The Top 10 Songs of 2018

We're in April now, so it seems rather late for my annual Top 10 Songs of the Year list, and yet, here we are. It's been a busy year so far, so apologies for the delay (though it's doubtful many of you were waiting with bated breath for the reveal).

Here, then, are my favorite songs from last year, starting with...

10. I Promise You, by Ezra Koenig

The lead singer for one of the best bands out there, Vampire Weekend, sings this sweet little tune from the Peter Rabbit soundtrack. It's kinder than the movie was, thankfully.

9. Chances, by Backstreet Boys

The older I get, the more personal nostalgia seems to play a role (as will be evident with a few other choices on this list). Hence, the inclusion of this track off the latest Backstreet Boys album. It isn't bad, and it reminds me of the '90s, when the group was first coming on the scene, and I enjoyed so much of their music.

8. Heart to Love, by Passenger

Passenger (or, really, Michael David Rosenberg) is one of Ashley's favorite musicians, and I have warmed to some of his material over the years, most prominently the lushly-orchestrated Heart to Love. It somehow manages to address romantic loneliness, all the while sounding uplifting.

7. Silent Kiss, by Simple Minds

Dear reader, I don't know if you've ever experienced a sense of immediate nostalgia, but I did back in 1985 upon first listen of Simple Minds' Don't You (Forget About Me), which was part of the The Breakfast Club soundtrack. I heard it and thought, right away, 'This somehow makes me fond of the 1980s, like I'm no longer in the decade.' While several other songs evoke the '80s for me, Simple Minds' track certainly leads the pack, and so it is with their new album -- Walk Between Worlds -- that they continue to feed my nostalgia for childhood music. The track Silent Kiss is my top listen from the album, and there's a section that, when Jim Kerr's singing it, I'm put right back to when he was singing Don't You (Forget About Me) all those years ago. Here are the lyrics from that section:

"When we were kissing, the fears were missing

And it all felt natural, yeah

No hesitation, when those vibrations

Starting to feel incredible, yeah

I've been waiting, anticipating

'Cause it all seemed magical"

6. Pray For Me, by The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar

One of the best tracks from last year's ground breaking smash, Black Panther, this song just rips, rocks and raps along at such a confident pace. If you're looking for it in the movie, it's playing in the background during the casino scene, which may be my favorite moment in the entire MCU.

5. Stay, by Cat Power

It's been years since Cat Power's great song Live in Bars was released, and last year she roared back with a quietly powerful track, Stay, that is sad and hopeful, bitter and loving. From the soft piano tinkling, to Charlyn Marshall's wistful vocals, I find this song to be graceful and so very moving.

4. The Sorrow Tree, by Moby

Ah. Moby. His Feeling So Real maxi-single was the first CD I ever bought, and I've been a fan ever since. The Sorrow Tree encompasses some of his best elements in that it manages to throw-in a lot of sounds, yet they all seem to somehow work together. And, of course, there's the longing vocals -- speaking of which, if you can, watch the video for the song, as the way it breaks-up the vocals starting at the 2:40 point gives me chills.

3. All the Ways, by Meghan Trainor

I adored this song from the moment I heard it. The accompanying video threads the needle between cute and creepy. I dunno... this ditty is just effusively euphoric, but with that slight bit of longing that always manages to work on me (the under-vocals when she cooes "The way yoooooouuu.... You loooooove me"). I love it.

2. One of Us, by Cher

This was almost my #1 of the year. It's a little too depressing, though (which is also why it vied so heavily for the top spot, because I'm a sucker for a downer). Cher really makes this ABBA song her own, with strong, yearning vocals, and instrumentation that subtly shifts and morphs at just the right moments.

1. Dancefloor, by Tracey Thorn

The lead singer from Everything But the Girl (another bit of '90s nostalgia for yours truly) dropped a solid album last year, and by far my favorite track from it was our number one for the year, with its groovy beat and Thorn's unmistakable vocal work. It is a slight song in many ways, yet it hearkens back to those nights in the 1990s when I used to hear EBTG at the club, or listen to one of their remixes while on an evening drive. And, when I was first getting into Dancefloor, I was driving around St. Louis late one night, waiting for a midnight screening of Night of the Creeps to begin at the Moolah Lounge. A good song, with some nice personal memories associated with it.

There we are. Overall, 2018 was a good, though not stellar, year for music. 2019 seems very promising, what with some good new music by Pet Shop Boys, Vampire Weekend, and Dido already out. Let's just hope the oft-mentioned but not-quite-confirmed new Madonna album is solid. I'll leave you with my favorite track from Dido's new 2019 album....