2018 has been a busy year. The amount of new releases we managed to get a listen too was so big that everything felt a bit overwhelming. Because of that there were some songs that got away during this year, that really shouldn’t have. This is our rendition to those songs.
E^ST. – I Don’t Lack Imagination
I Don’t Lack Imagination it’s an instant hit. A song so electric and that condenses everything we love about merging indie genres. Super catchy both chorus and melody-wise, as it is also dancing wise, this is a track that sounds so good that when it ends we are left with an emptiness sensation. But we can sing it aloud still. And that contradiction perfectly demonstrates its power.
Kailee Morgue – Siren
Kailee Morgue is a songstress whose gothic pop style can easily convince anyone. Why is that? Because her vocals are naturally good and melodic in such a way that we are not sure how much of it is sung and how much is just her talking. In Siren that is evident from
DIICE – Chemical
We introduced
iiola – Sickly Sweet
Sometimes all it takes is an acoustic guitar and some deep and beautiful vocals for the time to stop. That is how
Kelsy Karter – God Knows I’ve Tried
Similarly based on an electric acoustic guitar, Kelsy Karter effort with God Knows I’ve Tried (to be good) is another stunner. The singer who is described as the hypothetical product of a one night stand between Angelina Jolie and Mick Jagger certainly lives up to the hypotetical father rock and blues spirit. Super powerful vocals make of this a forgotten highlight for us.
Laura Jean Anderson – Call It What It Is
Laura Jean Anderson is together with Heather Jayne our favorite female vocalist of 2018. Having said that, we can’t help to feel surprised every time we hear one of her songs. Call It What It Is has been playing a lot of times for the last three months and the greatest part about it for us is how it is unpredictable but ever powerful. The chorus is among the best we heard this entire year, and that western story-telling feel is there once again. What a song!!! (and what an EP!!).
Roo Panes – Opehlia
We know Roo Panes is already huge. We know that. However, and because of that, as much as we’ve been capable of avoiding posting about him the entire year we can’t just pretend we did not listen to Opehlia, or that this isn’t one of the best songs of the year. The vocals are so Roo Panes typical that we can’t help to sing along, but there is also something else here. A bit more folk rock than most of his songs, Opehlia is the perfect ode to someone (“It’s all about reminding someone that life’s a gift and they’ve got something to give, and about wanting to see them flourish”) and the fact that everything started from a hum makes us want to say anything else. And just hum along. (P.S. This is the type of song that made us want to write about music.)
Moli – Didn’t Mean To
I (we) didn’t mean to. We didn’t mean to forget about Moli’s perfect pop song Didn’t Mean To, but turns out we did. To try to make things right we make evidence of it now. Easily among the most contagious songs of the year, and released about 6 months ago, the vocals are pop
Golden Vessel feat. Emerson Leif – Hesitate
You remember when Chet Faker was perfection? That first album? We did. What if he continued to do music and evolved a bit more into an indie-rock merge with tasteful pop? He would have to change his name to Golden Vessel. That’s what we feel when we listen to Hesitate. And trust us when we say we did not listen to it a couple of times but probably about one hundred. The combination of the easy beats, the gorgeous electronic drums, the synths and the rasp vocals in this track are from another world. Hesistate progresses only the amount needed and when it does it, it typically resorts to some more vocal layers and electronic-pop samples. Never ever sounds less than perfect.
Angie McMahon – Slow Mover
Last but not least, Angie MacMahon’ Slow Mover was not a song we detect earlier in the year, but we should have. Somehow this gorgeous song with insanely good vocals managed to not get across our “radars” for too long. But once it got in, oh girl… Only supported by an acoustic (or unplugged) guitar, Slow Mover is a rare composition masterpiece that allies vocals, lyrics, and melodies into perfection. And a song we can hear the number of times we would want us to. We would always do it for free because it makes us feel richer all over our bodies and souls.
P.S. Have yourself a very nice 2019. Be safe. Listen to music.