Honorable Mentions
I wanted to briefly mention two songs that were standouts for me last year, but that I didn't feel qualified for this list. One was not released this year, and the other was more of a remix than a cover of an old song.
Evan Olson - "So Much Better"
I'm burying the lede a bit here, but this song was the topic of the best podcast episode I listened to last year, Reply All's "The Case Of The Missing Hit": The story of a guy who remembered a radio song from his late-'90s childhood that nobody else remembered existing. Spoiler: It was this.
Kygo ft. Donna Summer - "Hot Stuff"
I'm not even sure it's fair to call this a remix; it's really more of a re-sheen, a polish of the disco hit we all know and love. But it is great, and they even shot a cute little video for it!
15. Dua Lipa - "Cool"
Dua Lipa (whose real name, I was surprised to learn, is Dua Lipa), has been around for a few years now, but 2020 was truly her breakthrough. Her album was reviewed far and wide as one of the year's best, and it makes sense; it's a collection of incredibly competent pop songs that sound contemporary and interpolate some '80s ideas that are en vogue.
This track is a particularly good example of that. Her vocal delivery is undoubtedly of this moment, and assuming the synth motif isn't directly pulled from some underground '80s track I've never heard, it is an absolutely brilliant tribute to that era. I love the way it doesn't ascend to the note you think it's going to, dropping down instead to a complimentary lower tone in the scale. Delicious ear bubbles!
14. Bebe Zahara Benet - "Banjo"
The first lady of Cameroooooooooooooon herself put out this absolute toe tapper early in the year, and it's haunted me as a near-daily earworm ever since. It's so easy to run with the cadence and make up your own lyrics about what the dude wants to do to you like a banjo.
13. Blair St. Clair - "All Your Exes"
A lot of drag queens are also gay dudes, and gay dudes love hot electropop, so it's not a surprise that a lot of drag queens who dabble in music end up making hot electropop songs. I absolutely love the production on this and just think it's a really cute and extremely gay little song.
12. TWRP - "Only The Best"
I haven't heard a song with this specific kind of groove since Daft Punk released their magnum opus Random Access Memories in 2013. It's funky as hell, has great synth motifs, and a robot singer that doesn't feel the slightest bit cheesy for some reason. Damn it I miss roller skating, and I'll be requesting this one the first time I'm back on the rink.
I also love the ever-so-slight alteration at the end of the bridge to avoid a direct Michael Jackson ripoff. Hilarious.
11. Brianna Hildebrand - "We Belong"
Covers are an extremely rare inclusion on my year-end top songs lists, but Hildebrand delivers this song with so much love, emotion, and expressiveness, I'd have been a damn liar to leave it off. She was the star of the Netflix series Trinkets, a realistic story of trauma and teen troubles shot in my beloved Portland. This song plays over the credits of the series finale, and I had no idea it was her singing when I first saw it, so learning that made it all the more special.
Not germane to this entry, but worth noting: You should absolutely listen to Pat and her husband Neil tell the story about writing its music.
10. RuPaul - "Ruby Is Red Hot"
Kudos to the writers of this genuinely charming series for making RuPaul seem human for ten episodes. I'm not being the slightest bit cynical or sarcastic when I say how much I truly loved every minute of this show. It had the energy, charm, and innocence of an '80s road movie, while still tackling some heavy stuff. It's a damn shame it died after a single season, but I'm sure glad we got it.
This was the series theme, but also served as the titular queen's ringtone, which was just too perfect. It's a delightul Patti-Labelle-a-la-Beverly-Hills-Cop romp, matching the series' overall feel.
9. Freezepop - "Fantasizer"
Freezepop will always be one of my favorite bands, and I'll always be exited about whatever they're up to. They're genuinely kind people who just really, really, really love synthpop and are very, very, very good at making it. Liz's signature over their icy synths will always put me in my happy place.
We fans have been waiting YEARS for this album, so finally getting to hear it and how damn good they still are was just awesome.
8. Ollie Wride & Sunglasses Kid - "Stranger Love"
Everyone who's known me for more than 5 minutes knows how much I love synthwave music. Ollie Wride simply has the ultimate synthwave voice. I could listen to this dude sing over a wall of synths and reverbed/gated snares all day every day. The way he crushes these brilliantly-flowed vocal melodies is just...man it's heaven.
7. Troye Sivan - "Easy"
Troye is another of those artists I'll always follow because they have such a deep affinity and respect for pop music, and it comes through in the tightly-constructed motifs and melodies of his songs. I'm never quite sure what the hell is going on in his music videos, especially in the video for the version of this song that featured Kasey Musgraves, but he's just so adorable and talented that I don't care.
6. Kiesza - "Crave"
Kiesza absolutely exploded onto the gay/dance scene in 2014 with the most perfect house song produced since the '90s, "Hideaway," but other than the immediate follow-up "Giant In My Heart," I wasn't really into anything she's put out since...
...until now. Man, Kiesza is BACK! And in a big way, too. This is a massive pop song that would have been a #1 radio hit for the entire summer of 1990.
5. Aiden Zhane - "BOO!"
When Aiden released her debut single "Gein," I was definitely into it, and it would have been on this list, but lower.
But then this bitch had to pull out a 707 basketball kickdrum and release the best goddamn Halloween jam since the Oingo Boingo era, and here we are. I mean goddamn, this is great.
4. Lady Gaga - "Stupid Love"
In a year of some truly stunning pop singles, it was only fitting that the reigning queen of dancepop gave us one of the best singles of her career. She knew her fans were hungry for a track like this after years of loyalty through an experimental era, and boy did she give us what we'd been waiting for.
3. Air Chrysalis - "Beyond My God"
It makes me so, so happy to put a Louisville band this high on a year-end list for the first time, ever. And no nepotism here at all -- I genuinely love this song. It's part new wave, part shoegaze, and just gives me a fuzzy glow from the inside out, sort of like when you can tell there's an old CRT television powered on somewhere in the room you're sitting in.
2. The Weeknd - "Blinding Lights"
Genuinely not much to say here; this is easily the best pop song written in years and will go down as an all-time classic.
1. Sunglasses Kid & PRIMO THE ALIEN - "Fixing Me With Love"
Why is this my top song of the year? It's honestly hard to describe. I'm pretty sure I listened to it more than any other song in 2020, even though it only came out in September. The structure of the vocal melody is perfect. Her delivery is transcendent. The chosen samples are exactly right. It's just all correct!
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