jesper's 2021 top 50 songs
my 50 fav songs of the year! hooray yay fun |
| 51 |  | Green Day
Father of All Motherfuckers
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Slayyter - Troubled Paradise, Cursetheknife - In Dreams, Manchester Orchestra - Angel of Death, Grids and Dots - Dishes and Days, Aly and Aj - Pretty Places, Arab Strap - Sleeper, Youth Fountain - Dark Grey |
| 50 |  | Foxing
Draw Down the Moon
'737'
God I wish more of the record sounded like this. |
| 49 |  | Portrayal of Guilt
We Are Always Alone
'My Immolation'
Oooo rawrrr |
| 48 |  | Porter Robinson
Nurture
'Musician'
While I love the more organic instrumentation on much of Nurture, this one is an absolute highlight with its unparalleled optimism and relentlessly catchy melodies. |
| 47 |  | Teenage Wrist
Earth Is A Black Hole
'High Again'
Blissful post gaze with some fresh trappy leanings, lfg |
| 46 |  | Sweet Trip
A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals
'Surviving a Smile'
SURVIIIIIIIVEEE |
| 45 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
Sympathetic Magic
'Room Within the Room'
The dreamier Typhoon get, the more I like them. Shocker. |
| 44 |  | Sullii
Me and My Absent Mind Again
'Back From You'
One of the most criminally overlooked emo rappers uses some more guitars and it works out really nicely. |
| 43 |  | Tigers Jaw
I Won't Care How You Remember Me
'Anniversary'
Top tier Tigers Jaw. Not reinventing the wheel, not doing anything too exciting: simply being excellent songwriters is more than enough. |
| 42 |  | VIQ
Crystal Shores
'Illusion'
Nothing but pure summer vibes. |
| 41 |  | Chvrches
Screen Violence
'California'
This is classic Chvrches and I love it for that. |
| 40 |  | Sun June
Somewhere
'Everything I Had'
Who knew the phrase 'throwing five in a cab' could sound this damn lovely? |
| 39 |  | Lucid Express
Lucid Express
'Aquarium'
This sounds like a massive aquarium I want to float in for days. |
| 38 |  | Lexie Liu
Gone Gold
'香芋的错觉 (CAROUSEL)'
This reminds me of Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' but in the sense that this isn't like that song at all. |
| 37 |  | Spiritbox
Eternal Blue
'The Summit'
Hypecore band makes song that isn't very hype but also good. |
| 36 |  | The Maine
XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time
'Anxiety in Real Time'
When The Maine are good, they are very good. I wish The Maine were very good more frequently. |
| 35 |  | Radio Supernova
Takaisin
'Eroosio'
Catchiest shoegaze riff of 2021. |
| 34 |  | Poppy
EAT (NXT Soundtrack)
'Eat'
AHH SHE SCREM |
| 33 |  | Beartooth
Below
'The Last Riff'
I wasn't exactly expecting genericore outfit Beartooth to include an absolutely banging, fully instrumental post-metalcore jam on their new record but here we are. Yay! |
| 32 |  | The Body and Big|Brave
Leaving None But Small Birds
'Blackest Crow'
Drony folk featuring Big|Brave's vocalist is an instant w for me. |
| 31 |  | Cold Collective
Weathervane
'Wait for It'
You can say anything you like but this song is very good. |
| 30 |  | guccihighwaters
Joke's On You
'Rock Bottom'
Prime sadzoomercore but as opposed to being a sad zoomer this slaps. |
| 29 |  | A Ritual sea
A Ritual Sea
'Radiate'
A gaze song titled 'Radiate' couldn't possibly not be good, let's be real. |
| 28 |  | Nightcrush
You Mark Me the Deepest
'Nocturnal Violet'
Italian gazewavecore, nice. |
| 27 |  | Kississippi
Mood Ring
'Big Dipper'
Every couple of songs Kississippi writes an absolute killer tune, and 'Big Dipper' is one of them. I dare you to get that chorus out of your head. |
| 26 |  | grayscale
Umbra
'Carolina Skies'
This is pure cheese but I like cheese so yay! |
| 25 |  | Submotile
Sonic Day Codas
'Anhedonia'
A wonderfully expansive gaze anthem that gets everything right. |
| 24 |  | Heart Attack Man
Thoughtz and Prayerz
'Pitch Black'
This is very straightforwardly the best pop punk song of recent times and perhaps the sole reminder that the genre isn't completely full of absolute morons. |
| 23 |  | Knocked Loose
A Tear in the Fabric of Life
'God Knows'
CRUSHED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE TERROR |
| 22 |  | half/cut
Salt an Atlas
'Cricket'
Psychedelic dream pop cricket diss tracks are a thing I need more of. |
| 21 |  | Webbed Wing
What's So Fucking Funny?
'Saturdays'
Cassually refer back to one of my favourite albums of all time in devastating manner, packaged in one of the best 90s-throwback records of recent years? Yes please, destroy me. |
| 20 |  | London Grammar
Californian Soil
'I Need the Night'
To write a drinking song that doesn't suck ass is a feat: London Grammar did exactly that. |
| 19 |  | Bathe Alone
Last Looks
'In Deep'
I really can't hype up this project enough: enough twinkles to light up any sky, enough hooks to uhh fish, enough heavenly vocals to.. yeah idfk but this is great. |
| 18 |  | nothing,nowhere.
Trauma Factory
'upside down'
Hell yea emopoppunktraprap-dude goes deep house lesfuckingo |
| 17 |  | Yu Su
Yellow River Blue
'Gleam'
Once this wonderfully groovy beats hits it hooks you for the track's full six minutes, beautifully underscored by peaceful ambient textures. |
| 16 |  | Whitechapel
Kin
'I Will Find You'
This thing goes from 'yeehaw' to 'rawr rawr' to 'arr arr' effortlessly and features one of the more cleverly written choruses of the year. Tldr good stuff but that kinda goes for everything on this list. |
| 15 |  | Waldskin
Clarity Before the Crash
'Empty Vessel'
This song has one of the tastiest, choppiest beats of the year. Pair that with glitchily detached vocals and you get a song that is very very good. |
| 14 |  | Turnstile
Glow On
'Holiday'
NOWITSAHOLIDAAY |
| 13 |  | Kacy Hill
Simple, Sweet, and Smiling
'Caterpillars'
Every Kacy Hill record seems to have at least one impeccable highlight, and 'Caterpillars' may be the highlight to end all highlights. At its core it's a simply gorgeous piano track, yet it's KH's triphop leanings that add a goosebumps-inducing element to this framework. |
| 12 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Illusory Walls
'Your Brain is a Rubbermaid'
'Infinite Josh' and 'Fewer Afraid' may be better tracks, but nothing hits quite as hard as the second 'disoooociaaaateee'. Hashtag relatable etc. |
| 11 |  | Blankenberge
Everything
'Forget'
Hmmm tasty gazy sparkle goes brrr. |
| 10 |  | Midwife (USA)
Luminol
'Promise Ring'
While Midwife's more minimal/ambient-leaning arrangements are beautiful, this track proves that indulging in more straightforward post rock territory amplifies her songwriting magic. |
| 9 |  | King Woman
Celestial Blues
'Psychic Wound'
I love it when Kris Esfandiari yells but I also love it when she does not yell. |
| 8 |  | Trade Wind
The Day We Got What We Deserved
'Weather Eyes'
Smoothest jam 2k21 brought to you by the guy from hardcore band Stick to Your Guns and also the guy from hardcore band Stray From the Path. |
| 7 |  | Lingua Ignota
SINNER GET READY
'PERPETUAL FLAME OF CENTRALIA'
There's something magical about Lingua crafting a song that is beautiful(ly sparse) and centers around lyrics of being covered in Jesus' blood. This track feels entirely timeless, conveying so much with so little as she twists and reframes words into contexts they were never meant to find themselves in. |
| 6 |  | Roseville
something about a fig tree
'Safer'
Hey look it's a goddamn perfect nugaze song by a band with perfectly fuzzy guitars and perfectly monotone female vocals! |
| 5 |  | Free Throw
Piecing It Together
'Trust Fall'
Some songs express a simple sentiment so effectively it hits harder than any complex cosmic i don't fucking know whatever: 'Trust Fall' is one of those songs. Be there for others, let them know they're loved, and know that you are loved. |
| 4 |  | Emily Scott Robinson
American Siren
'Let 'Em Burn'
I wasn't expecting to be reduced to tears by a story surrounding a middle aged American capital(ist) A woman, but here we are. If anything, it's a testament to ESR's wonderful songwriting skills. |
| 3 |  | Big|Brave
Vital
'Abating the Incarnation of Matter'
While 'Half Breed' was my initial favourite off of the incredible Vital, 'Abating...'s final moments of ear-piercing yells over the insanely slow, rhythmic destruction stuck more than anything else. This song is very much allowed to choke me whenever it wants to. |
| 2 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
Engine of Hell
'Dancing Man'
This song has a quality to it that can only be described as, sorry, edging. Throughout most of the track, ERR dances around a chorus by employing her heavenly falsetto, teasing the harrowingly calm eruption of this chorus.. and once it hits.. |
| 1 |  | Ruby Haunt
Watching the Grass Grow
'Pyro'
Besides being an absolutely breathtaking dreampostrockgazepop track, I associate this song with the optimism of this summer. New beginnings, finally being able to travel again, finally feeling some semblance of happiness again, you get the idea. I want to fucking drown in this song forever. |
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