This year, for the first time since I started doing these lists eight years ago (bloody hell) I’m ditching three categories at once and smothering one in the crib. These four categories are female artists, male artists, bands, and newbies. For newbies I just didn’t have enough entries for it to be worth the time to make a separate list, and for the other three it would’ve mostly been artists I’ve already written about in previous years.
So what I did (because I’m smort) is I merged these four categories and define it as any artist I either got to know this year or listened to a lot this year. This way I can still have some of the new musicians I got to know this year but still reflect what my year looked like in music even if some of those have been on these lists before.
This is serious business, we’re not banging rocks together here.
15 Bastille
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Bastille came out with the best album of 2016 last year and this year I was lucky enough to first have to cancel seeing them live in February and then reschedule seeing them in August. To this day I’ve not waited more for a band than I’ve waited for them which should be a sign of how amazing I find them. Wild World was a tightly paced, captivating record about how shitty the world is, in true Bastille fashion where you can’t tell whether you should drink or dance more. This year saw them release Glory and World Gone Mad as singles, there’s a new Other People’s Heartache in progress and we know for a fact that they’re working on a new album which is supposedly shaping up to sound like an apocalyptice party record so… count me in.
Listen to: World Gone Mad, Blame, Glory
14 Dua Lipa
She was on my newbies list in 2016 but little did I know back then. Since then she released her self-titled album and went on to conquer the world with her single New Rules. Out of all the singles we knew was going to be an album I wouldn’t have thought New Rules would be the one but I don’t mind. With such a strong, distinctive voice and such bops it’s really just her marketing that can fuck things up. I know I’m a downer but I hope she doesn’t disappear in the sea of young and spunky English singer-songwriters. (Has anyone seen Ella Eyre lately? 
I was so excited… I don’t even dare to hope anymore.)
Listen to: Garden, Be the One, Last Dance
13 Matt Maeson
A Spotify darlingheart that popped up on my discover weekly playlist and boy am I glad. Cringe is one of those crowd-please bangers that you just can’t escape from and you’ll find yourself humming it days after the one time you’ve heard it until you go back to it. Such was the case of Matt Maeson and his latest EP “Who Killed Matt Maeson” instantly cemented itself on my radar and did not disappoint. His voice is so versatile and he uses it all the right ways. I hope he releases a full album soon because I need more soooongs.
Listen to: Cringe, Grave Digger, Tribulation
12 Bishop Briggs
Surprised myself by putting her so “low” on the list but if I’m honest there were only three or four songs I listened to by her this year. That doesn’t mean she’s in any way less worth of your attention though. Bishop first popped up featuring on Cold War Kids’ track “So Tied Up” which I’ve mused about once before here and I was thrilled to find out this girl can sing. River is every bit as addictive as you think it’ll be based on the first two notes, and the EP it’s on (titled Bishop Briggs) is just a collection of this sort of souther gothic alternative… rock thing she does. My worries about her are similar to the ones I’ve mentioned about Dua Lipa but I just don’t want to imagine a world where I can’t hear more of Bishop’s voice.
Listen to: River, Dream, Wild Horses
11 Window to the Abbey
Without getting into an argument about how confused I was about the name of this band (the project on pledgemusic was listed under Troy Baker, how was I supposed to know Window to the Abbey was the name of the band? I thought it was the damn album, where did “Moving Around Bias” even come from? Fucking hell…)
Anyway, Troy Baker released my favourite album in 2014 (it’s perfect, no jokes) and I was so stoked for his new project when I found it was coming out (not that pledgemusic notified me about it even though I literally pledged money for it, no, I had to find out about it from tumblr like some sort of animal). I wrote about the result here and I still hold my opinion that to me it’s the order of songs that bring the whole of the journey down (I know, the stupidest thing, that’s why it pisses me off so much) but every song is dripping of human emotion and the joy of music, and damn that voice gets me every time. I hope he never stops making music.
Listen to: The Promise, Break Up Song, Common Grounds (no links cause only The Promise is on Spotify)
10 American Authors
Remember when I said this is a mixture of four categories? Well, I lied, it’s actually a mixture of FIVE. Really early into 2017 I realised there were a few albums I missed out on in 2016 and I was furious because they would’ve easily made top 5. One such album is What We Live For by American Authors. I was a huge fan of their first record, “Oh, What a Life” (it actually placed 12th on my list that year) (all these links are going to change when I change my URL on New Year’s Eve someone kill me) and I’m beyond pissed that I didn’t catch What We Live For it would’ve been #6 behind Life Screams by Lacey Sturm.
Not that this album doesn’t have a fair share of ballads and sad songs but the whole band is just radiating positivity. Catchy tunes, playful banjo, stomp-clap songs (u kno u luv them), singalongs, it’s such a damn pleasure to listen to these guys so look beyond Best Day of My Life and give them a listen, they’re the best pop music has to offer these days.
Listen to: Pride, Mind Body Soul, Right Here Right Now
09 BANNERS
This scrawny asshole has also seen at least one of these lists last year when he kept pumping out singles. Guitar pop, indie pop, alternative… whatever, call it what you want the facts are that you would recognise his Banners’ voice out of a hundred thousand, and his songs are all different but somehow still fit that feathery sort of magic rainbow cloud world I assume he’s coming from. His songs are either super serious (Half Light), beautiful ballads (Start a Riot), dancey club bangers (Shine a Light), songs that would be a worldwide #1 hit in the mid-00′s (Empires on Fire, pls), or my favourite song of the year (Someone to You). We have no news of it but I’ve made a place for his debut LP hopefully released in 2018.
Listen to: Half Light, Someone to You, Shine a Light
08 Fall Out Boy
I swear nobody can rile up the crowds quite like Fall Out Boy coming out with a track like Young and Menace. For the thirteenth time we listened to the panicked masses screaming into our ears about how FOB sold out, they changed, they’re not FOB anymore, and what’s this dubstep bullshit anyway? Let me tell you what, only the best song you’ve heard this year. I love that they stopped giving a shit, I love them for it, I really do. And even though Mania was delayed until 2018 we got a taste of what to expect and damn I know I’m already up for seconds.
(That sounded way too commercialy but I said it already so I’m not taking it back.)
Listen to: Hold Me Tight Or Don’t, Young and Menace, The Last of the Real Ones
07 FOURS
I can’t… I can’t emphasise enough how much y’all need to listen to FOURS. I’ve said this last year when they only had two songs and an EP out and I’ll say it again now that they came out with four more. The strongest female vocals I’ve heard in years paired up with nostalgic pop that could come from Whitney Houston herself (listen to Sicky Sweet and tell me it doesn’t remind you of I Wanna Dance With Somebody) these guys deserve so much more attention. I’ll hold out here until y’all stop sleeping on them.
These reviews are getting sassier with every entry… I need sleep.
Listen to: Sickly Sweet, Stella, Fade to Love
06 Everything Everything
A late entry but look how high it got straight away. I loved Everything Everything’s Arc back in 2013 (placed 20th, hah, I didn’t even remember that) so I was beyond disappointed when Get to Heaven didn’t live up to my expectations and even though I did listen to A Fever Dream I sort of just slipped past it for some reason. But better late than never I can now safely say this band still owns a significant piece of my heart. Weirdly enough, I still think Jonathan Higgs’ voice isn’t one anyone hears and thinks “man this guy should be the lead singer of a band” but with this (fever) dream-like sound he built up around the songs I just couldn’t imagine these songs with any other voice. I’m definitely happy I wasn’t late for this one.
Listen to: Night of the Long Knives, Run the Numbers, A Fever Dream
05 Enter Shikari
If you’d told me in 2009 when I had to listen to Common Dreads on a bet (that’s the kind of crazy stuff I be on haha!) that eight years later Enter Shikari’s latest album would be one of my favourite releases that year I would’ve… probably been excited to see what direction their music takes. But because nobody warned me I have no idea what this band’s been doing the past eight years and I only found their new album this year because I heard Live Outside on BBC’s Radio 1 while I was waiting for an NBT track to drop.
Based on the fans’ comments Enter Shikari has changed a lot and this album doesn’t represent a majority of their career, which if it’s really the case, I’m so happy about. I love the melodies, I love the crystal clear message in every song, such a wide variety of topics, still hectic and scream-y in some places but easy listening in most of the other places, it’s exactly the right album for me and, well now I have to pay attention to these guys as well.
Listen to: Live Outside, Rabble Rouser, The Sights
04 Kaleo
Another entry on the “how did I not recognise them before” list, Kaleo came out with their second LP “A/B” last year but I think they mostly remained in hiding until the movie Logan used Way Down We Go in its second trailer. That’s how I stumbled upon this surprisingly Icelandic band. It’s surprising because they play better American music most Americans do. It’s this badass country/blues rock about roadtrips and the devil and love. That paired up with lead singer Jökull Júlíusson’s insanely badass vocals (for real, listen to that voice and tell me it doesn’t sound like sweet melting chocolate) it’s something really special.
Listen to: Hot Blood, Way Down We Go, Glass House
03 Kensington
If you guessed they were another band I missed out on in 2016 then you guessed right. This is what I wrote about them when I featured them on my best newbies list at #11.
“Poor Kensington’s this far back on this list because even though I enjoyed the HECK out of Rivals (the HECK, I’m telling you!) I only… enjoyed the heck out of that one. It’s not that the other albums were bad, it’s just that I never got around to checking them out unfortunately. Which I should, seeing as I’m seeing them live in February, eh? Anyway, a kickass vocalist, smashing guitars, it’s a simple equation but it works. I for one welcome our Dutch overlords.”
Well, look at where we are, laddies and look no further. I spent a majority of this year enjoying the fuck out of Rivals and being in trance for two months straight after seeing them live and I’m seeing them again next April so… don’t do drugs, kids, that’s the only reasoning I can give for not falling in love with this album sooner.
Listen to: Regret, Home Again, Little Light
02 Misterwives
And here we have the band that would’ve topped the best newbies list had it not been for my incompetence. But I like to think that they’re in the right place because anything that’s second behind the band that’s in first place is actually really the first. Makes sense, right?
Misterwives was also gifted to me by the almighty Spotify where it threw up Machine on me. It was one of those moments where it stayed burnt into my memory for so long I couldn’t help but go back to it even though in the moment it didn’t feel like it was going to be something big. And now a few months later I’ve been absolutely captivated by the colourful, bounce-y, full of energy pop music of Misterwives. This six-piece is like the one colourful spot in a world full of greys, just an absolute pleasure to listen to. If you want to dance, if you want to smile, give them a go.
Listen to: Reflections, Our Own House, Machine
01 Nothing But Thieves
Hell no, it’s way too early to get into this right now. Guess you’ll just have to wait until my best albums liiiiiist ^^
Pass Through Fire 