure ft. Sam Smith | Omen Django Django | First Light Ellie Goulding | Army Ellie Goulding | On My Mind Eves The Behavior | Electrical Fetty Wap | Trap Queen Flor | Heart Florence + The Machine | Queen Of Peace Foxes | Better Love Foxes | Body Talk George Maple | Vacant Space Hailee Steinfeld | Hell Nos And Headphones Hailee Steinfeld | Rock Bottom Hozier | Someone New Huntar | Autumn Justin Bieber | I'll Show You Justin Bieber | Sorry Kacy Hill | Arm's Length Kiiara | Feels Kinnie Lane | Je Te Suivrai Kwabs | Fight For Love Kwabs | Love + War Kygo ft. Parson James | Stole The Show Lana Del Rey | High By The Beach Laura Welsh | Sex & Violence Lauv | The Other Mirror Talk | 1/M/T MUNA | So Special Nick Jonas – Chains Nothing But Thieves | Honey Whiskey Nothing But Thieves | Itch Nothing But Thieves | Wake Up Call Olly Murs | Kiss Me One Direction | Drag Me Down Philip George & Anton Powers | Alone No More Refs | Pain Goes Away Rihanna | Bitch Better Have My Money Sia | Big Girls Cry Sia | Elastic Heart Sinead Harnett | She Ain't Me The Weeknd | Can't Feel My Face The Weeknd | Earned It Tinashe ft. Chris Brown | Player Tove Styrke | Borderline Wolf Colony | Beauty Wolf Colony | The One

http://oi65.tinypic.com/2hey8h3.jpg Hello and welcome to my musical retrospective of 2015! Like last year, this thread will consist of thoughts on my favourite 100 songs of the last 12 months, where sometimes I'll use the opportunity to also ramble about associated artists' careers, commercial performances, market trends...or just things tenuously connected that happen to pop into my head. I'd been contemplating not doing a countdown at all this year as last year's took up way more time than expected, but decided against it as, despite that, I got a lot of enjoyment out of putting into words the personal appeal of certain tracks, as well as reading feedback and interacting with others over them. As such, I don't imagine I'll get through this very efficiently and there may be longish gaps of inactivity, but I'm absolutely set on finishing it eventually! All of the songs featured here have (or will have) appeared in my monthly personal chart, but I haven't determined the EOY ordering on their chart runs or taken into account where they peaked there. This list is simply based on what feels right to me as I look back on songs I've consistently enjoyed and/or hold in particularly high esteem. It should also be noted that I've included a few tracks technically released before 2015 which have had some sort of prominence this year, for example as an official single or through BJSC exposure. Firstly, here's a noahstalgic return to the 100 songs that best defined my 2014: (Link to thread) #01 | Coldplay | Magic #02 | Years & Years | Take Shelter #03 | Katy B | Crying For No Reason #04 | Kwabs | Wrong Or Right #05 | Jessie Ware | Tough Love #06 | Josef Salvat | Open Season #07 | Mr. Probz | Waves (Robin Schulz Remix) #08 | Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd | Love Me Harder #09 | Kwabs | Walk #10 | BANKS | Beggin For Thread #11 | Taylor Swift | Out of the Woods #12 | Ben Howard | End of the Affair #13 | TOKiMONSTA ft. Anderson Paak | Realla #14 | HAIM | If I Could Change Your Mind #15 | Ella Henderson | Ghost #16 | Cheryl | Only Human #17 | Pharrell Williams | Gust Of Wind #18 | Hozier | Sedated #19 | Tove Lo | Stay High (Hippie Sabotage Remix) #20 | The Midnight | The Years (Prologue) #21 | Lana Del Rey | West Coast #22 | Take That | These Days #23 | Justin Timberlake | Not A Bad Thing #24 | Selena Gomez | The Heart Wants What It Wants #25 | Josef Salvat | Diamonds #26 | Ed Sheeran | Don't #27 | Imagine Dragons | Demons #28 | James Bay | Hold Back The River #29 | Paolo Nutini | Iron Sky #30 | Calvin Harris ft. HAIM | Pray To God #31 | Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX | Fancy #32 | Ed Sheeran | Afire Love #33 | Years & Years | Desire #34 | Sam Smith | I'm Not The Only One #35 | Lorde | Yellow Flicker Beat #36 | Tove Lo | Not On Drugs #37 | Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne | Rather Be #38 | MAGIC! | Rude #39 | Marina and the Diamonds | Froot #40 | Lorde | Team #41 | Sia | Chandelier #42 | Hozier | From Eden #43 | One Direction | Steal My Girl #44 | Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz | Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit) #45 | Hopium | Cut #46 | Olly Murs ft. Demi Lovato | Up #47 | 5 Seconds Of Summer | She Looks So Perfect #48 | Marina and the Diamonds | Happy #49 | Rixton | Me And My Broken Heart #50 | CHVRCHES | Dead Air #51 | Ben Howard | I Forget Where We Were #52 | Hozier | Take Me To Church #53 | Fka twigs | Two Weeks #54 | Nicki Minaj | Pills N Potions #55 | Henry Saiz | All The Evil Of This World #56 | Taylor Swift | Blank Space #57 | Josh Record | Wide Awake #58 | Katy B | Stay Down #59 | Paloma Faith | Only Love Can Hurt Like This #60 | Walk The Moon | Shut Up and Dance #61 | G.R.L. | Ugly Heart #62 | Rhodes | Your Soul #63 | One Direction | Fireproof #64 | Busta Rhymes ft. Q-Tip, Kanye West and Lil Wayne | Thank You #65 | Lykke Li | Gunshot #66 | Ed Sheeran | Runaway #67 | VÉRITÉ | Strange Enough #68 | Vance Joy | Riptide #69 | Sam Smith | Like I Can #70 | Rita Ora | I Will Never Let You Down #71 | Shakira ft. Rihanna | Can’t Remember To Forget You #72 | Pearl | Not Enough #73 | The Script | Superheroes #74 | Hopium ft. Phoebe Lou | Dreamers #75 | Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars | Uptown Funk #76 | M.O | Dance On My Own #77 | London Grammar | Hey Now #78 | Katy Perry | This Is How We Do #79 | will.i.am | It’s My Birthday #80 | OneRepublic | I Lived #81 | The Magician ft. Years & Years | Sunlight #82 | One Direction | Night Changes #83 | Professor Green ft. Tori Kelly | Lullaby #84 | Nothing But Thieves | Lover Please Stay #85 | Charli XCX | Boom Clap #86 | Josef Salvat | Shoot And Run #87 | Beyoncé | Partition #88 | Lana Del Rey | Ultraviolence #89 | Coldplay | A Sky Full Of Stars #90 | Luke James | Dancing In The Dark #91 | Foxes | Holding Onto Heaven #92 | JUCE | Call You Out #93 | Ella Eyre | If I Go #94 | Gorgon City | Ready For Your Love #95 | Eliot Sumner | Information #96 | Ella Henderson | Hard Work #97 | Nothing But Thieves | Graveyard Whistling #98 | Aloe Blacc | The Man #99 | Jamie T | Zombie #100 | Tinie Tempah ft. Labirinth | Lover Not A Fighter

Heard this the other day for the first time in a while and realised it makes so much more sense as an Adele track in a post-'Hello' world. I'd struggled to get much of a connection beforehand, apart from the beat in the verses vaguely resembling RITD, but what other songs this year have made as huge a statement of arrival as 'Hello' and 'Alive'? They share lyrical similarities and are completely unapologetic sonically, with unrestrained vocals sung/shouted in massive, thrilling choruses. If Sia's idea was moreso to pre-empt Adele's musical and cultural comeback rather than create something suited to her based on her past material, she kinda nailed it.

The EP is indeed wonderful. Great to see that her gloriously life-affirming masturbation anthem of a debut single wasn't a complete fluke. :wub: I'd say 'Rock Bottom' is the highlight of the new trio due to how effectively the lyrics capture being in a confused, destructive relationship, but they're all top-notch and get the balance just right between feeling youthful/genuine to her as an artist and having enough maturity and experimentation to make her stand out from her peers. That said, I do get Jark's point about 'Hell Nos...' not exactly fitting with her image and overall vibe, but then I'd have expected her material to be bland and unremarkable based on the very little I know of her, so it's nice to be surprised by how much there seemingly is to her as an artist.

Been inexplicably late to Troye's newer stuff (I only checked out 'Wild' for the first time last week :unsure:) but I always knew an album of his would be up my street, having loved 'Touch' and some other tracks in the past. Listened to 'Blue Neighbourhood' three times in a row the other night so it's safe to say I was right! It's all about how well the consistently exciting production fuses with the dreamy quality of his vocals for me. Such an accomplished debut - it appears he's absolutely nailed his sound and identity going by how cohesive it all is. As such, I don't have any obvious highlights other than 'Wild' and the collabs with Allday and Tkay (two of the best acts to come out of Australia in recent years so I was delighted to see they feature on this), and 'Ease' with Broods didn't disappoint either. Don't quite get why 'Youth' is the next single though - the chorus doesn't work for me at all.

Belated yay for Eves reppin' at #99 :cheer:! I did think when you revealed there were three of my songs in your top 150 that all would fall short of the top 100 as I knew none made a particularly big impression on you, so it's great to see 'TV' just scraping by in true Desbuanda style! Been enjoying following this thread for all the insights and lovely presentation, as well as the musical picks of course. Some highlights so far would be 'Make Me A Bird' (love the build too <3), 'Get Up' (had to re-listen after what you said about the nonsensical verses :o but yeah who cares anyway :music:), 'Kool-Aid' (I must have been the only person unsurprised that this qualified...but then I'm usually useless at predicting qualifiers so of course I can get the 'shock' ones :rolleyes:) and 'Rıyzamın' (not ashamed a little ashamed to admit I lost my shit to the chorus the first of many times it graced me :wub:).