The 40 List Part One: The Consequential Songs of 2021 (#40-21)
The Best of the Year in Music - As I Heard It...
After a brief introduction and overview of the Year in Music for 2021, as well as a look at the journey which brought me to this gauntlet of ranking music every year, I forgot to mention that I also work as a film critic. And I rank movies there too. And it is no less difficult, even with a much smaller sample size to work with. You can see my movie reviews over at Should I See It, a site I launched in 2009.
Those lists are coming. But for now, let’s focus on the music. “Best” is a rather nebulous term, but it also seems to fit a list like this. I do think these are the 40 songs I will carry with me beyond this year, and so in that way there can be classified as the Best of the Year. However, 30 seconds into one of these tracks, someone may click to something else - indicating it was not the “Best” for them. My oldest daughter, a singer/songwriter making a go of that life in Los Angeles/North Hollywood right now, often cuts a smile and remarks, “Well, that was a choice!” or “Yep!” or “Dad, what?”
I am who I am. So, let’s begin the countdown. We will update this post frequently and all the songs will be listed below. Music videos will be shared but, believe me, the videos have no bearing on any rankings. Some of these videos are head-scratchers. So let’s double down on the music and just grab our driver’s license, catch a vibe, maybe hit the 405, and save our tears for another day.
40.
t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l - WILLOW Featuring Travis Barker
From: “Lately I Feel Everything”
The youngest child of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, WILLOW emerged as a force in 2021. Dropping the decade-old debut and novelty of “Whip My Hair,” WILLOW built on an alternative/pop hybrid sound commonplace in the early 2000s, she began creating with producer/partner Tyler Cole in a band called THE ANXIETY.
Released in April, it took a minute for the world to catch up to the snap and crackle of
“t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l,” but soon rock and alternative stations made it a Top 10 hit for the format. Then, TikTok caught up to a track by THE ANXIETY (stay tuned…) and WILLOW found herself in the midst of a tremendous year.
WILLOW (W Magazine, May 10, 2021):
I never thought I could do rock music, because I was trained since I was 8 to sing R&B. Then I was just like, You know what? Eff it. I got in the studio and started messing around. I was doing a whole bunch of demos during quarantine because I was like, I literally have nothing to do. Why not let me just see if I can actually achieve this musical vision?
This is WILLOW’s first appearance on the 40 List, and the first credited solo appearance for Travis Barker and third when including two appearances by his former band, Blink-182.
39.
I Do This All the Time - Self Esteem
From: “Prioritise Pleasure”
While a number of artists (largely female, curiously enough) took to speaking or narrating their lyrics, as opposed to singing them, some of these tracks work exceedingly well in taking us out of a comfort zone a bit. At first, Self Esteem’s “I Do This All the Time” seems like we are going to get a lecture. In a song. Didn’t we all remember to not forget the sunscreen all those years ago?
But stay with it and you’ll see that Self Esteem (the recording name of Rebecca Taylor) is not only giving someone advice, but also giving herself a much-needed pep talk. She reminds those listening that someone’s best moments can be your worst and the expectations placed upon you are simply that - placed upon you and we need to remember that not meeting them is in no way indicative of a failure on our part. We are all simply trying to do the best we can. And Rebecca is standing there struggling along with all of us.
Bonus points: Check out how more voices and confidence fill the choruses as the return throughout the song.
Self Esteem (Rebecca Taylor) (The Guardian, July 21, 2021)
We’ve been trained to be submissive and secondary and all I’m doing with this is going, what if we’re not?
‘Don’t be intimidated by all the babies they have / Don’t be embarrassed that all you’ve had is fun / Prioritise pleasure.’
What’s the version of that for me? Have a bath with a nice candle! It sounds daft but it really is a good little intro to it. I’m really at the start of it as well, but saying prioritise pleasure every day for the next year is going to help me remember to.
This is Self Esteem’s first appearance on the 40 List.
38.
Butter - BTS
*Single release
Yep. Get over yourselves. BTS’ “Butter” is one of the most infectious, dance-pop songs of 2021. And there’s literally nothing wrong with that. For a boy band that began as a novelty bauble to a Korean music act to a beloved boy band with devoted K-Pop stans to a critically acclaimed global superpower, BTS finally hit the top of the world, with a #1 single that spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.
So as the world side-stepped to the right to the beat, “Butter” became that pop song that is fun and cool, overplayed and everywhere, and then fun and goofy all over again. Drawing inspiration from Usher and Michael Jackson, BTS’ song is a blast and an instant earworm. It also finds the rare ability to be a fun, engaging, escapist anthem that doesn’t diminish or patronize listeners during a pandemic. It’s okay to get up and dance, to get it and let it roll. (And maybe buy a Samsung phone, but that’s just the world we live in…)
BTS ended the year announcing a hiatus, with some of the members acknowledging a diagnosis of COVID and overall exhaustion. Arguably, no artist has worked harder than these guys have to reach that rareified air of fame, and they did it during a pandemic!
BTS Members (Buzzfeed News, May 21, 2021):
Jin: “We wanted to have a fun BTS summer song that everyone can enjoy, and as always, we want our music to reach out to as many people as possible.”
V: “Recording ‘Butter’ was really fun, and I want to make songs that remain in people’s minds for a long time.”
Suga: “Most of the music that I grew up listening to talked about dreams, hope, and introspection in the midst of despair. I got influenced by that kind of music and became who I am today. So in turn I also want to give that kind of influence.”
This is BTS’ first appearance on the 40 List.
37.
Last Train Home - John Mayer
From “Sob Rock”
Calling back on the melodies and songwriting that made John Mayer a huge star, “Last Train Home” is the return to form of an underrated musician, whose mouth has caused him some grief through the years, but whose musicianship and talents are unmistakable.
The lyrics are simple and vulnerable - if you need John Mayer for something, you have to put something into the time together. Whether it be for a fling or something more serious, he is upfront about how much he will put into the exchange and expects the same. He’s tired of being alone, all but acknowledges his desperation to find someone, and he’s willing to take the last train home - hoping to the very end that this potential new encounter could be the meaningful one he’s been looking for.
A special cameo from Maren Morris arrives in the last minute, and that riff and hook, which everyone I talk to thinks sounds like Toto’s “Africa,” seems to accentuate the loneliness and yearning that lives underneath each vowel Mayer sings and the tearful guitar solos he let’s stand in for his emotions. It’s peak Mayer and it is nice to have him back.
John Mayer (Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2021):
I do think that at a certain point you are allowed to take all your loose ends, put them in a box and lock them up and say, ‘We never have to talk about that again.’ I’m not a make-the-same-mistake-twice kind of guy.
As I get older, there is this slowing down of the need to sort of run every play in the book…it’s quieter in my head than you might think. I don’t apply too much context to things other than, if it feels good and it feels honest and I won’t regret it—and I’m pretty good at sensing those things now—then I’ll do it.
This is John Mayer’s twelfth appearance on the 40 List.
36.
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
From “Happier Than Ever”
A tale of two songs in one, Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” is a quiet, somber, whisper of a song for the first two-plus minutes or so, until Eilish and her brother and musical companion FINNEAS take a collective breath and the song shifts into something angry, energetic, and ferocious. The last two-and-a-half minutes of “Happier Than Ever” are probably the hardest Eilish has ever rocked before.
Eilish’s vocal in this 5 minutes might be the best vocal she’s laid down thus far. Drawing on the work of performance artists and singers she describes as “vocal contortionists.” She also delivers some wickedly barbed lines in fighting back against a dismissive partner, comparing how they make her feel s**tty and now have made her hate her whole city and questioning whether she was ever intended to be “on the way” when they drove by her avenue.
A searing finale to an album that gets better and better the more you spend time with it, “Happier Than Ever” sneaks up on you and leaves you shouting a certain expletive along with Eilish’s exasperation and newfound freedom.
Billie Eilish (Showbiz CheatSheet, September 19, 2021):
We’ve been writing the album since summer 2019 and this was the only thing from the beginning that we worked on that stuck. On the first album, all of those songs were three or four years old by the time they were recorded, but these were all new songs. ‘Happier Than Ever,’ the song, is the oldest one. It was written first in summer 2019 and then the next summer we finished it. And I knew from the beginning that it was a really important song for me.
This is Billie Eilish’s fourth appearance on the 40 List.
35.
I NEED YOU - Jon Batiste
From “WE ARE”
Stepping out of the shadows of serving as Stephen Colbert’s bandleader for his late night talk show, Jon Batiste has quietly put together a two-year run that most would be envious to have in a whole career. After working with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and winning an Oscar for composing the score for Disney’s “Soul”, Batiste released a far-ranging, musically diverse mood of an album. “WE ARE” hits every mark and every genre dip flawlessly, whether veering into jazz, R&B, swing, or whatever else strikes Batiste’s fancy.
“I NEED YOU” in many ways encapsulates Batiste’s 11-time Grammy nominated project. It’s a party in a song, giving you Dixieland horns, a guttural rap, a chorus where Batiste sings to the skies in jubilation, with piano keys, a bouncy toe-tapping groove, and hints of spirituals and gospel music punctuating every other moment. It’s a dazzling track and why Batiste’s emergence is no joke. He might be the most talented mind in the business right now and “I NEED YOU” is a perfect illustration of his immense talent.
Jon Batiste (NPR Fresh Air, July 5, 2021):
It has something in it that makes you want to get up and dance immediately, which is what we wanted this song to have, that spirit of dance and joy, as if you were rekindling that feeling that happened back when people played in the Chitlin' Circuit, you know, Little Richard playing in the Chitlin' Circuit or the feeling of the Lindy Hop or the jitterbug in Harlem in the '30s. I wanted to capture that and blend it with what you might hear on pop radio or in a hip-hop song, and sonically, that's what we did.
This is Jon Batiste’s first appearance on the 40 List
34.
Damage - H.E.R.
From “Back of My Mind”
H.E.R. simply doesn’t miss. On the heels of winning multiple Grammys and an Oscar for the theme from “Judas and the Black Messiah.” she released “Back of My Mind,” an expansive full-length debut album which found her routinely delivering songs of emotional resonance, powerful lyrics, and a voice as smooth and silky as you are going to find in contemporary music.
“Damage,” a stellar highlight from that album brings back the 1987 Herb Alpert/Lisa Keith/Janet Jackson track “Making Love in the Rain” as the melody for her vulnerable ballad about steadfastly refusing to sacrifice herself for the relationship she finds herself falling into deeper and deeper.
In singing to her partner, vocalist Ant Clemons joins in on the chorus, H.E.R. cautions that though she has fallen in love, her vulnerability better not be taken advantage of, because when she gives in this much, she is exposed and he can do damage. It’s an emotional caution set against a 1980s jazzy, soul vibe. It’s worth paying attention to. And those piano keys never disappoint.
H.E.R. (Glamour U.K., July 15, 2021):
Sometimes as women, we have pressures of what a woman should look like and what it means to be sexy. And that sometimes in order to be sexy, you have to have your clothes off. To me, that's not the case. I think you can be sexy either way. Your definition of what it means to be a woman or how it means to dress is up to you. And nobody else can take that away from you or define it or put it in a box.”
This is H.E.R.’s third appearance on the 40 List.
33.
camera roll - Kacey Musgraves
From “star-crossed”
In the catharsis that is Kacey Musgraves’ “star-crossed” album, she is working through the after-effects of a breakup and divorce song by song and lyric by lyric. Though some have called the record “somber” and tough to listen to, Musgraves wrote some of the most personal music released in 2021.
“camera roll” is a bittersweet gutpunch of a song. Everyone swipes and clicks through their phone’s camera roll and can relive any number of memories at any time. However, when those images and remembrances are tied to pain and loss, the experience of reliving those moments become more painful and strained.
Musgraves’ regret of clicking through those images is tempered with a wistful vocal that marries together vulnerability and an appreciation that those moments matter, even if they look differently now then they once did. On an album full of honesty, confessional writing, and emotional release, “camera roll” strikes a chord with anyone who has lost something important to them.
Kacey Musgraves (Apple Music 1 with Zane Lowe, September 8, 2021):
What's crazy is that we never take pictures of the bad times. Lurking behind these sunset photos is the fight that you had before dinner where we were like, 'This is over,'
It’s such a trip. I just think it can be kind of dangerous. But they are your photos and they are your memories. They are yours. They happened.
This is Kacey Musgraves’ seventh appearance on the 40 List.
32.
Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
From “In These Silent Days”
Country, rock, pop, alt-country - whatever category you want to place Brandi Carlile in right now, there is no better vocalist in contemporary music. Her ability to pierce through any melody and command our attention, while also finding a way to harmonize, find notes of a tender quality or with the power to fill an arena is simply unmatched.
On “Broken Horses,” titled after her memoir of the same name, she uncorks a straight up rock anthem that lays bare anyone who thinks they can take advantage of her. She underscores the challenges she has faced growing up, the obstacles she has overcome, the adversity and pain she has endured. As Carlile professes, “she wears her father’s leather on the inside of her skin” before declaring that only “broken horses know to run.”
We will hear from Carlile again on this year’s list, but “Broken Horses” continues to blur the lines of an increasingly uncategorizable artist who delivers pure, unfiltered power with every chord, keystroke and vocal performance.
Brandi Carlile (NPR Fresh Air - April 5, 2021):
I need to get a grip on my ambition. I need to start enjoying being here instead of constantly trying to prove that I have a right to be here, constantly trying to fit and assimilate. And at some point, I need to realize that I am where I'm supposed to be and that I don't necessarily need to keep climbing.
As I'm sitting here and I'm looking at 40 and I got my kids and I got my wife and I have some of the affirmation that I always wanted around my music, I think I'm starting to really feel sort of solid and loved in my world. Like maybe I've kind of finally found my place.
This is Brandi Carlile’s fourth appearance on the 40 List.
31.
Good Ones - Charli XCX
*Single release
As 2022 is set to begin, the world is about to open up wide for Charli XCX to finally be recognized as the powerhouse force in pop music she truly is. With a documentary set for January and new album on the horizon, the time is now for her to be known for more than 2014’s “Boom Clap,” or appearances with Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea in Top 10 hits of years’ past.
She has publicly declared that her forthcoming record with Atlantic Records is her fifth and final one with the label and the first two singles to be released from the project (titled “Crash”) have been ferocious dance/pop bangers, designed to make people stand up and pay attention to Charli’s music once and for all.
Lead single “Good Ones” is a song about regret (well, kind of…). At just 2:16, it covers more territory than songs twice as long. It’s pulsing dance beat and lyrical storytelling finds Charli bemoaning that she always let’s the “good ones” go in favor of the “bad ones,” but has become so used to her poor decisions that getting burned by them is all she knows. You’ll be well into the groove before you realize that the song is rather distressing, but if Charli can dance through it all, why can’t we join her?
Charli XCX (Refinery 29, August 5, 2021):
I’m exploring what it means to be a pop star on a major label in a not very current way. And that's really fun to me. There are a couple of songs that have have stayed as a part of this new project. And to be honest, the meaning of them hasn't changed. With the way that I feel about myself and my sexuality and romance, the pandemic hasn't changed that too much. For me, it just didn't feel like what I needed to say at that moment in time, it actually feels more, now. The idea of leaving my house, going back out into the world, wearing provocative clothes, dancing all night, that kind of equates more to the music that I was making before the pandemic. I guess I'll go back to how I was before… being a bit psychotic.
This is Charli XCX’s third appearance on the 40 List.
30.
Save Your Tears (Remix) - The Weeknd & Ariana Grande
*Single release
In a singular presentation, The Weeknd’s 2020 synth-pop ballad “Save Your Tears” was a strong, standout track on his “After Hours” album. As another track, “Blinding Lights,” remained on the radio and kept getting downloads and streams for the entire year, becoming the biggest pop hit of all time, “Save Your Tears” tried to fight for attention. A remix with Kenny G didn’t quite work. Dance and club remixes didn’t move the needle much. It was the addition of Ariana Grande, in the midst of continuing to pull singles from her “positions” album, which seemed like the ingredient the song was missing.
They have collaborated before, most notably on the Top 10 hit “Love Me Harder,” but Ariana gives the song a whole different feel. Rather than one voice opining for the chance to right the wrongs of a bad relationship, Grande adds a female perspective, with a nod to astrology and a sense that fate and the stars aligned to make them really good at being bad with each other. The song becomes one of two souls yearning to be miserable together, which in its own twisted way is kind of fitting for the times we live in.
Oh, and that addition of Ariana pushed “Save Your Tears” to #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks.
This is The Weeknd’s fourth appearance on the 40 List and Ariana Grande’s eighth on the 40 List. This is their second appearance together as well.
29.
Black Myself - Amythyst Kiah
From “Wary + Strange”
A statement song, grossly overlooked in 2021, Amythyst Kiah’s “Black Myself” is a reflection of our times, through the eyes of a Black woman, trying to make the world better through her art, but also continually facing the prejudices she keeps being told are dissipating or not as prevalent as they once were.
“Black Myself” first appeared in a project called Our Native Daughters in 2019. Consisting of four women of color, their roots-based, Americana music project earned Grammy nominations and Kiah’s composition was a slower, acoustic banger with hints of bluegrass.
Here, that falls away and the guitars roar. Kiah’s voice as clear as can be. A manifesto of identity and self-expression, laying truths and a biting social commentary at the feet of all those who find calling out systemic racism and racial bias “exhausting” or making people feeling bad about being “white.” Drawing on references to chattel and plantation era slavery, Kiah also stands proud and undeterred. A community awaits her with loving arms, and if you fear her mere presence, she will grab her banjo, absorb your looks, and remain “Black Myself.”
Also, educate yourself on the Brown Paper Bag Test. Everyone needs to know about this.
Amythyst Kiah (Billboard, June 17, 2021):
I’m what I needed to see when I was younger. To be the artist that proves that there are funny-talking, sci-fi-loving, queer Black people who look like me and who thrive outside of mainstream Black culture and mainstream expectations of Black people is important.
If you’re using something to impose legislation or make people feel like they don’t belong, that’s problematic. We can no longer allow things that the public uses against us to have power over our lives. We all have a greater purpose that’s being limited. We have to break free from that. Also, to help people achieve these goals, we, as artists, have to bare our souls. When we bare everything, we create strong, emotional music that allows people to grieve, feel less alone and discover themselves.
This is Amythyst Kiah’s first appearance on the 40 List.
28.
Weights - Bartees Strange
From “Live Forever (Deluxe Edition)”
By design, “Weights” doesn’t let you catch a breath. It feels retro in the best of ways, calling back to mid-1990s alternative radio anthems, but the Washington, D.C.-based singer/songwriter Bartees Strange is very much a trailblazer in 2021.
Increasingly, BiPOC artists are breaking down walls and finding success in country, alternative, and other musical genres previously walled off to them. Strange is comfortable blending the radio-ready hooks of alt/rock crossover music with smart, resonant lyrics and an indie rock fuzz on everything that makes his music feel cutting edge and groundbreaking.
“Weights,” added to Strange’s re-release of his 2020 debut album, is a love song with hints of menace but all kinds of desperation. By the end, you’ll crank up your radio, swoon to those chord changes, and bellow “How Far Am I?! HOW FAR AM I?!” right along with the great discovery that is Bartees Strange.
Bartees Strange (website, September 2021):
“This is about the ones that got away. Going back and forth in my head about relationships that could have happened, missing that it didn’t, and finally realizing I gotta let the weight of it all go.”
This is Bartees Strange’s first appearance on the 40 List.
27.
I Get a Kick Out of You - Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
From “Love for Sale”
There are songs every year that choke me up. Really, that should be the case with all of us. If tears don’t well up, then music should make us feel something, at some point, some time in our lives.
Listening to Lady Gaga harmonize and create a magical moment with 95-year-old Tony Bennett on Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You” got me. And then I saw the video and it is one of the more touching, beautiful musical moments of the year. Bennett, battling Alzheimer’s since 2016, announced that this album with Lady Gaga would be his last and while overall the album is entertaining, this track is by far the standout. Bennett hits every mark, full-throated and years younger, connected to Lady Gaga who likewise delivers a remarkable vocal performance.
Their duet is truly that: Gaga leads Bennett and Bennett leads Gaga. They are nimble here, the smiles and tears bursting through the speakers in a song of pure, heartfelt, unmitigated joy.
Lady Gaga (60 Minutes via Consequence of Sound, October 4, 2021):
It’s hard to watch somebody change. I think what’s been beautiful about this, and what’s been challenging, is to see how it affects him in some ways, but to see how it doesn’t affect his talent. I think he really pushed through something to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be magnificent.
When that music comes on…something happens to him. He knows exactly what he’s doing. And what’s important for me, actually, just to make sure that I don’t get in the way of that.
This is Tony Bennett’s first and Lady Gaga’s 13th appearance on the 40 List.
26.
Renegade - Big Red Machine Featuring Taylor Swift
From “How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?”
Whether it’s paying back a kind gesture, or just a love of working so well together through the last few years, the reformation of Big Red Machine, a side project of The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, called on friends to work with them in the ramp up to their 2021 album release. They cut a track with Michael Stipe and another with Jenny Lewis. Bruce Springsteen jumped into the fray as did Fleet Foxes, Sharon Van Etten, and more.
After writing two songs for the project, which Dessner agreed worked better on her “evermore” album, Taylor Swift entered the studio and laid down “Renegade,” a wonderful, driving alt-rock ballad about loving someone passionately, fighting through anxiety and uncertainty, but not being afraid to finally tell them to pull themselves together so they can properly receive the love they deserve. Dessner and Swift made magic on “folklore” and “evermore” and recreate a similar vibe here. Swift’s lyrics are jagged and vivid. Then Justin Vernon jumps into the final minute and interlocks his voice with Swift’s to add a surprising emotional conclusion to the track.
Aaron Dessner (Pitchfork, July 2, 2021):
This song was something we wrote after we finished evermore and it dawned on us that this was a BRM [Big Red Machine] song. Taylor's words hit me so hard when I heard her first voice memo and still do, every time. Justin lifted the song further into the heavens, and my brother's (Bryce Dessner) strings and drummer Jason Treuting add so much. The feeling and sound of this song feel very much at the heart of How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?; I'm so grateful to Taylor for continuing to share her incredible talent with me and that we are still finding excuses to make music together.
This is Big Red Machine’s first appearance and Taylor Swift’s 10th appearance on the 40 List.
25.
New Shapes - Charli XCX Featuring Christine and the Queens & Caroline Polachek
*Single release
A supergroup of pop powerhouses, with devoted, loyal fanbases - the blending of voices found in “New Shapes,” the showstopping single from Charli XCX, Héloïse Letissier (a/k/a Christine and the Queens), and Caroline Polachek is three-plus minutes of bravado, confidence, and sing-along hooks that should make it be the biggest song in the land. That it isn’t, and likely won’t top the charts anytime soon, is indicative of XCX often staying a step ahead of everyone else. “New Shapes” isn’t the chart-topper it deserves to be, but something with a similar sound likely will be before the end of 2022.
”New Shapes” is big and stadium-ready, full of each vocalist sounding warning bells that they will sabotage any good relationship they find themselves in. They can’t help themselves. And even if they look for new shapes (or opportunities) within the relationship, they know they will cut, run, bail, and get out of it.
“What you want…I ain’t got it.” XCX brings the power, Christine offers the attempt at reasoning, and Caroline Polachek provides the somber internal struggle. And then the chorus hits, and we just want to dance and sing and embed with their apparent misery.
Charli XCX (Apple Music with Zane Lowe, November 4, 2021):
I (feel) inspired and see that pop music, as a whole, was going to use some of the elements that me and my peers have been using, in an avant-garde way, for many, many years.
This is Charli XCX’s fourth appearance, Christine and the Queens’ third appearance, and Caroline Polachek’s second appearance on the 40 List.
24.
1 Last Cigarette - The Band CAMINO
From “The Band CAMINO”
If we are embracing the return of pop-punk anthemic rock in 2021, like we did in the early 2000’s, then Memphis rockers The Band CAMINO delivered the song that leads to that moment where the band stops playing, holds the microphone up to the crowd, and listens as devoted fans sing the chorus back to them on stage. ON breakthrough hit, “1 Last Cigarette",” the band delivers a messy, kind of sloppy, frenetic ode to angst, uncertainty, a lack of self-esteem, and untamed anxiety.
By acknowledging that he can’t stand seeing the man in the mirror, lead singer Jeffrey Jordan goes on to identify he might need help, his friends have abandoned him, and all he has left is ten missed calls and one last cigarette. And yes, there’s a point that Jordan claims he has no friends but also ten missed calls. He’s lost, spinning, and cannot see the positives in front of him.
If the song wasn’t such a powerhouse of a rock song, it could also work remarkably well as a somber, coffee-house acoustic ballad. The sense of urgency, the hard-charger pacing of the track however makes this something we can all relate to - a world of expectations weighing down, a sense of inadequacy in daily life, and trying to find a place to matter. The themes may be familiar, but The Band CAMINO makes them seem fresh and new all over again.
Spencer Stewart (guitarist) (Alternative Press, September 16, 2021):
The general ethos when I walked in the room, everybody was in a really strange… It’s hard to say, but they were all slumped like, “I don’t know if I even want to be here today.” This was a Thursday, and we were picking songs on Saturday for the record. We were like, “I don’t give a f**k. Let’s write a song. We’ve already written all the songs that are going to be on the record anyway.” That attitude spilled into [“1 Last Cigarette”] in general. There’s a laziness to it. I think that reflects how we were feeling at the time.
This is The Band CAMINO’s first appearance on the 40 List.
23.
Heat Waves - Glass Animals
From “Dreamland”
The very definition of a slow-burning hit song, “Heat Waves” first saw the light of day in mid-2020 as part of the British indie rock band Glass Animals’ third album “Dreamland.” Dropped as the fourth promo single ahead of the album’s release, Glass Animals’ devoted fans liked the song a-plenty…but few really paid attention.
The track, buried deep into the hour-long album, got some airplay here and there, but it wasn’t until a trend on the video platform TikTok took hold that the song started to gain a devoted following. The lyric “Sometimes all I think about is you…” began appearing in video after video with people clamoring to find out where the hook came from. Then the band commissioned a remix or two, embraced the trend, and the song hit the Top 10 on the Hot 100 in November 2021, taking 42 weeks to achieve the feat - the longest climb to the Top 10 in music history.
All of this to say, “Heat Waves” is an enduring moodboard. It’s dreamy, hypnotic, captivating and stands up to repeated listening. The instrumentation is stellar, the layers of emotion and longing are tangible. Dave Bayley’s vocal exhibits great restraint and the band never loses its way. It’s a slow burn of a ballad, which was a slow burn of a hit, which continues to find new fans as we head into 2022
Dave Bayley (Billboard, February 19, 2021):
Normally, writing a song takes a good day to get into shape, but this happened in an hour late at night. The guitar came first. I was like, “I’m going to write this long chord pattern.” I was fumbling. After 10 minutes of looking into space and plucking the guitar, I hit those eight chords, and I was like, “Ooh, that’s it.” As soon as I had [that], I started singing. Literally the first thing that came out was the hook.
There’s a certain time of year where I always start to feel a bit s**t, because I lost someone really important to me, and ‘round their birthday, I start to feel a bit weird. Their birthday is in June, by the way. It was coming up to that period and it was late at night. Hence the lyric. [“Late nights in the middle of June.”] So I was sitting back and feeling nostalgic and reflective.
This is Glass Animals’ first appearance on the 40 List.
22.
Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY: WILLOW & Tyler Cole
From “THE ANXIETY”
Full of charm and those twinges of young, carefree romance, “Meet Me At Our Spot” may be another TikTok-generated hit song, but it is also undeniable in its ability to turn anyone’s frown upside down and tap your toes before you find yourself bellowing along in the car, at home, in the shower, or wherever that chorus find you.
The duo, comprised of WILLOW and partner/producer Tyler Cole, THE ANXIETY didn’t just create a song about sneaking off to a secret spot the two lovers share with each other. The song also introduced this concept within the confines of a pandemic - making those youthful moments and the ability to be together more and more challenging. In that regard, this simple little love song takes on a whole different level of depth and meaning, leaving those lines in the chorus which begin with “Maybe…” dreams and desires that may never be fulfilled.
Originally released in May 2020, THE ANXIETY were blindsided by the song’s emergence in 2021. ”Meet Me At Our Spot” peaked at #21 on the Hot 100 and further cemented WILLOW as an artist to pay attention to, as evidenced previously on this year’s 40 List.
WILLOW (Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, December 9, 2021):
I mean, you know, whichever way people can connect with the music is exciting to me. I just want them to connect with it.
(Regarding “Meet Me At Our Spot”’s belated success): I don’t know where that came from. I hate to say it because I’m supposed to be a part of this generation but I’m just as clueless as you are...
This is THE ANXIETY’s first appearance, Tyler Cole’s first appearance, and WILLOW’s second appearance on the 40 List.
21.
Serotonin - girl in red
From “if i could make it go quiet”
Teaming up with FINNEAS, Norwegian singer Marie Ulven (a/k/a girl in red) broke through in 2021 with the undeniably savvy, honest, confessional bop “Serotonin.” After 17 singles, two EPs, and the release of her debut album, the 22-year-old singer/songwriter’s ode to self-sabotage, mental imbalance, and owning her complicated emotions and feelings struck a chord with a diverse fanbase who seemed to rally around her anthem on being messed up, but also surviving the obstacles placed in front of her.
Quickly emerging as an icon of the queer community (“do you listen to girl in red?” is something of an investigative question online it seems…), Ulven’s honesty powers through the top shelf musicianship and production. Her ability to sing, rap, and command the track is a journey for we as listeners. What initially begins with a youthful, uplifting vocal takes on a whole different feel the longer the song goes.
Though it never wavers from its radio friendly, pop/alternative stylings, Ulven’s voice gains more confidence the more she acknowledges her struggles and difficulties. The words shared here are stark, biting, and powerful and the contrast between the upbeat music and lyrics are striking. Come for the toe-tapping melody and walk away with some deeply thoughtful lyrics, in appreciation of an artist becoming an LGBTQ+ icon and a highly respected voice unafraid to share her truth.
girl in red (LadyGunn, June 1, 2021):
“Serotonin” is definitely one of the most honest songs I’ve written. I think all the songs on this album are very honest, but particularly this one because it’s so specific and I’m kind of dissecting my own mental health. I mean I feel like I’m singing about my state of mind which is being unstable and being like my reality is constantly being twisted because of it and my serotonin levels being all whacked out. Which kind of leads to the verses where I’m kind of dissecting everything that’s actually being twisted and everything that’s going on because of that and how I don’t feel like getting any helps works and I feel like my therapist hates me and just feeling like a burden to everyone and feeling like everyone dislikes me. So yeah it’s mostly about my OCD and just general anxiety disorder and kind of just like an overall state of mind I guess.
This is girl in red’s first appearance on the 40 List.
Part Two, songs #20-#1, is on its way in a new post! Thanks for joining us for the first 20, and more of the best music from 2021 will be revealed here on Substack.
Thank you for including Amythyst Kiah, she is fantastic and I want more people to hear her music.
You have such a gift to put things into words that so many of us struggle to. I love this.