I’ve gone through a lot of personal musical growth this year; discovered a lot of differing styles of music that I hadn’t given a chance before. It’s been a great year for music across many genres. That said, here is my 50 personal favourite tracks. I’ve limited myself to only one track per artist as a couple of artists deserved four or five places and I deemed this unfair. Obviously I haven’t listened to every song released this year so please take this in mind when comparing your favourites to mine. Feel free to comment below on any that you feel I’ve missed or anything you agree/disagree with. Thanks for tuning in, yo.
50. Shamir – On The Regular. With a hip-house bouncing beat and a playfully androgynous falsetto melody, this track is simply infectious.
49. Stormzy – Know Me From. Stormzy has been partly responsible for the rise of grime in 2015, and this track really shows the punchy style for which he has become popular.
48. Mallory Knox – Getaway. With hushed verses that lead to a massive chorus, you’ll have this alternative rock gem stuck in your head for ages.
47. Caravan Palace – Lone Digger. Perfectly mixing swing and gypsy jazz with modern electronica and pop melodies, this track will make you wish you didn’t have two left feet (unless that is just me.)
46. Ibeyi – Oya. This track is the literal definition of chills. The production on this track and the seemless blend of pop and world music absolutely floors me.
45. Nate Ruess – Great Big Storm. Remember the infectious indie pop goodness on Fun’s 2012 album Some Nights? Yeah, their vocalist released an album and it sounds pretty much the same. Enjoy.
44. Major Lazer & DJ Snake – Lean On ft. MØ. Do I really need to tell you a thing about this song? It was inescapable for, yknow, the entire summer. Literally every radio station. Popular EDM at its best really.
43. One Direction – Drag Me Down. I know; tell me from two years ago that a 1D would creep onto my top 50 and I’d have kicked you in both your shins. An undeniable pop song though, the chorus kicks moderate butt. Still waiting on Zayn’s solo stuff though.
42. The Midnight Beast – Better Than Sex. Honestly thought this YouTube comedy rap group had peaked in 2010 with their self titled debut, but this new indie pop style gives me serious hope for a return to form. Perhaps they can even be funny again, oh my!
41. Wolf Alice – Fluffy. Everyone’s favourite grunge influenced, female fronted indie success story of the year! Probably not the obvious choice from the new album, but there is nothing out there which sounds remotely similar to this cut and so it makes my list. (Honourable mention: Bros and You’re A Germ)
40. Kate Tempest – Lonely Daze. If you like your rap music rough around the edges and undeniably poetic then look no further than Mercury Prize nominated East London rapper, Kate Tempest.
39. Parkway Drive – Vice Grip. If metalcore and glam rock collided at speed then the resulting mayhem would be this behemoth of a track from Aussie metallers, Parkway Drive. G’day, indeed!
38. Alabama Shakes – Don’t Wanna Fight. Oozing with the southern-rock soul of their previous album, but with production that screams ‘modern’. Brittany Howard utterly kills it on this track.
37. Hozier – Someone New. Blending soul, blues and soft rock perfectly, this Irish singer-songwriter managed to captivate the UK this past year and this song is a perfect example as to why that is.
36. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Downtown. Seemingly, a reaction to Mark Ronson’s 2014 smash hit Uptown Funk and also a sequel to 2012’s Thrift Shop. This is definitely the best funky hip hop track about mopeds you will have heard this year. Eric Nally’s feature on the chorus makes the song worth it, just for the lyric ‘Have you ever felt the warm embrace of a leather seat between your legs?’
35. Passion Pit – Until We Can’t (Let’s Go). You wanna party? You wanna dance? You wanna nod your head in approval instead because you’re too cool to do either? Next stop: Passion Pit and their signature dance-y synthpop. This track is literally boogie central, yo.
34. Lower Than Atlantis – Get Over It. A recent obsession of mine after I saw them live in Leeds. Had this stuck in my head for a good long while and if the chorus doesn’t get your fist punching the air then you’re listening to it wrong. (Honourable mentions: Words Don’t Come So Easily and Criminal)
33. Foals – Mountain At My Gates. An absolutely massive song from an absolutely massive album. Really showcases the range to Yannis Phillipakis’ songwriting on this one song, and definitely my favourite melody of all of Foals’ material. (Honourable mention: What Went Down)
32. Hotel Books – August (Part Two). As the masochist that I am (just a joke, please don’t take that literally), I really enjoy finding music that rips away all my happiness. Hotel Books is a band that does that perfectly. Think La Dispute but about ten times more depressed. (Honourable Mention: July (Part One))
31. Lunchmoney Lewis – Bills. How can a song about paying bills, stubbing toes and monetarily sustaining unhealthy relationships be this catchy and danceable? Someone needs to give Lunchmoney Lewis a hug, he sounds like he needs it.
30. Nothing But Thieves – Itch. Where did these guys even come from? I blinked for a millisecond and these unknowns slipped right under my radar and delivered one of the hardest hitting rock albums of the year. Hot damn. (Honourable mention: Ban All The Music)
29. Death Cab For Cutie – Black Sun. Another one of my favourite melodies of the year. The chorus makes my hair stand on end, and that guitar solo. Ugh. Effortless.
28. Panic! At The Disco – Emperor’s New Clothes. This must be one of Brendan Urie’s most impressive vocal performances and the production is so fabulously flamboyant. I guarantee one listen of this track you won’t be able to stop the words ‘finders keepers, losers weepers’ rattling around your noggin for at least a century.
27. Everything Everything – Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread. Another band that just strutted casually under my radar this year and offered up a beast of an LP unexpectedly, this time brimming with artsy synth-rock. Definitely one for the ITunes library. (Honourable Mention: Regret)
26. The Weeknd – The Hills (Eminem Remix). The original of this song was good enough that I considered giving it it’s own seperate slot elsewhere on this list, but I decided against it. The irregular bass and soaring melody on the chorus makes this an absolute gutbuster of an R&B track and the eminem verses on this remix make this song even better. Also check out the Nicki Minaj remix if you want, that has a couple of good verses on it, too.
25. Oneohtrix Point Never – I Bite Through It. This is not a song I’d recommend you check out if you’re not a fan of experimental electronic music. This is the glitchiest, weirdest sounding mofo you’re likely to hear all year. The use of synth tones on this track is astonishing, however, and it builds to a noisy, satisfying conclusion. This would make your high school music teacher’s head explode.
24. Coldplay – Adventure of a Lifetime. Ah, back to something a lot more familiar. There’s something about this song that makes you feel like you’re floating on a cloud, maybe its the ascending guitar riff or the dreamy aesthetic in the layering of the song. Almost makes you forgive them for last years monstrosity of an album, Ghost Stories.
23. Twenty Øne Pilots – Goner. I know this song existed before this year, but TØP rereleased it as the closer for their latest album. It starts an introspective, piano track and builds to an eruptive ending. Very few songs can really represent the emotion of hopelessness as well as this song does. (Honourable Mentions: Tear In My Heart and Stressed Out)
22. The Wombats – Give Me A Try. A lot of bands try for the 80s synthpop aesthestic in their material, and not all hit their mark. The Wombats are not one of these. The new album lets loose a very retro feel while also sounding very new. Oh, and its very catchy obviously.
21. Ed Sheeran – Bloodstream. Technically, the album came out in 2014 but the Rudimental remix of this track charted very highly this year (even though the original album version is better) so meh, screw you. Definitely the most meaningful song about drugs to have broken the top 40 this year. I love Ed Sheeran, okay. (Honourable mention: Photograph)
20. Don Broco – Superlove. If you don’t mind a bit of sleazy funk with your alternative rock then Don Broco may just be the band for you. The falsetto of the chorus will stay with you for a good long while. Also, check these guys out live, you won’t regret it. (Honourable mention: Automatic)
19. James Bay – Let It Go. It was the battle of the singer-songwriter this year it seems. There was a fair few. But in my opinion, none write songs with more heart than James Bay. And that jawline. (Honourable mention: Hold Back The River)
18. Fall Out Boy – Irresistable. This track has one of the best hooks that Fall Out Boy have ever written. Have been coming back to this one since it was released. Just a shame about most of the rest of the album. (Honourable mention: Uma Thurman)
17. Walk The Moon – Shut Up and Dance. Another track that you can’t help but throw some shapes to. Admittedly my shapes are malformed and tend to topple over, but that’s besides the point. Chances are you already know how catchy this song is, so this will merely serve as a reminder.
16. Enter Shikari – Torn Apart. Anyone else catch the fact that Enter Shikari were being played on Radio 1 this year? I dunno, that gives me hope for radio. The shout-sung chorus towards the end of the track really hit you hard and the message is one of the most meaningful on the album. (Honourable mentions: The Last Garrison and Anaesthestist)
15. Slaves – Cheer Up London. How does one exactly pin down Slaves? They’re definitely not indie, too punky to be rock and yet not really political enough to be punks. Who cares? No band has left as much of an aggressive bootprint on the year as Slaves have, and I applaud them for that. (Honourable mentions: Sockets and The Hunter)
14. Hands Like Houses – I Am. Definitely, for me, the best Post-Hardcore offering of the year. Out of a bag of very same-y sounding bands came this absolute belter. The vocals, the guitar riff, the chorus. Gah. Listen.
13. Florence + The Machine – Ship To Wreck. What do you get when you have one of the biggest voices in the music industry and you add one of the biggest choruses of the year? Why, you get this song of course. (Honourable mention: What Kind of Man)
12. Drake -Hotline Bling. ‘Oops. This must be a mistake. Chazz, you seem to have put a Drake song in your favourites of the year?’ You are correct, good sir. If you will excuse the petty lyrics, you will find that this is simply one of he catchiest songs.. well, ever.
11. Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian at Best. Do you like your garage rock abbrasive as all hell with just a hint of ‘major existential crisis’? This may be the song for you. Nah, scratch that. This may be the album for you.
10. Newton Faulkner – Passing Planes. Another absolute marvel of songwriting on my personal hero’s newest album. A late entry that may have flew right over people’s heads but features a massive folk-rock chorus that demands to be sung.
9. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Fangs. Those who doubted the ex-Gallows frontman’s return to heavy music were quickly squashed after the release of the angriest, most bitter album of the year. Its like being punched in the face…. but in a good way.
8. Skrillex & Diplo – Where Are Ü Now ft. Justin Bieber. I spent at least two weeks denying any fondness for this song. Why? Because Bieber was on it. Boy was I in for a ride this year… more information on that later. One of the best Skrillex produced tracks for at least four years, and the biggest EDM drop of the year.
7. While She Sleeps – Our Legacy. WSS cemented themselves as one of the most exciting heavy bands of the scene with this years release. This cut features one of their most memorable hooks and proves that guitars don’t have to chug to sound huge; they can sing. (Honourable mention: Four Walls)
6. Justin Bieber – Sorry. How did this come to be? Not a year ago I hated Bieber’s image, attitude and music along with a lot of the public. Now I find myself defending him wholeheartedly on online forums and praising him. How remarkable was this turn around, though? With the release of the best dance-pop album of the year and the takeover of the charts. Seriously, 9 songs in the top 40? That’s incredible. You have to admit. (Honourable mentions: What Do You Mean, Love Yourself and I’ll Show You)
5. Bring Me The Horizon – Throne. Another band that has managed to break onto mainstream radio, largely due to this absolute belter of a track. Adopting a more radio-friendly sound while still keeping the edge for which they became popular in the first place, this track is definitely one of their best. (Honourable mention: True Friends)
4. Caribou – Silver. This song embedded itself deep into the recesses of my brain, and I have not been able to rid myself of it all year. Absolutely hypnotic and undeniably beautiful, this track creates atmospheres you’d think could sustain life.
3. Skepta – Shutdown. Grime. It was bloody everywhere. And I hold Skepta singlehandedly responsible for this. Sharper than a spear and more direct than a bullet, this song bought grime and ‘roadman culture’ to a whole new demographic. ‘Trussst me daddy.‘
2. Grimes – Kill V. Maim. Some leftfield pop madness from the colourful princess of leftfield pop madness. This track manages to be danceable, catchy and yet somehow creepy in the weirdest ways. I’d like to shake the hand of the genius that produced Grimes’ album. My gosh.
1. Kendrick Lamar – Alright. Well, here we have it, my number one and to anyone who actually knows me, this would come as absolutely no surprise. K.Dot released the most unique and innovative album of the year, blending jazz and G-funk with hip hop as an homage to the black culture that has influenced him. This song embodies empowerment perfectly and there are absolutely no leaks in Kendrick’s flow on this track. If you haven’t given this album a listen, I would strongly suggest you do so as soon as possible. (Honourable mention: The entire album tbh)
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