top 25 of 2020 | 15-1

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!

top 25 of 2020 | 25-16

Yep, alright, yes, I'm back to just 25 songs this past year. I'm not sure if the music selection wasn't up to my tastes, or Mama Rona snuffed out a lot of creative potential, but probably both.

Nevertheless, some great tunes came out last year, and here are 25 of them.

25. Gorillaz ft. Peter Hook & Georgia - "Aries"

I heard this track before knowing who the featured artist was, and immediately thought "wow, that is some New-Order-ass bass." Welp.

With very few execptions, Gorillaz have only ever been about as interesting to me as Daft Punk, which is not to detract from their talents, just that I don't always find their grooves super compelling. This one, however, is a delightful little trip down a peaceful, new-wavey lazy river. It also features the same Georgia who did the fabulous "About Work The Dancefloor," which slaps!

24. Bright Light Bright Light ft. Initial Talk, Niki Haris & Donna De Lory - "This Was My House"

It's become increasingly important to me in my 30s to be more in touch not just with my queer identity, but also the history of queer people and the people who had to throw bricks so that I can safely exist. This song is both a celebration of queerness and a reminder to respect those who fought for us. It's also an acknowlegement that a lot of us have not had access to our usual public safe spaces in the last year.

It's also a really nice house tune, produced by the absolutely magnificent Initial Talk, whose specialty is taking modern songs and reimagining them as '80s pop tunes, some of them even turning out much better than the originals!

And how awesome is it to see NIKI HARIS on a track in 2020?! You've heard her voice on countless club tunes from the late '80s and early '90s, perhaps most notably on Natural Selection's "Do Anything."

23. LeBrock - "Interstellar"

It's absolutely no secret that I love synthwave music. I especially love the occasional synthwave track with a guitar track (it happens less than you'd think!), and this guy's awesome power vocals just bring it home for me!

22. Jessie Ware - "Save A Kiss"

Jessie Ware has been giving us solid bops for almost a decade now, yet I still feel like almost nobody knows about her, which is dreadful. This is a beautiful dancepop track that draws influence from both house and disco music, delivered with an attitude that lets you know she's British. At her fourth album, she's still as vibrant as ever, and I will continue to stan.

21. Doja Cat - "Say So"

I'm just now noticing as I write about each of these songs that there is kind of a recurring theme of late 1970s disco influences in a bunch of songs last year. Interesting.

Anyway, this song is pretty great. I don't know much about Doja Cat, but if tweets I've seen are any indication, it sounds like that's for the best. This is just a very fun and insanely danceable tune.

20. Oceans Ahead ft. Kali Rea - "Traffic Lights"

I was drawn to this song by how weird it is. It feels like it has no bottom end, no backbone -- but it also doesn't really need one. Despite its decently powerful vocals at times, it's a real wafer. I would love to hear a produced-up version of this with loud sawtooth synths and a buzzy bass track, but I really do love how this one just sits like meringue.

19. Coheed & Cambria ft. Rick Springfield - "Jessie's Girl 2"

Covers are extremely rare on my year-end top songs lists, but this year I had to make more than one exception, and this is the first. And I'm using the term "cover" very loosely here -- it's a reinterpretation, nay, a sequel! to the track we all know and love about being jealous of your friend's squeeze. I would never have pegged this for a Coheed passion project, but it does (sort of) make sense considering the undeniable influence of '80s hair metal on their music. I'm glad Rick is along for the party, too, even if he deserved a bigger part!

If classic movies can get new sequels and reboots, why not classic songs too, right?

18. Greyson Chance - "Dancing Next To Me"

It's been really cool following Greyson's career for these last few years while he really comes into his own as an artist. His music conjures up a lot of feelings and thoughts that I also had in my early 20s, so it's kinda nice to look back on them and smile while I listen to this stuff. This is just a cute song about seeing a hot dude on a dancefloor, but there's some genuinely cute lyrical play.

17. Miley Cyrus - "Midnight Sky"

I have never been able to fully hop aboard the Miley train, but this is a really cute song. She is certainly a person who seems forever in search of an identity, but artists like that can be fun for a while when they stop on an identity with a neat aesthetic that makes good music (see also: Tegan & Sara, Goldfrapp). I am absolutely not buying whatever "I'm a rebel, I was born to run" nonsense she's selling, but this is a very well-produced song and it makes me dance.

16. OFK - "Follow/Unfollow"

This may be the most mysterious entry I've ever included on one of my year-end lists. This song premiered in the middle of The Game Awards and simultaneously popped up on Spotify and YouTube. It appears to be the group's only release. I cannot tell if the lyrics are mocking this "cancel culture" that I am told exists or if they are making a tongue-in-cheek argument for its existence. I love the synths and drum samples, though, so I just wanna dance with you.

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.

top 40 of 2019 | 20-11

20. Kero Kero Bonito - "When The Fires Come"

I don't think I've ever heard another song that sounds quite like this. It's vaporwavey, but the core is undoubtedly an indie pop song, and the whole thing is kinda presented in a Sega Saturn jewel case. The first time I heard this, it was all I wanted to listen to for the rest of the day.

19. Louis La Roche & Mylo - "Lovers"

Over the summer, I wondered one day whatever happened to Mylo and why he hadn't released any new music in years, only to Google him and discover that he had, in fact, just released his first single in years. His signature Mylo dancepop sensibility permeates through every note of this tropical bop.

18. Gunship - "The Video Game Champion"

I don't use the word "epic" often because the internet has made it corny as hell to do so, but I'm not sure that there's a better descriptor for this track. It gets me feeling pumped as hell and ready to beat a level that's been giving me grief.

17. Electric Youth - "ARAWA"

Electric Youth's first album from back in 2014 might be my favorite of the entire decade. It's a gorgeous day packaged into sunny synthpop that oozes into your ears like agave.

I was thrilled to see them release some new music this year following the unfortunate scrapping of the movie whose score/soundtrack was their sophomore LP. It's an odd choice for the title to be an initialism when the lyrics aren't enunciated very well, making what I'd guess is a good chunk of your listeners think you're talking about how "racist" you are, not "restless," but hey, the production is still tight as hell.

16. Shawn Wasabi ft. Raychel Jay - "Snack"

I always get pumped when Shawn Wasabi drops a new track, because it's not a terribly frequent occurrence. A friend of mine once described Shawn's music as "bleep pop," which is a great descriptor; he relies on layers of cutesiness, bounciness, oddball samples, synth stabs, and bass kicks. At first listen, I was kinda ho-hum about this, because I felt like it's the same schtick I'm used to by now: Pop culture references and childishness, like, we get it, right?

But idk man, Raychel Jay is just so stinkin cool, and Shawn is just so lovable and he puts his entire heart into his music, and it's pretty much impossible not to love both it and him. (I came around after a couple listens.)

15. Greyson Chance - "Yours"

Greyson Chance's path to fame has certainly been unique: He appeared on Ellen about a decade ago after a video circulated of him performing the Lady Gaga song "Paparazzi" on piano in his school talent show. Ellen subsequently founded a record label and signed him as her first artist. The album flopped, and Greyson faded back into obscurity. He never gave up songwriting, though, and this year he made a more genuine debut by coming out as gay and releasing an album of songs he'd actually written. It's full of well-written, personal tracks; this just happened to be my favorite.

14. Maggie Rogers - "Retrograde"

I'm such a sucker for midtempo synthpop, I know. Blend it with girlie indie rock and I'm swooning. It's rare that we get to hear this kind of singing voice over a drum machine, because usually people who can sing well in this style are either doing torch songs or ultra-acoustic. This track has a beautiful build to an addictive chorus, which falls away with some perfect backing vocalizations.

13. The Bad Dreamers - "Somewhere In This City"

When a synthwave group really leans into the "nightdrive" aesthetic, magic can happen. The Midnight has always been the group that best pulls this off, and this track rivals their best songs. It's got a bubbling, driving synth base, with a live drum bottom, live guitar motifs, and a live lead sax to stand in for a chorus with a perfect melody. Outstanding all around!

12. MUNA - "Number One Fan"

MUNA continues their trend of releasing one killer track on an album of songs that I forget about before they're finished playing, but you know what? That's okay. Because their message of self-love is the most important thing about them, and if they can crank out one banger per LP to remind all us listeners to be kinder to ourselves and one another, I am a fan.

11. Absinth3 ft. Nick Leach - "Suburbs"

Speaking of great nightdrive tunes, my buddy Absinth3 showed us how to handle that style from the purely electronic side of things with this sparkly track carried by a beautiful, just-restrained-enough vocal performance from Nick Leach. It makes you feel like you're lying under the stars in the country with someone cute.

top 40 of 2019 | 30-21

30. Katy Perry - "Never Really Over"

I'm not sure if Katy Perry is becoming less annoying, or it's just been enough time since her last annoying release that I didn't have fatigue from it and was able to listen to one of her songs without immediately being turned off by the mere fact that she was the performer.

This is a great track, though, and I hope this trend of her being less annoying continues.

29. Normani - "Motivation"

The ladies of Fifth Harmony are a talented bunch, but since their split, the solo attention has focused almost entirely on Camilla Cabello. I was so glad to see Normani spring forth in her own right with a couple of super fun singles this year, because she really deserves every bit of that same success. Her music, much like Fifth Harmony's, recalls a very specific fun sound from the early '00s. That's not an era of which I'm particularly fond, which speaks all the more to her talents.

28. tofubeats - "Plastic Love"

This came up on Spotify Radio one morning, and my immediate thought was "This sounds like a 2019 version of City Pop," which makes sense as it turned out to be a cover of a classic of that genre. If you're unfamiliar, City Pop is a subgenre of adult contemporary and soft rock that was popular in Japan in the early 1980s.

I love love love his vocal delivery on this, and the production is perfect!

27. Futurecop! ft. Parallels - "We Belong"

A beautiful synthwave track about humankind's place in the universe, brought to life by Holly Dodson's gorgeous voice. Parallels have been doing their thing for over a decade now and are still as great as ever, and this new collaborative partnership with Futurecop! seems to be keeping the creative juices flowing.

26. Caroline Polachek - "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings"

I absolutely love the reserved way with which she sings this song, as it's a hilarious contrast to the hyperbolic title. The video is funny too -- it's sort of like watching a preteen try to put a spell on her class crush because she stayed up late on a Saturday and saw The Craft.

25. Rebecca Black - "Anyway"

I don't think any other pop culture figure of this decade has turned more bitter lemons into deliciously sweet lemonade than Rebecca Black. I'm glad to see that she continues to laugh the last laugh as she makes quality pop music with a big beautiful smile.

24. Meg Myers - "Running Up That Hill"

Kate Bush is one of those artists that's on such a high pillar of reverence that covers of her music are few and far, far between. This is the second-best one I've ever heard, behind only Solange covering "Cloudbusting" one time in concert, which was absolutely brilliant. I feel like Meg's version of this iconic track finally let it breathe as the italo song that it's always begged to be.

And what a cool video!!

23. Stacey Q - "Trippin' Me Out"

I didn't really know what to make of this on my initial listen, but in true Stacey Q fashion, the hook embedded itself in my brain and I caught myself humming it for the rest of the day. It's reminiscent of a song that she did with longtime collaborator Jon St. James' on his Echo Junkies project about a decade ago, and really, this psychedelic sound isn't too much of a surprise from her, because she's always been kind of a hippie at heart. I'm excited to see what else she comes up with in the coming months, and I'm beyond stoked for the return of SSQ next year!

22. Kygo & Whitney Houston - "Higher Love"

I'm a big fan of Kygo and I obviously love Whitney, so when I heard that he'd decided to rework a cover that she'd recorded in 1990 and only released on the Japanese version of I'm Your Baby Tonight, I was 100% on board. This is great!

21. Great Good Fine Ok - "Change"

I haven't heard a song that quite taps this specific sound since the early 1990s. It's something about the way it's layered and the way the lyrics are written. I can't quite place exactly one thing that makes it recall that specific era in pop for me, but it does, and it's wonderful!

top 40 of 2019 | 40-31

40. CNCO - "Pretend"

A sneaky '80s pop sample spun into a latin pop boy band number - I'm into it!

39. Missy Elliott - "Throw It Back"

Missy made a long-awaited and promising comeback a few years ago with the insanely fun "Where They From." I, like everyone else, expected an album and a few more bangers to follow, but that sadly never happened.

Now, four years later, we got a 5-song EP led by this booty bouncer. She shadowdropped it after asking her Twitter followers to remember a time when "we all just danced and had fun," so all of this is a pretty clear nod to the Supa Dupa Fly era, and I'm not mad about it. Uptempo Missy will always be my favorite Missy, but this shit makes me wanna dance too.

38. Slayyyter - "Mine"

'90s house music presented through the lens of LA youth. This is a really well-produced track that really nails the sound it's going for, right down to those iconic Korg M1 organs.

37. La Neve - "Stability"

Sonically and aesthetically, this thing is all over the place, but it's just so goddamn queer and I love it. On the surface, this should be annoying as hell, but I cannot help but dance my ass off every time it comes on while I'm getting ready in the morning. I know this entry won't be for everyone, but hey, it is my year-end top songs list, right??

Definitely also worth watching amazing video of La Neve quitting their job in stylish fashion from a few years ago.

36. SRSQ - "Unkept"

This will be the first of a couple of appearances by Dais Records artists on this year's list. (Big thanks to my friend Ian for alerting me to their existence earlier this year!) They're producing some fantastic new wave, synthpop, and darkwave over there, and I'm very into it.

SRSQ's origin story is not a happy one: It's a pseudonym for singer/songwriter Kennedy Ashlyn, who lost musical partner Cash Askew in the tragic fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in San Francisco in 2016. Her sadness is very much reflected in this new music, but her angelic voice shines like a beacon above the wall of gloomy synths and drum machines.

35. Code Elektro - "Cosmonaut's Dream"

I hope everyone is fully prepared for my Top 100 Songs of the 2010s list next year to be chock full of synthwave, because it was the genre that defined my decade, and there are no signs of my love for it slowing down whatsoever.

This is just a very cool instrumental track that reminded me of a slightly more polished track from the brilliant Stranger Things score.

34. Jai Wolf - "Still Sleeping"

This song fits really nicely between synthpop and modern pop. The delivery is all 2019, but it has the production sensibilities of a midtempo crush lament from 1986.

33. Mabel - "Don't Call Me Up"

Top 40 has really fallen off for me in the last two years, but there are still occasional bright spots like this. You've heard this song structure hundreds of times throughout the decade, but the production here is airtight and that chorus slaps.

32. Automatic - "Calling It"

It may start off like a Talking Heads b-side, but this goes full-on indie pop once the vocals kick in. I can't even pinpoint exactly what I love about this song so much, but I loved driving around with it on when it was really, really hot this summer.

31. Georgia - "About Work The Dancefloor"

Unf, that bassline. Really excited to hear Georgia's full LP next month, because both songs she's released from hit have been excellent.

top 40 of 2018 | 10-1

10. Fickle Friends - "Glue"

Some damn fine retro-tinged pop coming out of Brighton, England. I had to pick this one up on cassette not just because the packaging was so cute, but is there any better medium on which to listen to music like this?

9. Gigi Rowe - "Got That"

I love that music written specifically for video games is becoming a thing, and even though this isn't really in that exact spirit, it counts! I was absolutely blown away by this when I came across it in Just Dance 2018. It recalls everything that was so perfect about mid-'80s R&B-flavored dancepop like Deniece Williams' soundtrack hit "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and Five Star's criminally underrated "If I Say Yes". And come on -- how cute is she?!

8. Troye Sivan - "Bloom"

I gushed in the last post about how Troye's debut single from this album was his emergence as a true pop star, but this second single and title track took things very quickly to full blossom: It's the right proper butt sex anthem that the world didn't know it needed. I had absolutely nothing like Troye growing up, so I'm very thankful for his existence for today's queer youth. The video is a perfect complement, too -- even driving home its early '90s motif by being shot in 4x3.

7. Christine & the Queens ft. Dâm-Funk - "Girlfriend"

A funny, funky twist on the concept of masculinity. We in the queer community often preach about how men often need to be more in touch with their femininity, but what about the inverse? Bring on the butchies!

6. Anna Burch - "Tea-Soaked Letter"

An absolutely perfect little indie pop-rock romp that made me realize how badly I was missing this specific sound from my college radio days. The melodic structure of this song is so damn well-written, right from the very first note, when she comes in singing the harmony instead of the melody that you expect.

Side note: I actually heard this for the first time while I was peeing in a restaurant bathroom, and I used my free hand to Shazam it -- a fact that I didn't necessarily have to tweet to and share with Ms. Burch, but I did anyway. Don't worry; she thought it was funny.

5. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - "The Punishment of Luxury"

Listen, I'm just as surprised as anyone that frickin OMD is showing up on my year-end top songs list in 2018 CE, but I had the grand fortune of seeing them live back in March, and they simply killed it. The first time I actually heard this song, the title track from their most recent album, was at that show, performed live, and it sounded just as good then as it does on the album. I've caught myself countless times the rest of this year humming this melody!

4. Jack Antonoff & MØ - "Never Fall In Love"

This is from the soundtrack to one of my favorite movies this year, Love, Simon. I wish Jack and MØ would do an entire album of synthpop like this!

3. Pale Waves - "Television Romance"

I'm so glad that there's still a new wave scene (if you know where to find it, anyway)! Manchester's Pale Waves absolutely crushed it with this one - every note, both played and sung, is perfect.

Worth noting: There are two mixes of this song, and I prefer the one used in the video to the one on the album.

2. Betty Who - "Just Thought You Should Know"

Betty Who is one of those artists who I stan more out of image or politics than the actual music. She blew me away with "High Society" from her debut EP in 2013, but I've never come close to loving any of her other songs like I loved that one, until now.

What so spine-tinglingly delicious about this track is the way it progresses from a quiet pop whisper into a pop punch. When it starts, you're nodding your head with her, but by the one-minute mark, it's "DAMN! Ok then Betty!!"

1. Kim Petras - "Heart To Break"

I honestly don't know what else to say about this except that it's literally a perfect dancepop song, and that I hope Kim has a long and fruitful career.