Songs of the year: Number 1

It was very tough deciding my song of the year for 2018. It was also very tough deciding my favourite Florence + The Machine track of the year. Was it going to be the incredibly brave, self exposing anthem that is 'Hunger'? The June 2016 swan song 'June'? the breathtaking 'The End Of Love'? 'Sky Full of Song' was a contender for a while, mainly because it was the soundtrack to a particularly tumultuous period in my life but, in the end, I settled on '100 Years'.

'100 Years' is one of the tracks on High As Hope that Florence Welch wrote on her own. It's got a very interesting, idiosyncratic approach to melody and rhythm, which only adds to it's charm. There's also that intriguing contrast between the sections describing a burgeoning relationship and those describing the horrors of the wider world outside.

When it was performed live, both here on Jools Holland but also on the High As Hope tour, it took on a life of it's own, with a greater clarity and sense of purpose perhaps than the recorded version. This one will endure I think, and will stand the test of time.

Songs of the year: Number 2

Let's Eat Grandma's 'Falling into me' has come very, very close to being my number one song of the year. It felt like such an exciting, refreshing listen when it was released.

The product of two teenage geniuses from Norwich, already releasing their second album, 'Falling into me' combines everything that is good about pop music, electro, and creativity. It's a sprawling sonic landscape of possibility that seems to take in and reinterpret every possible aspect of dance music possible. It's an exhilarating ride.

Great things continue to be expected of this duo.

Songs of the year: Number 3

Self Esteem is the new project of Slow Club's Rebecca Taylor. Every song has been a winner so far, with irresistible hooks and hypnotic beats. She seems to be on a mission to recreate R&B into something altogether more arch and knowing while not losing the danceability of the thing.

'Rollout' is the standout track in a run of incredibly high quality tunes, and it will absolutely make your dancefloor this party season.

Songs of the year: Number 4

In many ways, 'Deadbody' was the perfect anthem for the #MeToo era. It seemed to be about everything that that particular movement was fighting against.

Folick's rage is apparent from the start, but it's a thoroughly controlled performance, albeit one with a blistering delivery. She has been equipped with a voice that can travel to the higher octaves and bewitch just as she has been given the gift of roaring with the best of them and, in this case, she is choosing to roar. It's an exhilarating listen.

Songs of the year: Number 5

Tancred's album, Nightstand, is a slick, interrogative record underpinned by fine observational songwriting on the part of Jess Abbott.

'Underwear', with it's swaggering sense of lust coupled with self loathing, harks right back to the glory days of artist such as Juliana Hatfield, Mary Lou Lord and Liz Phair. It swings in all the right places, and stuns with it's impeccable riffs and frankness.

Songs of the year: Number 6

Laura Gibson's 'Domestication' came as something of a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn't have done. Last year's single 'The Cause' showed a definite tilt towards feminism and, while 'Domestication' is a very different song, it does share that sense of observation if not a campaigning spirit. This song is so very 2018, and the video was pitch perfect as well.

Songs of the year: Number 7

We started 2018 with Mint Field's bewitching Sophia Coppola esque video for 'Ojos En El Carro', and it's remained a favourite of mine throughout the year. There's a dreamy quality to the post rock soundscape they create here, and the soaring vocals perfectly compliment the thrash of the guitars. It is beautiful.

Songs of the year: Number 8

North London streetwise edge meets crunchy electro beats and a post party weariness in a young up and coming voice.

'Taken care of' was blessed with a catchy hook, and Wu has been similarly blessed with the kind of rough edges that create charm rather than caution. She's been picked up by BBC Introducing in 2018 and should go on to do well thanks to the laconic and imaginative nature of her songwriting.

Songs of the year: Number 9

SOAK's 'Everybody Loves You' has the easy charm of a great slice of pop, coupled with a fragility of vocal that puts her more on the post twee indie pop spectrum. There are swirling strings, lovely melodies, a bit of sweariness, and the result is utterly beguiling and bewitching. 6music fell in love with it as soon as it came out, and many a critic did too.

Songs of the year: Number 10

Lydmor has been a comparatively recent discovery for me. Her song 'Vild' is blessed with a catchy melody, pounding drums, and a kind of fierce intensity of vocal to keep you listening. I think she's a lot bigger in her native Denmark than she is in the UK, but that could change.

Songs of the year: Number 11

Santigold seems to have been quiet for a while. 2015's 99 cents didn't engage me, and I felt rather disappointed by it. I've been longing for a return to the days of her 2009 debut and it's 2012 follow up, Master of My Make Believe, ever since and I don't want: The Gold Fire sessions seemed to hit the spot. 'Run the road' stood out as a favourite for me right from the first listen, with it's loping reggae charm, and I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Songs of the year: Number 12

It seems impossible to sonically describe The Orielles. There are so many different influences going on in there that they sound like they could burst. Imagine a post punk inspired Pigbag esque global rave and you're some way to imagining what 'It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)' sounds like. This will be a good track for any parties you might have planned this month.

Songs of the year: Number 13

Ruston Kelly has that real world weary tone to his voice, the voice of experience, the troubadour on the road. He makes me think of a young Bruce Springsteen and, of the songs released this year, 'Big Brown Bus' was my favourite slice of his particular brand of Americana. It's a tough life on the road.

Songs of the year: Number 14

Another slice of beguiling and slightly woozy electro pop. This time courtesy of Becky and the Birds. 'Concept Store' was the standout track from the self titled E.P, it was also a chapter in the accompanying film which, in itself, challenged the perceptions of what you can do with a piece of promo footage.

On this track she comes across like a more jazz tinged FKA Twigs, which is not her usual sound, so it will be interesting to see what develops. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Songs of the year: Number 15

Farao's 'The Ghost Ship' has a similar beguiling and dreamy quality to it as Jenny Hval's 'Spells'. In both cases, the songs in question transport you to a different world, a sonic landscape you can inhabit and live within for the duration of the song.

'The Ghost Ship' starts modestly enough but it's soon spiralling off into ever dizzying landscapes of sound, so that it almost feels like a surprise when the song ends.

Of the other songs she's released this year, I don't think any of them came close to touching this one for me, but I am ever hopeful.

Songs of the year: Number 16

While I did enjoy Tracey Thorn's solo album, Record, I didn't like it enough to buy. I suspect I probably just need to listen to it more though. This song, 'Dancefloor', is one of the tracks I did particularly like.

Thorn's voice works well with electro, just as it did in the 90s with drum 'n' bass and jungle. There's a sort of wistful nostalgia to this track that contrasts well with the bass and slightly chilly melodies. It feels like 80s period Dusty Springfield, vocally speaking, but is bang up to date, ultimately transcending categories.

Songs of the year: Number 17

Freya Ridings is one of those artists who has been blessed with a particularly arresting and powerful voice. 'Ultraviolet' is not the song that really took off for her this year (three of her songs were used on the soundtrack to Love Island apparently...) but it is the one I like the best. It builds and builds into a sonic tour de force, and it also showcases her voice well.

She could be one of those artists who travels down the MOR pop route, but she could also be the kind of songwriter who decides to pursue a more idiosyncratic path. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Songs of the year: Number 18

I interviewed Emma Back earlier this year, about her (then) upcoming album Little World. Of the tracks on the album, 'Shadow' was the one that I liked the most. There's a real edge to it and a sense of barely contained anger that works really well with Back's violin and loop pedal. The result is intense and emotionally charged, and it feels like it will be a song that transcends this moment and stands the test of time.

Songs of the year: Number 19

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

Rié's creative electro masterpiece, 'Blood in the water', isn't available on YouTube, but I can refer you to Spotify in this instance to listen to it.

It's an abrasive mix of modern electro pop, hypnotic vocals, glitchy effects, harp sounds, and is the sound of a young musician really coming into her own.

I expect great things from her in 2019.

Songs of the year: Number 20

Jenny Hval's 'Spells' stood out for me this year, not just because of the video, but because it has a real woozy wonkiness to it. A sort of sweet sense of vague unease and weirdness that is hard to quantify. It's baroque pop with a sinister, hypnotic edge. Utterly absorbing.