In no particular order, here are 2017’s best songs so far – and we’ll be regularly updating this list with new tunes.
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1. Lorde – ‘Green Light’
Lorde’s first taste of second album ‘Melodrama’ was this flawless breakup banger, written with fun.’s Jack Antonoff.
2. Father John Misty – ‘Pure Comedy’
The soulful title track from Josh Tillman’s third album encompasses the whole of human history, skewering politics, organised religion and big business with his trademark savage wit.
3. Dangerous – ‘The xx’
The opening notes of The xx’s third album ‘I See You’ are the brass belches of ‘Dangerous’ – an unexpected but welcome step in a dancier direction for the south London trio.
4. Sälen – ‘Heartbreak Diet’
Following the disarmingly odd likes of ‘Copper Kiss’ and ‘Diseasey’, the lyrics on ‘Heartbreak Diet’ are possibly the best yet from this minimalist London trio. “I am done with sticky people,” it goes. “They’re too hard to pick out of my teeth.”
5. Kehlani – ‘Undercover’
This early cut from the precocious R&B star’s debut album ‘SweetSexySavage’ is deceptively simple, but it’ll burrow deep into your brain.
6. Young Fathers – ‘Only God Knows’
Lighting up the Trainspotting 2 soundtrack was this propulsive stormer from the Mercury Prize-winners, alongside Edinburgh’s Leith Congregational Choir.
7. RAC – ‘This Song (ft. Rostam)’
Following his sepia-hued collaboration with The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser last year, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij showed a different side on this big-hearted cut with the Grammy-winning electronic producer RAC.
8. Run The Jewels – ‘Down’
Sure, it came out in 2016, but it was so late in the year that we’re giving this honorary 2017 status. It’s the opening track from Run The Jewels’ blistering third album ‘RTJ3’, full to the brim of furious lines like “Ballot or bullet, you better use one“.
9. Syd – ‘Nothin to Somethin’
Odd Future and The Internet’s Syd Tha Kid broke out on her own this year with her solo debut ‘Fin’ – including this woozy synth cut that delivers flashes of lyrical bravado like “If I go to hell, hope my bitches get to visit.”
10. MUNA – ‘So Special’
The LA trio’s debut album ‘About U’ opens with a rush of pure pop whose lyrics will take you by surprise: “You think that I’m beautiful / But it’s not enough”
11. Methyl Ethel – ‘No 28’
From Australia’s hotbed of brilliant psych, Perth, come Methyl Ethel. Like a musical Houdini, this highlight from second album ‘Everything Is Forgotten’ puts itself into an impossible melodic position, then somehow escapes.
12. Wiley – ‘Speakerbox’
Wiley’s comeback album was littered with some much-deserved celebratory lines, and none more so than ‘Speakerbox’; “If you look into my face, gonna see a boss/If you look into the crowd, you will see a mosh”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa1glDxNvfk
13. Goldfrapp – ‘Anymore’
On which Goldfrapp return to the sound of their early ’00s electronica and raise eyebrows by making it really quite good, actually.
14. Katy Perry – ‘Chained To The Rhythm’
On this song Perry takes jabs at blissful ignorance via the metaphor of pop, which we can’t help feel is sort of shooting herself in the foot. But as the first example of her self-described “purposeful pop” it’s not a bad start – mainly thanks to it also being a massive tune.
15. Marika Hackman – ‘Boyfriend’
Joined by a backing band – her mates The Big Moon – Marika Hackman switches grungy folk for nonchalantly vicious indie. “I held his girl in my hands,” she reflects, “she likes it ’cause they’re softer than a man’s.”
16. Sigrid – ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’
Few have made an entrance quite like Norwegian 20-year-old Sigrid this year. This is the kind of pop debut that only comes around every so often – thanks in no small part to its enormous ‘fuck-off’ of a chorus.
17. Ryan Adams – ‘Prisoner’
From Ryan Adams’ sixteenth album of the same name – about the breakup of Adams’ marriage – ‘Prisoner’ is a beautiful fingerpicked melody counterbalanced by lyrics from a gently bleeding heart: “I know our love is wrong / I am a criminal / I am a prisoner“.
18. Liv Dawson – ‘Searching’
Dawson made everyone sit up and pay attention with this Disclosure-produced banger, which pitches her powerhouse vocal against the Lawrence brothers’ glossy beats.
19. Simon Doom – ‘I Feel Unloved’
This fuzzy lo-fi track has a killer riff, and it’s produced by MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser – just like the rest of Simon O’Connor’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Babyman’.
20. Confidence Man – ‘Boyfriend (Repeat)’
The mysterious Brisbane supergroup’s 2016 tune has just arrived in the UK on Heavenly. Every dance-punk aspect feels perfectly honed: the bristling bassline; the bubbling synths; the nonchalant vocals; the background yelps; all the way to that final “Get down“.
21. Phoenix – ‘Fior di Latte’
From Phoenix’s sunny, Italian-influenced sixth album ‘Ti Amo’, this is a dreamy pop-rock tune – it’s named after a type of mozzarella-type soft cheese that serves as the song’s weird metaphor for the body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SpAvMLTLS4
22. Superorganism – ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D.’
With little notice, the mysterious group dropped their debut song in February filled with cartoonish noises, a vintage sample and a killer pop chorus. A delightfully bizarre arrival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9qeueYMNVk
23. Stormzy – ‘Cold’
The second track on Stormzy’s chart-topping debut album ‘Gang Signs & Prayer‘ is as stone-cold as its title, and it’s full of brutal, funny boasts: “I’ve been cold the season / I should call my next one ‘Freezing’“.
24. Kendrick Lamar – ‘HUMBLE.’
The Compton MC’s 2017 return started with ‘The Heart Part 4’, but it’s this swaggering second release that leaves the bigger impression. Far from the jazz-inflected melodies of ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’, ‘Humble’ is a taut, extended brag, in which his skills are on a level with “that Grey Poupon, that Evian, that TED Talk.”
25. Calvin Harris – ‘Slide (feat. Frank Ocean & Migos)’
“All my songs in 2017 have been sonically designed to make you feel fucking incredible,” Calvin Harris wrote before releasing this Frank Ocean/Migos collab. This one’s not far off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFQqAZBOwfQ
26. Pale Waves – ‘There’s A Honey’
The indie-pop crew from Manchester got their Dirty Hit labelmates The 1975 to produce this one – its chorus is so catchy you wonder how it hasn’t been written before.
27. Laura Marling – ‘Nothing Not Nearly’
Marling’s sixth album ‘Semper Femina’ closes with this rousing, yowling number, whose lyrics are typically deft: “The only thing I’ve learned in a year where I didn’t smile once, not really – nothing matters more than love, no, nothing no, not nearly.”
28. Fleet Foxes – ‘Third of May / Odaigahara’
It took five years, but the Seattle folk crew led by Robin Pecknold are back with this nine-minute beauty, which picks up directly where ‘Grown Ocean’ – the closer of 2011’s ‘Helplessness Blues’ – left off.
29. Alt-J – ‘3WW’
Full of surprises, this slow-moving first taste of June’s ‘Relaxer’ begins with vocals from keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton, features Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell and strings from the London Metropolitan Orchestra.
30. Calvin Harris – ‘Hard To Love’ feat. Jessie Reyez
The laid-back closer from Harris’ ‘Funk WAV Bounces Vol. 1’ is among the best on the album. Where many of the tracks feature multiple guests, this one is held down by just one: Canadian vocalist Jessie Reyez, who works wonders with the line: “I’d rather be hard to love than easy to leave.”
31. Jaded – ‘In The Morning’
It’s simple, brutally upbeat vibes that make this London trio shine here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=916x5xZEa5U
32. QTY – ‘Dress/Undress’
With Suede guitarist Bernard Butler behind the mixing desk, the New York duo came good on the potential shown last year with another gigantic chorus and infectious guitar licks.
33. Zara Larsson – ‘TG4M’
From the Swedish popstar’s international debut ‘So Good’, this mid-tempo balladbanger deals with self-destructiveness and low self esteem: “You’re too good for me / but I want you anyway.”
34. Shame – ‘Tasteless’
South London’s finest rage themselves raw on this furious post-punk storm.
35. Frank Ocean – ‘Chanel’
Far more immediate than the majority of last year’s ‘Blonde’ and ‘Endless’, Frank Ocean’s latest is also brilliantly lyrical, pitting the complexity of his bf against the mirrored iconography of a luxury brand.
36. Yaeji – ‘Noonside’
Kathy Yaeji Lee is a 23-year-old house DJ based in New York and Seoul. The tracks on her self-titled EP manage to be both completely languid and deeply catchy – none more so than opener ‘Noonside’, whose Korean chorus, though slackly sung, bashes out an indelible impression.
37. Drake – ‘Passionfruit’
Every time Drake produces a sadbanger of this quality, it just proves that Sad Drake is the best kind of Drake.
38. Perfume Genius – ‘Slip Away’
The first taste of Mike Hadreas’ fourth album, ‘No Shape’, drives things up a gear with pounding drums and brilliant lines like: “If you never see them coming/You never have to hide.”
39. Pond – ‘The Weather’
The Perth quartet end their forthcoming seventh studio album with this sublime synth-led track produced by their mate Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala. The lyrics, of course, are fairly impenetrable.
40. Mac DeMarco – ‘My Old Man’
Something deceptively soft and simple from Canadian slacker Mac, who isn’t happy to see his dad in the mirror: “There’s a price tag hanging off of having all that fun“.
41. Sampha – ‘(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano’
The quietest moment of the south Londoner’s debut album ‘Process’ is its emotional highlight: a ballad to the instrument he turned to after his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
42. Maggie Rogers – ‘On + Off’
‘Alaska’ might have been the track that piqued Pharrell Williams’ interest last year, but it’s the uplifting electropop banger ‘On + Off’ that proves Rogers was no passing fad.
43. Loyle Carner – ‘Stars & Shards’
This cautionary tale of a depressing drugdealer is lit up by interior rhymes and other shimmering wordplay: “Losing friends, rookie, he spends all of his tens on the little bit of leaf that’ll leave him stuck in the ends.”
44. Future Islands – ‘Ran’
The first cut from the Baltimore trio is as propulsively sad as we’ve come to expect: “On these roads out of love, so it goes,” Samuel T Herring roars.
45. Gorillaz – ‘We Got The Power (feat. Jehnny Beth)’
“On a le pouvoir de s’aimer!” exclaims Savages’ Jehnny Beth on this, one of five singles revealed early from Gorillaz’s ‘Humanz’. It’s an energetic and all-too-brief introduction to the new record from Damon Albarn’s animated crew.
46. Thundercat – ‘Walk On By (feat. Kendrick Lamar)’
The bassist also known as Stephen Bruner was key to the jazz-fusion sounds of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’. Here the collaboration takes a woozy, boozy turn as Bruner coos: “No one wants to drink alone / Baby that’s how it goes“.
47. The Moonlandingz – ‘Black Hanz’
The Eccentronic Research Council and members of Fat White Family combined to form the barmy yet political fictional band The Moonlandingz, and this is their glorious “celebration of the Outsider, the socially inept.”
48. The Japanese House – ‘3/3’
From the excellent ‘Saw You In A Dream’ EP, ‘3/3’ showcases Amber Bain’s continued aptitude for crafting memorably strange melodies while scoring deep lyrical marks: “I fall into the trap you made / fall into your face… the scars on your knee / the mole on your cheek.”
49. Vince Staples – ‘BagBak’
This one’s threatening bassline slithers beneath the surface like a mythical sea creature as Vince nears the track’s apex: “Clap your hands if the police ever profiled / You ain’t gotta worry, don’t be scary ’cause we on now / Ain’t no gentrifying us, we finna buy the whole town / Tell the one percent to suck a dick, because we on now.”
50. Jay Som – ‘Baybee’
There’s no part of this understated, lo-fi jam from Melina Duterte’s second album ‘Everybody Works’ that isn’t lovely. It finds the Californian 22-year-old trying to make a relationship work: “If I leave you alone when you don’t feel right, I know we’ll sink for sure.”
51. Charli XCX – ‘Babygirl (feat. Uffie)’
This glossy, funny highlight from Charli’s mixtape ‘Number 1 Angel’ practically winks at the listener. ‘Babygirl’ is cutesy and ironic, taking suggestive pop lyrics to the extreme.
52. Jorja Smith – ‘Beautiful Little Fools’
Titled after a line from The Great Gatsby, this laid-back jam finds the West Midlander railing against superficiality: “Beautiful little fools,” she smirks, “That’s what us girls are destined for… born to be adored.”
53. Steve Lacy – ‘Dark Red’
Short and sweet from The Internet’s youngest member: ‘Dark Red’ is full of gorgeous guitar melodies, choral backing vocals and, over it all, Lacy’s soaring voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLKLPEBU7iU
54. Little Cub – ‘Too Much Love’
The South London electro trio showcase their danceable brand of cynicism on this opening track from their forthcoming debut album ‘Still Life’.
55. HMLTD – ‘To The Door’
Looking and sounding totally unlike any other band right now, HMLTD mix Spaghetti Western guitars with electronic womps on this intense new single.
56. Lil Uzi Vert – ‘XO TOUR Llif3’
Inescapably bleak and often compared to Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, this hip-hop punk anthem is filled with brilliant lines like “I cannot die because this my universe“.
57. Superfood – ‘Double Dutch’
The Brummie lot used the eponymous skipping game as inspiration for this whirling, sample-filled slice of synthpop. It practically soars.
58. Nick Hakim – ‘Green Twins’
The opener from the Brooklynite’s album of the same name is the perfect introduction to his retro, psychedelia-soaked soul.
59. Grace Lightman – ‘Fangs’
Where the future-psych haze of Unknown Mortal Orchestra meets St. Vincent’s lyrical bite. ‘Fangs’ is about that bit of a relationship where things turn sour.
60. Wolf Alice – ‘Yuk Foo’
Two years after their debut ‘My Love Is Cool’, Wolf Alice returned with ‘Yuk Foo’, a two-minute riot that had guitarist/vocalist Ellie Rowsell screaming: “You bore me to death / well deplore me / I don’t give a shit“. Supposedly the rest of the album is a little more chilled.
61. Charlotte Adigéry – ‘1,618’
A slice of super-cool Belgian electronica on Soulwax‘s DEEWEE label.
62. Clean Bandit – ‘Disconnect (feat. Marina & The Diamonds)’
Two years after performing it live for the first time, Clean Bandit finally put out this Marina-featuring track as a surprise for fans. It’s pretty smooth.
63. Alvvays – ‘In Undertow’
The Torontoan jangle crew were true to form on this sublime taster from second album ‘Antisocialites’
64. Paramore – ‘Hard Times’
…and Paramore 2.0 is born. Back as a trio, with former drummer Zac Farro reinstated in his former role, Paramore went big and colourful for this surprisingly bongo-featuring jam about bouncing back (after hitting rock bottom).
65. The War on Drugs – ‘Holding On’
Compared to their 11-minute comeback track, ‘Thinking Of A Place’, this was a relatively trim affair, though it still twists and turns with the best of them.
66. Arcade Fire – ‘Everything Now’
The Canadian troupe embraced their inner-ABBA on this throwback slice of ‘70s pop magic
67. Kevin Morby – ‘City Music’
On the title track from his fourth studio album, Morby practices his “OH!” around a set of hypnotically repetitive lyrics. The music, he says, recreates “what it feels like to walk through a photogenic part of a city alone, lost in your own world while surrounded by many.”
68. Francis and the Lights – ‘May I Have This Dance feat. Chance The Rapper’
The standout from Francis Farewell Starlite’s debut studio album got a fresh outing with Chance The Rapper this year. The Chicagoan happily joined in with Francis’ dance routine too:
69. Everything Is Recorded – ‘Close But Not Quite feat. Sampha’
XL Recordings chief Richard Russell released an EP this year called ‘Close But Not Quite’, and Sampha brought his wistful clout to the beautifully pared-back title track.
70. (Sandy) Alex G – ‘Proud’
The prolific Frank Ocean collaborator released a solo album called ‘Rocket’ this year, from which the wonderful ‘Proud’ is drawn. About a minute before the end, a single, sustained note slices through the song’s melody like a knife.
71. Lana Del Rey – ‘Lust for Life feat. The Weeknd’
In which Lana and The Weeknd share the secret to happiness inside the Hollywood sign’s ‘H’. It’s beaut.
72. LCD Soundsystem – ‘Call the Police’
James Murphy’s crew are up to their old tricks on this unruly banger.
73. Selena Gomez – ‘Bad Liar’
Incorporating the bassline from Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’, this Selena Gomez tune is just one example of the brilliant, understated pop that’s becoming the norm in 2017.
74. The National – ‘The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness’
A compellingly murky taster of the Cincinnati five-piece’s seventh album ‘Sleep Well Beast’.
75. Hoops – ‘Rules’
Indiana four-piece Hoops say they “wanted this one to be a true-to-form guitar banger compacted into a short timeframe”. Guess what? They succeeded!
76. Badbadnotgood ft. Samuel T. Herring – ‘I Don’t Know’
The Canadian jazz-via-hip-hop group love to collaborate with Future Islands frontman Herring. This might be their finest group effort yet; a mournful love song that’s full of regret.
77. King Krule – ‘Dum Surfer’
Scatty rock ‘n roll filtered into something alien, Archy Marshall shows why he’s anything but ordinary on this highlight from second album ‘The Ooz’.
78. Mabel – ‘Finders Keepers (ft. Kojo Funds)’
Sweden-via-UK pop prodigy Mabel’s ascent has been a long time coming. She’s finally found a killer instinct with this glowing, Afrobeat-nodding banger.
79. Nilüfer Yanya – ‘Baby Luv’
Every note counts on this minimal, understated track from one of London’s most exciting new songwriters.
80. Dua Lipa – ‘New Rules’
A stone-cold juggernaut from this year’s biggest pop breakthrough, taken from her self-titled debut album.
81. Yaeji – ‘Raingurl’
Distorted house with slimy bass and two dialects (Korean and English), nothing else sounds like this track from Kathy Yaeji Lee.
82. The Horrors – ‘Something To Remember Me By’
From ghoulish goths to krautrock-loving weirdos, and now for the next step in The Horrors’ amazing evolution: a throbbing dance triumph.
83. J Hus – ‘Bouff Daddy’
An ultra-confident standout on the East London rapper’s impressive, Mercury Prize-nominated ‘Common Sense’ debut.
84. Sheer Mag – ‘Expect the Bayonet’
These Philadelphia-based, political punks demand direct action – even if it means violent payback – on a track from this year’s ‘Need To Feel Your Love’.
85. Lil Uzi Vert – ‘XO TOUR Llif3’
Of all the gloomy, nepotistic and addictive songs about death to rule the charts in 2017, this is the bleakest.
86. The Killers – ‘The Man’
Most giant bands would run out of anthems by album five, but Brandon Flowers and co. penned one of their finest in 2017. A macho mentality-dissing stormer.
87. SZA – ‘Supermodel’
Yes, SZA really did sleep with one of her boyfriend’s “homeboys” when she found out he was cheating, and it became the subject of this ballsy opener from her ‘Ctrl’ album.
88. Dave – ‘Question Time’
The 19-year-old rapper somehow sums up the UK’s frustrations in one song, taking on David Cameron, Theresa May, police brutality and Brexit on this game-changing epic.
89. Rex Orange County – ‘Loving Is Easy’
The world needs more of Rex’s sunny-side-up pop. He tackles hard times with a love song that’s as honest and sappy as they come – somehow it’s not cheesy, or like having your private space invaded by PDA.
90. Brockhampton – ‘Gummy’
Austin, Texas’ “all-American boyband” released two albums in the space of six months in 2017. ‘Gummy’ is their most straight-down-the-line effort yet.