Best Albums of 2017 (10-1)

Here they are o/

10 Imagine Dragons: Evolve

A bit like in Hurts’ case, I didn’t think something more perfect than Smoke + Mirrors could be created. And I was right, Evolve can’t even live up to Night Visions let alone Smoke + Mirrors. But is it good? Sure. Is it awesome? Ehh, not awesome, no, but it’s good. It sort of reminds me of what a first album would be for a band that doesn’t quite know what to do with themselves yet. It’s a bit all over the place, not quite a unit even though the songs individually are all enjoyable. There’s a disconnect there between the title and the material as it doesn’t quite feel like evolution just yet. Sure they’re stretching out their wings, trying to see what they can do to not be forever put into the radio hit factory box. The best example of that is Thunder but there are other efforts here that are worth a listen. At the end of the day I love the kindness of this record, the lightness in some songs and the brutal force in some others. I’m interested to see where the road takes this band from here.

My favourite songs from the record: Rise Up, Yesterday, Mouth of the River, I’ll Make It Up to You

09 Amber Run: For a Moment I Was Lost

I was surprised to see just how many of the bands I’ve been following were on the verge of breaking up or having to reinvent themselves in order to survive. It’s not that big of a deal, I realise, it happens to most artists I imagine and even though I’m glad we’re all okay I’m the happiest for Amber Run’s pulling through a hard time. They fall into this category of the best of all the worlds ever so nothing is really off the table with them from epic ballads to club bangers (okay maybe not club bangers but I wouldn’t be surprised) and because of Joe Keogh’s unique vocals and enormous range they really have nothing in their way to create whatever they like.

They usually like to create this dream-like almost vision of angelic plucks at the guitar and the piano, but then it turns into yelling and hammering away on the drums, every guitar the members could find simultaneously playing every note on the known scale and it’s beautiful, hectic waterfall of emotions. They have a fair share of lukewarm nowwhat’s but luckily they have enough of when they’re at their best too (I’m talking about the waterfall of emotions).

FAMIWL is a tad more dynamic than 5AM was but also more confident in the same time. This band is criminally underrated but I hope they keep making music because they’re such a unique spot in the current indie rock scene, it’d be a shame to rob the world of their sound.

My favourite songs from the album: Perfect, No Answers, Stranger, Insomniac

08 Ed Sheeran: Divide

I like fun. I also like Ed Sheeran. So when literally ALL SIXTEEN SONGS from his new album’s DELUXE EDITION was on Spotify’s Global Top 50 for so long Spotify had to implement changes to how they pick the top 50 so one artist can’t take up almost half of the list I thought it was fucking hilarious and I’m so glad it’s Ed Sheeran who achieved this.

Because he’s always been a “bit of this bit of that” kind of musician it’s hard to tell if he ventured outside his comfort zone on this record but I know that the first song on the record, Eraser, is part of why I like this guy so much. Every side of him, the ballad guy, the rapper guy, the nostalgic pub song guy, it’s all him, and all throughout the success he’s remained grounded. When I heard him name Damien Rice in Eraser, someone he’s idolised ever since he was little and literally followed around to pursue with demos of his songs, I knew he remained that honest guy he was back when he was just… a guy. I can respect that. I hope he keeps that up. And this album’s got hooks for days, all better than the one before.

My favourite songs from the album: Eraser, New Man, Nancy Mulligan

07 Window to the Abbey: Moving Around Bias

I wrote about this record in length here and I’m surprising myself with the placement of this album but it’s true that if one of my few problems with this album is that the songs are in the wrong order then it’s still a pretty damn good album. And it is 🙂

My favourite songs from the album: Break Up Song, Part Time, The Promise, Common Ground

06 Cold War Kids: LA Divine

(it was really hard to crop this without it including the expression “Cold Kids”)

My love for Cold War Kids is endless and yet their albums are such hard hit and misses it’s incredible. I either love them to bits or I love like the lead single and nothing else. Dear Miss Lonelyhearts has my all time favourite CWK song on it but I couldn’t hum you another song from that album. However the singles released from LA Divine were very promising so I found myself hoping for a good one. And it was. I agree with critics that say maybe CWK wanted to chew off too big a bite with the needless intermezzos that don’t add anything to the overall experience but other than that you’ve just got these guys flexing their hit writing muscles. These songs are banger after banger, call it tryhard if you want but I’ll call the firemen cause… cause it’s lit……

I’m sorry.

My favourite songs from the album: Can We Hang On?, No Reason to Run, Ordinary Idols

05 Linkin Park: One More Light

I’ve loved Linkin Park for a decade which is a long time and 2007 wasn’t even remotely the beginning of their career. It was with Minutes to Midnight that the “they sold out” train started and more and more people jumped on all of the wagons every year especially with new releases and yet Linkin Park stayed not giving a crap, a bit like Fall Out Boy. My personal favourite of theirs Living Things was followed by The Hunting Party which I didn’t quite get but I never stopped enjoying their music. So when Heavy came out I knew the bullshit about them going pop would start and I wasn’t wrong. It’s true, One More Light is way milder, more quiet record than any of the records before but I feel like if you’ve been in a band for almost two decades you can kind of do whatever the fuck you want without having to explain yourself. I’m glad Linkin Park did exactly that.

Lighter in its sound but just as emotional as ever, One More Light is different, but it’s a welcome difference. I didn’t want another Meteora or another Living Things, I wanted a new Linkin Park record with good songs on it and the band delivered. I love the sampling, I love the polished melodies, I love the rap parts just the same, I love it when Mikey sings 🙂 if I could change one thing I’d just make the whole album longer.

My favourite songs from the album: Talking to Myself, Sharp Edges, Good Goodbye

I fucking miss Chester so much. Rest in peace, thank you for everything.

04 Misterwives: Connect the Dots

I’ve also written about this miracle of an album here so I won’t repeat myself (I think I’ve done it enough already). It’s bands and albums like this that remind me to try new things even if they don’t look like my thing. I don’t listen to stuff like Misterwives and yet this album brought so much joy into my life, I couldn’t be more grateful (to Spotify).

My favourite songs from the album: Only Human, Band Camp, Out of Tune Piano, Let the Light In

03 Everything Everything: A Fever Dream

I also wrote about why and how Everything Everything got onto the best artists list so late and the case isn’t different with the album either. Get to Heaven didn’t blow my mind and even though a friend of mine couldn’t have recommended A Fever Dream to me more I just missed out on it for a few months. But maybe it was fate, maybe it wasn’t my time to love it before. Now it definitely is. A Fever Dream continues the band’s tradition of singing fast-paced, weird songs overloaded by dissonant guitars and synths, accompanied by the singer’s wailing. I’m sorry I keep shitting on his voice, it’s a very unique voice, it’s kind of rickety and squeaky but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

However, there’s a strange, faimilar coldness about this album. I can’t explain how it manifests I just feel it. A sort of addictive loneliness I couldn’t get out of even if I wanted to. Either way, all of these together create what is definitely a perfect album. (Pretty much if I wanted to I could put this in the place of Enter Shikari’s The Spark and it would still stand, they’re both just so good.)

My favourite songs from the album: all of them, really… but if I have to play along, it’s A Fever Dream, White Wale, Good Shot Good Soldier, Night of the Long Knives

02 Enter Shikari: The Spark

Another review I already got out of the way, I think I summed up well why The Spark is so special. But I’ll quote the important bit:

“It sounds like a concept album but to me it’s rather a collection of specific ideas and topics with clear messages, expressing thought-provoking opinions without ever demeaning the listener or even sounding pompous or like Enter Shikari knows better because they’re not playing regular music, you know.”

My favourite songs from the album: Live Outside, Undercover Agents, Airfield, Take My Country Back

01 Nothing But Thieves: Broken Machine

Not that it needs more explanation because I’ve pretty much been on about this album the whole fucking year but Nothing But Thieves came into my life two years ago at a friend’s recommendation and their first album quickly became one of my favourites that year (I snuck it onto the best albums list at fifth place in 2015) and when Amsterdam came out it was just The Explosion I waited for. It rekindled my love for them and made me look forward to something in a year that wasn’t great. Singles kept being released and slowly the wait for Broken Machine consumed my life.

In this day and age, probably because of how cynical I’ve become, it’s hard to look forward to something in a “man this is gonna be awesome!” way, it’s usually that tense sigh of “I hope they don’t fuck this up” but maybe all the stars aligned and I just knew Broken Machine would be awesome. And it was.

I wrote more about the album here if you want to check out my 100% objective review, and please, please listen to Broken Machine if you haven’t yet (also listen to it if you have already listened to it) because it’s truly something special.

My favourite songs from the album: you know the drill, but if I had to choose a few to recommend, it’d be Sorry, Broken Machine, Live Like Animals, Particles, I’m Not Made By Design, I’ll stop listing every song on the album now.

Best Albums of 2017 (20-11)

If I’m really honest this year could’ve been amazing album-wise since a bunch of huge names I’m moderately interested in released albums this year but instead I was mostly preoccupied with a few bands in 2017 only a few of which actually did things this year. Add that to my ever-increasing depression and you’ve got the usual scramble to find albums to add to this list that happens every goddamn year. But hey, it’s part of the fun ^^

This year has more than a few honourable mentions that I either didn’t have time for or didn’t feel like they were just good enough to be mentioned on the same list but are still a good time. There’s also a ton I never even got around to listening as always so… you’ll probably hear me complain about that this time next year when I catch up with those.

This year’s honourable mentions are:

Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface
Susanne Sundfør: Music For People In Trouble
All Time Low: Last Young Renegade
Daughter: Music From Before the Storm

20 Dua Lipa: Dua Lipa

I find Dua Lipa’s voice so captivating, I could listen to it forever, and she’s got this independent and free vibe about her, this confidence that comes across with every line she sings. She’s infuriatingly young and yet her sound is as confident and coherent as that of someone who’s been in the industry for decades.

My favourite songs from the album: IDGAF, Be the One, Garden

19 Hurts: Desire

Hurts sort of went the way I was afraid it would go, similarly to Foster the People. Their first two albums were amazing, it felt like being steamrolled by an unstoppable force, it almost seemed too perfect to be real but then Surrender was sort of a let down. A few years later they’re back with another album that sees a divorce from their signature mopey shoe-gaze-y synth pop and tunes into a more boppy vibe, almost Bruno Mars-ish in places. Realising there can only be one Exile, I accept this new dancey, more upbeat Hurts.

My favourite songs from the album: Hold on to Me, Ready to Go, Wherever You Go

18 Starsailor: All This Life

Ah, the old faves. Starsailor is from back in the days when I first started writing about music. Then promptly after that they went on a hiatus, the dreaded. I remember James Walsh saying he loves Starsailor but he has to put food on the table somehow. It made me quite sad because it meant they weren’t appreciated enough for them to be worth keep doing it. Then he went on to work with other people and make like… movie music? I don’t even know. Then this year they revealed Starsailor would be back with new music and where first I felt sadness I now feel relaxed. They’ve been in the music industry for so long there’s really nothing that can surprise them anymore. With this album they don’t aim to top the charts (even though every song would have a rightful place there), they’re just playing that sweet, sweet melodic piano pop that I love so much. And James Walsh to this day remains one of my favourite male vocalists. Such a good tone.

My favourite songs from the album: Caught In the Middle, All This Life, Fallout, Blood

17 Paramore: After Laughter

Paramore and I have a long history of not really getting what the big idea is. I understand they were a big deal when everyone ironed their hair and people just found out about winged eyeliner and even though I enjoyed quite a few of their songs I just couldn’t really get into them. Once I grew out of my teens and realised it was all the internalised misogyny I became a lot more tolerant. Their 2013 self-titled was so good and once I heard they were changing up their style for After Laughter I became intrigued. The good news is they still sing about relatable stuff like quarter life crisis, depression, growing up, The Industry, and even more good news is that they’re treading some stranger waters instrumenting-wise. It’s very indie pop-ish, I dig that.

My favourite songs from the album: Idle Worship, Caught In the Middle, Told You So

16 You Me At Six: Night People

I don’t know much about You Me At Six so I can’t put this album into perspective, I only know that when it popped up on my Release Radar I liked it. Every song is really energetic, no artsy fartsy bs (not that there’s anything wrong with that but sometimes you just need simple things). Great for headbanging, for background music, it’s simple rock music at its best. If you like melodies, you should check it out. And to Spotify, more accidental surprises like this, please.

My favourite songs from the album: Plus One, Take On the World, Heavy Soul

15 Maxïmo Park: Risk to Exist

The dangerous thing about creating perfect albums is that it’s really hard to live up to them. Such is the case of more bands on this list and Maximo Park is no exception. The National Health was such an absolute gem that Too Much Information, even though not a bad album in its own right, was infuriatingly inadequate when putting it next to it predecessor. So this time I tried not doing that and even though it took me a few tries but eventually made peace. A little milder, a little slower, a little more quiet, but still Maximo Park at heart, Risk to Exist is a sensitive, dancey sort of soulful indie rock record.

My favourite songs on the album: Work and Then Wait, The Reason I Am Here, Make What You Can

14 Walk the Moon: What If Nothing

Long story short Walk the Moon’s first album (the real one, not “i want! i want!”) is a masterpiece and I regard it as one of the best albums of all time, no joke. With the release of Talking Is Hard the guys sort of turned away from indie rock and pursued a more synthpop direction that I wasn’t entirely on board with. The songs were nice but I just didn’t feel the same energy from them. Unfortunately for me What If Nothing continues down that road but I just love these boys too much to not follow along. I still think they’re wasting so many opportunities by “watering down” their sound but you know what? The songs are still nice. Nicholas Petricca’s voice is insane, and the album’s full of life-happy, joyful songs. It’s nice.

My favourite songs from the album: One Foot, Kamikaze, Can’t Sleep (Wolves)

13 Beth Ditto: Fake Sugar

I know and like Beth Ditto even though I only know two or three of Gossip’s most famous songs. They weren’t my favourite back when they were still together but Beth’s insane range and tone was never up to debate. I listened to Fake Sugar on a whim and it was the only album from my panic-catch-up list that I wanted to keep listening to over and over again once I was done and decided it would get on this list. The style just about matches Gossip’s (from what I heard); easy-listening synthpop/rock that draws you in for singalongs. If you like the genre you’ll think this is awesome.

My favourite songs from the album: Oh My God, Oo La La, In and Out

12 Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness: Zombies on Broadway

If you know nothing about Andrew McMahon I can sum him up really short for you: he’s a genius. For real, he’s only 35 years old and he’s been at this shit for decades, since high school pretty much. He just oozes music wherever he goes. He’s been the head of the late 90s pop punk sensation, Something Corporate while playing a piano (how punk is that? it’s pretty punk) then after forming his second project Jack’s Mannequin he almost died (like, literally), then came back to release some more albums (one of which, The Glass Passenger is also one of the best albums of all time) and he’s been doing it solo ever since. He’s a versatile creator that doesn’t just write and sing songs, he creates whole worlds and universes. He’s so versatile and relentless, and Zombies on Broadway is just another addition to his world of never-ending miracles.

I’m hyping him up real good, but honestly, I admire him so much. And I love that his current project, as much as it is similar, couldn’t actually fit Jack’s Mannequin’s profile at all. It’s familiar but something different altogether.

My favourite songs from the album: Walking In My Sleep, Island Radio, Birthday Song

11 Kesha: Rainbow

I love strong and successful people and I love happy endings. Kesha’s had her fair share of suffering but luckily it looks like she’s back on her feet and finally making the music she wants to make. Sure it’d be nice to not have to regard what happened to her personally when judging what she’s doing professionally but it’s impossible to go through something like that withou it affecting what you do. In Kesha’s case it’s double-through since she used all that bullshit to boost her craft. The songs on Rainbow are all about that, the pretty parts of the storm, the aftermath of the rain, positivity in remembrance, strength in letting go, and having fun.

I like this new sort of country-ish sound that is present in a few songs but also the ones that kept her dance pop roots, it’s a pleasant record that is as multi-layered as a rainbow.

My favourite songs from the album: Learn to Let Go, Rainbow, Boots

Best music videos of 2017
1 Glass Animals: Agnes

“(…) it’s hard to explain exactly how it feels inside a human centrifuge. you sit in a small egg-like pod about the size of a horse which hangs off a 50 foot steel horizontal frame. It looks like something out of a bond villain’s lair. it’s claustrophobic and uncomfortable and also incredibly hot.

slowly the whole thing starts to rotate like a helicopter blade. Faster and faster until every part of you becomes crushed under the extreme gravity. its like being slowly sat on by an elephant, or like your whole body being punched in slow motion. you have to flex every muscle and use every ounce of strength you have to keep going.

breathing requires serious effort. movement becomes incredibly strained and almost painful. everything that once weighed 5 kilograms now weighs 50. its difficult even to keep your eyes open. it hurts in places you really didn’t know existed. veins and capillaries burst under the pressure and bruising begins. its a rapid physical overdrive.

the blood rushes from your brain making it impossible to think rationally or focus. your eyes are also drained and you get tunnel vision…only able to see small circles of the world directly infront of you and your sight goes completely greyscale…no more colour. your balance and spatial awareness goes and the world begins to spin like you’ve had way too much to drink. but the most striking thing is the way that the machine pulls on your heart. you can actually feel it struggling to beat and changing shape…flattening inside of your chest. Its similar to that horrible sinking, tugging heartache that comes only with complete and overwhelming sadness. and then you pass out.

we ran the centrifuge 18 times while i tried to sing along to a song which i find difficult to listen to at the best of times.

this was probably the most intense video-making experience I’ll ever have. But its the only way that we could just about begin to simulate for a moment what happens within Agnes.”

Best Singles of 2017

Yess, let’s do this then, here are the best singles of the year! As always, I’m bending the rules, I’m relying on wikipedia and spotify and I can’t pay attention so if any of these shouldn’t be on this list then I don’t care so… you can find this list in a Spotify playlist here (in random order), complete with The Grocery by Manchester Orchestra which would be the 151st but it’s nOT AN EVEN NUMBER

Edit: I have no regrets about the first half of this list whatsoever.

150 Lorde: Perfect Places
149 Handsome Ghost: Brand New Colony
148 Grace Mitchell: Kids (Ain’t All Right)

147 Janove: Våpen (feat. Ane Brun)

146 Foster the People: I Love My Friends

145 Kasabian: III Ray (The King)

144 Halsey: Bad At Love

143 Molnár Ferenc Caramel: Használd a Szívedet
142 Walk the Moon: Headphones
141 Susanne Sundfør: Mountaineers

140 Lorde: Green Light

139 Foster the People: Doing It For the Money

138 Nineclub: Had Enough
137 Cold War Kids: Restless

136 Hurts: Chaperone
135 Maxïmo Park: Get High (No, I Don’t)
134 Halsey: Now Or Never
133 Sam Smith: Too Good at Goodbyes
132 Foo Fighters: The Sky is a Neighborhood
131 Ed Sheeran: Shape of You

130 Manchester Orchestra: The Sunshine

129 Nelly Furtado: Cold Hard Truth

128 Vian Izak: The Astronaut
127 Sloes: Where to Start
126 Eisley: Always Wrong
125 Thirty Seconds to Mars: Walk On Water
124 Ed Sheeran: Castle on the Hill
123 Misterwives: Drummer Boy

122 Manchester Orchestra: The Alien
121 Handsome Ghost: Honest Mistake

120 Walk the Moon: Surrender
119 Banners: Empires On Fire

118 Starsailor: All This Life

117 Banks: Crowded Places

116 Maxïmo Park: What Equals Love?
115 Airways: One Foot
114 alt-J: In Cold Blood
113 Vance Joy: Lay It All On Me
112 The Wombats: Lemon to a Knife Fight
111 Larkins: Sugar Sweet

110 Coldplay: A L I E N S
109 A R I Z O N A: Oceans Away (Mansionair Remix)
108 James Blunt: Love Me Better
107 Sia: Move Your Body
106 American Authors: I’m Born to Run

105 Imagine Dragons: Believer

104 Fall Out Boy: The Last of the Real Ones

103 Pápai Joci: Özönvíz
102 Fall Out Boy: Champion
101 Nathan Ball: Waste of Time

100 Susanne Sundfør: Undercover
099 Starsailor: Take a Little Time
098 Harry Styles: Sign of the Times

097 NONONO: Lost Song

096 Walk the Moon: Kamikaze

095 Selena Gomez: Bad Liar
094 Julian Lamadrid: How You Fall Doesn’t Matter
093 Chris Hatcher: Remind Me How It Feels to be Loved (feat. Howard)
092 Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness: So Close
091 All Time Low: Life of the Party

090 Maxïmo Park: Risk to Exist
089 San Holo: Light

088 P!nk: What About Us
087 Walk Off the Earth: Taekwondoo
086 Rag‘n’Bone Man: Human
085 Among Savages: If You See Her
084 Wrabel: The Village
083 Linkin Park: Heavy (feat. Kiiara)
082 Window to the Abbey: Water Into Wine
081 Albin Lee Meldau: Bloodshot

080 Sam Smith: Pray
079 OneRepublic: Truth to Power

078 FOURS: Overthink

077 Misterwives: Oh Love

076 Banners: Someone to You

075 Paramore: Fake Happy

074 Manchester Orchestra: The Moth

073 FOURS: Tell Me In the Morning

072 Albin Lee Meldau: Persistence
071 Ed Sheeran: Galway Girl

070 Starsailor: Listen to Your Heart

069 Amber Run: Fickle Game

068 Misterwives: Coloring Outside the Lines

067 Janove: Hengtmann

066 Jain: Dynabeat

065 Loïc Nottet: Doctor
064 American Authors: I Wanna Go Out
063 dodie: In the Middle
062 Matt Maeson: Tribulation
061 All Time Low: Dirty Laundry

060 Imagine Dragons: Whatever It Takes

059 Everything Everything: Desire
058 Kesha: Woman

057 Dua Lipa: New Rules
056 dodie: 6/10
055 Paramore: Hard Times
054 Scenic Route to Alaska: Slow Down

053 Harrison Storm: Change It All (Instrumental)

052 FOURS: Fade Into Love
051 You Me at Six: Take On the World

050 Blanco White: Colder Heavens

049 Window to the Abbey: The Promise

048 Paramore: Told You So
047 The Chainsmokers: Something Just Like This (feat. Coldplay)
046 Cold War Kids: Love Is Mystical
045 Imagine Dragons: Thunder
044 FOURS: Stella
043 Everything Everything: Can’t Do
042 You Me at Six: Heavy Soul
041 Nathan Ball: Cold Hands

040 The Rocket Summer: Gone Too Long
039 Nathan Ball: Drifting

038 The Beach: Bite My Tongue

037 Witterquick: Shattered Suns
036 Banks: Underdog
035 OUTLYA: Heaven
034 Kodaline: Brother
033 Kesha: Praying
032 Sigrid: Don’t Kill My Vibe
031 X Ambassadors: Ahead of Myself

030

Bastille: World Gone Mad
029 Banks: Trainwreck
028 Bishop Briggs: Dream
027 Enter Shikari: Rabble Rouser
026 Kensington: Bridges

025 Everything Everything: Night of the Long Knives

024 Linkin Park: Talking to Myself
023 Kesha: Learn to Let Go
022 Enter Shikari: The Sights
021 Fitz and the Tantrums: Fool

020 Bastille: Glory

019 Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness: Don’t Speak For Me (True)

018 Cold War Kids: So Tied Up
017 Misterwives: Machine

016 Enter Shikari: Live Outside
015 Linkin Park: One More Light
014 Dean Lewis: Waves (acoustic)
013 Walk the Moon: One Foot

012 Fall Out Boy: Young and Menace

011 OneRepublic: No Vacancy

010 Kensington: Fiji

009 Fall Out Boy: Hold Me Tight or Don’t

008 Everything Everything: A Fever Dream
007 Amber Run: Perfect
006 Glass Animals: Agnes
005 X Ambassadors: Hoping
004 Cold War Kids: Can We Hang On?

003 Nothing But Thieves: Particles
002 Nothing But Thieves: Amsterdam
001 Nothing But Thieves: Sorry

…

Best music videos of 2017
2 Dua Lipa: New Rules

^{Best music videos of 2017
3 Charli XCX: Boys}

Best music videos of 2017
4 Fall Out Boy: Hold Me Tight or Don’t

Best Video Games of 2017

Honourable mentions:

Cuphead
Slime Rancher
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

Best music videos of 2017
5 Enter Shikari: Live Outside

Best Artists of 2017

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 ^^