2018 was a great year for British music. Half of the top 10 selling singles in the UK Charts in 2018 were by British artists. “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa was the biggest selling song of the year, spending 8 weeks at number 1, and “selling” 1.57 million copies, made up of 137m streams, 15m video streams and 244,000 downloads (Official Charts Company -https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-songs-of-2018__22432/)
NME went out of print, The 1975 had a triumphant comeback, Wolf Alice won the Mercury Prize for “Visions of a Life” and, thankfully, Taylor Swift didn’t release anything.
Here are my top 10 tracks of the year, and my top 5 albums. My top 10 are mostly indie/rock/alternative, but I’ll do a quick rundown of my fave pop tracks of the year at the end.
My Top 10 Tracks of 2018
10. Sky Full of Song – Florence & The Machine (Virgin EMI)
April 2018
This song starts off my top 10, as the first time I heard it was live, when the band played Radio 1’s Big Weekened in Swansea. Hearing it live, I felt the emotion and rawness of the song, and I was moved by how haunting it is. Having not been the biggest fan of Florence and her machine for many years, I had not yet heard this song until I was at the front row of the main stage in a Welsh park.
Around the time of Florence’s debut album “Lungs”, I was a huge fan and loved that album to pieces. However, after seeing many festival performances on tv where Florence stood drunk and screaming, not a note in tune I completely went off her. Generally, I can’t stand her as a character (I don’t know what she’s like as a person). Her on-stage persona as a possessed Cassie-from-Skins-esque fairy is deeply irritating, and the fact she came on stage in Swansea barefoot really pissed me off if anything. So the fact I enjoyed the song so much during that set is a miracle.
In spite of all the annoyance, the band’s set in Swansea was amazing and I really did enjoy it. This song is so beautiful and definitely worth a place in my top 10.
The song was the first single to come from the band’s fourth album “High As Hope” released in June 2018.
9. I Can’t Stand It – Blossoms (Virgin EMI)
March 2018
This song was the band’s first release since their number 1 and Mercury Prize-nominated debut album “Blossoms” in 2016. The Stockport five-piece band announced the follow up “Cool Like You”, released back in April.
“I Can’t Stand It” has made my top 10 because it’s bouncy and happy, and I remember being so excited by the return of a band I had loved so much during their debut. While the song is verging on repetitive by the end, I really rinsed “Cool Like You”, and this track was such a triumphant opener and a great introduction to a fantastic album.
Blossoms are so much more than just hearing “Charlamagne” for the 5 thousandth time in Pizza Express.
8. You Don’t Walk Away From Love – Peace (Ignition Records)
April 2018
I listened to this song a hell of a lot in 2018. I have loved Peace A LOT ever since the “In Love” era, particularly “Follow Baby” and “California Daze”, however I’ve been quite unaware of them since around 2015. Hearing “You Don’t Walk Away From Love” was so exciting to hear from a band I wasn’t sure were still around.
I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is I like so much about the song. It’s so anthemic, it’s so positive, the guitar is so rough and raw yet refined. The opening sounds pretty “Should I Stay or Should I Go”-esque, which is no bad thing at all. Peace have found themselves after moving from major to independent for the album “Kindness is the New Rock And Roll” (also worth a listen)
7. Cut and Run – Slaves (Virgin EMI)
June 2018
I LOVE SLAVES!!!!! They are bringing punk back to the masses in a safe way (not too hard, you’re less likely to die in a mosh pit at their gigs), which hasn’t been done for a long time. In spite of the lyrics consisting of the same four or so lines repeated throughout, this is a great song.
The Kent duo’s third album “Acts of Fear and Love” has been a big favourite of mine this year, particularly the track “Magnolia”, which contains a fantastic made up statistic (65% of UK homes have at least one magnolia wall), maybe making a point of how unimaginative most people are.
6. Your Love is My Favourite Band – The Vaccines (Columbia)
March 2018
The Vaccines are a band I’ve fallen in and out of love with over the years. Their debut album “What Did You Expect From The Vaccines” is one of my all-time favourite albums. I fell back in love in time for the release of “Combat Sports”, the band’s fourth album. While the first single, “I Can’t Quit” is great, I can’t say it’s one of my favourite songs of the year. “Your Love Is My Favourite Band” is such classic Vaccines, lyrically and sound-wise, and for sure is my favourite track from “Combat Sports”. It’s so happy and pop-y but indie/rock at the same time. Such a great comeback from a great band.
The track “Teenage Icon” from their second record “Come Of Age” is a song that feels so nostalgic to me of being 16 and carefree, however I remember being disappointed with the rest of “Come of Age”, and by the time their third album “English Graffiti” rolled round I didn’t care to listen to it. (This feeling may have some relation to the fact that when I saw them at Reading Festival in 2012, I was cold, wet and alone, and then had piss thrown over my head and I cried)
5. Lost In Paris - Tom Misch (Beyond The Groove) April 2018
Tom Misch is an artist I’ve known of for while, but 2018 seems to have been a stratospheric year for him. “Lost In Paris” is 3 minuted of fabulous funk, lamenting about a memory stick Tom left in Paris. Tom’s debut album “Geography” was also released in April, and charted at number 8 in the albums chart. The track “Disco Yes” was included on Barack Obama’s favourite songs of the year.
Check out Tom’s instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/tommisch/] for regular videos of him absolutely shredding it and some proper funky beats.
I see a big future for Tom in the mainstream in 2019 and beyond. There is talk he’s collaborated with Kaytranada on a song that’ll be released soon, and if that’s not the best song of 2019, I don’t know what the world has come to. Bringing funk back into mainstream awareness is what the world needs in these shitty and dark times we live in.
4. It’s Not Living If It’s Not With You – The 1975 (Dirty Hit/Polydor)
October 2018
I absolutely rinsed this song, in fact it was my 3rd most listened to on my Spotify Wrapped. It was my Track of the Month for October, and really deserves this 4th place in my top 10. I’ve talked about it in much more detail on the Track of the Month post, and in my review of “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships” This song for sure will be something I listen to for many years to come. The band’s 3rd album, “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships” may have been a slight disappointment to me, but by no means is it a bad album, and had some incredible singles taken from it, this included.
3. Heavy, California – Jungle (XL Recordings)
July 2018
I just love this song. It properly reignited my love for Jungle after their comeback after 4 years away. Before the release of “Heavy, California” the band had put out 3 songs from their second album “For Ever”, “House In LA”, “Happy Man” and “Cherry”. I hadn’t thought much of these until I got into “Heavy California”, but “House In LA” closely missed my top 10. The band’s 2014 self-titled debut album is one of my all time favourites, including the songs “Julia”, “The Heat” and “Lemonade Lake”.
2 Give Yourself A Try – The 1975 (Dirty Hit/Polydor)
June 2018
I remember so clearly the sheer excitement of rushing home from the uni library to catch the band premiering this on Radio 1 with Annie Mac back in May. I remember not being sure the first time I heard it because of how rough and brash the guitar is. I think I picked up a few of the lyrics but I don’t think I fully got it the first time round. Second or third listen, however, I was hooked. The lyrics are absolut genius, i.e “Getting std’s at 27 really isn’t the vibe” and “I found a grey hair in one of my zoots, like context in a modern debate I just took it out”. It is textbook Healy-pop and classic Matty songwriting; pretentious words & themes you never really hear in music and too many syllables to fit into a bar. For sure this is my favourite song from “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships” and is really up there as one of my favourite songs by the 1975 (the 1975 were my top played artist of 2018 on Spotify)
The band is touring the UK and Ireland in January and Februray, and move on to North America between March and June. I’ll be seeing them at the O2 in a couple of week’s time, and I can’t wait.
1. Love Like Waves – Friendly Fires (Polydor)
April 2018
There was never going to be any question from the day this came out that this was going to be my track of the year. This entire post has just been leading up to me talking about how much I fucking love this song.
If you haven’t heard it yet go and do it right now. Listen while you read.
As I’ve talked about in a previous post, Friendly Fires are my favourite band of all time, and before “Love Like Waves” they had been away for nearly 7 years. Back in 2017 the band teased a comeback, and announced a show at Brixton academy in April 2018. “Love Like Waves” was released two days before that show. This song was EXACTLY what the band needed to make the comeback land, and they succeeded and then some. The track keeps the summery tropical vibe of their second album “Pala”, with a house-y 2018 twist. Lyrically, the band’s music makes little sense, as a way of escapism (and the world is a much worse a place as it was back in the late 00s/early 10s). I cannot wait for the band to release an album, which is set to potentially be this year. This track is so well deserving of my track of the year. It’s up there as one of my favourite songs ever. Thank you Friendly Fires.
My Top 5 Albums of 2018:
5. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships – The 1975 (Dirty Hit/Polydor)
November 2018
Fave track: Give Yourself A Try / I Couldn’t Be More In Love
Rating: 3/5
4. Combat Sports – The Vaccines (Columbia)
March 2018
Fave track: Your Love Is My Favourite Band
Rating: 3.5/5
3. Geography – Tom Misch (Beyond the Groove)
April 2018
Fave track: Lost In Paris / Water Baby
Rating: 3.5/5
2. Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life – The Wombats (Warner)
February 2018
Fave track: Cheetah Tongue / Ice Cream
Rating: 3.8/5
1. For Ever – Jungle (XL Recordings)
September 2018
Fave track: Casio / Beat 54
Rating: 4/5 (there’s almost no such thing as a perfect album)
My Top 5 Pop/Mainstream/Chart Tracks of the Year
1. Lost In Japan – Shawn Mendes (Island Records)
March 2018
2. Nice For What – Drake (Young Money/Cash Money Records)
April 2018
3. One Kiss – Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa (Sony)
April 2018
4. All For You – Years & Years (Polydor)
June 2018
5. Sicko Mode – Travis Scott (Epic Records)
August 2018
Bring on 2019. To keep up with new releases in 2019, follow Tuesday Sounds on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuesday_sounds/ , and subscribe to Tuesday Sounds here on the blog.