- Only songs that officially came out in 2022 are included in this list.
- That rule is true even if they never really reached ubiquity until 2022. Shout out to Two Shell’s “Home”, Black Country, New Road’s “Concorde”, and Confidence Man’s “Holiday”. Shout out also to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and any song revived by Tiktok and general monoculture phenomena.
- If other versions of the same song exist, I selected my favorite version and only included that in the list.
- Covers of well-known songs are excluded as well, but I can make an exception if the song is completely reworked into a dissimilar version. Shout out to Ibibio Sound Machine’s cover of “Heroes” by David Bowie and Katie Taupin’s cover of “Dammit” by Blink-182.
- Just like in the first two lists, I am purposely excluding songs from the Phillippines due to any unconscious bias I may have, but shout out to “Dekada ’70” by Zild, “ELMNT” by SHNTI. Shout out to “Rosas” by Nica del Rosario and Gab Pangilinan for becoming an anthem of hope for Filipinos wanting a better Philippines last year.
- You can follow along on Spotify as well.
- And with that, release your anger, release your mind, release my favorite songs of 2022!
#050: Alvvays – Tile By Tile
Track from Blue Rev
Written by Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley
I’m out here swimming in the wrong direction/I shouldn’t have ever been calling it love
“Tying their slow romanticism into a whole new world, “Tile By Tile” throws you into a watery synth heaven, feeling separate acoustically from their previous work but rightfully part of their melancholic canon.”
—Ottawa Life Magazine
#049: The Smile – We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings
Track from A Light For Attracting Attention
Written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner, and Nigel Godrich
And the sides are closing in/we don’t know what tomorrow brings
“But it has a rhythmic identity somehow that ties it to In Rainbows era Radiohead and a genetic code that marks it as part of the same extended family as ‘Knives Out’ from Amnesiac and some moments here and there that I can’t quite pinpoint from The Bends and Ok Computer.”
—Rock And Roll & Other Sounds
Spotify | Music Video | Live
#048: The 1975 – Oh Caroline
Single from Being Funny In A Foreign Language
Written by Matt Healy, George Daniel, Ilsey Juber, Jamie Squire, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, and Jimmy Hogarth
I’ve been suicidal/you’ve been gone for weeks/if I’m undecided/will you decide for me?
“Naturally, this song in particular packages this confessional in a sunny, easy listen, and what could have been a quiet, acoustic ballad is instead something playful and almost hopeful.”
—Consequence
Spotify | Music Video | Live (in Studio) | Live
#047: Pharrell Williams f. 21 Savage and Tyler, The Creator – Cash In Cash Out
Single from the upcoming Phriends, Vol. 1
Written by Pharrell Williams, 21 Savage, and Tyler, The Creator
She swallow all my kids, she a bad babysitter/Kim Jong-Un, in my pants is a missle
“The spare, neck-breaking Pharrell beat, which may be the best rap backdrop he’s ever laid down, Non–Pusha T/Clipse Division”
—The Ringer
Spotify | Music Video | Live
#046: Beyoncé – Break My Soul
Single from Renaissance
Written by Beyoncé, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Isak Swing, Jay-Z, Big Freedia, Adam Pigott, Allen George, Fred McFarlane
The queens in the front and the Doms in the back/ain’t taking no flicks, but the whole clique snapped
“Built around a four-count sample of the gay club staple “Show Me Love” by Robin S. and an interpolation of NOLA rapper Big Freedia’s 2014 bounce record “Explode,” the retrofuturistic track is a seamless blend of disco, house and gospel pop with dulcet, meticulously-arranged vocals ready for the ballroom.”
—NPR
Spotify | Music Video | Visualizer | Lyric Video | The Queens Remix [f. Madonna] | Mentol Remix | will.i.am Remix [f. will.i.am]
#045: Kevin Morby – Rock Bottom
Single from This Is A Photograph
Written by Kevin Morby
All of my life/Just trying to be like my father/All of my life/Up to the teat of my mama
“It’s a bouncy, joyous embrace of being yourself, even when others might be mocking, emblazoned with Morby’s signature guitar twangings and distinct, ragged vocals.”
—Treblezine
Spotify | Music Video | Live (In Studio) | Live
#044: Hikaru Utada – Find Love
Track from Bad MODE
Written by Hikaru Utada
So I gotta watch out/Who I share my affection with/Until I find love/’Cause I’m way too affectionate
“It’s subdued but emotive, and words roll off Utada’s tongue to deliver stream-of-consciousness cries for love and self-care.”
—Pitchfork
Spotify | YouTube | Live [in Studio]
#043: Carly Rae Jepsen – Shooting Star
Track from The Loneliest Time
Written by Carly Rae Jepsen, Jay Stolar, John Hill, and Jordan Palmer
I might sleep with you tonight/If you wanna know why/Just because summertime and you look fine
“Even more classic Jepsen is the euphoric, upbeat, and summery ‘Shooting Star.’ Jepsen sings cheerfully, rhyming “last chance,” with “romance,” and turning the mundane walk down the street into something fantastical.”
—The Gauntlet
Spotify | Lyric Video | Live
#042: Shabason & Krgovich – I’m Dancing
Track from At Scaramouche
Written by Joseph Shabason and Nicholas Krgovich
Smoke rising from the refinery/blotchy white clouds/see ’em but don’t see ’em like so much else/I’m dancing
#041: Beabadoobee – Talk
Single from Beatopia
Written by Beabadoobee and Jacob Bugden
We go together like the gum on my shoes/we make out, we make out when it’s too late/we go out, we go out on a Tuesday
“’Not too much chaos but just enough to have a good time’ — that’s how beabadoobee has described a Tuesday night, the unexpected inspiration behind this impeccable slice of Y2K nostalgia about going out midweek to have a great time indulging your worst impulses.”
—NPR
Let's Touch Fives! 