my 19 favourite songs of 2019
This far down the line I’m sure we can agree that singles are meaningless, right? Perhaps it’s because that shrill Monkey Dance just broke a UK chart record that was previously held by Rihanna and Whitney Houston but I simply don’t get my kicks from the charts like I used to. In fact, not at all.
With that being said, choosing my top 19 songs of the year without any limitations is high-key crazy for a queer list-maker like myself. Join me in the chaos! Anything could happen!
19. Don’t Worry Bout Me — Zara Larsson
The other day I received an email from an agency trying to sell a story about Zara Larsson and the subject was “Ed Sheeran friend shows bosom” or something like that. This should’ve been the first single from the second album — does that still exist? — ’cause we been knew that Ruin My Life was a dreadful choice for lead single. This bangs. She deserves much more.
18. Piece Of Your Heart — Meduza feat. Goodboys
I’ve no idea who Meduza or Goodboys are but what I do know is that they fucking snapped with this one. There may be many Fear-stricken seshlehem memories with this one to wholeheartedly enjoy but it’s still a fave.
17. Panini — Lil Nas X
More than anything else this year, I am thankful for Lil Nas X. He already comes acrosss Rihanna levels of cool, seems to simply not give a fuck and, duh, I’m absolutely in love. The music is admittedly a little Kidz Bop — my kids can’t hear you because they’re listening to KIDZ BAWP — but it’s fun and catchy and not everything needs to be so serious. (I say that like the 2 songs are Earth-shattering.)
16. Before I Let Go — Beyoncé
Yoncé owes us nothing. The Homecoming film was enough to rip my entire body apart for the next 3 years without giving us a new song just in time for summer but Queen Bey is a generous one. Before I Let Go — a cover of Maze’s 1981 classic — sounds so effortless and relaxed, and it’s lush hearing her just have fun again after those few years of wanting to murder JAY Z almost every time she opened her mouth.
15. Wet — COBRAH
Gorgeously chaotic. If your brain ever feels too busy just stick this on and the silliness of it all will drown it all out.
14. Loverboy — Joesef
I love this song so, so, so, so, so, so much. A song that sounds like the sunshine but is actually quite sad and all too relatable… my kink.
13. My Type — Saweetie
BAD BITCH, IMA RIDE THE DICK ALL NIGHT! Best rap song of the year. Period.
12. Unholy — Miley Cyrus
Popstars are people too. That’s what I keep telling myself whenever I get sad about the derailed release of SHE IS COMING, the 3-part EP-turned-singular album that Miley announced at the start of summer. Cattitude aside (nobody deserved to hear RuPaul say those things), the EP promised that it would’ve been her best yet. I love all of the songs and I’ve definitely listened to D.R.E.A.M more than Unholy but Ghostface Killah’s yelling at the end kills the mood every time. I really hope she hasn’t scrapped the rest of this project for a duet album with Cody Simpson because she really was on to something.
11. ghostin — Ariana Grande
If this list were ‘best songs of 2019’ then ghostin would likely be in first place. With things being all about moi, however, it selfishly ranks at #11 because, more than anything, I can’t bring myself to listen to it that often. Truly heartbreaking and beyond stunning, I’ve cried to this song more times than I can count this year.
10. F**k it I love you — Lana Del Rey
2019 was, thankfully, the year Lana Del Rey released an album that immediately clicked with me. NFR! is incredible and this song slapped me in the face the most. Like, “It turns out everywhere you go, you take yourself, that’s not a lie”… really, Lana? Stab me in the gut with a screwdriver while you’re at it, hen!
9. Don’t Start Now — Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa becoming a queen of the dancefloor in the past 18 months has brought me nothing but absolute joy and Don’t Start Now did not disappoint. I feel like I haven’t even reached my personal obsessive peak with this one yet so it’ll likely carry through til next summer.
8. Traces — Tom Aspaul
I have been begging for disco to have its moment since before Lady Gaga depectively covered Chic’s I Want Your Love for an ad campaign just before Joanne. Tom Aspaul’s Traces brings the shimmer of ’70s disco balls into his own country-pop lane, making for one glorious anthem about being real with yourself and trying to pick up the pieces.
7. Never Really Over — Katy Perry
Not one part of me (reference) anticipated that a new Katy Perry single would be her best in almost a decade. Never Really Over sends me to new places. Lyrically it is quintessential Katy but the production took her to a fresh place sonically, which she definitely needed. If you pretend it was a one-off single then you can claim that Katy Perry had the comeback of the year, like me.
6. Gone — Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens
Charli — the album — was the most disappointing release of the year for me. That being sad, Gone is everything that I love about her. It’s such an exciting song that doesn’t always make any lyrical sense, sounds a little kitchen sink-y and is perfectly melodramatic. That final minute sends me absolutely wild.
5. in my head — Ariana Grande
My gosh, I have been a right weepy bitch this year. It goes without saying that I stanned the thank u, next album in its entirety, although my absolute favourite is in my head. In every way I believe it is the older sister to sweetener’s everytime — famously my most played song ever — from the weight of the production and her impassioned vocal performance to the obvious subject matter. Apologies to any neighbour who has had to hear me sing this… whew.
4. Mine — Slayyyter
I was still absolutely rinsing BFF at the beginning of the year when Slayyyter dropped that snippet of Mine on Twitter. From that preview alone I knew that this house-pop banger would carry me through the year and she certainly has.
3. Motivation — Normani
The pop moment of the year. The music video of the year. The best debut solo single of the decade. The only reason I am looking forward to the 2020s. Normani won 2019 for me with this single release; the song individually bangs but the video lifted it up into the heights of legends in the way that music videos used to actually add to the song and make it what it is, which is what she was trying to do all along. Fucking queen.
2. Sweet Spot — Kim Petras
Sweet Spot sounds like summer. You know how some songs immediately make you think of the sun? The first time I heard this my head went right to the beach, me in a speedo and cocktail in hand. I’m convinced this was stolen from Kylie Minogue’s 2001 floppy disk because it could easily be on Fever.
- Play — Betta Lemme
Somewhere between Vengaboys and Britney’s Over To You Now lies this song, which is nothing short of incredible. It makes me feel truly untouchable. I’m mad it wasn’t my debut single. The whispers. The chanting. The ‘la la’ refrain. Hallooo. The sexual tension. The whole naughty-but-nice storyline. That final build-up. The ‘woo!’ at 2:30. The laugh at 2:43 (!!). Play is literally something out of my wildest dreams. Not many songs could get me to dance in red PVC thigh-high stiletto boots in the heat but I would die for this song.
Xoxo,
Ross
