New Music Friday Review: 22nd January. New Love Lifestyle and Letting Go of Confession Box

 "Typhoons"  by Royal Blood

Royal Blood are amongst a couple within the indie rock genre in Britain that I like to keep an eye on and with this song being the title track for the new album due out in April  and "Trouble's Coming" growing on me a fair bit since it's release so how is "Typhoons"?

Well "Typhoons" has some serious swagger about it however the bright skuzzy guitars and almost disco rock feel of the song hide some pretty dark lyrics centring around mental health and substance abuse eg: alcohol during the ongoing pandemic and yeah the production makes this song feel like it'd be a load of fun to dance to at a festival...absolute banger!

Rating: 8/10

Speaking of British indie rock...

"Confession Box" by The Pale White

The Pale White are a band hailing out of north east of England, I've been aware of these guys since they released "Reaction" in 2017, they've been releasing singles and EPs for awhile now with "Confession Box" being their first single of 2021 so how is "Confession Box"?

Well it's a return to a heavier sound for the Pale White after the more melodic "Take Your Time", with "Confession Box' exploring post break up emotions and I definitely like this sound from The Pale White a lot with it's searing guitars and lyrics that are pretty darn catchy. Looking forward to that debut album in 2021 if we get it1

Rating: 8/10

Time to go with pop country thanks to a collaboration I wasn't expecting...

"I Can't" by Caitlyn Smith feat. Old Dominion

So Caitlyn Smith has teamed up with one of the country bands that I really don't care for to see if she can finally get a break onto the charts in the US with this ballad from the deluxe edition of "Supernova" although lets be real songs from "Starfire" and "Supernova" should have crossed over already however is "I Can't" any good?

Well yeah, it's a strong song and Caitlyn Smith really shines through in the vocals although Old Dominion's Matthew Ramsey is also pretty solid here too! Prominent piano and guitar here too...it's solid and both Caitlyn and Old Dominion sell the song well so you know what? Check it out!

Rating: 7/10

Okay, so I think this along with one other song may chart (I am trying to keep New Music Friday Review for songs that don't hit the ARIA singles top 50) but I going to cover this one only briefly...

"Lifestyle" by Jason DeRulo feat. Adam Levine

I think I groaned when I saw that these two had collaborated but then I remembered that two acts I disliked got together and made a song that made my best list last year so Jason DeRulo and Maroon 5's Adam Levine could potentially have made something good, right?

Well here's the thing...this song really isn't that bad, it's ridiculously catchy and even if Jason DeRulo still thinks singing his name at the start of a song is still very annoying to me but both DeRulo and Levine sound fine enough here and it sounds like both are having fun as they sing about this woman having this lifestyle of diamonds (the reference to Rihanna's song called "Diamonds" by DeRulo was hilarious). Honestly the song is a bit stupid and will get annoying pretty quickly if it gets overplayed, that said I don't mind it right now...ask me in a couple of months time and my response might be different.

Rating: 6/10

Now time for Australia's favourite musical anti vaxxer!

"letting go" by Ziggy Alberts

I've never really been impressed by Ziggy Alberts music regardless of his views away from the music but I wanted to give him another chance...and well...I kind of regret doing so because this song is really not anything at all special, it falls closer to bad Jack Johnson impersonation than anything else and again that's the feeling I've had about this guy's music for most of his career, he has one or two songs that are decent but for the most part they are like this. Pass.

Rating: 3/10

This is another one that I think might chart eventually but its a song that I wanted to cover none the less

"New Love" by Silk City feat. Ellie Goulding

So Mark Ronson and Diplo have worked together again this time swapping out Dua Lipa with Ellie Goulding for this slice of dance and EDM pop. Look, it's fine, the production works well but that chorus is just repetitive to the point of being extremely annoying despite Ellie Goulding selling it well enough. It's an ehhh for me.

Rating: 6/10

Let's wrap this up with a relatively new Aussie rock act.

"Something About Being Sixteen" by Teenage Joans

So for he uninitiated the Teenage Joans are an act hailing from Adelaide that was discovered by radio station Triple J through Unearthed which seeks to find exciting new young Australian talent with Teenage Joans song "Three Leaf Clover" winning the "Unearthed High" competition and just recently landing at 87 on Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown for 2020 and on Friday, they released new single "Something About Being Sixteen" so what did we get?

When I heard "Three Leaf Clover" I was actually impressed, I liked what I was hearing and with this new song...yeah...its pretty good, I love how prominent the drums and guitars are. The lyrics are pretty angsty about getting over a break up and moving on. I like this....check it out if you are curious.

Rating: 7/10

ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten/Chart Review: 25th January. Best Friend Walks Streets getting bad Goosebumps

 This week felt like a much calmer and somewhat easier week to deal with, sure the new entries are a bit of a nightmare but they feel like a small portion within regard to a chart that has sorted itself out for 2021 so let's begin with the top ten where unsurprisingly 'Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo held the number one for a second week, it's got streaming and sales pretty much on lock for another two weeks or so at number one at least.

It was enough to see it keep "Without You" by The Kid Laroi, remaining at number two, at bay. It's got streaming and a little bit of sales traction but the margin to "Drivers License" is enormous and it's just not got the strength to knock it over just yet.

The same goes for "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Ian Dior at number three for a second week, it just doesn't have the strength to challenge the top two, it might also be the case for "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby as it looks to have peaked on streaming. 

Boosted by a remix with Doja Cat (more about her in the new entries) and Megan Thee Stallion saw "34+35" by Ariana Grande rise from 14 to number five this week thanks mostly to streaming and yeah, it impacted the rest of the top ten

Well...except for Justin Bieber's "Anyone" which remains steady at number six thanks to streaming and some sales. I am not convinced this has the legs to rise much higher but we'll see.

"Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK fell two places to number seven as it has finally started to bleed on streaming while "Fly Away" by Tones and I fell one spot to number eight as it lost a bit of ground on streaming this week, "So Done" by The Kid Laroi slipped one spot to number nine and "Good Days" by SZA fell one to number ten (this should rebound given it's strength on streaming).

Gains

The biggest gain for this week came for The Weekend's "Save Your Tears" which climbed 18 places to number 32...I'll take it as it was the best of our gain this week because from there we have "Looking for Me' by Paul Woolford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax up five to number 39.

However the most significant gain of the week belongs to "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals up six to 11 mostly because this looks set to hit the top ten next week thanks to the impact of being the number one song on the 2020 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown held yesterday, i;' s already got major boosts on both both sales and on Apple Music and Spotify.

However there are some good gains with "Prisoner" by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa up five spots to 27 and "Paradise" by Meduza feat. Dermot Kennedy up eight places to 21.

Losers

"Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus fell seven places to 35 while "Therefore I am" by Billie Eilish slipped five places to 20 (it should get a Hottest 100 boost next week) as did "Take You Dancing" by Jason DeRulo down five to 25 and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles down five to 28.

Drop outs

Three drop outs this week. Not all that disappointed that "Wonder" by Shawn Mendes or "For the Night" by Pop Smoke are gone, the latter has had a good run on the chart.

The one drop out I am sad to see not get any traction whatsoever is "Holiday" by Lil Nas X...maybe it's a seasonal song but whatever the case, I would have liked it to stick around because it's a fun song.

New Entries

So there's three new entries and I am going to endeavour to keep this short because I really don't have much to say about most of these starting with...

48. "Best Friend" by Saweetie feat. Doja Cat

So I am just going to try to set aside the fact that this song is co written and co produced by Dr Luke and look..I am not very impressed by this song regardless, all this is is Saweetie and Doja Cat bragging about their best friend being a 'bad bitch' and being able to do all this other stuff like drive a car (she doesn't need a Uber or Lyft!) and twerking on guys in the club, it's basically a hype song that doesn't amount to all that much especially with a beat that is pretty limp from Dr Luke...I am going to forget this exists in a week...NEXT!

We're not done with Doja Cat though because...

46. "Streets" by Doja Cat

So this is Doja Cat's follow up to "Say So" and honestly I actually like this a lot, her delivery on the first verse and chorus and is sensual and matches the more sleek and wiry production, she sounds great here! It almost reminds me of early 90s R 'n' B. My only real criticism is that second verse where she slips into that grating delivery, it doesn't feel at all necessary...that said I do like this a lot more than "Say So" and the lyrics do come across as sincere as Doja is trying to find somebody to love that's like her ex partner and not really finding anyone but yeah that second verse just means the song is merely good  rather than great which is annoying because I wanted it to be great.

Finally...

29. "Goosebumps (remix) by Travis Scott & HVME

Oh god. So let me explain,,,HVME (pronounced "Hume") is a Spanish producer with this remix of Travis Scott's 2017 hit "Goosebumps" being his breakout charting hit and honestly this is pretty terrible, mainly because the music doesn't at all match what the original song was selling which was darkness and Scott inviting this girl into his dark world and that flat delivery of the hook just sets my teeth on edge. This is easily the worst new song of the week. 

As for the best...that's not a contest either with "Streets" by Doja Cat getting that. 

Let's hope next week is a bit better for the quality of the new entries as the chart will be impact the Triple J Hottest 100 next week and maybe that Spanish language song collaboration from Billie Eilish and Rosalia but we'll see on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

New Music Friday Review: 15th January Bonafide Don't Play De Una Vez

"De Una Vez" by Selena Gomez

("At Once")

Selena Gomez is changing tack musically, she's going to be releasing a Spanish language album this year with a song called "De Una Vez" being the first song from that upcoming project. Translated "De Una Vez" means "At Once" and judging by the translation of the song, it's the next chapter following "Lose You to Love Me" where she's healed from her broken heart after a failed relationship and is ready to move on and is ready to prove she is stronger and happier without the guy (whoever it is aimed at) and yeah I totally get it even if I am a little tired of Selena writing songs allegedly aimed at Justin Bieber...it is time to let go.

 I like the production from Tainy on this song, it feels more organic and definitely suits Selena a lot better than some of the production she was given on that last English language album of hers. I like this a lot...check it out.

Rating: 8/10

"Don't Play" by Anne-Marie, KSI and Digital Farm Animals

Ugh...I wasn't looking forward to this one, KSI is a rapper who is bigger in the UK, he teamed up with singer Anne-Marie, who hasn't seen any chart success in Australia since "2002" in 2018, they brought along Digital Farm Animals along for this song so how is the song?

It's forgettable if I am to be honest, its a song about heartache that's delivered with all the passion of somebody who has had to be told what heartache feels like, it just feels wooden and insincere. The production from Digital Farm Animals is only passable at best...I'm not coming back to this. Pass.

Rating: 3/10

"How Can I Resist Her?" by Robinson

Ooh how do I explain this one? This song is from an upcoming album where artists hailing from Australia and NZ are recording reimagined covers of songs from Split Enz 1980 number one album in Australia and New Zealand called "True Colours" and spawned the Australian year end number one hit "I Got You" plus hits like "I Hope I Never" and "Shark Attack" with Robinson's cover of the Tim Finn penned "How Can I Resist Her" being the third song to be released from the project following Shihad's pretty solid cover of "I Got You" and Busby Marou's cover of the Neil Finn penned "Missing Person".

I am a Split Enz fan so I was kind of curious to hear this song and my god...it was instant love, folks, this cover is beautiful, Robinson has kept the lyrics as they are rather than changing them which gives the song a same sex romance framing and honestly it works as Robinson turns the song into this gorgeous indie folk nearly country song and her vocals are stunning, check out this song and the more raucous Split Enz original (actually check out the whole original "True Colours" album). Great job Robinson! 

Rating: 9/10

"Bonafide" by Emotional Oranges feat. Chiiild

This is going to sound weird considering I loved the lightweight version of Emotional Oranges in 2019 that being "Dancing With a Stranger" by Sam Smirh and Normani but I just couldn't find an inroad to getting into Emotional Oranges even as I watched other people digging their music and telling me how incredible it was yet every time I tried to get into this group, it just wasn't connecting for me despite the music being as stunning as everyone said it was. 

So here's "Bonafide" this time bringing on board Canadian experimental soul band Chiiild and well? Yeah...this works for me! It's got a solid groove and the vocals are silky smooth and give the song a vibe that I can get into. Nice!

Rating: 8/10

"Did Ya Think" by The Veronicas

Bet this is an act you guys haven't thought about for awhile and no this is not a song from their supposed album that is said to be coming this year, it's an off cut from their debut album "The Secret Life Of" and honestly this is the Veronicas sound I love...its sharp pop/rock which is what Jess and Lisa Origlasso are damn good at and was a shame to see them move away from especially as "4Ever" is still a damn great song. I don't think this will be a hit but check it out.

Rating: 8/10

"Close To You" by Dayglow

To wrap up this week's New Music Friday Review, we have Sloan Struble aka Dayglow and his new single which honestly sounds similar in sound to The 1975 except done better than the actual The 1975...how many times has everyone said that this past year?. Its a solid song that's got an 80s style sound to it again like The 1975 with lyrics all about the mix of excitement and nervousness felt before meeting a date. It's a pretty solid song...I dig it.

Rating: 7/10

Good 1992 Vibrations: 19th January. MC Hammer's BAD Addam Groove as Baby Animals need One Word

 Wow. This week was a busy one...not just in the top ten but for all the songs that gained or lost big lower down the chart and also for the slew of new entries...this is going to be a long one, folks, strap yourselves in!

Let's start where we always start with the top ten where to nobody's real surprise "Black or White" by Michael Jackson kept the number one spot for a sixth week...now the challengers for this song are coming and there was some signs of weakness for this song so it may only be a matter of time before we get a new number one

It most likely won't be "Cream" by Prince and the New Power Generation which remained at number two for another week thanks to really not being able to match "Black and White" on sales. 

The same could be said for "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt -N- Pepa which stayed at number three but this is looking more of a challenger than "Cream" is right now despite it's position, it looks stronger. overall.

Speaking of looking strong, that can be said of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On me" by George Michael and Elton John as it climbed two places to number four off its debut last week which is nice to see as it's a good remake of Elton John hit, it pushed past "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred which fell down one place to number five and "Ain't No Sunshine" by The Rockmelons and Deni Hines down one to number six (hopefully in the former's case, it leaves the top ten and the chart quickly)

Australian dance pop trio Euphoria break into the top ten jumping five places to number seven with "Love You Right"...a song that I honestly don't like all that much...that squawking "I WANNA I WANNA LOVE YOU RIGHT" sets my teeth on edge a bit.

Fortunately Diesel's "Come To Me" is up two places to number eight. Nice to see, it's a good song.

Julian Lennon's "Saltwalter" makes the jump from 16 to nine...got no opinion on this one, it's not Julian's best song although you can absolutely see John Lennon's influence.

Finally Guns 'n' Roses jumped four places to number ten with their cover of James Bond theme from 1973 film of the same name and Wings hit"Live and Let Die"...I will say the cover is actually decent as the cover keeps most of the dramatic swell of the original.

Gains

So outside of the big gains into the top ten for "Saltwater" by Julian Lennon and "Love You Right" by Euphoria, what else gained big?

Well, in good news "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF made a huge jump into the top twenty...all the way from 40 to 18 off it's debut last week while also climbing off the debut last week is "Finally" by CeCe Peniston up from 46 to 25.

Then there's the case of continued momentum for "The Globe" by Big Audio Dynamite II which rose from 31 to 19 while "Just a Touch of Love (Every Day)" by C&C Music Factory got a massive boost from 42 to 26 and "Keep Coming Back" by Richard Marx up six places to 42.

Losers

So we've got a pretty normal list of big losers this week, most fading naturally like "Stop the War in Croatia" by Tomislav Ivcic which plummeted from 20 to 49 and "Caught in My Shadow - Australian Tour Souveneir E.P." by The Wonder Stuff slipped ten places to 48.

It wasn't all good news for Big Audio Dynamite II with "Rush" slipping from 32 to 39 while "Live Your Life Be Free" by Belinda Carlisle continued to lose traction as it fell eleven places to 38 as did "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" by PM Dawn which fell five to 27.

John Farnham's begging you not to ask him how "Please Don't Ask Me" managed to tumble from 23 to 36 while the word is out that Kylie Minogue's "Word is Out" skidded from 24 to 31.

Gang Starr's "Lovesick" vomited from 15 to 21 while "When Something is Wrong with my Baby" by Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham dropped seven places to 14 but on a brighter note Colour Me Badd's "All 4 Love" dropped five places to 13...thank god

New Entries

Got six new entries this week starting with.

50. "O.P.P" by Naughty by Nature

So this is set to be huge in the US, its climbing the Hot 100 right now and I got to say it's actually a pretty damn interesting song with it's subversive lyrics all about sexual infidelity and references other people's private parts with some at times hilarious descriptions eg: woman's vagina "The last P... well... that's not that simple. It's sorta like another way to call a cat a kitten. It's five little letters that are missin' here"

Also I love the samples used here and how well they blend into the song eg; "ABC" by The Jackson Five sounds fantastic weaved through the song along with "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss. Great song, hope it becomes a hit!

47. "I've Had You" by Jenny Morris

Given I didn't like "Break in the Weather", we've got another single from Jenny Morris and is it any better? It is but mostly because of the production here which merges classical elements with pop elements for a more baroque sounding song which makes sense when you consider Morris co wrote the song with Paul Kelly and his influence is all over this song!

Just a shame the lyrics really don't do anything for me, its a song that basically deals in if all her friends turned away, it wouldn't matter because she's "had you" and kind of falls into being a bit of a bland song which is a pity because the production is really good.

46. "Spill The Wine" by Freaked-Out Flower Children

Oh god. How to explain this...okay so this band formed in 1991 and includes actress and TV presenter Sophie Lee on saxophone and lead vocals, this song being the first to actually reach the ARIA singles top 50 and is a cover of Eric Burdon and War's 1970 smash hit and...well, it stayed true to the original, the production is very retro cabaret and works for what this is but that flat vocal delivery just does nothing for me and the lyrics are vague as all hell. Pass.

45. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

I am going to keep this short as this song really doesn't need much said about it and is back on the chart due to its prominent use in the film "Wayne's World". The song is a classic. We lost a music legend way too soon, rest in peace Freddie. 

44. "One Word" by Baby Animals

So in 1991, Australian rock band Baby Animals had break out success with three singles off their debut album entering the top 50 in 1991 with this song being the fourth from that album...and yeah...this is legitimately great, Suze DeMarchi's vocals communicate the angst of somebody who just wants that word of reassurance that's she is going to be okay as her partner moves on with somebody else while she's still trying to clean up the pieces and that production just goes off, I love the intro where the guitars just play off each other before the drums kick in and the song gets louder and harder....this is damn great. CHECK THIS OUT

30. "Addams Groove" by MC Hammer.

Okay...stop...was ANYONE asking for this? Really? Okay so this song was for the Addams Family movie and it's a song best left forgotten...the Addams Family were known for being spooky and creepy yet you take out anything in the production that might allude to some spookiness or creepiness for MC Hammer to basically turn the Addams Family into a slightly weirder version of the family from "Hey Dad"? MC Hammer's flow and cadence is just goofy and altogether stupid. This song is forgettable at best...fucking terrible at worst.

It's also snagging worst of the week by a country mile with "Spill the Wine" by Freaked-Out Flower Children as the dishonourable mention. 

For the best though...its tough because there are some good choices here and I'm inclined to disqualify "Bohemian Rhapsody" given it made the 1976 year end so I'm going to go with "O.P,P" by Naughty by Nature as the honourable mention with "One Word" by Baby Animals for the best.

ARIA Singles top 10/Chart Review: 18th January: Olivia Rodrigo drives in Drivers License to number one

I have no actual way of wording my thoughts about this week except to say that 2021's biggest hit song may already be on the chart and of course I am talking about our new and somewhat unexpected number one "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo, we'll talk about the song's quality later but this song has the sort of monstrous streaming that you'd expect for artists like Adele or Drake, it's been breaking all kinds of Spotify records in the past week and its position on sales is right now unchallenged...it's impressively dominant across the board.

The nearest challenger is "Without You" by The Kid Laroi stuck at number two, it's was never going to be able to match the sort of insane numbers "Drivers License" racked up this week but it held position over "Mood" by 24KGoldn and Iann Dior which slipped two places to number three as its streaming finally starts to bleed which may mean it comes under pressure from "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby which remained steady at number four as it is still yet to reach a peak on streaming so yeah this still a player to move higher.

What is not a player anymore is "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK down two places to number five as it finally starts to bleed on streaming and on sales, honestly unfortunate because would have been nice to see this song have a week at number one.

Also down one place off it's debut last week is "Anyone" by Justin Bieber, this should rebound next week, it only dipped a little because it couldn't sustain that strong a streaming presence.

Continuing to rise is "Fly Away" by Tones and I up one place to number seven...this song looks like being a challenger to "Drivers License" in a couple of weeks when the hype around "Drivers License" has faded a little bit

The Kid Laroi's second song in the top ten "So Done" is up one spot to number nine thanks to streaming that won't fucking die already.

Now we get to the biggest gainer of the week which is "Good Days" by SZA which climbed twenty nine places to number 9 this week on the back of an impressive streaming surge which is good as this song is pretty terrific especially as it's SZA's first solo top ten hit in Australia.

The big loser in all the shuffling though was "Positions" by Ariana Grande which slipped four places to number ten...I think she might just replace herself in the top ten next week but we'll see what happens.

Gains.

So I already mentioned the massive gains for 'Good Days" by SZA in hitting the top ten at number nine, the other big gain was for Tiesto's "The Business" climbed 15 spot to 25 and while continued momentum for "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals up five places to number 17.

Losers.

A lot of 2020 hits took losses this week with "Roses" by Saint Jhn down six to  33, "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles down six to 23, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac down eight to 24 and "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch also down six spots to 36.

If you are wondering about "Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran, it fell four places to number 11

Drop Outs

Three drop outs this week with "Circles" by Post Malone, "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi and "Lonely" by Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco all gone. Not too upset about any of that even if I do think "Circles" is a pretty damn great song.

New Entries

Three new entries on the docket this week, starting with...

50. "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd

Hey...this isn't "Scared to Live" or "Faith"...What's doing? Well okay, this is the latest single from "After Hours" and look, I'm not going to quibble, it's The Weeknd singing about longing for his ex after he broke her heart the same way a previous flame of his did over an 80s groove but it only feels decent at best as a lot of the sounds on this song aren't given the room to grow or swell...it honestly feels pretty cluttered to a point...it's not a bad song by any means but it should be better.

44. "Looking For Me" by Paul Woolford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax

So Diplo finally kicked his need for making bad country music and returned to electronic music this time teaming up with British producer Paul Woolford and American singer Kareen Lomax for a song that has been a top ten hit in the UK for the last couple of weeks and honestly I'm not a fan mostly because the production feels like another generic electronic song and reminds me way too much of Starley's bland "Call On Me". Kareen Lomax does her best to sell the song but I don't know...it's just not at all an impressive song and doesn't grip me in the same way "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK did in 2020. Pass.

1. "drivers license" by Olivia Rodrigo

So here's the big shiny new number one hit that is taking the world by storm by right and while I think the comparisons to Lorde and Billie Eilish are a little off, star of High School Musical The Musical The Series Olivia Rodrigo doesn't quite have the level of intensity to pull off what both Lorde and Billie Eilish can in terms of raw intensity and even darkness in their music, maybe the better comparison to make would be to somebody like Alessia Cara where like Cara, Rodrigo is wistfully going through memories of how she and her boyfriend talked of getting her drivers license but the relationship has fallen apart because of him cheating (an assumption Rodrigo makes) with a blonde girl and now she's realizing that she can't celebrate getting her drivers license with him despite it being something they'd planned for together with the kicker being she's still painfully in love with this guy, its a sad, wistful song and the production gives Rodrigo enough support but also allows room for her vocals to breathe over the piano and the beat. 

I will say the only part of the song that makes me uncomfortable is the assumption he is cheating on her with the blonde girl, that bit felt a little filmsy to me but it's an otherwise really good song and yeah, it's best of the week.

As for the worst? No real bad songs of the three new entries but I guess if there was to be a worst per se,, "Looking for Me" by Paul Woolford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax as that song had the potential to be so much better.

The Top Twenty Best Hit Songs of 2020 Part 2 (10 to 1)

Before reading on, please check out part one: Click here for 20 to 11

AND NOW FOR THE THRILLING CONCLUSION….


 You might be surprised to know that Billie Eilish was reasonably quiet in 2020 apart from the release of some scattered singles including a James Bond Theme but it was the first of the scattered singles post the album that got my attention.

10. “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish

My god, this song breaks my heart, Billie sings about this nightmare she had where she commits suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge yet none of her friends or fans watching cared or even tried to stop her committing suicide, the nightmare sees Billie seek comfort from her brother Finneas reassures her that he’ll always be there to support her and deal with the feelings associated with the nightmare, the pair of them will okay as they have each other. It’s a gorgeous song that I am not sure got all the attention it deserved.

 

This next song is the only Australian entry on this list although there were one or two songs from Aussies that were close to making the list (“Bad Child” by Tones and I and “This City” by Sam Fischer) and it’s by a band that I have had quite a weird relationship with but yet…

 

9. “Live In Life” by The Rubens

There’s an inherent sleek pop sensibility to this song that ruminates over the breakdown of a relationship and all the second guessing that happens as the individual at first feels fine with it and then realizes “Well no…this is not okay, I need to do something to stop this break up from happening” but by the time that realization has dawned and goes about trying to fix things, the partner or person involved has upped and gone, it’s a devastating moment, it’s a rather dark and almost bitter song that wonders what could have been.

It’s not quite The Rubens best but my god, it’s a catchy song that I am glad I grew to like a lot, this is good stuff, am looking forward to that new Rubens album in February 2021.

We finally got the world’s busiest boyband on the ARIA singles chart…thank goodness…they have got a hit…

8. “Sugar” by Brockhampton

I was never going to leave this song off the best list, hell, this might just be the only time Brockhampton have chart success (thanks Tik Tok) in Australia and while I’ve not had time to fully dive into Brockhampton’s discography (still trying to figure out a starting point and I am also fully aware how my previous statements show a lack of faith in the Australian public) but “Sugar” is a concentrated piece of wonderful, I love the intricate melodies and how the lyrics talk about a relationship facing uncertainty and wanting to figure out why so the couple can move forward and move ahead together and the production plays up to the questions being asked about the relationship.

Hope to see a lot more of Brockhampton on the ARIA singles chart especially if it is more songs like this.



This song took a while to grow on me, I wasn’t even sure I liked it all that much when I first heard it however, I eventually realized the critics weren’t joking, this is Lady Gaga’s best pop song in years…

7. “Rain On Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande

Let’s not mince words with this one, this is Lady Gaga’s best pop song since “Alejandro’ in 2010 with it’s splashy keys and production that supports both Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande perfectly, “Rain On Me” is almost the sort of pop song I would have expected to hear during the club boom in the early 2010s but unlike a lot of music from the club boom, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to get annoying and or old quick, the only reason I wasn’t the biggest fan of it was Lady Gaga say “Rain…On….Me” however I can see that it does work within in the song.

The lyrics play to pent up frustration about their lives and tears shed over situations they might be in and boy that sounds familiar in 2020 in a lot of ways with regard everything that has happened in this shitty year. ‘Rain On Me” is one of the best pop songs of the year”. I highly recommend you check it out.



For all the garbage that Tik Tok has enabled to chart this year, 2020 showed that there was openings for older songs that didn’t make their year end in their respective year and by openings I mean becoming a meme on Tik Tok thanks to a guy riding a skateboard and drinking cranberry juice while this next song was playing in the background…

…



6. “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus

This year was the year Miley Cyrus finally found the lane that her voice is suited too: pop/rock and boy it paid dividends to the point where “Plastic Hearts” is the best album of her career to date. “Midnight Sky” was the lead single from the album and was the song on this list that grew on me the fastest (the songs above it I liked from the jump), I thought this was merely good without really being great but subsequent listens to the song since it’s release earlier in the year have me convinced that this is Miley’s best song since “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” with Mark Ronson, its not better than that song but it’s damn close.

The interpolation of “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks just works so god damn well so much so they basically mashed up Miley’s “Midnight Sky” with Nick “Edge of Seventeen” for one of the best remixes/mash ups of 2020 and seriously, Miley sounds stunning here.

Miley just needs to keep making pop/rock because while it’s not the best song on the album, its still AWESOME.



The UK is still the home of producing EDM/house bangers like this one…



5. “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK

This song was one that I was reluctant to like at first, it felt like another EDM/house song but the more I heard it the more I liked it. Sound wise it reminded me of the early nineties dance music that dominated the charts with MNEK providing the vocals about how he has met this attractive girl who has his head saying “Uh oh, she’s trouble, it’s just a crush…stay away from her” but his heart wants something more than it just being a crush, it wants him to hook up with her, it’s actually framed a lot better than other songs in a similar lane like Taylor Swift’s “I knew You were trouble” in that Joel Corry and MNEK don’t frame themselves or this girl as caricatures in cartoons like Taylor did but as humans with very real feelings which is what I appreciate about “Head & Heart”. Good job!







Imagine if all music that came from the trap sound was like this:

4. “Mood” by 24kGoldn feat. Iann Dior

I was stunned when I heard this song for the first time, a trap song that was tight, catchy and had a rock leaning with guitars that were bright, colourful and had a tonne of flavour…I thought this couldn’t be a real song coming from a sound that had been done to death to the point of being boring, derivative and generic but no, “Mood” was a real song and my god, its now one of my most played songs of the year because of its production and the fact both 24kGoldn and Iann Dior sound enthusiastic and deliver that ridiculously catchy hook with so much energy and passion that I get caught up in it.

Imagine if trap music leaned more into the rock/emo sound in 2017/18 rather than the ultimately way too dark to make their songs fun…trap music could have been awesome and honestly when rock music does finally find its way back on the charts in full, it might just have this unexpected gem among others to thank for it.

I also suspect that 24KGoldn might not be able to recreate this lightning in a bottle on his next release but hey at least I’m always in the mood for this song.

I really advise you all not to take my top three ranking all that seriously, at some point all three have been number one and I have had a nightmare of a time trying to figure out which song I loved the most but anyway here is the final Dua Lipa song to have made the list…



3. “Physical” by Dua Lipaspec

So I thought “Levitating” was going to be the Dua Lipa song that wound up fighting for the top spot on my best hit songs list when I set out to make it but I just couldn’t deny “Physical” after three or four more listens and it only got better every single time I heard it and yeah it is just so much better than Olivia Newton John’s “Physical” (I have NEVER liked that song, the beat and instrumentation doesn’t match the lyrics/sentiment of that song) that it interpolates on the hook in nearly every single possible way, it’s the sort of synth pop/power pop song that gets everyone on their bedroom dancefloors almost immediately that gorgeous persian flute sample that opens the song plays.

Unlike the lead single “Don’t Start Now”, “Physical” celebrates meeting somebody special and getting ‘physical’ with that person, it’s a song that is just out to have a good time and drag you along for the ride which happened every time I heard this song on the radio.

Also, this wasn’t a massive hit in the USA for some ungodly reason so yeah, I am delighted I can name it one of the best hit songs of the year in Australia.



There are four guarantees in our existence on earth: Life, death, taxes, and this song making a year end best hit songs list for 2020.



2. “Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd

It kind of goes without saying or even needing to be said: “Blinding Lights” will go down as a classic song of the decade and maybe for years beyond this current decade and while it’s a brave prediction to make now, I can see it ending up getting the same classic treatment as the song “Blinding Lights” interpolates and deservedly so because it’s one of the best synthpop verging on new wave and dark wave songs I have heard in some time.

Every single element of this song works perfectly with The Weeknd delivering one of his best vocal performances since…I don’t know…possibly “Starboy” or “I Feel It Coming”, ‘Blinding Lights” just feels like an event in itself with just how huge and immense the production is unlike other songs where the release of the song is the event, “Blinding Lights” is a massive event of a song itself which of course helped to make the song absolutely huge around the world this year unlike a few songs last year which got labelled events more for the hype surrounding the release however “Blinding Lights” is still a damn great song and if it does become a classic…it will be richly deserved.



So even with all that “Blinding Lights” is not my best hit song of 2020 because given how terrible and miserable this year has been, there was one song that got me through the horror and sadness of the year and made me smile so if a song can do that in a year like this, it deserves top spot (Granted most of my top ten make me smile) so what song could it be…



1. “Adore You” by Harry Styles

Yeah, Harry finally did it and with a song that has its own share of flaws in that the multi tracked vocals sound a little wonky but honestly, I think that kind of adds to the charm of the song? Seriously, that “Ahhh” sounds exactly like what a person would do when adoring another and Harry’s vocal delivery just makes the song even better, he sounds like he is happy and also helps that his delivery reminds me a lot of Neil Finn’s vocal delivery of the verses on the Crowded House song “World Where You Live” which probably forms part of the reason that I think “Adore You” is a damn great song.

Hell, “Adore You” is just three and almost a half minutes of pure escapism and in a year like 2020 escaping on that fluffy white cloud with Harry Styles crooning about adoring somebody was enough to make me smile this year in amidst lockdowns, politics and a pandemic that refuses to just go away.

I adore this song and it’s the best hit song of 2020.

The Top 20 Best Hit Songs of 2020 Part 1 (20 to 11)

As I said in the preamble on my worst hit songs of 2020 list, this year was a pretty damn good one for popular music in spite of the world being a pandoras box of suck all year (seriously 2020 was just one big “open the box and find the next shitty thing to happen”) so I honestly have to say thank goodness the music on the charts this year mostly delivered, sure there were bad songs but they were more the outliers as the good to great songs exceeded the bad songs popularity so much so I have almost too much material for this list to just be a top ten with honourable mentions so this year, it’s a top twenty best hit songs of 2020.

The other reason for that is that there were some genuinely good songs that I loved this year that if I was doing a normal top ten list with five honourable mentions that I might not have gotten the opportunity to write about

All twenty songs must have made ARIA’s Year end singles chart for 2020 and a 2019 hit song is eligible for this list if it appears higher on the 2020 list than it did in 2019. Also I’d encourage you to not worry about the ranking so much because it’s been a nightmare to slot all this great music into placings for this list and no doubt I am going to regret a few of these rankings in the days ahead…lord knows I already have changed the placings several times.

 

Let us begin this adventure with a break out act from New Zealand...

20. "Glitter" by BENEE

So while Australia and the rest of the world fawned over "Supalonely" (feat Gus Dapperton like many grown adults cooing over a baby, I've felt like "Glitter" is the toddler who is crying out for love attention but is being ignored in favour of the baby and that is frustrating because "Glitter" is so much better than "Supalonely" with its bright guitars and BENEE just wanting somebody to hang out with her and burn the midnight oil together, it's a well crafted pop gem...it might have been a song that got big via tik tok but it still one I appreciate....it might have been neglected by way too many especially in the US but this didn't escape my attention...

Well there's at least four artists with multiple entries on this list...here's one of them...

19. "In Your Eyes" by The Weeknd

2020 was the year I finally completely got behind The Weeknd, "After Hours" is just such fantastic album and honestly I'd be hard pressed to pick just one highlight but yeah "In Your Eyes" is just killer 80s worship in the best way and with a fantastic saxophone solo to boot (there's nowhere near enough sax solos in popular music this year. 

Its a song where The Weeknd is longing to find a deeper connection with this girl that he has feelings for and sees that same longing in her eyes, he wants her to commit to him. Its actually the moment both Abel and the girl find that moment of happiness together, it's not quite my favourite song from "After Hours" but its still damn good...we'll get to more The Weeknd later.

So this pop act improved by leaps and bounds in 2020

 

18. “You Should Be Sad” by Halsey

There’s a lot of promise in Halsey’s album “Manic” that was released all the way back in January this year and this song was one of the reasons why, its about as close to country as the year end list gets this year as Halsey tears apart an ex (said to be G Eazy) who she doesn’t realize has issues because she’s completely in love with this guy so when she does realize he has some pretty serious issues going on so tries to help him only he can’t or doesn’t love anything or anyone including Halsey unless there’s something in it for him….it’s a bruising, heartbreaking song that is so much better than “Without Me”.

Thank goodness, Halsey improved and gave us some better music in 2020.

 

 

Sex as a food metaphor was a thing in 2020...we had "Yummy" which was unfortunate but at least there was this...

17. “Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles

This not the first song that references vaginas on this list...in fact...I am now slightly worried that you will think that I have some bizarre form of mentions or references to vagina in music addiction but yeah, this song is just the sort of chill summer song where Harry Styles voice albeit singing about the sugar from a watermelon giving him a high (aka: eating pussy is giving him a high)  may as well feel like the sun touching your skin when you first step outside and the production makes you wish you were at the beach rather than locked down inside...I guess we can pretend we are at the beach, right?

It's not better than another song which I will talk about later but it's a song that I return to a lot and over time it just kept getting better this year. I am so glad this became a hit because this just rules.

So this is one of four songs from its parent album making this list…yeah we’ve hit the first of the Dua Lipa songs.

16. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

So yeah, this song has suffered from overplay a little bit given it come out in the last few months of 2019 and there are better songs on Future Nostalgia as we will get to but it doesn’t change that the song is Dua Lipa telling a guy where to get off and that she’s ready to move on over a pop melody that’s just so perfectly retro and really awesome and the live performances of this song kicked all sorts of butt. It’s not Dua Lipa’s best song but it is still good.

 

Let us get to the other Halsey song that’s on this list….

15. ‘Be Kind” by Marshmello feat. Halsey

When I first heard that Marshmello and Halsey were releasing a song together, I groaned and thought ‘Well here goes another instant for my worst list alongside ‘Yummy’ and co” but then I gave the song a chance and…oh my goodness, this song was the best surprise in 2020, Halsey sounds good over Marshmello’s slightly over compressed production and she sells the song well. Marshmello’s drop isn’t even as annoying as the lyrics delve into a person who needs reassurance that it is okay to be vulnerable and scared around the person, he or she loves rather than hiding behind veneers of bravado that just don’t add up to much, its honestly pretty powerful stuff. Good job!

 

I am becoming a bit of a fan of this rapper, she can be a bit hot and cold but when she’s on like she was in 2020, there’s no stopping her…

14. “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion

So let’s get something straight here, Megan thee Stallion is absolutely the next best female rapper on the charts behind Cardi B and “Savage” is all the more evidence of that with Megan out celebrating her complexity as a human being and as a rapper and she’s got the kind of attitude to carry it however I think Beyonce makes the song even better on the remix, the song is just a sassy load of fun and is the perfect entrée to discussing the other song Megan Thee Stallion was involved with but “Savage” just kicks all sorts of butt!.

 

If there was an award for ridiculous over reaction that helped a song to become a massive hit (okay without the over reaction from some, it still would have been a hit) however the controversy has always felt overblown and honestly, I’d just rather grab a bucket and a mop for that…

 

13. “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

First things first, Ben Shapiro and the others who complained about the overtly sexual nature of the song, what’s so different about Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion rapping about their vaginas to a male rapper flexing about his scrotum or how he is going to take YOUR girl and get her all slippery between the legs and regardless all the critics of “WAP” did were acting as Cardi B’s promotional team, she didn’t have a to do a thing to promote this song.

I liked “WAP pretty much from the jump mostly because there’s just so many quotable lines, the song is just way too much fun and absolutely hilarious to be hated plus it helps that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have bucket loads of charisma and personality; they work well together here. Yeah, the sample was a bit grating at first but the more I got used to it. Looking forward to the sophomore album, Cardi B.

 

Combine pop disco with a familiar bassline…sounds like a best list certainty to me!

 

12. “Break My Heart” by Dua Lipa

There’s a part of me sad that I couldn’t find room for this song in my top ten mostly because of that rhythm guitar that samples 80s classic “Need You Tonight” by INXS and that funk guitar that comes in during the chorus is fantastic along with the hints of violin and handclaps that don’t ever get annoying. The song’s lyrics play to the moment when finding the person who is “The One” making Dua happy than it occurs to her that this guy could very well end the relationship and break her heart, its a moment of vulnerability from Dua Lipa that really captures the self-doubt experienced in a relationship.

 

I have seen this next song on a few worst lists which I find pretty strange because it’s one of the better songs from the parent album….

 

11. “Rockstar” by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch

 

This is where this list takes a turn for the dark because this song is surprisingly dark as DaBaby and Roddy Ricch draw comparisons between rappers’ gangster lifestyle and rockstars. DaBaby using his second verse to recount an incident in 2018 when he and his family were at the centre of an attempted robbery while in Walmart and talks about the moment, he shot the person responsible and warns the same will happen to anyone that threatens his family, it’s a dark moment on song with that trap beat driven by a guitar. It is an honest song from DaBaby and got to me a fair bit this year.

 

Stay tuned for part two