TL;DR
The Spotify playlist can be found here.
2018 – what a year! I’m sitting here in my room in Vancouver writing this as if nothing has changed this year but in reality so much has changed. First off, I no longer live here. Moving abroad was one of the biggest steps I’ve ever taken in my life and it has already started to fundamentally change my perspective. I wish I could tell you all that I’m now fluent in French and can tell the difference between a good wine and a bad wine but I can’t. However, what I have gained is a newfound sense of self and my future is becoming ever so slightly clearer with each passing day. In essence, that’s what 2018 has been about for me. This year has been a journey of learning about myself through experiencing new situations. For the first half of the year, it meant reconnecting with my roots in Victoria and Vancouver and finding all the amazing parts of my culture (both Canadian and Chinese) that I’ve been blind to for so many years. For the second half, it meant meeting, going to school with, and living with the most diverse group of people I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. Each moment felt like an amazing learning opportunity and through shared experiences and introspection, I’ve definitely gained a lot from it.
Of course music played a role in all of this as well. Every application I wrote for school, plane and train ride, exam I studied for, exercise session and party was accompanied by songs. Looking through my top 100 list (expanded from 50 last year), I definitely see two major trends. First off, I still listen to a lot of sad songs. Music has always been a cathartic experience for me and with so much change this year, it has only become a more important tool. Second, I’m starting to see more diverse voices and musical styles creep into my listening habits, which is probably a direct response to me being put in new environments. So many of the songs on this list are intrinsically linked to my memories and they now serves to give certain moments more life. Some will always remind me of going for runs around the HEC Paris campus while others will remind me of long nights of conversations and wine.
The Top 100 Songs of 2018
100 Michael Seyer – Motions
99 Cautious Clay – Reasons
98 MorMor – Whatever Comes to Mind
97 Isaac Delusion – Couleur menthe a l’eau
96 Zhu – My Life featuring Tame Impala
95 Hovvdy – Petal
94 Half Waif – Silt
93 Snail Mail – Pristine
92 Beach House – L’Inconnue
91 Xiu Xiu – Between the Breaths featuring Mitski
90 Hatchie – Sure
89 Eroded Sky – Hope
88 Mutual Benefit – New History
87 Frankie Cosmos – Apathy
86 James Blake – Don’t Miss It
85 Diplo – Wish featuring Trippie Redd
84 Christof van der Ven – Vancouver
83 Trust Fund – Blue X
82 Tomberlin – Seventeen
81 Grimes – We Appreciate Power featuring HANA
80 Sandro Perri – Everybody’s Paris, Pt. III featuring Dan Bejar
79 Tierra Whack – Hungry Hippo
78 Courtney Barnett – City Looks Pretty
77 Yumi Zouma – France (Grands Boulevards)
76 Instupendo – Fleur featuring Teen Daze
75 Daniel Caesar – Who Hurt You?
74 No Rome – Narcissist featuring The 1975
73 Sufjan Stevens – Make Out in My Car
72 Noname – Self
71 The Internet – Come Together
70 Frank Ocean – Moon River
69 Sales – White Jeans
68 Yung Bae – Your Love Has Me High
67 DJ Koze – Music on My Teeth featuring Jose Gonzalez
66 NIKI – Pools
65 Peter CottonTale – Forever Always
64 Jessie Reyez – Figures, a Reprise featuring Daniel Caesar
63 Rina Sawayama – Cherry
62 Great Good Fine OK – Change
61 Still Woozy – Lucy featuring ODIE
60 Beach Bunny – Sports
59 Tinashe – Stuck With Me featuring Little Dragon
58 Men I Trust – Show Me How
57 Beirut – Gallipoli
56 Peggy Gou – It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
55 Cigarettes After Sex – Crush
54 Public Access TV – Shell No.2
53 St. Vincent – Hang On Me (Piano Version)
52 A$AP Rocky – Fukk Sleep featuring FKA Twigs
51 Natalie Prass – Short Court Style
50 Niia – Constantly Dissatisfied featuring Gallant
49 Let’s Eat Grandma – Falling Into Me
48 Opia – Four Winds
47 Childish Gambino – This is America
46 Robyn – Honey
45 Lana Del Rey – Venice Bitch
44 Elise Trouw – Line of Sight
43 Rhye – Song for You
42 Death Cab for Cutie – Autumn Love
41 SG Lewis – Better featuring Clairo
40 Claire George – Orbits
39 Yaeji – One More
38 MGMT – Me and Michael
37 Gallant – Doesn’t Matter
36 Stars – One Day Left
35 Sophie – Immaterial
34 Eloise – You, Dear
33 Bishop Briggs – Baby
32 Phantogram – Someday
31 Marian Hill – Go Quietly
30 Parcels – Tieduprightnow
29 Kids See Ghosts – Reborn
28 Awkwafina – Testify
27 Houses – Fast Talk
26 The Decemberists – Sucker’s Prayer
25 j’san – in time
24 swim good now – Tell Me Love featuring Merival and Torquil Campbell
23 Dirty Projectors – Right Now featuring Syd
22 Clairo – Flaming Hot Cheetos
21 Joji – Head In the Clouds
20 Nilufer Yanya – Thanks 4 Nothing
“This is the end
I don’t think we can be friends
Just being honest”
Nilufer Yanya is one of the most exciting new voices in music. With this sparse jazz-pop track, it sounds like she is finding clarity in the middle of darkness.
19 Christine and the Queens – 5 Dollars
“Some of us just had to fight
For even being looked at right”
A single for Christine and the Queens excellent second album, 5 Dollars is an ode to sex work in the form of a soothing pop jam. The song is also available in French.
18 Mija – Never Forget
“We can’t forget that what goes up must come down
You’re the only one in the whole world that knows me now”
As a part of Skrillex’s OWSLA label, Mija’s most recent work showcases the tender and calm side of electronic music at its best. On Never Forget, Mija sounds simultaneously mechanical and sentimental.
17 Kacy Hill – Dinner
“But I’d like it if it slowed down with you”
Probably the oddest of Kanye West’s proteges, Kacy Hill has been impressing for years with her range of musical styles. Dinner is the sound of longing in it’s most pure and beautiful form.
16 Carly Rae Jepsen – Party For One
“Party for one
If you don’t care about me
I’ll just dance for myself
Back on my beat”
One of the most underrated pop stars on the planet, Carly Rae Jepsen’s music has only gotten better since her breakthrough Call Me Maybe. On Party For One, she has crafted the perfect self care anthem for trying times.
15 Brockhampton – 1999 Wildfire
“To my every weakness, why they spreading secrets?
Called my dreams facetious, bet they can’t believe this”
In a year where Brockhampton signed to a major label and had to let go of one of their main members, they also created some of their best work. This upstart rap group with a giant following has been crafting amazing crew cuts that showcases each of their members best skills. 1999 Wildfire is no different, with a variety of lyrical styles and references across a plethora of cultural touch points.
14 Chvrches – Graves
“You can look away, while they’re dancing on our graves”
For years, Chvrches has been one of the best synthpop acts around and they continue their hot streak with their most recent work. Graves is Chvrches at their best: powerful, catchy, and leaving a lasting impression.
13 88Rising – Midsummer Madness
“Midsummer madness, I can’t take it no more”
The 88rising crew has been redefining what being Asian in the hip hop community means and they’ve been creating some of the most exciting and culturally diverse music in the genre. Midsummer Madness is the song of the summer with each member showing off their youthful carefreeness.
12 Pinegrove – Easy Enough
“It’s easy enough to lure myself out of my house if I don’t think about all my limits”
Pinegrove was out of the spotlight for most of 2018 after several of serious allegations were levelled against their frontman. Late in the year they finally came back and released a new album. No, the return wasn’t triumphant but it sounds like their attempt at setting things right. On Easy Enough, they do what they do best, create a heart on the sleeve song that showcases the anxieties of everyday life.
11 Janelle Monae – I Like That
“A little crazy, little sexy, little cool
Little rough around the edges, but I keep it smooth
I’m always left of center and that’s right where I belong
I’m the random minor note you hear in major songs”
For years, Janelle Monae has been one of the world’s most eclectic artists who has embraced her inner weirdness to create some of the most critically acclaimed music. I Like That is a song of someone truly accepting who they are while drowning out all the outside noise.
10 Okay Kaya – Dance Like U
“I spend most mornings trying to get over myself
Most of my nights trying to get on to you”
Okay Kaya has always been a master of making songs that creep and build without ever really exploding. Dance Like U takes this to another level. The first sound you here is an organ like synth that sort of prods the song along and it never really gets any louder or more in your face than that. With her sultry voice, Okay Kaya infuses the song full of sexual innuendo before the chorus kicks in with a direct remark (“do you dance like you fuck?”). Beautifully mixing lust, curiosity, and care, Dance Like U is one of the loveliest songs of the year.
9 Big Red Machine – Forest Green
“I was gonna give you all of my time
More time
More time”
As a pseudo-supergroup collaboration between Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National, Big Red Machine has always had the highest of expectations. However, much like the work of their respective groups, they have never let expectations change the way they make music. Forest Green sounds like what you’d expect from Bon Iver’s most recent work. The instrumentation is relatively sparse and intentional. The lyrics are vague and are not meant to be heard but felt. This is especially true for the key phrases that are repeated until they hit you deeply and viscerally. By the end of the song when the last phrases are uttered (“But you really want… more time…. more space… but I can’t”) it feels like the end of a long and emotional journey.
8 Car Seat Headrest – Cute Thing
“God
Give me Frank Ocean’s voice
And James Brown’s stage presence
I will be your rock, God, when you’re rolling the dice”
Car Seat Headrest has never been content with letting things be and their constant reworking of their most popular songs has become a key part of what makes them one of the most popular indie rock bands around. At this point, Cute Thing has been released multiple times in a few different forms. However, this is undoubtedly the definitive one. The song shows off frontman Will Toledo’s knack of mixing intricate guitar rock with cultural references that jump everywhere and self aware lyrics. The song pushes forward with a wild energy and then slows down without much warning, constantly leaving the listener wondering what will come next. Like most of their best songs, Cute Thing is best heard at their live shows while screaming it out loud with a rowdy crowd.
7 Kanye West – Ghost Town
“I put my hand on a stove, to see if I still bleed
And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free
We’re still the kids we used to be”
So Kanye had quite a year. From releasing five albums in five weeks with five different artists (including himself), to the revelations about his mental health and his wild proclamations about being a Trump supporter, this polarizing artist somehow became even more polarizing. But damn, can he still make a great song. Ghost Town is like a gem hidden among the dirt that was much of Kanye’s 2018. You’ve got the Kanye staples: soul samples, a host of big name collaborators, new artist waiting to steal the show and Kanye’s melodic production at it’s best. However, this song belongs to 070 Shake. This newcomer from New Jersey puts her stamp on the song, and on the her place in the hip hop world, with the extended outro that is all you’ll remember about the song by the end. Say what you want about Kanye, but the one thing he has repeatedly done is create a platform for other artist to shine.
6 How to Dress Well – Body Fat
“No matter all your alchemy
The past will call you back
There’s still so much pain and anger
In your body fat”
After going for a extremely poppy sound in his last album Care, How to Dress Well came back this year with what sounds like the opposite: a noisy and glitchy record full of dark themes. Body Fat is the clear highlight here. The song pushes and pulls slowly with it never really revealing itself fully. More so than anything, this song can be painful to listen to. At it’s peak, it sounds like a vacuum full of lost hope and misery. However, somewhere in all this negative energy, there is also beauty and clarity.
5 Me & My Dog – Boy Genius
“I wanna be emaciated
I wanna hear one song without thinking of you
I wish I was on a spaceship
Just me and my dog and an impossible view”
Indie’s newest supergroup showcases three amazing female musicians coming together while at the top of their game. For the last few years, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus have been masters of making emotional music across the indie-rock and indie-folk genres. Together, they put their individual gifts on display and it comes out as a wonderful mix of self-awareness and harmony. Me & My Dog is the Bridgers led song that showcases her work at it’s best, with Baker and Dacus adding an extra layer of emotional depth. The song follows the themes of much of Bridgers solo work: finding meaning in heartbreak, naivety, and personal narratives. This is definitely a cathartic listen.
4 Kacey Musgraves – Space Cowboy
“But roads weren’t made to not go down
And there ain’t room for both of us in this town”
No, you’re not going crazy, there is a country song in the top four of this list. Kacey Musgraves has always been a bit of an outsider in the realm of country and her newest work has only pushed the boundaries of what the genre can be. On Space Cowboy, she combines articulate wordplay with country staples to create a song that is bittersweet in a way only country can. There is also a certain elegance to the way she sings that gives this song emotional depth not seen in any other song this year. At its core, Space Cowboy is the song of someone making peace with their situation and showing the maturity of walking away from something that no longer serves them.
3 It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) – The 1975
“It’s true that all I do is sit and think about you
If I knew what you’d do
Collapse my veins, wearing beautiful shoes
It’s not living if it’s not with you”
What on the surface sounds like a straight forward catchy pop-rock love song shows something a lot more toxic underneath. Detailing The 1975 frontman Matt Healy’s relationship with heroin addiction, the song paints a bleak picture while keeping an upbeat melody throughout. In a year where The 1975 released a few of the best and catchiest songs, this is the cream of the crop. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a chorus that begs to be sung along with but this is definitely one of them. Pure pop perfection.
2 Mitski – Two Slow Dancers
“It would be a hundred times easier
If we were young again”
“Does it smell like a school gymnasium in here? It’s funny how they’re all the same”. This is how Mitski begins Two Slow Dancers, setting the tone for the nostalgic ride up ahead. Over 4 short minutes, Mitski paints the picture of two former flames doing everything they can to cling onto the memory of what once was. The medium is dance but the real action is happening in the mind. Bittersweet and beautiful, this is undoubtedly the most gorgeous song of the year. Two years after releasing one of the best songs ever written, Mitski has created a collection of songs this year that many are calling this years best. Every accolade is well deserved.
1 Father John Misty – Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All
“Disappointing diamonds are the rarest of them all
And a love that lasts forever really can’t be that special
Sure we know our roles, and how it’s supposed to go
Does everybody have to be the greatest story ever told?”
In 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear, Father John Misty released one of the best love albums of the decade. In last year’s Pure Comedy, he presented an album that faces the harsh realities of the world. Surprisingly, he came back with another new album this year. As an album, God’s Favourite Customer is his least grandiose and most vulnerable to date. Stripped away is much of the wittiness and chutzpah of his older work. While the anxiety of Pure Comedy is still present, here it is turned inwards and directed at his personal relationships. Father John Misty has never sounded so broken.
On Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All, we see Father John Misty coming down after the biggest high. Married to the love of his life, he now faces the reality that love isn’t always going to be as grand as the honeymoon. On a Beatle-esque track, he uses shocking metaphors to prove his point: real life is not always as shiny as we make it seem in conversation and on social media. “Does everybody have to be the greatest story ever told?” he sings during the chorus and it sounds like someone coming to terms with this new reality. However, like the title suggests, Father John Misty is trying to show that there is value in the truth and that it’s becoming increasingly rare to find people willing to tell it like it is. Using his own life as a reference mark, Father John Misty finally tells the story that he’s been trying to tell for two albums: the world is devolving into chaos and we shouldn’t be hiding from this reality.
Want to continue listening to these songs? Check out the Spotify playlist here.
