Top 50 Songs, Tracks or {whatever you want to call them} of 2019 [25-1]

N.B. This is Part 2 of a countdown. Be sure to check out Part 1 first









25. Krept & Konan - Broski (Album: Revenge Is Sweet)
Warning: References to suicide

Ban Drill would have been a big contender for this list, but I feel like that it works better and is more effective with the short film that accompanies it.
Following from the hard-hitting interlude in which Ramz discusses his mental health, the song is written about a friend of the duo who took his own life. Krept and Konan share their feelings through the lyrics in an honest and heartbreaking way. Konan also discourages those who are struggling with mental health from ‘suffer[ing] on [their] own’ and instead encouraging them to reach out for support. It shows that a song can not only convey a lot of emotion through just vocals and a piano, but can also open the conversation to a very serious topic.


24. Thom Yorke - Twist (Album: ANIMA)
The repetition of ‘twist’ in this song is quite spine-chilling as is the crowd of people shouting ‘YAY!’ popping out of nowhere. The synths convey a good moody atmosphere like on the rest of the album before switching up to a piano and a transcendent synth crescendo somewhere in the 4 minute mark.


23. IDLES - I Dream Guillotine (B-side of the Mercedes Marxist 7”)
This song is a reminder that I should check out B-sides and rarities more often, because I can uncover some hidden gems from doing so. I love the way Joe Talbot uses repetition on this. He does so effectively with his loud vocals to paint a dystopian future of Britain.


22. Jack Goldstein - Beckon Call (Album: LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE)
There are four different parts throughout this song and all run together smoothly. The structure of this track is pretty experimental with how it looks into different styles and genres of music.
The first two parts are a synth driven tune about love in the night, the third part is the shortest and has a church organ, and the fourth and final part is an indie rock instrumental that fits nicely for the summertime.


21. Girl Band - Shoulderblades (Album: The Talkies)
This track remains almost discordant for its 6 minute runtime. It is made more unsettling by Dara Kiely’s shouting about feet on an armchair, orange door hinges and images of Ed Mordake wearing a hat. His vocal delivery makes these peculiar images stand out thanks to the agitated tone of both his performance and the production.


20. The Murder Capital - Feeling Fades (Album: When I Have Fears)
In my Top 50 Albums Of 2019 post, I referred to this as one of the kick ass cuts that occur in the middle of the album. The energetic guitars get you pumped into a fast-paced groove and James McGovern uses repetition in the chorus to keep the pulse of this song going.


19. Little Simz feat. Chronixx - Wounds (Album: GREY Area)
Little Simz shows a sorrowful presentation about gun violence and how it has affected youth culture. The guitar and strings evoke this feeling really well, and that feeling is further echoed by Chronixx’s chorus. His soulfulness provides a much needed hope to contrast with the themes of the song.


18. Squarepusher - Vortrack (Album: Be Up A Hello)
My first introduction to Squarepusher during the tail-end of this decade. I was amazed to find out that he has been producing electronic music since the mid-90’s.
On this track, he brings an off-kilter, spine-chilling style to the sound of IDM, and even blends different sounds of the electronic genre together. The atmosphere of this reminds me of DANCING IN THE SMOKE by Actress, which also succeeded in bringing a similar ominous feel.
I also recommend you check out the Fracture remix as well. It has a similar atmosphere to the original, except with a more drum and bass style.


17. Fontaines DC - Boys In The Better Land (Album: Dogrel)
I’m sort of cheating for this one, because the original Darklands version came out in 2018. The version I’m referring to is the one that was re-recorded for the Dogrel album. It has a much faster pace than the Darklands version and is bound to get you more pumped up.
The pre-chorus is a possible indication on how you have to get out of your robotic job position and show the other people what you’ve got. It feels quite cathartic when you think it that way.
This leads into the chorus which is a banger all around, thanks to the energetic guitar and drums, as well as Grian Chatten’s vocals.


16. Loyle Carner feat. Jorja Smith - Loose Ends (Album: Not Waving, But Drowning)
I like how reflective Loyle Carner is in this song. While he wishes he had received support earlier in his life, he is still thankful of those who have given him so today. And that sense of reflection is accompanied by the angelic sounding piano. We also are treated to a chorus from Jorja Smith, who sounds beautiful and feels quite guidance like.


15. FKA twigs - fallen alien (Album: MAGDALENE)
FKA twigs shows off a lot of emotion in this song; ranging from heartbreak to anger as she feels betrayed by what her lover did to her. The piano, along with the vocal fragments and sound effects, provide a dramatic, unnerving tone to complement the emotions exhibited throughout the song.


14. Mark Ronson feat. Angel Olsen - True Blue (Album: Late Night Feelings)
The song opens up with the chorus, except it’s slower and sounds like it’s playing on an old gramophone.That’s before we switch to a lustrous 80s instrumental that would fit perfectly for a night-time drive. Angel Olsen’s vocals on this are incredible due to how she sells the feeling of desperation that goes with the lyrics. The line “I love the way you read me eyes” almost feels kaleidoscopic thanks to the hazey synths.


13. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Hollywood (Album: Ghosteen)
Nick Cave does a brilliant job as a storyteller as he tells a story of himself driving to Malibu while showing signs of worry over his potential death while being accompanied by transcendent, circular synths that establish a desolate feel of ambience.
He then does a retelling of the classic Buddhist story of Kisa Gotami with a relatively high tessitura to represent Gotami’s desperation to save her dying child. He connects the Buddhist story and his story together to show us that death is an inevitable factor in our lives and it will happen to everyone. It is such as spine-chilling, but also a great message to teach the listener.


12. The Cinematic Orchestra feat. Heidi Vogel - A Promise (Album: To Believe)
The Cinematic Orchestra bring in a fantastic combination of strings and pianos to convey a calming atmosphere. Heidi Vogel's performance feels quite saintly and I think she has a great singing voice.


11. SEED Ensemble feat. Xana - Afronaut (Album: DRIFT Glass)
The drum kit maintains quite a vigorous pace throughout, and the brass ensemble is just amazing. I also really like how poetical XANA gets on her verse. Really good stuff!




Time to look at the stuff that has made it into the Top 10


10. Black Midi - ducter (Album: schlagenheim)
An annotation on Genius suggests that ‘ducter’ is short for conductor and how the lyrics may be told from an ensemble member whose being walked over by a conductor’s criticism, but I think they might also indicate a point-of-view from a candidate battling in a political debate and how he can see the flaws of his opponent’s arguments.
The triplet guitar rhythm playing through the verses feels quite ominous. The way the time signatures switch between the verses and refrain is very useful; the verses being set in 4/4, while the refrain starts in 12/8. The refrain then gets increasingly faster with a time signature change as the repetition of ‘He could never break me’ becomes more tense with added agitation from Geordie Greep. This could mean that the character’s opponent might have succeeded in breaking him.
I remember seeing The Social Tune make a good point regarding the repetition used in the chorus of Beyonce's Sorry in his Best Hit Songs Of 2016 video (which unfortunately has been taken down by YouTube at the moment due to copyright). It was on how the listener may believe the character in the song less and less if he/her keeps repeating him/herself, and that can also be applied to this refrain.



9. Bring Me The Horizon - Ludens (Album: “Death Stranding: Timefall (Original Music From The World Of Death Stranding)”)
I haven’t played a lot of video games this year, but the soundtrack to the new Death Stranding game caught my attention and offered many great tracks from the likes of CHVRCHES, Missio and especially Bring Me The Horizon's absolutely pulsating banger of a song. BMTH’s content is very gloomy and downbeat, and since the game is set in a dystopian universe, their style fits the tone of the game fantastically.
We get this goosebump-inducing noise in the background throughout the intro and verses that is remindful of some of the experimental effects from Kanye West’s Yeezus era. The song focuses on corrupt leaders and calls them out for their dodgy motives and how they affect the land they’re ruling, thus the demand for a new leader and a new Luden. At first, I thought luden was German for ‘leader’ but is actually a term for a race of beings in the game that is said to be superior over the typical human. The breakdown adds to the intensity of this song with the repetition of “You call this a connection” becoming louder and the guitars sounding amazingly dark.



8. Foals - Sunday (Album: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1)
It was either this or Syrups, but I eventually settled with Sunday due to how relaxingly cathartic it feels.
We see the character of the album step away from his comfort zone and enjoy life before its potential demise. The lyrics carry a more positive tone compared to the rest of the album, which was set in an apocalyptic Earth. The guitars along with the crescendo noise in the background sound very mellow and dreamy to form a calm, soothing atmosphere. That is before we get to the three and a half minute mark, where there is a switch-up to a faster Antidotes style rhythm with a drum kit providing some much needed energy and the repetition of “Over it!” possibly foreshadowing the character development of ENSWBL Part 2.



7. Slipknot - Nero Forte (Album: We Are Not Your Kind)
This is an absolute rager of a song. The verses are pumped up thanks to the fast-paced electric guitars and the angered vocals of Corey Taylor. The chorus also makes a haunting use of a call and response with the vocal harmonies feeling hopeless and heartbroken while Taylor vents out his anger. The bridge also has a dark sentence contained in the one-word shouts of the backing vocals to highlight the feeling of someone who has become a victim of betrayal.



6. Flying Lotus - Takashi (Album: Flamagra)
Now let’s move on to something more upbeat, and what may be my favourite instrumental track of the year.
FlyLo starts this piece off nice and slow, before it gradually becomes funkier and jazzier. The sounds that occur throughout the album are incredibly soothing and make for a marvellous auditory experience.



5. TOOL - Fear Inoculum (Album: Fear Inoculum)
I have not listened to the long-awaited comeback album from Tool, but what I have listened to is the title track of that album. I was curious to check this one out after seeing the news of it breaking the record for the longest song to have entered the Billboard Hot 100 (at the time of this list being written); clocking in at 10 minutes and 23 seconds, therefore beating the 9 minute and 57 second long Blackstar by David Bowie in the process.
Tool manage to make the musical aspects of this track feel very cinematic. Bringing in strings and then adding bongos to create tension, before switching to a more rock-orientated sound with the guitars acting as the driving force from the 1st verse to the end. The lyrics show a character realizing that he has been misinformed through The Deceiver and is breaking away from the ‘yes man’ mindset and finally starting to think for himself.



4. Tyler, The Creator - GONE, GONE / THANK YOU (Album: IGOR)
The production on this one is fantastic all over. The synths provide a mellow feel throughout and the pitched up vocals fit them really well. We also get a great chorus from Cee Lo Green lamenting over the loss of his love, with the line “My love’s gone” sounding really beautiful over this instrumentation. We then get a beat switch with a rap verse from Tyler and it’s very reflective of the relationship that ran through the album. After that, the song ends with the THANK YOU part, where even though Tyler doesn’t want to go through the process of love again, he is still thankful to his ex for all the good times they spent together.



3. The Comet Is Coming feat. Kate Tempest - Blood Of The Past (Album: Trust In The Lifeforce Of Deep Mystery)
A song from my #3 album of 2019 is also #3 on this list. Ha! Three-ception!
Anyway, this starts off with some nice wavy synths reminiscent of those that were in Tame Impala’s Nangs but with a faster rhythm, before switching to a fabulous fusion of jazz and progressive rock. Kate Tempest shows up to provide the only vocal contribution on the entire album, like with Joshua Idehen on Lightyears from previous album Channel The Spirits. She delivers an excellently written poem about consumerism and the ugly side of society that fits splendidly with the tone of the music.



2. King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard - Self-Immolate (Album: Infest The Rats’ Nest)
Out of all the tracks that have entered the Top 10, this one is definitely the shortest; clocking at 4 minutes and 29 seconds.
This is where the album is at its most fiery and ragey. Stu Mackenzie yells as he begs for fire, which highlights the denial of climate change generally covered in the album. The electric guitars complement the lyrics magnificently as they sound like they’re immolating themselves.





And my number one song of 2019 is...


1. DAVE FEAT. RUELLE - LESLEY (Album: Psychodrama)
Warning: References to domestic abuse

After listening to the Psychodrama album, I knew that this would end up topping my list.
Dave’s story about an abuse victim called Lesley becomes more heartbreakingly compelling with each verse as the textures build-up. The chorus in which Dave and Ruelle sing in unison “I don’t know myself no more” represents Lesley’s decreasing self-esteem during the relationship. Dave then closes off his last verse by encouraging those trapped in an abusive relationship to seek help. We then end off with a heartfelt outro from Ruelle as she sings with an angelic voice while feeling sympathetic towards the victim.
It’s a heart-wrenching track altogether but also uses the story to spread a message.





And that's the end of the countdown
Next time, I might plan on working on a retro hits list.