Songs of the year, number 1: Mallrat - Charlie

Grace Kathleen Elizabeth Shaw, aka Mallrat, hails from Brisbane. Although she's only released a few EP's, she supported Maggie Rogers on the European leg of her Heard It In A Past Life tour and seems set to see her profile rise over the next year. I haven't heard any of her other work but I was sold on 'Charlie' on the first listen. There's a real sense of guileless and ease about the song... it's not so much naive as unpolished, what with it's slightly wonky keyboard sound and all, but it's got a simple message to it and has an easy rough diamond charm that should see Shaw's sound travel far and wide.

Songs of the year, number 2: Florence + The Machine - Moderation

Some of my regular readers among the Flows and the Florence + The Machine Army may be slightly disappointed that I haven't given 'Moderation' the number 1 position, or that I haven't included either 'Haunted House' or 'Jenny of Oldstones' in this years list.

When I compile my end of year list, I have a series of rules. Number one of my rules is that I will only include one song per artist in my songs of the year list. Hence, in the case of Florence, I needed to choose between three equally bewitching songs and, ultimately, decide which of the three I felt was the most jaw dropping. 'Moderation', which sees Ms Welch firmly in soul girl territory, won it. I won't say too much about this song, as I wrote a whole blog post about it when it was released in early 2019 but, needless to say, it is a truly astonishing piece of work.

As for why it's not number one, all I can say is that this years end of year songs list has been very tight indeed and that the top three in particular could, in another light, be regarded as being of equal parity. I hope that makes you all feel better about it.

Songs of the year, number 3: Jade Bird - 17

While I personally found that Jade Bird's self titled debut album didn't live up to the (very) high expectations I had of it, there were a number of very strong songs on the album, including 'If I die', 'I get no joy' and this, '17'.

Bird's strength has always been her songwriting coupled with her voice, and in '17' what seems like a particularly pure of intent, simple song is given the space and delivery it needs to drive its powers home. A breathtaking song, which demonstrates just what she's capable of.

Songs of the year, number 4: Georgia - Started Out

The second of two songs in my list that were released in November 2018, Georgia's 'Started Out' was such a remarkable about face, sound wise, and such a joyous floor filler that it would be an absolute crime not to give it any recognition. Her profile has really risen this year, meaning album number two, when it arrives, will be getting a lot of attention.

Songs of the year, number 5: Miss June - Enemies

New Auckland band Miss June have spent 2019 releasing strong single after strong single, not to mention a pretty damn impeccable album of strong, riff led grungey punk anthems. 'Enemies', it's fair to say, was always going to be the song to stop you in your tracks. As calling cards go, it is a sonic assault on the senses that cannot be beaten and deserved much more airplay and attention than it received.

Songs of the year, number 6: Bat for Lashes - The Hunger

When Natasha Khan announced that her album, Lost Girls, was based around a fictional group of vampire biker girls from the desert, it's fair to say that she piqued my interest. Good things were expected and 'The Hunger' is a synthy brooding affair with a yearning, wistful tone. One of the standout tracks on a very fine album.

Songs of the year, number 7: Self Esteem - (Girl) Crush

Self Esteem's debut album, Compliments Please, was one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year. She didn't disappoint and, ahead of the albums release, 'Girl Crush' one one of a string of strong singles that proved to be absolute floor filling bangers while subtly subverting contemporary R&B flavoured pop. All hail our new pop queen.

Songs of the year, number 8: Kelsey Lu - Due West

This is one of two songs in my list that were released in November 2018 so, technically, it probably shouldn't be in this years list. But, because songs that are released in the final months of the year tend to be ignored at their time of release and, consequently, to lose out on recognition and accolades, I'm choosing to include the majestic 'Due West' in my list. It would be a crime to miss it out.

Songs of the year, number 9: Gazel - Rain is Coming

Because Gazel's Book of Souls is such a strong album, it was actually quite difficult to pin it down to one song when picking tracks out for my end of year list. 'The Night Concierge' and 'Walk on Land' would be equally strong candidates for songs of the year but, in the end, the sonic complexities and shifting mood landscape of 'Rain is Coming' is what did it for me. There really is no one else like Gazel Algan, and I'm hoping 2020 will be a great year for her.

Songs of the year, number 10: Billie Eilish - you should see me in a crown

I'll admit it, I was slow to appreciate the genius of Billie Eilish. Perhaps because I didn't listen closely enough on the first listen of her debut album, when we all fall asleep, where do we all go? Or maybe it was because I knew it wasn't music written for me, so therefore there was a get out clause if I didn't get it.

Then, the second time I listened to the album, I must have been in a different, or more receptive, mood because I suddenly felt like I got it.

'All the good girls go to hell' is another favourite, but the sheer creepy swagger of 'you should see me in a crown' wins for me every time.

Songs of the year, number 11: Hatchie — Stay With Me (Official Video)

With her debut album, Keepsake, Harriette Pilbeam (aka Hatchie) provided a strong contender for album of the summer. With it's sun kissed post shoegaze guitar work and strong melodies, the album was full of perfect indie pop singles. 'Stay with me' is a particularly fine example of one of these.

Songs of the year, number 12: Birch - Spelling Lessons

The elegant and enigmatic Birch released 'Spelling Lessons' early in 2019. It served as a taster for her debut album, femme.one, which was released in April. As is the case with the album's title track, the subtleties of her sound can sometimes mean that the message is missed, and it also means that she's an artist who needs to be properly listened to as her music doesn't provide an instant hit necessarily. She will definitely be one to watch in 2020.

Songs of the year, number 13: Miya Folick - Malibu Barbie

Following on from last years excellent debut album, Premonitions, 'Malibu Barbie' sees an evolution in  Miya's songwriting, with the bite of a song such as 'Deadbody' being tempered by elegant melodies and intricate but quiet guitar work. There's a subtlety here, but at the same time, she hasn't lost any of her anger. Album number two will be a treat I think.

Songs of the year, number 14: Siobhan Wilson - Unconquerable

A duet with Honeyblood's Stina Tweeddale, 'Unconquerable' features on Siobhan Wilson's 2019 album, The Departure. While The Departure reflected a more indie rock infused direction for Siobhan, in contrast to her folk beginnings, Stina was adjusting to doing Honeyblood solo. The two Scottish songwriters came together at a pivotal moment for both of them and the result is a song that is a hymn to female independence and for that, I salute them both.

You can listen to the album over on Bandcamp, as well as on Spotify.

Photo of a red squirrel by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

Songs of the year, number 15: Kate Tempest - People's Faces (Streatham Version)

The album version of 'People's Faces' was given a re-working when Kate performed the track live for Maryanne Hobbs on 6music not long after the albums release. This stripped down, re-worked version proved very popular, was re-played across the station, and then released as the 'Streatham Version' of 'People's Faces'.

The stripped down treatment, and minimalistic piano chords gave what was already a strong track an anthemic quality that chimed well with how 2019 was panning out. A real song for our times.

Songs of the year, number 16: FKA twigs - Cellophane

Both the song, and it's accompanying video, created a very definite stir upon their release earlier this year but, on a personal level, I mainly encountered the song without its video and learnt to appreciate its glacial understated minimalism. This is a complex piece of electro balladry, fresh for the 21st century, utterly new, and utterly devastating in both mood and execution.

Songs of the year, number 17: Skating Polly - Flyer - (Lyric Video)

'Flyer', sung on this occasion mainly by Peyton Bighorse, finds Skating Polly in a thoughtful, reflective mood and, as such, it is representative of the quietly melodic end of the bands sound. A slow burner with a number of contrasting elements, this was a strong single for the band ahead of their frenetic UK tour this autumn.

Songs of the year, number 18: The Regrettes "California Friends" [Official Music Video]

The Regrettes are a good example of an artist discovered by looking at what your 'friends' (social media friends that is) are listening to on Spotify, and giving said artist a try because you like the name. It's rare that this ends well in terms of discovering new music you like, but this was a rare example of a time when it paid off.

'California Friends' is taken from the bands second album, How Do You Love?, an instantly loveable slice of catchy punk pop with bite. If this song doesn't have you jumping around the room, nothing will.

Songs of the year, number 19: Suzi Wu - Highway

A killer slice of hip hop infused electro pop from Suzi Wu. As an emerging North London artist she is still, well, emerging and the back story is a little sparse on detail. 2017's Teenage Witch EP started the buzz while 2019's 'Highway' will ensure said buzz continues into 2020. Watch this space.

Songs of the year, number 20: Overcoats - The Fool

It's been quite quiet on the Overcoats front this year. Following on from their debut album, 2017's Young, the band have continued to tour the US while quietly working on new material.

'The Fool' was the first track to be released from a new E.P, and as well as showcasing a slightly new direction for the band, the accompanying video also klaxoned a new image.

It's too soon to tell what album number two will be like, but I wait with a good deal of excitement based on this ferocious slice of synth pop.

Songs of the year, number 21: Helen McCookerybook - At The Bathing Pond (Songs from the kitchen)

Helen McCookerybook's songs tend towards the gently and wryly observational, and this song is based on a true story, which if you've ever seen her perform the song live, you will know. I have seen 'At the bathing pond' likened to Victoria Wood, and I can understand why, but I also think it's a typically McCookerybook song, one that is peculiarly English in tone as well as peculiar in subject. 'At the bathing pond' features on Helen's 2019 album, Green.

Songs of the year, number 22: Lillie Mae - “You’ve Got Other Girls for That” (Official Video)

US singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist Lilie Mae is an exponent of top drawer Americana. She is based in Nashville, Tennessee and comes from a family of musicians in the sense that she and her siblings have a band, The Risches. She's also worked with Jack White (who signed her to his label Third Man Records) and Robert Plant.

While her solo work is still quite under the radar, this song, 'You've Got Other Girls For That', shows that she's going to be a slow burner; one of those artists who's acclaim grows organically, and who's songwriting just gets better as the years go by.

Songs of the year, number 23: Sui Zhen - Being A Woman

Melbourne based artist Sui Zhen released her most recent album Losing, Linda in September. Dreamy, slightly offbeat, electro pop is her main mode of expression, and 'Being A Woman' is a slyly subversive expression of the genre, coupled with a very matter of fact series of observations about being a woman in the modern world. It walks no line between feminist statement and pop music: It just... is.

Songs of the year, number 24: Pale Honey - Set Me Free

It's been a largely quiet year for Pale Honey, during which Tuva and Nelly have been "Writing songs, studying and working" according to their website, while Anders has been mixing and producing. They are working on their third album, the follow up to 2017's well received Devotion.

'Set Me Free' snuck out about a month ago and it instantly excited me, with it's insistent bassline and anthemic melody, this is a tune that will endure. It also bodes well for album number three, which we should see in 2020.

Songs of the year, number 25: Allie X – Fresh Laundry

Canadian singer/songwriter Allie X is a bit of an electro pop superstar in her home country, but I must confess to not having been aware of her before the release of this slice of hypnotic wonky pop. Her biog on Spotify says she has been compared to Chvrches, Ellie Goulding and The Knife pre their Silent Shout album and, while I wouldn't normally quote from someones online biog, this does feel like a spot on description of what she's about.

'Fresh Laundry' is a slightly odd song, it's strange, beautiful and intriguing and, as such, I look forward to hearing more from Allie X in 2020.

The songs of the year list

Tomorrow I embark on my annual songs of the year blog marathon. 

Before doing so, I feel compelled to mention that two of the songs in this years list were released in November 2018. 

Given that I start compiling the list in November each year, and given that I'm only accountable to myself for the list, I've decided that this is OK.

The big end of year round up post

Welcome to my annual end of year round up!

Rather than write a long, epic post, I've decided to slim things down a bit this year. As such, I'm not doing a list of gigs of the year (because there were too many good ones...) and, having given the matter some thought, I'm not providing a list of pieces I've written this year. There was some discussion on Twitter about this custom last year and I can see why people find the practice a bit obnoxious, so I'm sacking it off.

Also, because it seemed to go down well last year, I will be posting my songs of the year list in a series of day-by-day posts again. There will be 25 this year, and number 25 will be up online tomorrow.

12 albums of the year

12) Starcrawler - Devour You
11) Helen McCookerybook - Green
10) Honeyblood - In Plain Sight
9) The Regrettes - How Do You Love?
8) Hatchie - Keepsake
7) Miss June - Bad Luck Party
6) Ioanna Gika - Thalassa
5) Siobhan Wilson - The Departure
4) Billie Eilish - When we fall asleep where do we go?
3) Bat For Lashes - Lost Girls
2) Gazel - Gazel's Book Of Souls
1) Self Esteem - Compliments Please

12 books I've read and loved this year

Yrsa Daley Ward - The Terrible
Molly Bloom - Molly's Game
Hannah Ewens - Fangirls
Amy Raphael - A seat at the table
Stella Gibbons - Pure Juliet
Hilary McKay - The Skylarks War
Taylor Jenkins Reid - Daisy Jones & The Six
Amy Engel - The Roanoke Girls
Lucy O'Brien - Dusty
Nick Rennison - Bohemian London
Celeste Bell and Zoë Howe - Dayglo
Jordan Mooney and Cathi Unsworth - Defying Gravity

12 classic Podcast episodes from 2019

I think my overall favourite podcast this year has been Best Pick, the podcast that watches and discusses every single Oscar winning movie in random order. While every episode is riveting in scope and detail, it's worth noting that they're just as entertaining when the film disappoints as when it exceeds expectations. As such, listening to them eviscerating Gladiator is just as much fun as hearing them get excited about It Happened One Night. Their recent take on Gigi was a good one, but a favourite episode for me this year has been their take on Casablanca.

The BBC's Brexitcast has obviously had a lot of good material to work with this year, and while I can't remember which episode it was that featured the Dutch mascot for the Netherlands Brexit preparations, I did find their Saturday Night Leaver episode to be particularly hilarious. On a more serious note, the international collaboration with the World Service's Global News Podcast was particularly powerful. 

There's been some really good takes on work in podcast land in 2019, particularly in the areas of women and work, freelancing, and finances. Is This Working? was launched this year by Tiffany Philippou and Anna Codrea-Rado, and it featured a particularly powerful episode about class with Vicky Spratt, plus a very useful mediation on getting fired. There was also An Honest Account, Rachael Revesz' podcast, which covers the finance end of things, and included an episode with Anna Codrea-Rado about freelancing and finances, plus a powerful take on debt and being working class with Jasmine Andersson.

At the music end of things, Canadian punk DJ Siobhan Woodrow launched her podcast, She's A Punk this year, which included many powerful portraits of punk women around the world, including this episode with War On Women's Shawna Potter. Woodrow has recently announced she's taking a break from the podcast until the start of 2020, but she certainly doesn't sound like she's done yet. Far from it.

There was also a fascinating discussion about the ten year legacy of Florence + The Machine's Lungs over on Never Marry A Mitford, a searingly powerful in depth discussion about the state of music education in UK schools on Reasons To Be Cheerful, and a fascinating, and frequently very funny, epic discussion about music and literature between Florence Welch and Rebecca Lucy Taylor over on The YourShelf Podcast.

In the realm of politics and related matters, The Next Episode discussed what happens when you effectively no longer have an MP and The North Poll provided a refreshingly non London centric take on politics. In the US, Reply All explained why that viral tweet about feral hogs wasn't all it seemed, and the TFGM Podcast provided a suitably sober take on the second anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing. 

13 articles I've enjoyed reading this year

Catching up with the women who were expelled from school (Precious Adesina, Refinery 29)

The uninhabitable city: What happens when heatwaves become the new normal? (Hettie O'Brien, The New Statesman)

Work isn't working: The real reason more women are going freelance (Anna Codrea-Rado, Refinery 29)

Peterloo 200 years on: The Manchester bloodbath which left 18 dead and changed the course of British history (Dan Thompson & Damon Wilkinson, Manchester Evening News)

"We need this film now more than ever" (Nic Crosara, The Overtake)

Secret life of a fashion week peon (Lacy Warner, Narratively)

The 11-year-old girl taking skateboarding by storm (Joe Henley, Narratively)

The diver who brings up the bodies (Sunaina Kumar and Farah Mohammed, Narratively)

How more than 12 students at one university ended up dead by suicide (Hannah Ewens, Vice)

How communism prepared me for a no-deal Brexit (Joanna Hosa, Financial Times)

How to feed a protest movement: Cooking with Extinction Rebellion (Dan Hancox, 1843)

'I'd rather see a white doctor, if you don't mind' How patients can hurt doctors too (Neha Maqsood, Rife Magazine)

The four huge issues being overlooked in the General Election debate so far (Jennifer Williams, Manchester Evening News)

First image by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

Second image by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash

Third image by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

Fourth image by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash