With 2019 and the ’10s coming to a conclusion here we are, three years into one of the most divisive periods in American history. Our president literally just got impeached. This year has been far from one of positivity and unity, and the songs on our Top 50 Best Songs of 2019 list reflect this general feeling of anguish and antipathy – mostly from the left of the spectrum but also for right-leaning folks. Whether these feelings were directed inwards, towards a romantic partner or towards the world at large, a great deal of the best songs from this year weren’t coming from a rosey place. Without further editorializing, here are the songs that best defined 2019.
50. Battles – “Fort Greene Park”
Mathy drums and intricate guitar riffs combine in yet another pitch-perfect single from the boys in Battles.
– Matt Matasci
49. Jambinai – “ONDA”
“ONDA” is a journey unto itself, blending the best of psych’s dry desert sound and the propulsive fury post-rock into an unforgettable journey.
– Drew Pitt
48. HAIM – “Hallelujah”
HAIM’s lovely Simon and Garfunkel-esque guitar and airy yet assured vocals are at their best on the life-affirming “Hallelujah.”
– Matthew Jordan
47. Post Malone and Swae Lee – “Sunflower”
Post Malone and Swae Lee made a rap ballad on par with the early 2000s era, with a swing back into Spider-Verse vibes. “Sunflower” was part of the soundtrack for the Academy Award winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
– Rigo Bonilla
46. TEEN – “Only Water”
The Lieberson sisters have made a melodic rumination on the life of their late father, Paul.
– Jahan Raymond
45. Tacocat – “New World”
“New World” finds Tacocat at the peak of their powers, crafting an ode to optimism from the point of view of a pessimist.
– Matt Matasci
44. Big Thief – “Orange”
Malvina Reynolds is the only other person who could speak so honestly as Adrianne Lenker about love with just a voice and an acoustic guitar on “Orange.”
– Willie Witten
43. Tool – “Fear Inoculum”
From the first punch of vocals, Maynard James Keegan’s voice will have you hooked.
– Erin Winans
42. Tame Impala – “Borderline”
“Borderline” moves instantly with a feel-good dance beat and lyrics that paint a hazy L.A. backdrop.
– Ilana Tel-Oren
41. Ghost – “Mary On A Cross”
“Mary On A Cross” is Ghost reinventing themselves brilliantly once again. This time as a lush psych rock band.
– Raymond Flotat
40. Richard Dawson – “Two Halves”
Hands down the year’s best song about soccer, Dawson tells a witty story about failing with a warmhearted conclusion.
– Matt Matasci
39. The Desert Sessions – “If You Run”
A masterpiece of a song that starts like a modern singer-song writer hit before transforming to an indie rock song, complete with synthesized guitar, beautiful vocals and heavy beats.
– Caitlin Wills
38. Show Me The Body – “Drought”
New York and LA are rivals with remarkable commonality. On “Drought” Show Me The Body exploits this by exposing the class war being waged against the common man by corporations and billionaires in this blistering punk anthem.
– Drew Pitt
37. Tove Lo – “Sweettalk My Heart”
The insistent vocal and rhythm play on “Sweettalk My Heart” makes it impossible not to move along to. Inviting sweet talk, Tove Lo sings her own with an emotional delivery atop bouncing electro-pop candy.
– Reuben Merringer
36. Lizzo – “Cuz I Love You”
Range. Lizzo belts out vocals like Aretha in one measure and raps a slick cadence in the next. “Cuz I Love You” features self-deprecating heartbreak lyrics with all the swagger of a confident MC.
– Rigo Bonilla
35. Thom Yorke – “Dawn Chorus”
Over repeated synth chords that move forward reluctantly, Thom Yorke sings calmly of second chances, “If you could do it all again.” “Dawn Chorus” off of 2019’s Anima provides listeners with a glimpse into the beauty in simplicity.
– Gabby Victoria
34. Amanda Palmer – “Drowning in the Sound”
Dark, pointed and cutting, Palmer’s piano serves as a weapon against a creeping disease that surrounds her. Her virtuosic voice accentuates discontent with an angry grace worthy of attention.
– Willie Witten
33. Lana Del Rey – “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but i have it”
Lana Del Rey’s melancholic voice combined with a lonely piano is impactful and deeply emotional. The lyrics are sophisticated and deep, all while being relatable. A masterpiece by this icon.
– Alison Alber
32. Earth – “The Colour of Poison”
Earth has mastered the art of simplicity and “The Color of Poison” is a perfect example of that. Dylan Carlson’s perfectly timed plucks pair well with Adrienne Davies’s anxiously bated drum strikes.
– Cervante Pope
31. Jamila Woods – “Baldwin”
Sultry and resonant, and featuring trumpeter Nico Segal, Jamila Woods’ “Baldwin” is a tribute to the late black rights activist James Baldwin. It’s a social statement couched in rich melody.
– Jahan Raymond
30. Trentemøller featuring Jenny Lee – “Try A Little”
This electronic hit finds Jenny Lee of Warpaint adding lyrics and singing that fit effortlessly with
Anders Trentemøller’s music. The dynamic duo have made a hit with memorable vocals and a playful beat.
– Alessia Milstein
29. Grimes – “So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth”
What makes “So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth” one the best tracks of the year is the complete freedom it hands over to the listener – the space is wide open. Grimes’ vocalizing and a pulsating rhythm create a soundscape begging to be explored. Only the best pair of headphones will do here; the song is for the avid sonic explorer.
– Rene Cobar
28. The Highwomen – “Redesigning Women”
With its infectious guitar riff, punchy harmonies and laidback delivery, this song will have you tapping your foot and belting about “making bank, shaking hands, driving 80 / trying to get home just to feed the baby” before you even realize the beautifully ironic lyrics are an indictment of limitations and celebration of individuality.
– Spencer Culbertson
27. Angel Olsen and Mark Ronson – “True Blue”
Olsen’s alluring vocals float through an uncertain dreamscape described by swirling chords and a pulsating beat which give the impression of running in place. The haunting refrain “I ran to you” exhumes her obscured emotions by articulating an elusive longing that Olsen powerfully elicits of us too.
– Spencer Culbertson
26. Caroline Polachek – “Ocean of Tears”
American singer-songwriter and producer Caroline Polachek’s “Ocean of Tears” features Danny L Harle on bass and Eartheater on guitar. The track is a dramatic and heartbreaking take on a long-distance love with the haunting sound of Polachek’s vocals gently guided through the listener’s ears as heavy synths and beats cascade into each other.
– Ally Tatosian
25. Neon Indian – “Toyota Man”
This jaunty piece is the first Spanish language song by Neon Indian whose Alan Paloma wrote pithy lyrics about how the United States views – and treats – its immigrant workforce: “The whites look at us with cold eyes / If we don’t want trouble / They just gave us jobs / washing Toyotas.”
– Jahan Raymond
24. Elbow – “White Noise White Heat”
Elbow have been pushing the boundaries of alternative rock for nearly twenty years now, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. Here, every part of their team shines; killer guitar solos, knocking drums, and vivid lyrical imagery galore. Written as a response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, “White Noise White Heat” is a song that is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
– Matthew Jordan
23. Sharon Van Etten – “Seventeen”
Sharon Van Etten grounds herself on “Seventeen,” moving between a stoic vocal sentiment and a euphoric melody. Get your ears on this one if you haven’t already, trust us.
– Alessandro Gueli
22. Big Business – “Time and Heat”
A dreamy respite from the group’s pummeling sixth album The Beast You Are, “Time and Heat” is both whimsical and ominous, the instrumentation creating a perfect background to the imagery filled lyrics. The class of the drumbeat and guitar riff at the end of the song creates the perfect emotions to conclude the song.
– Caitlin Wills
21. Charli XCX featuring Christine and the Queens – “Gone”
“Gone” can already be labeled “vintage Charli XCX” as it is heavily sprayed with the grandiose thumping sounds and irresistible choruses that have become the singer’s trademark. Christine and the Queens add the perfect layers of exoticness to the song which leans heavily on its ’80s theatricality. It’s a perfect match.
– Rene Cobar
20. Tyler, The Creator – “EARFQUAKE”
Tyler, The Creator’s “EARFQUAKE” is a smooth, poppy, heartbreak song that really puts into context his evolution as an artist. Remember the guy that used to say things just to shock people? So naturally, he had to throw on a copper bowl-cut wig and a dorky 80’s prom suit for the music video.
– Rigo Bonilla
19. Sunn O))) – “Troubled Air”
Life Metal is like a mental rollercoaster. You get on knowing that you’re in for an interesting ride, yet you don’t know all of what it is to expect. “Troubled Air” gives off that same vibe within the album. While it does build off of everything “Between Sleipnir’s Breaths” builds before it, its droniness grows into a piercing pitch that becomes one of the high points of the song. “Troubled Air” is where all of the anxious feelings (pleasantly) build-up, only to be quelled in what succeeds it. Consider it like the spine of Life Metal, connecting all the tracks into their proper form.
– Cervante Pope
18. Mark Morton featuring Chester Bennington – “Cross Off”
Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton brings late Linkin Park guitarist Chester Bennington’s vocals to “Cross Off,” a catchy and lyrically complex song full of the singer’s unmistakable vocal talents and complex guitar riffs. The song was originally recorded three months before Bennington’s death and it’s a beautiful memento to his talent and his legacy. The lyrics are phenomenal as well, with images like “The phantom limb was part of me” and “I’m swinging through life like a clenched fist” standing out.
– Caitlin Wills
17. Daniel Lanois and Heavy Sun – “That’s The Way It Is”
Daniel Lanois and Heavy Suns’ “That’s The Way It Is” rides on snowy sadness. If you’re a Red Dead Redemption gamer, you’ll know all about this track from the game’s soundtrack, but even if you aren’t, give it a try – you’ll be taken to a beautiful place beyond the mountains, both high and vast.
– Alessandro Gueli
16. Cult of Luna – “The Silent Man”
As the opener of Cult of Luna’s latest release A Dawn to Fear, “The Silent Man” starts the album off on a very strong note. Clocking in at a little under 11 minutes, it’s one of the longer tracks of the album and immediately demands attention. Before the screaming vocals enter, the drums take center stage as they create a steady,heavy-hitting beat. Once the vocals come in, they help them pack more of a punch with the beats hit. Not to be outshined, the track contains killer, dirty guitar riffs.
– Erin Winans
15. Sofi Tukker – “Purple Hat”
“Purple Hat” takes everything that Sofi Tukker excels at and combines them into the year’s most dancefloor worthy track. An ode to their first “Animal Talk” party – which literally got so crowded that bodies stacked atop each other, heads hitting the ceiling – the song is pure exhilaration from start to finish. From Tucker Halpern’s tongue-twisting verses to the ASMR tones of Sophie Hawley-Weld, “Purple Hat” is a highlight of their excellent new EP Dancing on the People.
– Matt Matasci
14. Weyes Blood – “Andromeda”
Difficult to pin down, the mercurial Weyes Blood’s “Andromeda” finds a common thread in her versatile voice and propensity for complicated verses that seemingly fall upon themselves in search of musical resolution. Although a basic acoustic guitar signals the unusual chord changes, it’s the organized chaos and swirling sounds that paint a picture of “a big wide open galaxy” that manifests itself through lilting slide guitar and background timbres that crescendo up until Natalie Mering’s beautiful vocal responses. With no repeated lines, Weyes Blood paints a boundless musical galaxy worthy of its own name. A truly unique song, it gets better with subsequent listenings.
– Matthew Jordan
13. Chelsea Wolfe – “American Darkness”
With “American Darkness,” the second single from her album Birth of Violence, Chelsea Wolfe manages to cast a spell on the listeners. This is mostly due to her melodic, dark voice and the slow sound that gets a hold of the audience and won’t let go for the entire runtime. The acoustic guitar supports the very intimate atmosphere of the song, while the repetitive chorus “Won’t you dance?” is one of the most powerful parts of the song, only outdone by the emotional ending. Overall, Chelsea Wolfe created something special with “American Darkness” and her very own, unique style.
– Alison Alber
12. Mark Lanegan Band – “Stitch It Up”
Mark Lanegan is in full glory on his single “Stitch It Up” from Somebody’s Knocking. The song opens with a glorious chord progression, setting the stage for the vocalist’s trademark howl, “The hounds are behind me / Footsteps following / You know you can’t find me / I’m miles from the crime scene.” Who knows what Lanegan is singing about, but all we know is it’s impossible to stop listening to.
– Matt Matasci
11. Jenny Hval – “Ashes to Ashes”
Within the context of her 2019 album, The Practice of Love, Jenny Hval provides listeners with an oasis of pop in “Ashes to Ashes” against an art-pop, avant-garde background. The mid-album track offers a more ethereal and euphoric, dreamy pop than previously heard from the Norwegian artist. Beneath Hval’s smooth and serene vocal landscape lies a steadily growing beat that propels forward the lyrics that sing of growth and decay of sorts, “burying someone’s ashes / and then having a cigarette.” “Ashes to Ashes” displays Hval’s ability to very well utilize a solid pop sensibility all while retaining her avant-garde signature.
– Gabby Victoria
10. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib featuring Yasiin Bey – “Education”
Beyond making excellent music, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib are known for an affinity for drugs – Gibbs for selling them and Madlib for taking them. By and large their music tends to brush against these same topics. “Education” is a standout in their discography, not just because it’s an excellent song, but because it pulls through with an interesting dissection of racial politics in America that goes beyond the recent murders of black individuals by police. Featuring the voice of Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, the song discusses the prison industrial complex, police brutality, racism throughout history and colonialism all in just a few verses. Most good songs demand that you listen to them, this song demands that you hear it.
9. Angel Olsen – “All Mirrors”
Angel Olsen’s “All Mirrors” sounds like it belongs in a cult ’80s film. Channeling Tears for Fears and Patti Smith, the title track of her 2019 album stands out as an ode to the ’80s. The song opens with mysterious synths and Olsen’s low, quick vibrato vocals. The drums and bass echo throughout the song, which repeats its simplistic melody in the vocals and kicks into full force with added strings as the song intensifies. Compared to Olsen’s prior albums, the production of All Mirrors stands out in its more refined sound.
– Ilana Tel-Oren
8. FKA Twigs – “Cellophane”
Unsurprisingly FKA Twigs has created another stunning single with “Cellophane.” This soulful and somber ballad is a delight for your ears. Each lyric sung with Twigs’s complete soul, her emotion highly palpable enought to give the listener full-body chills. The backing track accompaniment is fairly minimal, which allows her singing to take front stage.
The importance of this single is heightened it was released a year after having six fibroid tumors removed. It is a powerful comeback for FKA Twigs. Her imagery invokes the song title, “All wrapped in cellophane / The feelings that we had,” allowing the listener into her thoughts. The lyrical vulnerability is Twigs’s greatest strength.
– Alessia Milstein
7. Baroness – “I’m Already Gone”
Lyrically beautiful and musically complex, “I’m Already Gone” from the group’s June release Gold & Grey is easily one of the best songs of the year. Lines like “Before you know / I’ll be on the open road / now I’m dark and green / golden at the seams\” and “oh I miss the sweet perfume /poured in gasoline” are sung perfectly by the deep vocals of John Baizley. The much-debated mix of the song allows the vocals to sit at a similar volume as the instruments, taking them to the forefront of the listener’s ears. The guitar riffs by Gina Gleason and bass by Nick Jost mix beautifully and the drumbeat by Sebastian Thomson drives the song forward. Baroness has been around for over a decade, but they sound just as fresh as when they began, and fans and listeners will surely listen to “I’m Already Gone” for years to come.
– Caitlin Wills
6. Mark Ronson featuring Lykke Li – “Late Night Feelings”
Year after year, Mark Ronson consistently proves that he is among the most polished songwriters and producers in the music industry. This year is no different with the release of his collaborative track “Late Night Feelings” with Lykke Li. While his album of the same name had its share of ups and downs, there’s no denying that the album’s lead single and title track “Late Night Feelings” stands as one of the year’s most alluring pop songs. Over a hypnotizing disco beat, Lykke Li adds sultry and somber vocals, changing tempos at a moment’s notice. Sometimes all we need is an escape from the constant barrage of divisiveness and anger that has seemingly taken over our world – “Late Night Feelings” provides just that.
– Matt Matasci
5. Charly Bliss – “Blown to Bits”
Charly Bliss, a four-piece hailing from New York City, open their second album Young Enough as strongly as any band could hope for. Awash in a soft synth tone, “Blown to Bits” starts as a repeated list of life’s simple, unforgettable pleasures. It’s an amazing statement of purpose and doubles both as an excellent beginning to the album but also a pretty enrapturing look at what the band is about to show the listener over the next ten songs. It’s simultaneously playful, exotic, escalating and somber.
As lead singer Eva Hendricks softly hits on the touchstones of a life not often appreciated enough, best put on the lines, “Staring at cars / selling your art / Feeling so sure you’re waking up tomorrow,” the payoff of the song hints at the most ominous of outcomes. How literally Hendricks feels, “It’s gonna break my heart to see it blown to bits.” Call it metaphoric resolution and a fond farewell to young adult life, or, perhaps it’s an evocation of how awful losing the simplest parts of life would be in the face of overwhelming catastrophe. Taking stock of those many seemingly insignificant yet immensely profound moments while your heartbeat rises in time with the song’s creeping crescendo, it’s so painfully hard to say goodbye to what you can never get back.
– Raymond Flotat
4. Lana Del Rey – “Looking For America”
The concept of America frustrates many, apparently including Lana Del Rey. On “Looking for America,” she explores how that concept and its subsequent bastardization crops up in the most mundane moments of her everyday life. Rather than just worrying about the children of America after dark, Del Rey finds herself worrying about them much more often lately. She just can’t seem to escape the culture of violence and hate that has become so pervasive in this country, with the song being written in the immediate aftermath of the shootings in Dayton, OH and El Paso, TX within hours of each other.
Del Rey utilizes the usual croon for which she’s so well known, but it might fit on this Jack Antonoff collaboration better than ever. She sounds right at home making her sung/whispered vocal acrobatics sound easy over the eerily relaxed guitar strums. It’s almost as if America is in a deep sleep, and Del Rey is scared that if she wakes up the ugly beast that this country has become, the next tragedy is sure to follow.
– Matthew Jordan
3. Billie Eilish – “you should see me in a crown”
“you should see me in a crown” is the track that took the young singer to the next level. The extremely hypnotic rhythms and rhymes of the song were written by Billie Ellish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, inspired by the TV series Sherlock. With lyrics like “Wearing a warning sign / Wait ’till the world is mine / Visions I vandalize / Cold in my Kingdom size / Fell for these ocean eyes,” Ellish not only references her 2016 debut single “Ocean Eyes” but she wittingly points out that she would soon be ruling the music world.
The trap-electro pop anthem is a climactic ride from start to finish. The singer plots her world dominance while stringing along each and every listener with her whispered vocals, drawn in like hypnosis. Not only was the track received with rave reviews, it marked a new era in the singer’s life; a darker side that was bursting at the seams to be freed. Eilish is where alternative music is heading and this leading track from her praised and award-nominated album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is the perfect example of the undoubtedly raw talent the singer has.
– Willie Witten
2. Devin Townsend – “Genesis”
One of the more curious aspects about music in 2019 is how oddly disconnected from the sheer terror and chaos of the moment much of what’s being released now is. Little seems to speak to the violence, intensity and downright confusion in any meaningful way. Art may serve as distraction for many, but sometimes an honest interaction with the world in front of you warrants an honest reflection of the moment. Devin Townsend’s tour-de-force “Genesis” is that brutally unflinching connection in a chaotic time. Over seven and a half minutes the song grows and mutates, like the monster in Akira’s finale gobbling up everything in sight.
Starting with an angelic choral from an all-women’s choir, the song shifts forms seamlessly, mutating from stomping rock into orchestral swirls into contemplative sing-speak into video game bleep boops back into a metal crescendo so powerful it almost wrenches your heart clear out of your chest. Townsend snarls, “Let there be monsters / let there be pain / Let us begin to live again,” leading into the first half’s epic release, “From the top to the bottom / Genesis.” Somehow impossibly the formula is altered way further on the second half while sacrificing none of the song’s cohesion while adding beach sounds, kitten mews (yes, really), disco, old tyme cooing and an even more intense assault. Sometimes the only way to really find your place in an insane world and to move one step forward is to plug in and let literally everything hit you all at once. The song is purifying and never for a moment feels labored or expected, much like life itself.
– Raymond Flotat
1. Amanda Palmer – “Voicemail for Jill”
The last few years have inexplicably seen major reversals in woman’s rights, particularly abortion rights. And now, the man who many fear is the final straw in seeing Roe Vs. Wade overturned (whether directly or through a series of laws that erode at the rights provided by that landmark case) was accused of sexual assault by a very credible witness. That didn’t matter, he’s now one of the most powerful judges in the world and in his hands could lie the fate of millions of women in America. It all feels so hopeless, and that’s why we need songs like “Voicemail for Jill.”
One of many painfully honest and powerful songs from her excellent album There Will Be No Intermission, the song confronts a friend’s abortion in an innovative manner, framed as a voicemail from Palmer to her friend. Now living in London, Palmer’s lyrics that point out familiar landmarks in Boston add a further sense of intimacy to the song.
Then, the chorus hits and it’s a stunner. “Life’s such a bitch, isn’t it? / When you have a baby, they throw you a party / And then when you die they get together for a cry / But no one’s gonna celebrate you / No one’s gonna bring you cake / And no one’s gonna shower you with flowers / The doctor won’t congratulate you / No one on that pavement’s gonna / Shout at you that your heart also matters.”
The fact that many (and perhaps most) women have to go through one of the most difficult decisions in their life alone and in silence, and endure its phsyical and emotional pain, is brought to light through Palmer’s illuminating lyricism. Between its gutting lyrics, (sadly all too) relevant social commentary and impressive instrumental arrangement, “Voicemail for Jill” is the best song of the year and one that demands to be listened to.
– Matt Matasci
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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