2022 Music: Top 20 Songs of the Year

 Alright, well it's come to that time again, that time I've come to this time every year for the past seven years, so I don't need too much preamble. Let's just jump in.

But before I do, a quick sidenote to link to my Spotify playlist including all of these songs along with the rest of my insanely long longlist that was whittled down to my two previous posts and, indeed, this one as the best of the year.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6XjcgPtkht6jg8yHLj9ilp?si=50c8f2ba1c4347a7

 20) Mountbatten - The Slow Show (Pop Rock)

A new discovery for  me this year, these guys really surprised me with their subtle progressive movements in a way that really expands their sound. This was the best track for me off their album "Still Life" which had a tendency throughout to build slowly on me to the point where it was hard to let go. We'll be talking more about the album overall in tomorrow's post.

19) Kaleidoscope - Shadow Academy (Pop Rock)

I had a bit of a hard time taking this band seriously, mainly because frontman Dan Avidan's voice is so familiar to me as one half of comedy rock duo Ninja Sex Party, so I kept wondering when he was going to throw a dick joke or ten into his lyrics. But this song really puts my need for facetiousness to rest; it's really quite an intensely catchy bit of arena rock that suits his light tones really well even when I'm struggling to accept his newfound serious musicianship.

18) Underwater - Sun's Signature (Chamber Pop)

This song had the most absurd journey into my top twenty of the year. I was listening to the self-titled EP as a potential contender for album of the year and was so struck by this song that I felt I had to look up where it had landed in its week and how strongly I was considering it for song of the year - and found out that not only did it land only at #5 of its week (most of these songs here of course won song of the week or runner-up), but I'd in fact removed it for consideration for song of the year at some point relistening during the year. It immediately got reinstated and ended up getting shuffled into 18th spot of the year. The reason is obvious to me now, and I can see why I may have lost traction with it, as it does have a bit of a slow build and a long fadeout but while it's in its complete strides it's a note-perfect bit of expansive dreampop, delivered by way of a chamber music mentality and instrumentation; extremely striking.

17) Pamela - Chat Pile (Experimental Death Punk)

This is probably not the song from my top 20 that I'd recommend people listen to really to get my taste in music, or indeed if you want a song that's entertaining or in any way pleasant. But the way this song acts as a manifestation of grief and despair I find utterly captivating. Through its constant discordance, laconic spoken-word vocals and shrieking climax, there's very little here really to enjoy but it's the relentless barrage of pain here that makes it so impactful.

16) Night Prowler - Carpenter Brut (Synthwave)

From something as serious and dour as "Pamela" it's quite a delight to segue into a bit of Carpenter Brut, who is making my top 20 songs of the year for the second time (previously #14 of 2018 for "Inferno Galore" off the album to which this album is a spiritual sequel). There's not a great deal of nuance or even really depth to this, but it's just a wild, rollicking  ride of heavy-beat and synthesised music that slaps at every turn.

15) Daybreak - Bastards of Soul (Soul)

For a long time this year I had this song slated as a surefire entry in my top 10, and I'm not sure what's made me cool to it because, objectively, it's a fantastic bit of music. The late Chadwick Murray - who died in late 2021 before this album was released - really drives the song with his powerful vocal performance singing about the despondency he faced as a black man waking up each day not knowing when he might face an untimely death. The brass accompaniment imbues it with a nice funky air and it really deserves a spot in any top of the year list, except that I took a personal greater liking to other songs.

14) Forgiveness I + II - Billy Talent (Pop Punk)

These guys were somehow completely new to me this year, although it seems they've been mainstays of the Canadian pop punk scene for most of my life. Possibly not being a big pop punk fan and not being Canadian has helped me stay at a distance from them until now. But there's always room in my end of year list for a really well-done bit of pop punk, and this not only just has a great rocking-out kind of energy but they manage to stitch together the central theme across an interesting progressive instrumental and fadeout section, and it works brilliantly.

13) Cold Brew - Shamir (Queer Pop)

I was quite taken by Shamir's self-titled album a couple of years ago, and he made my top 100 songs with a surprisingly spry bit of self-deprecation "On My Own", so naturally with his follow-up album "Heterosexuality" he struck even deeper chords with this track. Again it's a strangely perky and dreamy pop song on the surface but that sweet exterior belies quite a dark central theme of being uncomfortable with your own being and existence. At the end of the day it's just a really cool, catchy song but it carries a great deal of gravity as well.

12) The Antidote is in the Poison - GoGo Penguin (Contemporary Jazz)

I've loved this trio ever since first hearing them in 2018, a year which saw them land my #2 album of the year, "A Humdrum Star", and I feel their EP this year "Between Two Waves" may even be a superior album (except that it's only 24 minutes long). This bizarre little composition is one of their most striking tracks and hence it gives them their first top twenty berth for me. I've probably listened to this intensely syncopated bit of freewheeling jazz two dozen times and I still can't quite wrap my head around the time signature. What really sets them apart, besides their obvious individual talents, is how well they move around tempos so unpredictably yet so coherently.

11) Snowblind - Ásgeir (Electrofolk Pop)

Like Shamir, Ásgeir is another artist who's previously cracked my top 100 songs of the year (#84 of 2017 for "Stardust") and now graduates into my top 20 with this cracker. I was honestly a bit unenthused by the rest of his album released late in 2022, but this particular track just hits all of his Icelandic roots in the right strange, other-worldly ways while also delivering a really engaging and driving bit of electropop. It's light and fun but also seriously striking.

10) Giant - Mighty Mystic (Dancehall Reggae)

This track really stands out on its album as being a very sweet, wholesome love note to the dude's mother and him fulfilling his promise to grow up and look after her the way she looked after him - and presumably also his older brother, the current prime minister of Jamaica (just a fun fact in there - isn't that the most Jamaican thing ever that the prime minister has a little brother who makes reggae music for a living). I always have a bit of a soft spot for reggae music, in particular when it has a nice upbeat lilt like this as well as an uplifting message ("The boy you knew has turned into a giant") that never loses sight of its social consciousness.

9) Human - Astronoid (Post-Metal)

I was also familiar with these guys prior to this year; they've never made an end-of-year list but they did get an "honourable mention" in my top albums of 2016 post. This particular track, and the album it comes off, really struck me though as their strongest work to date. This song stands out for its wonderful contrasts between the dark and busy guitar work and the light, ethereal touches from the keyboard and Brett Boland's vocals. I'll have more to say about the album overall in tomorrow's post, but this song definitely feels like the high point in terms of drawing out those juxtaposed elements in intriguing and mesmerising ways.

8) Let Me Drown - Orville Peck (Queer Country)

We listened to Orville Peck's critically-acclaimed debut album "Pony" in 2019 but I didn't really "get" his thing at the time, but this year's "Bronco" really clicked with me. In particular this song, a painful ballad about letting love go, really stirred and moved me. His voice, obviously owing a debt of gratitude to Elvis Presley and great country singers of the 60s and beyond, has a pitch-perfect tone throughout that's wounded, poignant and plaintive, but of course the string orchestrations hit all the right swells and dramatic builds to make this a genuine show-stopper.

7) Am I Really Going to Die - White Lies (Post-Punk)

This was another album where I wasn't entirely taken with it overall but this song stood head and shoulders above the rest. It's lyrically strange, an exploration of paranoia and cynicism in the age of information overload and illiteracy, but what I love so much about it is how well the instrumentation grows the chorus and allows this bit of whimsical satire to expand out into something truly, but strangely, affecting.

6) Copening - Benjamin Clementine (Chamber Pop)

This song, first released as part of a two-song EP, was probably among my most highly-anticipated of the year: the long-awaited follow-up to Clementine's 2017 album "I Tell a Fly" (my #17 album of that year) and a year after we'd relistened to his remarkable Mercury-prize winning debut "At Least For Now" which I'd now consider among my top 5 favourite albums of all time. Apart from his incredible voice and presence behind the mic, what really makes this song quite remarkable to me is how much drama, musical narrative and pathos Clementine manages to squeeze into a simple 2-minute composition of piano, voice and accompanying strings. If you want a recommendation for getting the most out of your music efficiently, look no further.

5) Haldern - Black Country, New Road (Experimental Jazz Punk)

There's a bit of a personal story behind why this ultimately very strange song makes my top 5, which is that I had it playing for some reason one day when I picked up Dylan from school, and he liked it so much (for some reason) that he kept asking me to play it whenever I picked him up. But beyond repeated exposure for the first months of the year, I put it on to reconsider it later in the year and felt that yes, Dylan had good taste. I can't quite work out what makes this song so compelling, but I think it's largely in its complete idiosyncrasy: the delicacy of the piano accompaniment combined with the abrasive vocal work and the sheer incongruity of having the emotional heart of your song delivered through saxophone. It's a unique and remarkable listening experience.

4) The Dripping Tap - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (Progressive Rock)

Absolutely the antithesis to Benjamin Clementine's 2-minute efficiency, this 18+ minute monster could in many ways be considered bloated and self-indulgent, but I absolutely love it. It's funny that I've never been able to fully embrace King Giz mainly because they release albums so frequently it's hard to reckon with one before you have to consider another, and yet at their most bombastic here I'm completely on board. What I loved first about this song is how seamlessly it works through its progressive stages, working in some fiery instrumental sections with a kickass protest rock message decrying the worsening effects of climate change, "the dripping tap won't be turned off by the suits in charge of the world". It's a long ride but a hugely enjoyable one.

3) Triangle - The HU (Mongolian Folk Metal)

These pioneers of fusing metal music with Mongolian folk singing (I note they weren't the first to do this, but certainly the first to gain international recognition for it) absolutely burst out of the blocks with this remarkable bit of hard rock that manages to draw the most catchy and melodious strains from a collection of largely guttural sounds. I described this song on my very first impression as being "absolute magic" and I stand by that after about thirty relistens: it's really the perfect example of being able to fuse traditional and modern sounds in a way that invites the two cultures to coexist and form a deeper appreciation of each other.

2) Christmas Moon - Kathryn Williams & Carol Ann Duffy (Indie Folk)

I've had all year to fall deeper in love with this song which won my song of the week in the first week of the year (the album was a holdover from December 2021), but it's never really been far from the front of my mind as a genuine song of the year contender. It's simply the sweetest and most poignant love song I've heard this year, centred around former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy's lyrics rhapsodising about watching her child sleep and the peace that ensues. The simple composition of guitar and woodwinds gives it a beautiful fairytale quality, and I'm really happy to have it here as a gentle runner-up, sandwiched between a couple of much rougher tracks. Notably, of course...

1) Chakh Le - Bloodywood (Indian Rap Metal)

I'll have a fair bit more to say about Bloodywood's remarkable debut album "Rakshak" tomorrow of course, but for now let's talk about this song that closes out the album. I'm not entirely sure what precisely it is that sets this song apart from a lot of the rest of the album which follows a similar pattern, fusing Punjabi folk choruses with hard-hitting blokey rap and even harder-hitting metal guitar chords, but to me this song just embodies everything I love about music. I love the old-meets-new clash of the chorus which sounds like the big crowd number at the centre of a Bollywood musical but underlain by the furious frenzy of the metal guitars, I love the east-meets-west clash of the young Indian lads rapping about wealth inequality and how they plan to use their influence behind the mic to try to drive social change. But at the end of the day, this song just holds nothing back and it's the best head-banger I've had, and after the vicissitudes of personal fortune the last couple of years, I found Bloodywood's particular brand of righteous anger hit the perfect cathartic note.