millionreasons | 2019 in song

Caroline Rose - More Of The Same. A song for the ennui of January. Everything is just more of the same thing.
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle. Laverne played this on her morning show and I was shocked that this chill out Ibiza-y tune is actually by the same band who did the execrable Joker that kept Deee-lite off the top spot in 1990.
Little Dragon - Lover Chanting. I was charmed by this soft electropop and the female singer saying she wants to be my man.
Harry Nillson - Gotta Get Up. Pretty much the soundtrack to the wonderful Russian Doll that i was addicted to in the early part of the year.
Chemtrails - Killer or a Punchline. We walked across the Olympic Park to see Chemtrails do their indie and their pop to a 3/4 full warehouse in Hackney Wick on the first evening it was a very nice evening!
Molly Nilsson - Whisky Sour. Minimalist pop from this gloomstress.
Delta 5 - Mind your own business. Art rock from the 80s that sounds like it was released last year.
Pip Blom - Ruby. In 2019, we started an afternoon playing records in Forest Gate and one of our guest DJs, Jacqui, recommended this band, who are charming Dutch indiepoppers.
She Drew The Gun - Something for the Pain. Steve Lamacq had this pretty much on repeat, and with good reason, i'ts pop heaven.
Marika Hackman - Ophelia. Another 6Music fave.
Drab Majesty - Dot In The Sky. More indiepop.
Confidence Man - Boyfriend. Very confident Aussies do art-pop.
Take That - Rule The World. I heard this in the back of the one cab i take per year back from Walthamstow at midnight and as mist rose from the marshes, the chorus swelled and I felt all in love (not with Gary Barlow).
Metronomy - The Look. My fave band from All Points East. Party bands are best for festivals, rather than your favourite group.
Bikini Kill - White Boy. The triumphant return of Kathleen H and the girl-gang.
The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet. We saw them play at local festival in Somers Town in the summer and it was probably one of my fave moments of the year when they launched into this.
Lizzo - Juice. Like everyone else, I loved her Glastonbury performance. I kinda prefer her when she's channelling the spirit of Aretha Franklin and doing flute-heavy soul, but this is a fabulous pure pop song.
Puple Mountain - All My Happiness is Gone. Every year now there's a dead musician and this year was no exception. "Friends are warmer than gold when you're old."
Fontaines DC - Boys in the better land. People love talking about Idles and their ultra fans, the AF Gang. I think we deserve better than Idles. We deserve Fontaintes DC with their sarcasm, jangly guitars and ranty talky bits.
Michael Kiwanuka - You aint the problem. Soully pop tackling self-imposed racism? Yes, pse.
Yola - Faraway look. Big, big torch song. Can imagine Shirley Bassey covering this.
Daniel Johnston - Speeding Motorcycle. Another death, too early.
Dry Cleaning - Sit Down Meal. A weird song that sounds like it is from a forgotten Liverpool band from the 80s that once supported The Teardrop Explodes then disappeared into obscurity and/or heroin.
Sports Team - Fishing. Being a fully paid up member of Gen X, it is amusing to hear the younger generation's moans about getting old. I particularly like how the singer of ST really, really doesn't want to go fishing.
Thom Yorke - Traffic. When I heard this on the radio, i was like: who did this?! Imagine my surprise when I found out.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lqND1kt9HwbUDPooeZCST?si=UyFJ440vRd2lcJuyotZFtg