Class of 2021 – The 100 Greatest Songs of the Year!
As all of you know, no matter how good the one hundred best songs released in a single year are, at least a hundred more are just as good. But here it is, the final say. The songs from 2021 you really should have heard at least once – a day.
Don’t forget to read all the interesting song stories, shared exclusively for this list by more than 30 out of the 100 artists featured.
A huge thanks to all of you who contributed for giving us this unique insight to your magnificent art.
Spotify playlist at the bottom of each page.
Class of 2021 – The 100 greatest songs of the year!:
#100-#81 | #80-#61 | #60-#41 | #40-#21 | #20-#11 | #10-#2 |#1
100. Genesis Owusu “Waitin’ On Ya”
(from Smiling With No teeth)
99. Home Is Where “Assisted Harakiri”
(from I Became Birds)
98. Bonobo “Tides (feat. Jamila Woods)”
(Single)
97. Lana Del Rey “Let Me Love You Like A Woman”
(from Chemtrails Over The Country Club)
96. Joy Crookes “19th Floor”
(from Skin)
95. Cloud Nothings “Open Rain”
(from The Shadow I Remember)
94. John Grant “Country Fair”
(from Boy From Michigan)
93. The Weather Station “Separated”
(from Ignorance)
92. Remember Sports “Out Loud”
(from Like A Stone)
91. Holly Humberstone “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet”
(from The Walls Are Way Too Thin EP)
90. PinkPantheress “Just For Me”
(from to hell with it)
89. Matt Berry “Summer Sun”
(from The Blue Elephant)
88. Little Simz “Introvert”
(from Sometimes I Might Be Introvert)
“…we really tried to capture different sounds to keep it interesting and exciting. I’m not sure the chorus could be bigger than this one…”
87. Pip Blom “I Know I’m Not Easy To Like”
(from Welcome Break)
“I really like the contrast between ‘Different Tune’ and this one. This song feels angry, even aggressive maybe. We had so much fun recording this one. We really had to give our everything to make it as energetic as possible. We used different set-ups for the drums to be able to make it go from really small to really big in one track.
It’s all about the dynamics in this one, what we’re playing is not changing that much, but we really tried to capture different sounds to keep it interesting and exciting. I’m not sure the chorus could be bigger than this one haha. The switch at about 3/4 of the song might feel a bit weird at first, but I love how it feels when the final chorus comes in after that bit. Like a massive release.”
– Pip Blom
“I recorded myself singing it on the kitchen floor at night with my laptop cam. I found the video about a year later, and could barely recognize the person singing…”
86. Indigo De Souza ”Kill Me”
(from Any Shape You Take)
”I wrote ‘Kill Me’ sometime in 2018 when I was really tired and fucked up in a lot of ways. I was deeply consumed in a big crazy love and coming to terms with the reality of living with mental illness. I recorded myself stream-of-conscious singing it on the kitchen floor at night with my laptop cam. I found the video about a year later, and could barely recognize the person singing.
It was such a strange feeling watching the video because I couldn’t remember writing the song, but little bits and pieces of it felt familiar to me. It felt like it had been a lot longer than a year. The song didn’t have a chorus when I found it. For a while it was just run on verses. I later added a chorus and started playing it live.”
– Indigo De Souza
“…the production is meant to make you feel motivated regardless if you are stuck at that job working towards a bigger dream…”
85. Dijah SB “Overtime”
(from Head Above The Waters)
“The song is about the trials and tribulations of working overtime at a job you don’t want to be at, being liberated and being able to work on your own terms and not somebody else’s, the production is meant to make you feel motivated regardless if you are stuck at that job working towards a bigger dream.”
– Dijah SB
84. Brandi Carlile “This Time Tomorrow”
(from In These Silent Days)
83. serpentwithfeet “Hyacinth”
(from DEACON)
82. Maya Jane Coles “Show Me Love (feat. Claudia Kane)
(from Night Creature)
“…growing up for girls means coming to understand that there are no safe spaces; not our elevators, sidewalks and parking garages…”
81. Grace Pettis “Any Kind Of Woman (feat. Dar Williams)”
(from Working Woman)
“Especially before ‘#MeToo’, growing up for girls means coming to understand that there are no safe spaces; not our elevators, sidewalks and parking garages, our churches, or even our own homes. To be female is to be afraid. But we are not alone, because this is happening to all of us. Women share common struggles, across our socioeconomic and racial divides. And though these struggles are astronomically harder for women of color, for queer women, for differently-abled women, and for poor women, they are also, undeniably, a common thread. That’s the statement ‘Any Kind of Girl’ is making. We have been up against this stuff for a long time. It’s time to change things, for our mothers, our daughters, and for ourselves. Making the world better for ‘any kind of girl’ is a fight for all of us: female, male, and non-binary.
Dar Williams was one of the first artists to cut one of my dad’s songs, ‘Family’. So I grew up hearing her voice and understanding what an honor that was and how it helped propel him forward in his career. I was so thrilled to hear that Dar was willing to add her voice to one of my songs too. Her gorgeous, warm vocals add so much to this track. She gives ‘Any Kind of Girl’ a beautiful multi-generational dimension and artistic depth. I’m so grateful to her for that gift.”
– Grace Pettis
#100-#81 | #80-#61 | #60-#41 | #40-#21 | #20-#11 | #10-#2 |#1
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