By Epigram Music & Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
This year was yet another strange one, but once again music proved to be a solace in an otherwise chaotic world. Our editors and writers proudly present to you our favourite 100 songs that blessed our ears this year. Offered in no particular order, this is the ultimate soundtrack of 2022.
100. Lime Garden - Bitter
By Kate Jeffrie, Second Year English
Lime Garden’s latest song feels like a drunk snog between the music of Let’s Eat Grandma and Jockstrap and gets swept up in the same rush of a wine-stained kiss. Singing about the anxieties of getting older, Lime Garden sprint through the song without catching their breath; they’re in a race against time itself. It’s what gives the song’s premise its irony – a promise not to expect too much for oneself – when the year has taken the band in like hitchhikers and driven them into the sunset.
99. Yaya Bey - Meet Me in Brooklyn
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Releasing her critically acclaimed album, Remember Your North Star, 2022 has been a triumphant year for Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Yaya Bey. Though it’s just a mere minute and a half long, ‘Meet Me in Brooklyn’ sees Bey at her very best. Light-hearted in nature and dubby in sound, the track transports you back from these harsh winter months to something far more peaceful and tranquil as Bey harmonises effortlessly over expertly sampled instrumentals. Yaya Bey undoubtedly has a bright future ahead of her as she continues to grow in popularity and, with tracks like this, it’s no surprise.
98. Paolo Nutini - Acid Eyes
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Known for his melancholic love songs of ten years ago, this absolute screamer from Nutini’s new album, Last Night in the Bittersweet, shows off the head-bopping, rocky, strutting side of the usually soft and soulful artist. The track is a true testament to the versatility that Nutini has always had and continues to demonstrate through his music. This is a road trip-level tune, and I do not use that term lightly whatsoever.
97. Chat Pile - Why
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
On 'Why', Raygun Busch – lead singer for sludge-metal debutants Chat Pile - repeatedly screams “Why do people have to live outside?”. It’s a song which, on paper, might come across a little inane in its execution but between its earnestness and the way it highlights the absurdity of homelessness, it is profoundly moving. “In the brutal heat or when it’s below freezing, there are people that are made to live outside. 'Why?", the track cuts through the s*** in a way that all angry, political music should.
96. Taylor Swift - The Great War
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
The bonus tracks from the 3AM version of Midnights come with some of the best, most astute lyricism from Ms Swift, and ‘The Great War’ is definitely one of them. The song is about struggling to trust in your new relationship and trying to get through that hurdle when other relationships in the past may have been heartbreaking. With every verse, Taylor’s strong songwriting and lyricism shines through, pairing immensely well with Aaron Dessner’s Folklore/Evermore-esque production.
95. The 1975 - Happiness
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Catching The 1975 replacing Rage Against the Machine at the Reading Festival this year, Matty Healy suggested that had they had more time they would have put together a cover of a Rage song. ‘That would not have happened the other way around’ he joked. He’s right, and ‘Happiness’ has the 75 return to their very best. The track’s pinpoint bass and disco infused rhythms point towards true self-indulgence with sax solos pouring out left right and centre. It has Healy dancing on the kitchen counter with his hand outstretched inviting you up too.
94. Mitski - Valentine, Texas
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
Mitski arranges herself a home out of the darkness that rises up from this whole album. Her desperately human desires and self-conceptions bare their teeth on the sharp edges of reality in a stark and solemn beginning half. Yet, as the sound gathers itself up it also feels like it is pulling itself or the singer under. The instrumental ascent sounds like it parallels mental descent. We seem to cut ourselves on the unforgiving surfaces of this (Laurel) Hell-like night, biting at possibilities.
93. Fred again.. - Jungle
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
“Rah, have you seen Fred again..’s Boiler Room set?” asks Hugo, 22, as he chews the ear off of his first date at an overpriced Shoreditch bar after a long day working at daddy’s firm. As much as Fred’s sizeable fanbase want to believe he remains in the underground, the British DJ and producer has very much conquered the mainstream. However, ultimately, that’s ok. Fred has very much taken his popularity in his stride and his brilliance hasn’t diminished. ‘Jungle’ epitomises this; one of 2022’s most explosive songs, the track has had warehouses and festivals grooving worldwide. Co-produced by Four Tet and heavily sampling Elley Duhé’s ‘Immortal’, the track is electric and perfectly highlights why 2022 was arguably the year of Fred again..
92. hemlocke springs - girlfriend
By Mia Smith, Music Editor 2021/2022
There’s nothing I hate more than enjoying a song that got big on Tiktok. But begrudgingly, I’ll admit ‘girlfriend’ is one of the best of the year. The track is gloriously unhinged - springs packing in as much chaos as is humanly possible (the music video also follows her on a romantic date with a sock puppet). The bridge that comes around the 1:32 mark is utterly winding - springs somehow doesn’t manage to get out of breath, but I do. Sweet but punchy, we’ve got another PinkPantheress on our hands - 2023 is going to be springs’ year.
91. Foals - 2AM
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
There’s something about the immediacy of Foals’ sound that reminds me of being 16 and starting to go out for the first time, and so the dynamic entrance of the chorus and that first distinctive guitar riff feels like coming home. Whilst slightly more pop-orientated than the likes of some of their older stuff, ‘2am’ still provides that undeniable Foals sound, and is just as much bursting with energy as What Went Down. For me, Foals make music that I just want to aggressively jump around to, and, though slightly softer, ‘2am’ presents itself as no exception.
90. SZA - Gone Girl
By Evelyn Heis, Film & TV Editor
Opening this song with her angelic vocals and a supporting choir, SZA’s ‘Gone Girl’ makes you feel like you’ve ascended into heaven. The Queen of R&B has graced us once again with a chill yet catchy, blues song that makes you want to sway from side to side and click your fingers away to the rhythm. It’s a song about accepting change, self-growth, and mourning the loss of who we once were, and ultimately, a brilliant addition to her album SOS.
89. Beabadoobee - The Perfect Pair
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
‘The Perfect Pair’ is a track of heartbreak, pain and stress, but ultimately is a track of realisation. Singing of communication issues in her relationship, Bea sings sombre lines of her partner's inability to express emotion, silence and avoidance of constructive conversation. She’s hurt, she’s tired but ultimately, she’s come to the harsh realisation that she and her partner are ‘The Perfect Pair’ because, despite what she dislikes in her relationship, she’s much the same.
88. Sonotto - Lightbox
By Milan Perera, Arts Critic Columnist
The Stirling-born, Bristol-based Ambient Experimental Electronic artist Sonotto made his entrance into the music world in the most emphatic fashion with his debut EP, Could We Be Closer. Dubbed as Bristol’s answer to Ziggy Stardust, Sonotto takes live performances to Dionysian heights with his signature hypnotic and seductive brand of music. The opening track for the EP, 'Lightbox', begins with an insistent arpeggio passage played on the traditional African instrument of kalimba, taking the listener into a trance, followed by layers of sound that gradually build on the main motif into a sonic boom: a fine introduction to Ambient music for anyone who is ambivalent of the genre.
87. Deadletter - Hero
By Dylan McNally, Second Year History
Arguably Britain’s best current live band, on ‘Hero’, Deadletter bring the energy from their live shows and bottle it, in the process creating masterful post-punk – arguably some of the best of this already excellent crop of current British guitar bands. ‘Hero’ is urgent and punchy, but retains a real sense of narrative throughout, telling the story of a man so desperate for recognition and praise that he causes a disaster in order to save his self-worth. Lead singer Zac Lawrence’s deadpan delivery is both cutting and detached, acting as a piercing re-telling of the events after they’ve already occurred. Add to this well-placed bursts of sax and an abrasive, jagged guitar sound and you create tight-knitted chaos; a contained explosiveness.
86. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Mariella
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
'Mariella' is a kiss, kept in the folds of memory and seen in sun-rays and moon-beams. The beauty of this song is as frightening as wild eyes between brief lovers. The strings of the guitar find the melody with the gentle ease of trembling hands that find themselves brushing strands of hair away from a face dear to their touch. Symphonic, orchestral calls and repetitions search through tears in the darkness of a dry Texan night. Where do people go, and do they remember? The steady snares capture the track like the arms of a singer clinging to their constant curiosity.
85. Charli XCX - Yuck
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
'Yuck' might not be the most streamed song from Charli XCX’s Crash, or even one of the most well-received, but it’s arguably one of the best. Detailing the all-too-familiar experience of getting ‘the ick’ for someone, 'Yuck' is stupidly catchy, if nothing else. Over the last two years Charli has cemented herself as one of the most iconic pop girls of the twenty-first century, with Crash being one of my favourite albums of 2022, and 'Yuck' as my personal standout track.
84. CARRTOONS (Feat. Nigel Hall) - Groceries
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
'Groceries' is like if classic soul and modern production had a baby, and that baby had the glorious voice of Nigel Hall. Groovy, uplifting and catchy this is everything you want in a track, offering the listener 2 minutes and 23 seconds of bliss. Listen as you walk, as you work or just to groove to but make sure you at least listen in some form.
83. Pusha T - Brambleton
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
As far as album-openers go, it seemed unlikely that Pusha T could top 'If You Know You Know' from Daytona, but 'Brambleton' gives it a good run for its money. Push’s flow on this track sounds completely unique, over-enunciating his way sleazily across an exceptional Pharrell-produced beat. Nearly thirty years since he launched his career with Clipse, Pusha T’s coke rap sounds as good as ever in 2022.
82. NewDad - Banshee
By Kate Jeffrie, Second Year English
For a band whose singer’s soft vocals are a signature as recognisable as the journey home, their new song’s darkness is an untrodden path. The song borrows from shoegaze and wide-eyed pop with equally opened palms; the band create something transcendent when the two hands clap together. ‘Banshee’ is an ode to a mysterious woman; one as enigmatic and strange as The Police’s Roxanne or Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. It's written with the sweetest honeysuckle desperation, and its sticky-fingered, candyfloss sound melts on the tongue.
81. Pip Milett - Slow
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Maybe it’s because I got her album early for review, or royally p***** her off in interview, or perhaps because I misspelled her name throughout my write up of said interview, but God I do love Pip Millett. Her 17-track debut album was just straight, no B.S soul and r&b bangers, and ‘Slow’ sums this up perfectly. Snappy beats, catchy sampling and melodies and strutting pushes, pauses and drops to grab your attention by the collar. Not to be overlooked.
80. Animal Collective - Strung With Everything
By Ally Chapman, Second Year Politics and International Relations
My dearest Epigram readers, for Christmas this year I give you the gift of sparing you the Animal-Collective-never-actually-got-worse-Pitchfork-is-just-a-fundamentally-reactionary-publication rant. You’re welcome. All you need to know is that ‘Strung With Everything’ is absolutely brilliant. Animal Collective’s genius only becomes apparent when you start unravelling what a song actually is; it is easy to expect the unexpected from these guys, but is a lengthy new age intro, explosive screamed choral chant, digital medieval production, wildly progressive song structure and half of the sounds being completely unidentifiable anything if not totally mad? If nothing else, ‘Strung With Everything’ represents chief songwriter Avey Tare finally reaching the conclusion of his career-long search for how to navigate the adult world with any shred of innocence. Did I mention the hurdy gurdy? There’s also a hurdy gurdy.
79. Jamie xx - Kill Dem
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Inspired by Jamie's experiences at Notting Hill Carnival, of which he has attended since he was a teenager, ‘Kill Dem’ brings the sounds of the carnival to the sound systems of the warehouse in explosive fashion. A celebration of Caribbean culture, Jamie expertly chops Cutty Ranks’ ‘Limb by Limb’ and in the process creates one of the bounciest and most energetic tracks of the year. ‘Kill Dem’ represents the continuance of Jamie xx’s hot streak this year, following up on April’s standout release ‘LET’S DO IT AGAIN’ and his slew of high-profile festival performances this Summer. Jamie is at his most prolific since 2015’s critically acclaimed In Colour and I for one welcome it with open arms and a blaring speaker.
78. Bloc Party - Traps
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
The urgency and intensity of ‘Traps’ implies that Bloc Party have interrogated their debut album Silent Party, notably in the almost electric feel of the percussion in the hook. I’ll admit, the lyrics are a little more kitsch than what one might expect from Bloc Party, but this is made up for in the signature razor sharp riffs and Okereke’s distinctive voice that make ‘Traps’ pulling with energy and exceedingly catchy.
77. Blood Orange - Wish
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
After a three-year hiatus, Dev Hynes, AKA Blood Orange, returns with a brand new EP, Four Songs; with ‘Wish’ being the third track within the EP. This track evokes a stark yet minimalistic sense of sonder and yearning, to the point where it feels hypnotising listening to it over and over again. The Production quality and instrumentals emulate a calming presence. Nevertheless, the track includes the right balance of Hynes’ Falsetto and his deliberate minimal production to make it perfect to get lost into.
76. Karl Frid (Feat. Caroline Gentele & Mapei) - Una Gioia Sempre Viva
By Milan Perera, Arts Critic Columnist
Ninja Thyberg’s ground-breaking movie 'Pleasure' (2022) set alight the conversation on Adult Entertainment. The story revolves around an ambitious Swedish emigré Bella who is determined to make a name for herself in the industry. Swedish composer, Karl Frid’s score augments Thyberg’s sincere outlook on 'Porn' by creating a sonic kaleidoscope of opera, quasi-religious chant, funk, hip-hop and jazz mimicking the translucent heights and depths of depravity. A delightful merge of sacred and profane, Frid uses the operatic background of Caroline Gentele in a way that blends the richness and warmth of her vocals with the raw and visceral vocals of the rap artist Mapei which was further heightened by a funky synth bass line.
75. Nick Hakim - Happen
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
The first single from Nick Hakim’s album, COMETA, ‘Happen’ sees Nick build on the mellow atmospheres and romantic expressions of his previous efforts, working alongside the brilliantly talented Alex G who performs on piano within the track. Breathy vocals, guitar harmonics and spacey, reverb-washed drums. Just close your eyes and lean back into this blanketing, sleepy track. Not to be missed, it is undoubtedly one of 2022’s standout tracks and the highlight of COMETA.
74. Aldous Harding - Passion Babe
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
The brilliantly titled Warm Chris, Aldous Harding’s latest full-length for 4AD, conforms to her blueprint of eccentric yet airy indie-pop but with a few dozen curveballs along the way. Each track on the album feels as though it is sung by a different character, so malleable is Harding’s voice. There is something almost musical theatre about 'Passion Babe', in its bouncy instrumental and its infectious hook. An Aldous Harding musical is certainly something I’d pay good money to see.
73. Florence + The Machine - King
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
Florence + The Machine’s 'King' is more than the sound of gothic and medievalist revival. This track discusses the fractures formed from snapping the chords of your well-being at the service of your own determination. Dark and woeful, and then howling and screaming, the track dedicates itself to being a testimony to women. To women who cut marks into conversations that continually attempt to deny them entry. To women at the forefront who commit their minds to work which continues to push them to the sides. To women who continue to carve their names out on a world built to chase them into corners.
72. Aidan Noell (Feat. Nancy Whang) - Sharevari
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
A cover of the Number of Names’ 80s Detroit techno classic, Noell (of Nation of Language) and Whang (of LCD Soundsystem) combine to produce a four to the floor track taking the high school house party track right back into the present day. For six minutes Noell encourages you to indulge in total fantasy – a space for true anonymity and release.
71. Men I Trust - Billie Toppy
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
This track just turned up on my release radar around October this year, and it really took me by surprise. Having always dipped in and out of Men I Trust, I expected the laid-back, chill-worthy indie rock that the band have become known for over their glittering career. Instead, I was met with blaring bass and head-bopping drums and found myself immediately hooked. Listen, then listen again for the next week.
70. ATW, Interplanetary Criminal & Main Phase - 100%
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Garage’s most sought-after DJ and producer, Interplanetary criminal, has had an incredible year. From conquering the UK charts alongside Eliza Rose with his track ‘B.O.T.A’ to his triumphant Mixmag set, the Manchester-based artist has seen a rapid ascension from the underground to the mainstream as he spearheads the UK Garage revival. Working alongside Main Phase, the track ‘100%’ from their latest ATW EP, ATW002, has sent crowds feral up and down the country. Thumping basslines, sexy vocals and unsuspecting strings come together to form what can only be described as a banger. I say this with full honesty: play this track as my coffin is lowered into the ground.
69. Gorillaz - Baby Queen
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-editor in Chief
Admittedly, I think a lot of what Damon Albarn does is dreamy, but there is truly no better way to describe this track than as ‘dreamy’. 2D’s vocals, complimented of course by the story-telling lyrics, feel undeniably nostalgic, and the layering conjures pure escapism: I think I accidentally listened to the song on repeat about 4 times without even noticing. The track balances the up-tempo pop synth of 'New Gold', which, alongside the dark funk of 'Cracker Island', sets the stage for what is shaping up to be an incredible full album.
68. Porridge Radio - The Rip
By Dylan McNally, Second Year History
There seems to be two forms a Porridge Radio song can take: indie-pop perfection or devastating alternative-rock. On 'The Rip', Porridge Radio manages to combine both; a band captured in a single track. What starts as the latter, with its opening synth line and minimal sound, quickly devolves into something a whole lot heavier. It is a pattern reflected in the lyrics too, with singer-songwriter Dana Margolin commenting on a power dynamic in which she is initially in control, but by the end has lost her grip. It is pure and genuine emotion; all we can do is sit back and watch the release and its consequences.
67. Diana Ross & Tame Impala - Turn Up The Sunshine
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
My fondest memory of visiting Amsterdam this summer was seeing the Minions film in an empty theatre with my family. Quoting the lyrics to this song throughout the rest of our trip, mostly taking the p*** at the same time, ‘Turn Up the Sunshine’ is inseparable from 2022. The most unlikely collaboration was brought about by Jack Antonoff and resulted in a warped disco track that will undeniably get you in a groove if only you let it.
66. SZA - Kill Bill
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
Upon first listen, it seems like SZA is purging her homicidal tendencies towards an ex (and his new girlfriend). However, this coincides with the plot of Quentin Tarantino’s film, Kill Bill. Aside from the creative movie reference, the imagery of violence juxtaposes the bedroom-pop sound, and results in a track that’s great to listen to on your way to get coffee on a mundane day. A true highlight in music this year and just one of many standout tracks on SZA’s SOS.
65. Black Thought & Danger Mouse (Feat. MF DOOM) - Belize
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Hip-hop was out with a force in 2022 and in a year when the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Denzel Curry all dropped albums, it can be easy to go under the radar. Despite the album’s brilliance, this appeared to be the case for Black Thought & Danger Mouse’s Cheat Codes, an album which sees the rapper and producer combine to truly bring out the best of each other’s talents. Undoubtedly a hip-hop holy grail, especially following his untimely passing, the track ‘Belize’ holds what many rappers can only dream of: an MF DOOM feature. Raw, bare-bones and unrelenting the track is a true standout in a near-flawless album. Oh, and the track made Barack Obama’s favourite songs of 2022 list, so if my recommendation isn’t enough – take it from him.
64. Part Time Models - Can I Stay
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
I’ve been waiting for folk group Part Time Models to drop their EP for nearly a year now and trust me it was worth the wait. Released in October 2022, A LOT TO SAY ABOUT NOTHING, saw the Bristol-based band deliver six tracks of bliss, inspired by the scenery of Ireland where the album was recorded. This delicate, lilting ballad is like a window into a lazy summer’s afternoon, with intimate romantic tones mirrored in the beautiful guitar parts. A definite must-listen-to track that 2022 has blessed us with.
63. Courting - Tennis
By Kate Jeffrie, Second Year English
Part of the UK’s post-punk renaissance, Courting’s searing, electric indictment of the upper-middle class embodies their Liverpudlian philosophy with an L.A. flexibility. They’re ballsy, bawdy, and somewhat avant-garde in their observations; through their new-youth eyes, a flawed relationship becomes a one-night stand between a cheap hotel and an esoteric toaster. If you’re looking for an anthem to embody post-punk’s new doctrine, it can be found on the tramlines of ‘Tennis’.
62. The 1975 - I'm In Love With You
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
First of all, shout out to The 1975 for pioneering the 2014 Tumblr-era renaissance. Also, shout out to them for writing this song, which I streamed a humiliating 229 times this year, according to Spotify. 'I’m In Love With You' is probably the most popular song from the band’s latest album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, and it’s sappy, doe-eyed pop music at its very best - from a band that’s absolutely ‘at their very best’.
61. Emily Breeze - Ordinary Life
By Milan Perera, Arts Critic Columnist
Issued in October 2022 as a single, 'Ordinary Life' is a nostalgic and introspective track replete with unfulfillable longing and philosophical musing. A taster track of her third studio album due in 2023, ‘Ordinary Life’ captures the creative genius of the Bristol-based singer-songwriter, Emily Breeze, whose music is a rich tapestry of storytelling, post-punk, glam-pop, country and indie rock that provides her with a broad canvas and a richer palette of tonal colours.
60. Alex G - Miracles
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
For a song that centres around a fear of parenthood and unhealed trauma, there is something incredibly hopeful about 'Miracles'. “I see great waves coming our way, beautiful sunsets on lost and lonely days” Alex G sings, recalling Sufjan Stevens finding light amidst the darkness on 'The Only Thing'. Like Stevens, Giannascoli uses Christian imagery to feed his positivity, but the miracles and crosses he sees on his horizon are ordinary and earthly.
59. Joy Orbison - Pinky Ring
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
‘Pinky Ring’ saw veteran DJ and producer, Joy Orbison, conquer the dance once again in 2022. The track’s wobbly bassline, which harks back to early dubstep, is ultimately the star of the show, with the vocal chops that come to form the track’s hook its clever sidekick. The track is a stark difference from Orbison’s 2021 effort, Still Slippin Vol.1, a subdued and mellow project which utilised voice notes from Orbison’s family to create meaningful and intimate storytelling that Fred again.. could only dream of. Yet, ‘Pinky Ring’ still remains so familiar and is undeniably signature Joy Orbison.
58. LCD Soundystem - New Body Rhumba
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
As idiosyncratic as they were when Daft Punk were still playing at their house, LCD Soundsystem returned in 2022 with their first original music in over five years. The dirty bassline and squelchy circling synths mix around James Murphy’s simultaneously prophetic and nonsensical lyrics. It’s great to have them back.
57. Fontaines D.C - I Love You
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
I love you. It’s all I’ve ever felt. Heavy and weighted, all we’ve felt is the painful and unrelentingly dark sound of this track covering our skin and coalescing with our tears. We’ve felt in this song a ballad that tears apart its own sides as much as ours. Each line overflows with an angry, out of love that we used to be in, grief. It practically screams: "CAN’T YOU SEE ME? CAN’T YOU FEEL ME?". Each line droops with the troubled thoughts of a band concerned with their displaced Irish identity. Political and personal, private and public, Fontaines draw themselves out from lamentation to an outcry by electrifying the dismal seas surrounding them. Quickening statements writhe in the climax, bolting out with the rain and obliterating the original tone.
56. Lavender (Feat. Mick Jenkins) - peppermint
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Re-released in February this year, as part of Lavender’s project titled all will be well, ‘peppermint’ is a true highlight of 2022 as they bring in Mick Jenkins to rap over their 2020 instrumental track. A classic sample chopped to perfection, an up-and-coming rapper spitting his heart out and an unexpected and grooving beat change that makes you double-take what you’re listening to. Lavender are an awesome production duo and Mick Jenkins is a spitter to watch, highly recommend listening to this one.
55. Azu Tiwaline & Al Wooton - Blue Dub
By Giovanni Della-Savina, Third Year Philosophy
A collaboration as exciting on paper as it is on wax, ‘Blue Dub’ represents the finest of contemporary bass music’s dub abstractions. Seamlessly switching from fragmented UKG into rolling percussive work- it fits neatly into a long history of dancefloor-ready dub wizardry. Hi-end stereo trickery blends perfectly with an anthemic low-end. ‘Blue Dub’ is a perfect engagement with bass history, showing once again the trick is dub technics- not lazy referentiality. It feels like a statement of faith hearing Al Wootton close yet another set with this, something incredible is still happening on dancefloors near you!
54. Lana Del Rey - Did You Know There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
Props to Lana Del Rey for coming up with one of the longest song titles I’ve ever heard, and also for (probably) making every indie kid in California go looking for said tunnel under Ocean Boulevard. This track is the first single we’ve heard from Lana’s upcoming album, which is due to be released in early 2023, and it can only be described as quintessential Lana Del Rey - it’s a bit dreamy, a bit orchestral, and weirdly liminal. And it was produced by Jack Antonoff - because so was everything else this year.
53. Skin on Skin - Burn Dem Bridges
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Skin on Skin is surely one of the biggest success stories of 2022; his ascent to prominence can only be described as meteoric following his standout Boiler Room set at AVA Festival in Belfast. It was here that he debuted his genre-defying track, ‘Burn Dem Bridges’, which is undoubtedly one of the breakout dance tracks of the year. A ferocious blend of UK-drill and techno, sampling Sav’o and Horrid1’s ‘Violent Siblings’, the Australian DJ and producer created one of music’s most explosive viral moments this year. Though on paper the track sounds unconventional to say the least, ‘Burn Dem Bridges’ is a musical revolution.
52. Paul Weller & Stone Foundation - Mother Ethiopia Pt. 1
By Darcey Cameron, First Year English
Paul Weller’s subversion of his Mod Punk roots in the shift from The Jam to The Style Council is once again demonstrated by his 2022 album Will of the People. ‘Mother Ethiopia’, a collaboration with Stone Foundation stands out as a funky, modern jazz inspired track, a rarity which never made it to Paul Weller’s earlier solo discography. As a huge fan of all of Weller’s musical adventures, ‘Mother Ethiopia’ serves as a beautiful reminder of his transcendence and the importance of cross-genre experimentation.
51. Carly Rae Jepsen - Shooting Star
By Mia Smith, Music Editor 2021/2022
After seeing Jepsen perform at Bristol Pride this summer, my life trajectory has changed. It has split into two halves - before CRJ, and after CRJ. Now life is so much sweeter. I got genuinely quite stressed trying to pick just one song from her latest album The Loneliest Time for this list, but ‘Shooting Star’ is undeniably perfect. The track is a masterclass in pop-disco beats thump behind slightly cringe lyrics that glisten with purposeful autotune. Jepsen literally invented modern pop, and I won’t shut up about it. Long may the queen of pop reign.
50. HAZEY - Packs and Potions
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Scouse drill is not a rabbit hole I saw myself heading down in 2022, but here I am declaring HAZEY’s 'Packs and Potions' one of the best tracks of the year. And it is. The beat speaks for itself, several remixes deep at this point, and the Mersey-drenched flow is undeniably infectious: “Ten toes, I done laps in the trench, and when they need more, I’m right back like I’m Trent.” As far as Liverpool is concerned, baby boomers may have had The Beatles, but Generation Z has HAZEY.
49. Alt-J - Happier When You're Gone
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
The 14-year-old in me was very excited to see a new release from Alt-J, and, for me, 'Happier When You’re Gone' is the highlight of the album, not least because immediately the opening line in conventional Alt-J soulful fashion conjures memories of An Awesome Wave’s ‘Matilda’ and ‘Tesselate’. The breakup narrative we never knew we needed, the song’s lyrics are deliciously gritty; detailing the point of view of Joe’s “old lady” of Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’, in which the speaker confronts, burns and buries her abuser. The combination of the detailing of female rage and redemption, alongside a gentle, almost country-rock-like style, is genius.
48. Ugly - I'm Happy You're Here
By Dylan McNally, Second Year History
Don’t let the finger-picked guitar opening fool you, there is an edge to ‘I’m Happy You’re Here’. Here is a song that thrives on paradoxes and a slight whiff of confusion. Throughout is a sense of defiance and stubbornness, never quite going where you expect and being proud of it. It’s not a concise listen, 8 minutes are put to good use, letting the song sprawl out, drawing you in before pushing you away, building it all up before a release. Drifting through a wonderful but varied collection of sounds, from folk to post-rock to jazz, others might let it all get away from them. It might all be a bit too much to handle, but not for Ugly. They are always in control.
47. Let's Eat Grandma - Two Ribbons
By Milan Perera, Arts Critic Columnist
Let’s Eat Grandma - the Norwich-based experimental/synth pop duo, comprised of childhood friends Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth made a seismic entry into the music scene with their 2018 debut album I, Gemini oozing with a great measure of chutzpah and effervescence. Their third album, Two Ribbons, takes their music journey through to the next level. The album's title track is a heartfelt composition with its rich allegory, simple but evocative guitar strumming and unfiltered vocals. It is undoubtedly an edifice to their friendship, exploring the limitations and frontiers of friendship, ‘I wanna find the answer, I just want to be your best friend’, before accepting that ‘like two ribbons’ they’re ‘still woven, although we are fraying.’
46. Yin Yin - Chong Wang
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Boundary breaking, genre-defying and always experimental, Maastricht-based outfit Yin Yin released their project The Age of Aquarius this year to widespread acclaim. Taking heavy influence from East-Asian music but implementing their own electronic and jazzy spin, their sound transports you from the dancefloor and up to the stars. ‘Chong Wang’ is, amongst others, the album’s highlight. Sit back, close your eyes and let Yin Yin welcome you into their world of experimentalism and grooviness.
45. Arctic Monkeys - I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
1970s funk is emulated throughout this track with guitar riffs, seemingly influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie. It is immensely different from anything that Arctic Monkeys have done before, as it shies away from the Jazzy nature of Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino and certainly avoids their previous Rock/Punk tracks and albums. Along with the 70s style funky guitar work, there are also string placements sprinkled throughout the track in all the right places. Truly a great example of a new sound drawing from old influences.
44. Beach House - Sunset
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Beach House are a band who have spent their career making slight adjustments to their sound, never tearing up their playbook but continuing to conjure a world which feels lusher and more expansive with every release. 'Sunset', from Once Twice Melody, sees them trade their swirling electric guitar for a gentle acoustic, adding percussion that wouldn’t feel out of place on Pet Sounds and a lead-guitar line that sounds like it was beamed from a reverse reel-to-reel tape recorder in 1966.
43. Gorillaz (Feat. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown) - New Gold
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
Combine the signature high strung vocals and psychedelic disco sound of Kevin Parker with the alt-pop funk of the Gorillaz and add in the blazing, nearing nihilistic musings of Bootie Brown, and you have the exceedingly catchy and effortlessly cool 'New Gold'. To listen to this song feels like to be a part of something special. Maybe it’s in Brown’s implicit old-school Gorillaz references “Like Shaun, he’s a rider, took on a dare”, or the uncanny harmony of two distinct yet undeniably melodious sounds that is for the generation’s indie fans what Aerosmith and Run DMC’s Walk This Way might have been to our parents.
42. Blackhaine - Stained Materials
By Giovanni Della-Savina, Third Year Philosophy
The Manchester scene has been fronting the leftfield for some time now, its finest offering of 2022 has been the incredible ascent of Blackhaine. ‘Stained Materials’ is a step away from the noise weight of his earlier work yet stands out once again thanks to producer Rainy Miller’s (whose 2022 solo album is a serious AOTY contender) distinctive hi-tech drill manoeuvres. The immaculate sound design becomes sheer brilliance when combined with Blackhaine’s northern-gothic poetics, stereo chops and emotive resonance. Forward sounding as you could want, it feels like this could well be the start of something exciting.
41. PVA - Untethered
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Speedy Wunderground graduates PVA burst onto the scene with a heady mix of techno, funk and disco. Departing away from how fun ‘Talks’ was, ‘Untethered’ reaches towards something deeply industrial and harsh and demonstrates their true capabilities. The invitation is to submit to the track without chains and fall into its mass anonymous and alive.
40. Sonnyjim & The Purist (Feat. MF DOOM & Jay Electronica) - Barz Simpson
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Birmingham-based rapper Sonnyjim matching rap veterans MF DOOM and Jay Electronica bar for bar was certainly not on my 2022 predictions list, but that’s absolutely what he does on ‘Barz Simpson’. Teaming up with Brighton-born producer The Purist, the track is gritty with no chorus and no frills, just raw hip-hop over one of the year’s coldest beats. Sonnyjim’s bars are crisp, with close attention paid to how he crafts each and every syllable in Madvillainy fashion that the late DOOM would be proud of. Cheese, Gorbachev, Cajun shrimp and the work of Salvador Dalí aren’t things anyone would normally associate, but ‘Barz Simpson’ somehow makes that happen, with some of the most creative yet unhinged rhymes of 2022. "Score a goal like Zola and take home the gorgonzola" is the motto I will be living my life by from now on.
39. ELIZA - ME vs ME
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Up-and-coming, swaggering neo-soul artist, ELIZA, invaded my playlists around September this year, and I’ve been loving every second. Excitingly dark and sensual lyrics match adventurous production and classic soul and r&b songwriting, coming together into track on track of straight bangers. ME v.s ME is her darker, newer side which is fantastic, but alongside this, make sure to check out earlier tracks like ‘Wasn’t Looking’. You won’t regret it.
38. Burial - Strange Neighbourhood
By Emily Jones, Liberal Arts Graduate
A highlight from his Antidawn EP of early 2022, this suitably timed release came as a soundtrack to the January blues. At 11 minutes 'Strange Neighbourhood' is a sprawling work by the famously elusive artist, setting out through its duration the bleak and barren landscapes we will explore further as the EP progresses. A melancholy and unsettling track by way of its stilted, heavily sample-based audio and carefully eclectic sound-scaping, it manages despite this to retain a sense of hopefulness that is perhaps less present on earlier works. Listen with headphones for a fully immersive journey into Burial’s strange and unpredictable world.
37. Charli xcx - Lightning
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Charli XCX self-consciously “sold out” for her latest LP, Crash, which manages to keep all of the idiosyncrasies that made her hyper-pop’s most cherished figurehead but with friendlier, more club-ready production, and choreographed dances to boot. Lightning may contain her most anthemic chorus since her feature on Icona Pop’s 'I Love It' in 2012. Charli sings “heartbreak already hit me once, they say that it won’t happen twice” with all the nervous excitement of a come-up, before the most ecstatic chorus of the summer announces itself to the world.
36. Blood Orange - Jesus Freak Lighter
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
After his residency supporting Harry Styles for 15 nights this year, Blood Orange’s first single in three years drifts into familiar territory yet casts an artist in full stylistic control. As the distorted intro morphs into a tight bassline and Dev Hynes’ unmistakeably smooth voice, the track amasses into a dreamy soundscape perfect for late nights.
35. Yard Act - 100% Endurance
By Kate Jeffrie, Second Year English
As one of the year’s biggest break-out bands – they went from playing Bristol’s Exchange to The Marble Factory in just ten months – Yard Act have been single-minded in their dedication to success. On ‘100% Endurance’, though, they force themselves to let go of the reins, and imagine not only the discovery of aliens but also the realisation that they can’t see the point of life either. Revelling in the pointlessness of it all, Yard Act focus on fun; they stare into the eye of the eclipse and laugh until their sides hurt.
34. Denzel Curry - Walkin
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Smooth, dreamy and soulful, ‘Walkin’ sees Curry ditch the abrasive energy one has come to expect from his performances for something much more diverse and introspective. Produced by Dallas-based artist Kal Banx, the track boasts what has widely been heralded as the greatest use of a sample this year, as the producer uses Keith Mansfield’s ‘The Loving Touch’ to create an ethereal instrumental in which Curry glides over effortlessly. Frustrated by the world he lives in, Curry spits scathing bars about the state of American capitalism and the institutionalised racism that underpins it; for Denzel and other African Americans, ‘Walkin’ through life’s path is far more complex than it should be.
33. Bonobo (Feat. Jamila Woods) - Tides
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
As its critical reception would stand to certify, this is pretty much a perfect song. Award-winning poet and singer Jamila Woods lends her dreamy vocals to the centrepiece of Bonobo’s 2022 album Fragments. Masterfully blurring electric and acoustic elements, this song is the epitome of atmospheric, with an irresistible deep grove and poignant lyrics. And just when you think it couldn’t get any better, Woods wistful vocals give way to a beautiful string-laden outro by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Bonobo solidifies what he is really all about here.
32. Dry Cleaning - Gary Ashby
By Mia Smith, Music Editor 2021-2022
No one is doing it quite like Dry Cleaning. And by that, I mean no one else is writing songs about tortoises. ‘Gary Ashby’ is an epic tale narrated through Florence Shaw’s post-punk poetic drawl - Gary the tortoise escaping amidst some family chaos (I won’t spoil the ending). The track is funny, but also strangely tear-jerking: ‘Have you seen Gary with his tinfoil ball?/He used to love to kick it with his stumpy legs’. In 2023 we need more bands making music about tortoises please.
31. The Queen's Head - Teach Me To Dance
By Dylan McNally, Second Year History
'Teach Me To Dance’ might be the least romantic love song ever written, but here lies its brilliance, for it is not a song content to look at love with rose-tinted glasses but instead it takes it at face value. ‘She says let’s go back to mine, live a moment/And I say nah, I’ve had enough of those’ is a perfect example of The Queen’s Head refusing to give in to sentimentality. ‘Teach Me To Dance’ isn’t entirely dismissive of such sentiment, it just refuses to be entirely overwhelmed by it. Instead, it gives in to romance but refuses to ignore its perils. It is the story of dingy nights out, big cities and lost individuals and the messy interplay of all three. It is a relatable story too; we get both sides of the coin – the lovers and those out of love.
30. Caroline Polachek - Billions
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Co-produced by PC Music’s Danny L Harle, Billions represents Polachek’s most ambitious moment to date – no mean feat for an artist already fifteen years into her recording career. Abstracted imaginings of headless angels and cornucopias make way for a coda with an English school choir chanting “I’ve never felt so close to you”, a breath-taking ode to the physical human interactions we’ve so missed over the past couple of years.
29. Moby (Feat. José James) - Ache For
By Nicole Quy, The Croft Co-Editor in Chief
As the world becomes scarier and more chaotic, I find myself cherishing in the refuge or voices like Jose’s’, writes Moby, and this refuge is certainly tangible in the singer’s new single featuring jazz artists José James. The song is, quite literally, pure bliss; the gentle piano, the soulful longing of James’ voice and the gradual crescendo of strings combine to create something that is at once both inherently peaceful and simultaneously chilling. The slight melancholia reminiscent of Moby’s 1999 album, Play, is given a jazz-infused warmth which leaves you feeling almost breathless.
28. Loyle Carner - Polyfilla
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
This song is so full of brilliant, bright and poignant lines of poetry, it seems sort of pointless to write about it. The penultimate track on Carner’s 2022 project, hugo, Carner is at his deepest, dropping some of his most introspective and heart-wrenching work to date. 'Polyfilla' is Carner's mistakes, his self-destruction, his past and his fears to repeat it. Dusty sun beamed drums and piano and classic Loyle Carner poetry, what more do you need?
27. Oliver Sim - Fruit
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
As a member of The xx, Oliver Sim made his name through minimalism and the private emotions embedded in loving relationships. His debut solo record Hideous Bastard, accompanied by a glam queer horror film, leaves the artist no longer veiled but in full honest form. ‘Fruit’, produced by bandmate Jamie xx, is a future queer classic and is not one to be missed.
26. Kendrick Lamar (Feat. Sampha) - Father Time
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Kendrick Lamar is a prophet and 2022’s Mr Morale and the Big Steppers proved to be another divine chapter in his ongoing gospel. The project sees him delve deeper than ever before, tackling challenging themes such as trauma, gender and mental health in each and every song. Though it doesn’t appear it on the surface - indeed ‘Father Time’ is arguably the most radio-friendly song on the tracklist - the song is no different. Lamar critically evaluates the toxic masculinity that was embedded in him from his father, whilst also highlighting the detrimental effects growing up that a lack of a father figure in other parts of his community has inflicted. The track is tied together with vocals from Sampha, which are as ethereal as ever.
25. Angel Olsen - All the Good Times
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
Olsen sings for us the words we’ve said too many times during our heartbreaks. Subdued and tinkling, it sounds like the overemphasised silence in your ears after arguing - reflection hollowing out the sound of your surroundings. The track then breaks through this into a crying crescendo, driving away, and alone, from the people we know we can’t know forever. Breaking from silence, we scream into the winds of our newly free lives. The track then reduces back to its original sound again, reminiscent of how we tend to sore memories by trying to shrink past lovers into only old friends and eventually strangers to quiet the pain.
24. Kate Bollinger - Lady in the Darkest Hour
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Giving early-Whitney vibes, images of the tops and pick-up trucks, the driving drums and lilting guitar match Bollinger’s effortlessly comforting voice in this whimsical track. Released in April as part of Bollinger's EP, Look at it in the Light, the track proved to be an unexpected highlight within this year's releases. I love songs like this, and so should you.
23. SZA (Feat. Phoebe Bridgers) - Ghost in the Machine
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
This track has one of the most experimental sounds within SOS, with dreamy yet ecstatic ripples of synthetic harps and light glitch electronica. Not only that, the harmony of two of the most prominent voices in the R&B and Indie genre of music truly makes for a remarkable collaboration! Both SZA and Phoebe sing ethereally in their own verse and together, as they discuss being stuck in a “machine”, used as a metaphor to represent the music industry, and their attempts to find some kind of solace within.
22. FKA Twigs (Feat. Pa Salieu) - Honda
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
Caprisongs was pretty much the only album I listened to for the second half of January, and 'Honda' (featuring Pa Salieu) is probably my favourite from the record. Twigs has to be one of the most interesting artists at the moment; she’s essentially the Queen of Art Pop - if you disagree, argue with the wall. 'Honda' just scratches an itch in my brain - particularly the opening, with Pa Salieu loudly proclaiming: "O.T.S.S - Only The Strongest Survive // Honda, baby". Very apt for the weird landscape that was 2022, really.
21. Arctic Monkeys - There'd Better Be A Mirrorball
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Alex Turner has finally taken on the old crooner surrounded by his orchestra aesthetic and my god does he sell it well. On the Monkey’s most recent record, the space age absurdity has departed for a more melancholy introspection and the result is sublime. The lead single ‘Mirrorball’ is patient and has Turner’s most delicate lyricism to date. As he muses "Darlin’ if I were you", we can’t help romanticise that he’s advising us each individually.
20. Black Country, New Road - The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
'The Place Where He Inserted the Blade'; the long journey of lead-vocalist Isaac Wood’s relationship, the co-dependency built over the years and the hopelessness he faces from having to seek closure. Unbridled joy ignites when Wood sees his partner in his dreams followed by crushing numbness when he awakes and they aren’t present. He sings of trying to heal but like a root to the soil his co-dependency prevents him from moving on, expertly expressed through the metaphor of being unable to ‘make lunch’ for anyone else without thinking of the one that means the most to him. This is my analysis of the track, but it’s a testament to Wood’s artistry that the intricate metaphors in his songwriting remain open to interpretation. Regardless, few songs have ever been so simultaneously devastating and beautiful.
19. Gilla Band - Post Ryan
By Ally Chapman, Second Year Politics and International Relations
Over the last 10 years Gilla Band have made a name for themselves carving out a wholly unique sect of manic Dadaist terror in British rock music, accidentally blazing a trail for a Gen Z post punk revival in the process. 'Post Ryan' sees frontman Dara Kiely confront what that really means all these years later - as both the world and how we communicate rapidly become more surreal by the day, Kiely stands in a solitary moment of sincerity in the band’s catalogue, wondering aloud how and why this has happened. Gilla Band’s most subtle trick is that though they are rooted in personal darknesses the group have revealed in interviews, they’ve always been willing to be funny. Closing their most accomplished album to date, Post Ryan’s cold and blunt honesty about the regrets of being Dara Kiely become even more chilling in their divergence.
18. Kenny Beats - Last Words
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
Kenny Beats’ heartfelt dedication to his father, LOUIE, is so much more than a beat tape. Not only breaking the barrier between what makes a hip hop album, with a plethora of unnamed A-list features, but the album is also just stacked full of intricately worked production, as is expected from Kenny. This rings true on ‘Last Words’ with Kenny using the music itself as his instrument, bending and shaping it into what he wants it to be.
17. Sam Gellaitry - NEW WAVE
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Sam Gellaitry VF Vol. II – that’s it, that’s the tweet. 2022 was yet another year of wizardry for the Scottish producer. Genre for Gellaitry represents creative restriction and VF Vol. II epitomises his dedication to this belief, with the producer experimenting with everything from bouncy electro-pop to jazzier or disco-based sounds. ‘NEW WAVE’ features a groovy instrumental but sees Gellaitry sing relatably of the pressures of transitioning from childhood to adulthood – lost love, substance abuse and the mental health battles that embody it all. Gellaitry yearns for a return to the innocence of childhood and ‘NEW WAVE’ ends VF VOL. II with this cry for help.
16. Jackie Hayes - Bite Me
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
My favourite punk track of the year, ‘Bite Me’ is everything that you could possibly ask of the genre. Lyrics that you can barely get a grasp of due to the pace of the damn thing and looping guitar rhythms that are impossible to escape from. "Can I ask you a question? / I’m scared of the answer" Hayes posits, and by the time the track is over our response of cathartic energy was surely what she was looking for.
15. Rina Sawayama - Catch Me In the Air
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
'Catch Me In The Air' was the second single to be released from Rina Sawayama’s September album Hold The Girl, and it’s a banger. It’s nostalgic and dream-like, and really catchy. I think it’s definitely my favourite song on an already brilliant album. And, of course, it’s a tribute to the singer’s mother, which is just really sweet.
14. Nia Archives - Baianá
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Inspired by her youth listening to jungle icons such as Shy FX and Roni Size, Nia Archives now proudly flies the banner of the junglist massive as she spearheads the genre’s renaissance. 'Baianá' is nothing short of a triumph; bringing the sounds of the streets of Rio to the UK scene, the track is a masterful blend of samba, bossa nova and the hypnotic, fast-paced BPMs of jungle. Sampling Brazilian body percussionists, Barbatuques, Nia showcases her immense talent with heavy basslines, enchanting vocal loops and explosive beats the tools to her masterpiece. Nia declared Summer 2022 ‘the Summer of jungle’, if she maintains this kind of form, 2023 may just be the year of jungle.
13. Wunderhouse - Leader of the Pack
By Kate Jeffrie, Second Year English
On Cub’s lead single, Wunderhorse present a dog-eat-dog world run by a frontman wild enough to bite off his own tongue. Jacob Slater’s kept the love letters from his old punk band, Dead Pretties – a trio of teenagers known for the annihilation their gigs left behind – while writing a reflective sincerity into his sound. It’s angry, brash, and strangely erotic; through Slater’s black-out sunglasses, revenge is given the kind of sex appeal usually reserved for knee-high socks and bed hair.
12. The 1975 - About You
By Saiba Haque, Deputy Food Editor
A continuation from Robbers from their debut album, 'About You' hits you where it hurts. Encapsulating a true essence of yearning, the track takes you back to an old love’s past, and how the thought of a past love can linger in memories. In collaboration with Warren Ellis, the track utilises strings and a major key to create a sound that is orchestral and gothic and yet remains grounded. Carly Holt featuring in the bridge of the track makes for a perfect duet.
11. Jockstrap - Concrete Over Water
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Jockstrap have teased at their potential for a couple of years with a string of bizarre, brilliant singles, but the full force of their powers have only been realised this year with their genre-bending full-length, I Love You Jennifer B. The album’s high point, 'Concrete Over Water', contains soaring beauty one minute and brash hyper-pop theatrics the next. From a group who play on giving their listener sonic whiplash, this track may be the most violently shapeshifting piece in their small but impressive catalogue.
10. Kendrick Lamar (Feat. Taylour Paige) - We Cry Together
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
This is anguish, this borders on war but what’s most harrowing is that it’s so excruciatingly real. Collaborating with actress Taylour Paige, ‘We Cry Together’ sees Lamar deliver the most breathtakingly disturbing performance this year. The listener is a bystander, a nosey neighbour pressing their ear to a wall as the duo act out a fiery argument within a fictitious relationship, hurling scathing insults back and forth. Reconciling with sex before the track’s conclusion, a narrator interrupts, urging the duo to "stop tap-dancing around the conversation". Though seemingly a personal matter - toxicity and hatred cannot be resolved through meaningless sex - Kendrick masterfully compares this to society; global disharmony plagues the world and, much like the duo’s relationship, Lamar believes we continue to paper over the cracks rather than perform constructive dialogue. Though a deeply uncomfortable listen, ‘We Cry Together’ is undoubtedly the most creative track of 2022.
9. Björk (Feat. Sindri Eldon) - Ancestress
By Giovanni Della-Savina, Third Year Philosophy
Something of a microcosm of the album that it appears on, string arrangements meet drums on a Rotterdam weekender, all held together by wonderous musings on motherhood. Equally concerning her mother as her own children (her son features)- Ancestress is refreshing, as Fossora is generally, for avoiding fraught naïve, essentialist, wombic idealizations of (mother)(child)hood. Björk, as ever, finds fantastical solace in the complexities of embodiment- and it shows both sonically and lyrically- ‘by now we share the same flesh, as much as I try to escape it’. ‘Ancestress’ stands out as one of the finest showings of Björks recent career.
8. Beyoncé - BREAK MY SOUL
By Rosie Smith, Third Year Anthropology
I think everyone and their mother was waiting for new music from Beyoncé, so 'BREAK MY SOUL' obviously had to be included on this list. Sampling Robin S, this song has been played again and again every night in every club I’ve been to since its release. And again. As it should, of course. Electronic dance music is definitely making its way back into the mainstream, and this song is the perfect example of that happening.
7. Steve Lacy - Bad Habit
By Evelyn Heis, Film & Tv Editor
Anyone who has TikTok will have ultimately grown sick of this song but will equally know all of the words of its catchy chorus. ‘Bad Habit’ blew up overnight, propounding Steve Lacy to the forefront of TikTok’s trending audios, with his music gaining a completely new audience. Since then, Lacy refuses to sing this song at his concerts, waiting to catch out fake fans who only know the first 30 seconds of it. An overrated bop? I wish I knew…
6. JID - 2007
By Oscar Ross, Music Editor
This extra track from the extended edition of JID's latest album, The Forever Story, titled ‘2007’ is a hip-hop holy grail, Lego minikit, chef’s kiss song. These hidden beauties tucked into extended, deluxe, re-release albums are like music nerd crack and I’m always here for it - ‘2007’ is at the very peak of this. As well as its niche and elusive nature, it’s also a proper, early J-Cole-type rap track, with rich storytelling and brilliant production at the forefront. Get at it or miss out.
5. Horsegirl - Option 8
By Jake Paterson, Co-Deputy Music Editor
Aided by Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Horsegirl – three 19-year-olds from Chicago – put together my record of the year. Their leanings on the alt-rock and shoegaze of the 90s establish a new nostalgic direction for rock whilst being tightly direct and progressive. ‘Option 8’ is the most scathing cut from the record and when we’re asked to ‘stand straight don’t be late’ we can’t help but follow their demands.
4. Ethel Cain - American Teenager
By Phoebe Caine, Deputy Arts Editor
Cain’s pop anthem wears the flesh of the 2010’s brighter Americana style, yet gnaws away at itself as it releases the lurid, anxious and seething themes of the whole album Preacher’s Daughter. The wailing vulnerability that is thinly veiled under and continues to escape from controlled chords is most captivatingly cathartic in this track. It wades through tides of religious anxiety, social dysfunction and pools of teared trauma. This creates an emerging atmosphere of an America paralysed by its unsettling dust and disenfranchised youth.
3. Special Interest - Midnight Legend
By Mia Smith, Music Editor 2021-2022
‘Midnight Legend’ has topped a lot of best song listicles this year - but the single version (ft. Mykki Blanco) rather than the album version. So, I’m here to defend the latter (sorry Mykki Blanco). The track is an audibly queer dance rock anthem edged with quintessential Special Interest - risky, sharp, but most importantly, fun. What sets the album version apart comes at the 2:15 mark - Alli Logout delivering the most hypnotically insane lyrics in the musical world this year. It has the power to make the straightest man alive suddenly be able to death drop. And that’s impossible.
2. Big Thief - Red Moon
By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Big Thief’s ambitious double-album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, has cemented their place as one of the most important bands this side of the century and although 'Red Moon' provides only the smallest of glimpses at the genre-spanning scope of the record, it’s Adrienne Lenker et al. at their foot-stomping best. Big Thief are in alt-country mode here as Lenker’s words gorgeously combine the every-day with the ethereal. “That’s my grandma!” certainly wins the award for most unexpected sing-along lyric of the year.
1. Black Country, New Road - Basketball Shoes
By Josh Templeman, Co-Deputy Music Editor
This is it - this is the blueprint, and who knew it would be so devastatingly brilliant? Twelve minutes, three parts, no obvious themes and hard-to-tie-down metaphors, ‘Basketball Shoes’ can only be described as Isaac Wood’s sprawling madness; who'd have thought the internal monologues of a broken mind could be so cripplingly beautiful? The final track of the album, it's cyclical, with its finale harking back to the album’s opener, ‘Intro’, which can be interpreted in many ways, but I interpret it as representative of Isaac’s deep desires to get back to where it all started, whether that be with his love, ‘Concorde’, who he references through the project, or to the mental stability needed to be able to continue in the band. Ultimately, ‘Basketball Shoes’ is goodbye; goodbye to Ants From Up There, a final goodbye to ‘Concorde’ for whom Isaac longs for, but most importantly goodbye to Isaac as he departs Black Country, New Road and my god, what a way to go out.
There you have it - the soundtrack to a chaotic year. For your listening pleasure, we've conveniently put together a playlist containing all the songs from the list which you can find below; don't say we never treat you, eh?
Featured image: Josh Templeman
What's your favourite track of the year?
