Pulling off a concept album for your debut is pretty ambitious, but Melanie Martinez dove headfirst into themes of childhood abandonment, neglectful parents, and teenage self-esteem struggles to create something very special in Cry Baby. It's certainly no surprise that her music lyrically resonates mostly with younger folks (or adults who haven't been to therapy), but the production is equally noteworthy. As evidenced by this and a handful of others on the list, 2015 was the year of the anti-chorus -- no singing a hook here, just popping bubbles.
I said it in a previous entry but it's worth repeating: I love Ester Dean, and I wish more people knew about her. Not only is she a brilliant songwriter, her views on gender and sexuality are extremely progressive. I would read a book on Ester Dean's ideas about sexual identity. This track, in which she unashamedly tells a guy how she got his woman, is such a perfect snapshot of who she is as a person and artist.
Every Open Eye was my favorite LP of 2015. Each song is a standout of electronic bliss and angelic vocal melodies. "Bury It" comes on the strongest of any of its tracks, opening with raging sawtooth synths followed quickly by Lauren Mayberry's powerful voice at its most emphatic. A definite highlight of the year was being there when they brought out Hayley Williams to sing it with them in Nashville.
Easily the most anticipated comeback of 2015, and whoooooo did Missy deliver! She delivered herself to a new young audience that embraced her and reminded those of us in our 20s why she's been the queen of hip hop for almost 20 years now.
A track that stirs emotions and makes your spine tingle, this first single from Purity Ring's latest album is an effervescent nighttime swim in a motel pool while the vacation air makes you reflect on your life choices.
The Pinkett-Smiths have raised their children to be independent, confident thinkers and artists, and though they both say a lot of insane shit, they sometimes harness their egocentrism into interesting art. Willow is a great singer; she holds some powerful notes in this track, which feels like playing hopscotch on a sunny day. I wish I could say more about this song's production or even the rest of the album, but she's either already running from the project or just has a bad promotion team, because I can't even find a track listing.
This is more than a song; it's a goddamn revolution. A decade after we first met her, Rihanna has managed to remain relevant and edgy in all the right ways. This track was on the soundtrack to every night you've been out since it came out, its thumping, grinding bass and shoutable hook almost a call to party arms. The final quarter of the song goes totally off the rails into a rage -- presumably when the titular bitch is getting his comeuppance for failure to pay.
I was so nervous that CHVRHCES would never make a song that made me as happy as "The Mother We Share" does, BUT THEY DID. Like most of the tracks on Every Open Eye it starts with a crash, yet still finds ways to push and pull as it moves along. Certainly not a happy song (I consider it a spiritual cousin of "Walking On Broken Glass"), but one that is not without hope -- even just in the sense that experiencing loss and rejection is part of the human condition.
Grimes was on my radar before this year, but for some reason it took me this long to actually sit down and pay attention to her music. Her landmark 2012 track "Oblivion" is about being afraid to walk around at night. Now, three years later, we see a more confident, comfortable artist who still hasn't lost the awkward charm that makes her performances and live persona so enjoyable. Like "Leave A Trace" above, this too is about moving on after a breakup, but Grimes ends up in a better place. In fact, she tells you quite bluntly: "I don't care anymore."
Another young artist, Låpsley's voice is like thick molasses. Her powerful contralto stands up so well to the loud production on this track that it's easy to get lost in either. The hook has the instantly-singable simplicity of a '90s pop radio ballad.
Have you ever heard a song and thought, "I had no idea the world needed this music, but in retrospect how were we all living without it?" That is how I felt after my first listen through of the amazing debut by GEMS, Kill The One You Love. It's sleek, calculated, bassy, and makes you feel warm and rhythmic. This track has my favorite hook of the collection, and I love its oddly abrupt ending.
I've probably had the biggest change of opinion on any musical artist in my lifetime on Jason Derulo. In 2010, he was a punchline to me; someone to whom Gaga gave the front 5 feet of her massive stage to sing over a couple of tracked songs before she brought the house down. 2014 was the beginning of these changes, and 2015 moved him so much further in the right direction that here he is in my Top 20. This is a serious jam that basically exemplifies what is great about modern R&B pop music.
I think the Vanic remix of this track is probably the better known-version, but the original of this exercise in pop purity did it for me. The kind of track that just makes you bounce inside and out.
Carly's sophomore album Emotion might be the most underappreciated of the year. It was to '80s music what It Follows was to '80s slasher flicks: Art made by artists who deeply respect that era and created something that was tonally and thematically in that moment without being a reductive copy. Baffling to me that it barely barely barely barely barely barely cracked the Top 40.
I'm pretty sure this track is some kind of inside joke that I don't get, but I don't care; it's incredible. QT seems to be more performance art than music career. She's a character being played by a British artist named Hayden and promoted a (fictional?) energy drink called DrinkQT. She never breaks character, though, so we're all sort of left not knowing whether to laugh while we dance.
You could dub this track onto a cassette and play it for the world's hardest-core My Bloody Valentine fan, telling them it's your favorite shoegaze cut from a local band's homemade tape release that you bought at their show in a dive bar in 1991 and they'd believe you. Again, as with so many alternative songs, it's only "retro" in spirit; this track is still somehow perfectly 2015. Gorgeous vocals that have the crisp flow of a garden pond and saccharine drum crunches are the toppings on the many layers of just-melodic-enough distortion guitars.
This is the first time a cover has ever made my top songs of the year, but it feels justified. While definitely faithful to New Order's original, Parallels succeeds in making it their own by polishing up the rough edges of the rhythms and vocals and giving it more of a glistening finish that suits their style. The decision to make it a duet was a brilliant stylistic choice too -- it becomes a conversation rather than a plea into the night sky.
Somehow, 23-year-old Garrett Borns pulls off a glam rock song with a classic rock tinge that omits everything that was obnoxious about those genres in their heyday. His voice is sublime, and his distored guitar's riff will make you think of Norman Greenbaum in the best way.
I've been watching Wet perform this song live for three years now, so it was great to finally get a studio version of this incredible downtempo pop song about the struggle to find motivation in the face of certain defeat. Their debut album FINALLY comes to us at the end of January 2016!
Fifth Harmony were formed on The X-Factor in summer 2012, but it took them until February of this year to release their debut album. I'm not sure how "worth it" the wait was, but this track is a banger of the highest order.
Despite her on-stage masking, Sia does not shy away from sharing deeply personal parts of herself in her music. These lyrics find her vulnerable as ever, a strong-willed woman who seems to have found the one person that she's scared can break through her walls.
Supported by another video of excellent Maddie Ziegler dancing, this time also featuring Shia LaBeouf being the wonderful strange person that he is.
Trap music arguably had the best year of any on-the-rise subgenre, and this track led the charge. I love the groan of Fetty's voice, I love seeing a successful musician not shy away from a disability, and I love his adorable child.
I have accepted the fact that Biebs has finally grown into himself and is now an actual musician and you should too. The fact that his music gets more compelling and complex the more creative control he takes of it speaks volumes. I bounced back and forth several times on whether to include this track or the lead single, and since they're about equal in lyrical mediocrity, it came down to composition; this one sounds better as an acoustic track.
You could easily make the argument that this is the #1 pop song of 2015. Not only was it around every single turn of the dial, flip of the station, trip to the stadium, and shuffle of Spotify, it's an earworm of the highest intensity. We'll all be whistling this hook for the rest of our lives, so thanks for this musical infection, Omi.
This is absolutely a case of the remix making the song (in terms of having a US hit, anyway). The original is a bouncy little UK garage track that never stood a chance outside Britain. As soon as it fell into the hands of a French DJ, though, an international club banger was born.
For reasons that aren't clear, Taio Cruz has had a hard time getting his fourth album out, but considering the over-year-long struggle it took to get his third one finally released in the US in late 2012 (when it was released elsewhere nearly a year earlier), we could be waiting a while. In the meantime, Taio gave us this midtempo R&B dancepop ditty, whose fantastic synth bass line recalls mid-'80s Jeffrey Osborne and Al Jarreau.
I love Ester Dean. Adore her. This woman is an unsung hero of the music industry, working largely unnoticed but writing massive hits for Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, and others. She finally had a proper release in 2015, an EP called Miss Ester Dean. It's my favorite non-single release by any artist this year. Its six songs perfectly showcase everything that is great about her songwriting and powerful, palpable voice. You hear the pain in her voice as her high notes in this track wail her frustration with this relationship -- she's over it, has nothing left to lose, and is embracing her right to feel better.
Kygo sort of made my list last year for his remix of Seinabo Sey's "Younger," and he's back with more of his popcorn synth sounds and piano-based bass lines. For his first solo single, he tapped indie-rock-voiced Conrad Sewell, whose high voice contrasts surprisingly well with the treble-heavy production.
Here is a bonus video of an adorable small Swedish child reproducing the hook from this song on some small sequencers.
iLoveMemphis is the stage name of 22-year-old Richard Colbert, who wrote this track after watching Rich Homie Quan dance in his video for "Flex." He claims that he spent just $35 recording it. The video is tongue-in-cheek almost to the point of irreverence, featuring various Viners and Snapchatters doing the dance while a stunned Colbert tries to cope with his sudden spotlight. This is pop music at its most fun.
Elle King is kinda like if Adele were from the American southwest. This is her debut single, and that's pretty damn impressive. She delivers the song with appropriate snark and grit, and the line "they always wanna come but they never wanna leave" is just pure pop brilliance.
You probably know Madeon from his "Pop Culture" mashup video, in which he recorded himself making a live 3-minute song built purely from samples of top 40 hits with a MIDI controller. That video was enough to get him noticed by Yelle (for whom he opened later that year), Lady Gaga (with whom he co-wrote and produced the songs "Venus,""Mary Jane Holland," and fan-favorite "Gypsy"), and Columbia Records, who finally released his debut album this year. The entire thing is a sharp, neon blend of vaporwave and French house, but this track stands out as a perfect theme song for walking around at night in a leather jacket with sunglasses on.
Self love is a popular theme in millennial music, because, contrary to what our parents seem to think, we're pretty bad at it. Steinfeld presents this message through the lens of picking herself up after a bad breakup, but the message is further reaching. The chorusing in both her voice and the backing vocal track gives the hook an anthemic feel -- it's meant to be yelled and repeated as necessary.
Another track that owes its success to usage in Vine and Instagram videos, but don't let that detract from Texas rapper T-Wayne's talent. He lays down one hell of a freestyle. This is my favorite kind of rap track -- done for the love of the flow.
Yes, the lyrics are atrocious and her vocal performance is nothing special, but the production on this track is some of the best of the year. The kickdrum almost spits at you, and distorted guitars provide perfect dissonance to her saccharine vocals.
Bonnie McKee has worked mostly behind the scenes as a songwriter for the better part of a decade. This is only her second single (I don't count the weird Christmas one), behind 2013's on-point banger "American Girl." This release is a nice blend of everything that's great about Gwen Stefani, Ke$ha, and Katy Perry when they're at their best, all wrapped in Bonnie's love of all things egregious, colorful, and retro.
A beautiful new wave rock song delivered with the detachment of the early-'80s greats of the genre and the disaffected snarl of '90s alt rock. It took me way too long to figure out that she's Sting's daughter.
Nashville's Clairity is a 17-year-old singer/songwriter whose husky voice recalls some of the indie greats of the last decade. Her debut EP Alienation includes "Scarecrow," a great track about self-consciousness, but she won me over with the Yaz sample here and awkwardly adorable lyrics like "crush a bag of pretzels."
Nobody had a bigger 2015 than The Weeknd, who topped the charts for nine weeks and received a pile of Grammy nominations for his sophomore album, Beauty Behind The Madness. The dude is poised to be the next pop powerhouse, probably largely due in part to the fact that his songs have no pretense whatsoever. He sings relatable songs about 5 a.m. hookups and recreational drug use, but masterfully writes his songs in such a way that they still receive widespread airplay. This snappy ode to a coke-fueled relationship kept asses moving this year despite its morose lyrics.
There have been manygreathits over the years that have spawned their own dance crazes, but this might be the first time an artist has chosen to amalgamate multiple popular club dances from the last decade into one song. The track ends up serving interesting double duty as both an ode to the neighborhoods from which these dances arose and a call to get your ass on the dancefloor. (By the way -- Silentó is 17. WHAT?!)
Eurotix is a duo from Sweden comprising producer Larry Forsberg and singer Dennis Alexis Hellström (who, in the interest of journalistic integrity, has been a friend of mine for about a decade). Their music, though rooted in italo-disco club sounds, is actually quite melancholy. Most of their lyrics pine for lost youth, making the album almost a harbinger of the future of this generation of young gay men with Peter Pan complexes.
This track, however, has nothing to do with being sad about being old -- it's just a cute song about a computer trying to find love on the Internet. Hmmm...maybe they've made a solid prediction for the future here too.
Much like last year's entry from 5SOS, "Amnesia," this is an extremely carefully crafted pop tune written by a gaggle of folks who have made careers living and breathing the stuff, and Kanye West.
I know -- this is a really strange inclusion; I agree. But this song was positively inescapable this year. It was in a Mountain Dew commercial that seemed ubiquitous, and on every dance floor that you spent a night on. It's a solid benchmark for the state of club music in 2015.
Kelly has flawless control of her beautiful voice, which shines in this tune that is half Jessie J's "Price Tag" and half any of Mariah's catalog from 1994. I would love to hear her sing some Taylor Dayne style soulful synthpop.
The production on this is brilliantly minimalist. It barely has a drum track, and what little it does is 95% synth clapping and snapping sounds. It relies mostly on its harmonious synth bass. I also love its origin story, which reveals it to be the product of brilliant pop musicians having fun with each other in the studio.
"I'm not a kid anymore, okay?!" is a popular theme on pop albums made by former child stars. Until "you can promise castles, treasures, babies, I don't care," the least subtle "Damn it, I am grown!!" lyric had been Miley assuring us that she can't be tamed. What it lacks in subtlety, though, it certainly has in likability, singability, and whistleability.
New wave music is back in a big, big way. Synthpop has never disappeared completely, but for many years it was mostly a cheap imitation of older sounds rather than innovative. These last few years have seen it almost become a continuation of last decade's indie rock movement -- which I love, because new wave music was born out of punk rock. It's almost like this stuff is New New Wave.
Starting off like a cool breeze and never getting overly excited, this track is sultry smoke from a fog machine that you're looking at your boyfriend through on a dancefloor, telling him only with your eyes that you know something -- and he better watch his ass.
Growing up sucks, dude, especially if your family makes you feel unsupported or unloved or unwanted. I know nothing about Martinez's personal experiences in her youth, but the lyrical content of her debut album certainly indicates that she understands these struggles and wants those stuck in these homes to know that someone empathizes.
The album wastes no time getting into the circus/dollhouse theme, opening with the merry-go-round xylophone melody at the top of the album's title track. Martinez expresses frustration bordering on rage at her feelings being dismissed by an unnamed entity -- parents? A callous lover? Inattentive friends? Herself? It doesn't really matter -- the song's focus is her feelings of confusion and self-doubt as she works through her sadness alone.
"Dollhouse" is the first time we blatantly hear a family dynamic at play. She sings about being forced to smile in a family portrait while lamenting that life with her family once the camera is shut off is certainly not something to smile about. No doubt her younger fans will find this to be one of the more relatable tracks.
Martinez tackles alcoholism and addiction in "Sippy Cup." There are many songs about the horrors of addiction and the futility of intoxication when it comes to solving actual problems, but she found a creative way to tie it in with her album's overall theme. The same goes for "Carousel," which takes on the even more common theme of unrequited love - but again cleverly woven into the dollhouse theme.
"Soap" is the album's high point. It's about that moment immediately after something leaves your mouth and you wish it hadn't -- when your chest tightens and your heart swells and you can feel hot liquid rising in your throat. My favorite thing about it, though, is the meticulous production. Structurally, the song's "chorus" doesn't even have any words - just carefully-toned bubbles popping - and it's incredibly effective. It's also the best overall showcase of her powerful vocal range.
I had to listen to "Pity Party" a couple of times before it grew on me, as it samples what is, in my opinion, the greatest pop song of all time, and that is NOT to be taken lightly. Upon reflection, though, it's not an overused sample, and it ties in well with her voice, the album's theme, and the song's production.
"Mrs. Potato Head" is another difficult theme creatively spun into the childlike nature of the album. It's about plastic surgery, and she certainly doesn't pull punches about which side of the "is plastic surgery healthy" debate she falls on. The potato metaphor is a little silly at times (especially when she starts the bit about french fries and condiments), but it really does work in the context of the album.
This is a very strong debut, if not a slightly immature one. I'm excited to see how Martinez grows as an artist and I hope she continues to stay true to herself.
I did not appreciate this album nearly enough when my immature ears first heard it a decade ago. It's a well-executed fusion of jazz, house, and ambient sounds that has a kind of snarky sheen that makes it just cool enough to play at a party or to be featured as the soundtrack of a gritty cop drama that takes place in a futuristic dystopian city.
We open with "At Peace," which features a serious, monotone vocal sample scattered among the titular turntables and sax. It feels like the opening credits of a neo-noir film. "Passion," which follows, is another slow-burner à la some of Daft Punk's downtempo stuff (but with scratching and a sax).
"What If" is where we first hear the clearest attempt at straightforward jazz, with the sax melody at the forefront.
"Open Heart" takes a turn into something much more electronic. The sax is absent, and it's driven by computerized synth melodies and plunky air-puff snare sounds.
"Falling Up" and "Listen" are both ambient tracks, mixing in some woodwind sounds amid the scratching and beats. They recall early-'90s new age tracks.
The vocal samples return on "World Within," which quickly becomes a midtempo synth-rock groove, with the saxophone once again leading the melody.
This is a well-executed experiment and a great listen for a comfortable, chillout evening (maybe even an in-house date!), but I don't think there would have been more than one album worth of material here. For the one, though, I am grateful!
This would have been SUCH a good song without The Lonely Island's involvement. Their part is a reductive version of "America, Fuck Yeah", and it just feels exhausting, laborious, and obnoxious at this point. Tegan and Sara are great, though, as is the driving synth instrumentation.
What an odd but sweet little song. It's written from the perspective of a man who is glad that he's dying before his wife dies, so that he doesn't have to miss her. Seems a tad inconsiderate of her feelings, but whatever. It's the thought that counts. Good vocal performance from 78-year-old Campbell and good use of relatively minimal instrumentation.
This song's power lies in the connections it makes between today's headlines and those from 1963. There are many Americans who foolishly think we live in a "post-racial" society (whatever that means) and art like this is a direct rebuking of that idea. As expected, flawless vocals from Legend and flow from Common.
YAWN. Isn't everyone sick of Adam Levine's crap yet? He's been doing the same thing for 10 years. Can we agree as a society to move on? And what happened to you, Danielle Brisebois? You used to make such incredibly cool music!
Diane Warren has been nominated seven times for this award but has never won it. It's time. Nearly 30 years into her career, she's still writing flawless pop melodies that transcend audio -- you actually feel her songs in your chest. Rita Ora was a perfect choice to sing this song about reflecting on one's hardships and appreciating the person you've become as a result of them. Here's hoping tonight leaves you grateful, Diane.
The indisputable party anthem of the year. This song was so universally loved I'd go as far as calling this a modern classic, because I certainly don't think it's going away anytime soon. DJ Snake has impressively managed to create a signature sound amid the often reductive sea of EDM producers.
RAC is the Remix Artists Collective, started by Portuguese artist André Allen Anjos in 2007. His website indicates that original music production is new territory, and that this year's album is the first collection of those songs. This adorable, bouncy, indie pop tune provides an era-appropriate metaphor for those fake individuals in our lives who may or may not be hiding behind expensive Ray-Bans.
Raunchy, sultry, slick, and bassy -- this track makes itself known in the club like smoke creeping in under a door, subtle enough to make you wonder if something is burning but provocative enough to let you know it's time to move.
Falsetto vocals over a subtle drum & bass line lead suddenly (almost jarringly) into an angsty-teenage-white-boy chorus, but it's all in good fun. These dudes know what they are and clearly just enjoy making music together.
The bedroom producer is still very much alive in 2014. A Vine featuring a clip of music produced by Dawin got popular on Vine, and he found himself in demand, which led to the production of this track and its accompanying music video, featuring a group of Viners. He's now signed to Casablanca Records. Do ya thing, Dawin.
Doing something that recalls a very specific era or sound is risky. Bleached is the brainchild of sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, with some other folks who join them to play live. Their post-punk sound recalls the SoCal rock of the early '90s, and goddamn is it done perfectly. This entire album is driving around with your friends in a convertible on a sunny day.
Lots and lots and lots of synthpop fans have waited nearly five years to hear another La Roux album, and this year she answered our prayers. Her sound matured - this album was decidedly more new wave and less dance - but she's still doing what makes all her fans love her: Writing lyrics that would make even Lisa Loeb go, "damn, that's relatable," and packaging them into flawless pop songs.
Like the Echosmith track from further up the list, this little steering-wheel drummer recalls college radio rock circa 2007, with a punk-rock drum riff, a savory guitar melody, and some ear-candy vocal motifs in the chorus.
I've been a pop music lover and armchair critic for 28 years now, and when I read the first reviews of this album, I expected to hear something absolutely revolutionary. People talked about 1989 like it was this year's Like A Virgin, or Purple Rain, or The Fame Monster - a total game-changer. When I finally got to listen to it, I found a collection of mostly mediocre pop tunes peppered with Swift's trademark charm and quirk, but nothing revolutionary. This one track, however, may actually be the most brilliant thing she's ever released. The production is flawless, and when you listen, you feel like something is chasing you, yet her vocals remain tender and vulnerable, appropriate to the romantic lyrics.
Loud, wall-of-sound production contrasts with soft-spoken, breathy vocals on this track from a New Zealand brother/sister duo. "I don't want to just be 'fine'" is such a brilliant lyric -- why settle for "fine"? There are better emotions and adjectives.
All feelings about the artist aside, "Fancy" was a legitimate landmark in pop music. It became a crossover hit right at the beginning of summer and undeniably had an impact on the direction of pop music and raised some important cultural discussions, the latter thanks mostly to the main artist's mouth. Charli XCX's inclusion was essential, so despite the main artist's missteps, it's a good thing this song made more people pay attention to her as well.
The Swedes are still making the best dance music on the planet. One part tropey song used to put your viewers in Italy and one part EDM, with an almost cartoonish vocal performance. What's not to love?
Charli XCX's big break should have come last year when Icona Pop's "I Love It" became the jam of summer 2013, but it took being featured on Iggy Azalea's summer 2014 hit to finally make people start paying attention to her. Whatever path she's had to take, she deserves every bit of her success, as she is an excellent songwriter and composer and is usually the true backbone of any song she's "featured" on. This track was written by Charli and a handful of Swedes and was intended for Hilary Duff, but let's all be thankful that didn't happen.
Lyrics about the plight of those affected by colonialism presented almost as a children's song. It begins as a clap-along, but by the two minute mark it reaches an emotional fervor that recalls African tribal music (yet, oddly, not in a way that feels cringy or appropriated).
This has been a great year for both soundtrack songs and Sia, and this one ended up being my favorite of both. She managed to completely reinvent a song from the original Annie film that is obnoxious at best and turn it into something new and relevant.
You may recognize Vulfpeck as the band that scammed Spotify out of nearly $20k. All shenanigans aside, they are wicked talented musicians -- the kind of guys you can tell just get a kick out of hanging out and jamming together. This song has such universal appeal that it was equally loved by the rock-obsessed bass-playing friend who pulled it up at a party one night, and my mother, who thinks Pharrell Williams is the pinnacle of current pop.
I have no particular reason for loving Rita Ora, but I really do. Her fashion and vocals always seem to be on point. This song has the build/crash production that is endemic in modern pop, but there is a certain sensibility in the melody and in her delivery that makes it special.
I'm eventually going to have to take a trip to Sweden to track down the source of all the musical brilliance of its people. Is there something in the water? Is there some underground temple in a glacier that I have to track down and then perform a ritual of some sort? I digress; this woman's voice is incredible and the lyrics of this beautiful song should feel poignant to anyone 25 or older.
Sia is simply a brilliant pop song writer, of which her extensive resumé is proof. She claims that it started as a pop song like any other that she's written, originally intended for Rihanna, but that when it finally "came out," it had become something more personal and she chose to keep it for herself. This track extends beyond simply existing as a song; it is a performance. When she performs it live, she does so with her back facing the audience, which adds to the song's melancholy power. It is the raging, yelling inner turmoil of the outspoken extrovert who feels empty inside.
Kiesza is bringing back everything that was great about house music in its early-'90s heyday. We have a totally sexy bassline that actually carries the melody instead of supports it, flawless, high-pitched vocals, and a few breakdowns that feature the aforementioned and nothing else. Her follow-up single, "Giant In My Heart," is more of this pulsating goodness, and in true '90s club goddess fashion, she's only in her own video as the club singer.
If I believed in the christian god, I might actually think Nicki Minaj is the second coming of Jesus. How could someone possibly take a sample from one of the most overplayed songs in music history and actually make a totally fascinating new song out of it? Speaking of her only as a rapper, she is unparalleled in the current scene; there's a damn good reason everyone wants her to feature on their songs.
Mary J. is arguably one of the greatest singers of all time, so it shouldn't be any surprise that she can sing house music just as well as the R&B (and, more recently, jazz!) that we already know her for, but OH MY GOSH. How incredible does she sound over these synths and drum machines?! I want an entire album of this, because it makes me audio intoxicated.
Clean Bandit are a group of extremely talented musicians who collaborated with a handful of singers on an album that combines house music and UK garage styles played with the sensibilities of classical music. Strings and pianos in dance music are nothing new, but Clean Bandit makes sure they're never riding backseat to a synth or a drum machine -- rather, they are co-pilots. Jess Glynne's smoky voice was a perfect choice for this cute love song.
So simple in structure, yet this is a veritable emotional abyss. I've been lucky enough to see Wet live twice now, and the quiet strength of their performances is nothing short of stunning. Sure, 2014 was probably the perfect year for me to hear a song about having the inner strength to let go, but isn't that catharsis the entire reason we listen to music?
