top 40 of 2019 | 10-1

10. Lake Malawi - "Friend Of A Friend"

This was the Czech Republic's entry into this year's Eurovision Song Contest and my personal favorite of the bunch. It's just a super fun pop song.

9. Kevin McHale - "Help Me Now"

I'm so glad that queer pop is continuing to creep ever closer to the mainstream, and it's thanks to artists like this just being themselves and churning out bangers. Midtempo dancepop, man. I'm a fan.

8. Aly & AJ - "Not Ready To Wake Up"

This straight up sounds like it was written in 1989 and then rediscovered in 2019 and produced on modern equipment. Absolutely killer dancepop!

7. Ximena Sariñana ft. Girl Ultra - "No Se"

Mexican pop singer Ximena Sariñana has been around for about a decade now, but I discovered her just this year after hearing this track on my local public radio station. It has the feel of a warm, breezy day that complements the lyrics about a burgeoning love interest.

6. Ava Max - "Sweet But Psycho"

A great parody/excoriation of the sexist "psycho ex girlfriend" trope that leans pretty heavily into it in the form of a modern club pop romp.

5. Riki - "Napoleon"

This is the very first song ever released by new group Riki. Their debut LP comes out on Valentine's Day of next year, and if this single is any indication of how great it's going to be, I'll be first in line to pick it up. Her vocal presentation and the chorusing of her voice over those punchy drum samples is just [chef's kiss].

4. Dorian Electra - "Career Boy"

In which an enbie twink hilariously shits on people who pride themselves in putting their work before their health. This is just some amazing subversive synthpop with excellent production and vocal effects.

3. Alec Benjamin - "Let Me Down Slowly"

What an incredibly well-written pop song! Alec is a singer/songwriter from Phoenix who had a well-deserved breakthrough at the beginning of the year with this track. He also cut a duet version with Alessia Cara.

2. Ollie Wride - "The Driver"

Ollie is now a full-time member of FM-81, with whom he's been recording for several years, but he's still pumping out excellent solo work. This track has the feel of the opening credits of an LA crime drama, and his voice is absolutely flawless.

1. Envelope Generator - "Emasculine"

A decade ago, I came across this video of three young Brits playing a fabulous synth medley. Earlier this year, I was going through some of my earliest YouTube bookmarks, rediscovered this video, and clicked the channel to see if they'd been up to anything in the decade since. Lo and behold, Envelope Generator (which, best I can tell, is really just singer/songwriter/synthesist J. Cronin) had indeed released a few very excellent EPs, including this year's Songs I Hate. This structure of this track is just so delicious - J really knows their way around that mega synthpop chord progression and how to write a vocal melody that complements it.