Good riddance, 2022.
To paraphrase Leonard Cohen, ‘we are tired, skint, lied to by the establishment, but we have the music’. Here’s ten songs that really have nothing in common, other than they were released in 2022 and I liked them very much. They soothed, surprised, gave me a kick up the backside and in some cases restored my faith in the creative reserves that still exist and persist in people, despite everything.
Sophie Jamieson – Addition
The song that made me blub on first hearing it. I was on a packed commuter train.
Laura Jean – Too Much To Do
From Laura Jean‘s new album Amateurs, Too Much To Do is a sweeping, agitated take on the unfulfilling, breakneck pace of modern life.
Aldous Harding – Fever
Unlike Aldous Harding‘s obscure incarnations on album Warm Chris, ‘Fever’ had a more straightforward narrative about the ache and thrill of meeting someone for the first time, then losing that feeling.
Proper. – Jean
There are some truly moving, pointed moments on Proper.‘s The Great American Novel, notably ‘Jean’ a gut-punch of a song about the death of a close friend. Not any ordinary death, and one that is all too common. If it passed you by in 2022, I recommend this remarkable release that redefines the versatility and reach of emo and its potential to tell compelling, important stories.
Crack Cloud – Costly Engineered Illusion
On their album Tough Baby, Crack Cloud explored some huge emotional, societal and political concepts. The passion and grit of ‘Costly Engineered Illusion’ has the Vancouver collective at the best, with vocalist Zach Choy blasting through prose like Joe Strummer eating fire.
Richard Dawson – Horse and Rider
A late runner (pun intended), Richard Dawson‘s The Ruby Cord arrived last month and ruined everyone’s end of year lists. ‘Horse and Rider’ is a magical, whimsical pre- apocalyptic fairytale about a young girl taking her horse for a ride in the small hours. Told from the horse’s perspective, it’s full of love yet overshadowed by a sense of a looming ending.
Quinquis – Setu
In 2022, Quinquis (aka Emilie Tiersen) released SEIM , a sombre, multilingual, electronica delight like nothing you have heard before. Quinquis sings in the language of her homeland, Breton, on ‘Setu’, a song about Ankou, a servant of death in Breton mythology.
Dehd – Bad Love
A grimy, sing along break-up anthem. “I was a bad love/Now I can get some/I got a heart full of, I got a heart full of/Re-re-redemption.”
Public Body – Reset My Password
Like Keg, Public Body share much of the humour and angst of their Brighton contemporaries. ‘Reset My Password’ is about how pointless and useless your job is to the world when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Ouch.
Motherhood – Tabletop
An absolute belter from Motherhood‘s last album, Winded, ‘Tabletop’ kicks off with its hornet-rattling single chord riff, counterpoint harmonies and continues in a delirious, feverish stumble through a mind that is closing in on itself.
See below for a full playlist, including 20 more picks based on nothing but questionable, subjective taste and whether or not they made me cry.
