This year I’ve listened to a lot of older music (last couple of years not proper old) but I thought I would do a post about some of the singles that were my favourite released this year. I’ve scoured my most played tracks of the year to work out which handful must have been my favourite as they had the most replay value.
#1 – Addison Rae – ‘Diet Pepsi’
I said this track should have been called ‘Diet Coke’ as it was like a drug. I honestly thought that Addison Rae was some pleb off TikTok, popularised through viral dance videos on social media. I don’t think I was alone in not taking her seriously until she put out this song, her first single on a major label. The song is a synthy, breathy pop track with lyrics that evoke Lana Del Rey (the Pepsi reference, “..cherries in the spring” etc) ending with a smooth key change that leaves us wanting a refill.
Tove Lo & SG Lewis – ‘HEAT’
Why is SG Lewis not bigger? I feel like he built up a massive amount of momentum with his album ‘TIME’ a couple of years ago but fell off a little as his second offering failed to catapult him to the heights I thought he might have reached. I saw him play at Lost Village festival this summer and his set was pure high energy fun. Tove Lo and him collaborated on the ‘HEAT’ EP this summer and the title track was just plain fire. It was the highlight of his village set and is the highlight of the EP. Would really love for SG Lewis to soundtrack next summer and work with even more established artists next year.
Kelli-Leigh – ‘Unconditional’
If you’ve not heard the name Kelli-Leigh, you’ve probably heard her voice in some of the biggest club bangers in the last 10 years. The D*ke D*mont track ‘I Got U’ as well as tracks with Secondcity ‘I Wanna Feel’ and Low Steppa ‘Runnin’’. Kelli-Leigh is an accomplished writer, has a gorgeous voice and that coupled with an energetic beat is a match made in club heaven. ‘Unconditional’ is one of my top played tracks of the year and belongs with its sisters in the playlist to soundtrack the pre-drinks, the party and the after party. Kelli-Leigh has bravely spoken out for artists being uncredited on tracks that go on to have massive successes despite them having a role in the construction of the track. Looking forward to what she has in store for 2025!
Tourist – ‘Valentine’
Tourist helped cure our January blues this year by releasing the next single from his album ‘Memory Morning’. Tourist has always been great at creating dreamy electronic music and with ‘Valentine’ he brought us to the after hours party. I remember hearing this for the first time and envisioning a dark, smokey, strobe light ridden club floor. He samples The Jeremy Spencer Band’s ‘Travellin’ inverting the folky chorus into a sultry hook coupled with the beating synths.
Shygirl & SG Lewis – ‘mr useless’
It’s been two years since Shygirl put out her debut album and she ups the pace with her ‘Club Shy’ EP. Collaborating with other artists across the six tracks, the best being the SG Lewis collaboration. SG Lewis has had a really good year and his highlights have been when he’s collaborated with some of the internet’s favourite pop girls. A bouncy break up track, Shy tells her ex to not waste their time or energy and she never needed them anyway as she’s the best she’ll ever be now they aren’t together anymore.
SHOULDN’T BE BUT IT WAS: Katy Perry – ‘LIFETIMES’
This is the most basic track in the list of my favourite singles this year but what can I say? I’m a slave to a basic bop and a piano riff on a dance track! I totally get that the lyrics do match the descriptions some people made about the majority of the album it came from, in that they felt as if they had been generated by an AI bot. Katy’s voice sounds great on it though and it’s probably the only highlight from the album (besides the doechii feature).