2019 Songs of the Year

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2019 was not a good year for new music from new acts.

Not at all.


Looking at the charts, so few of the songs did anything for me that I felt I was finally past it. And then the albums I liked enough to review were in general by artists I've been listening to since last century (I mean that literally). Except for the proliferation of female singer-songwriters, who continue to bring the goods.

But, really, looking at the charts, I think I have found the worst year in popular music thus far. So we need to ignore what sold a lot of units (or however they measure the charts nowadays) and look elsewhere for the decent tracks of 2019.

I will say that there were also a lot of fine cover songs in 2019 (many courtesy of Triple J's Like A Version) and so I will follow this column up with cover versions of the year as well. I have mentioned before that a large amount of good cover versions does tend to indicate something of a deficit in other music, and I think the charts makes that very clear in 2019.

However, there were still some stunning and great and brilliant songs this year! Many of these will be from albums I have reviewed this year, so may be familiar to regular readers, but that doesn't matter – these are still the best songs of 2019 as I saw them!

Okay, honourable mentions. And this is a surprisingly long list, considering the dire state of music in 2019: 'All This Music Must Fade' by The Who; 'America (You're Freaking Me Out)' by The Menzingers; 'Bad Woman Blues' by Beth Hart (this was really close to making the main list); 'Beautiful Madness' by Robbie Robertson; 'Bird Of Prey' by The Pixies ; 'Blind Leading The Blind' by Mumford & Sons; 'Bored And Razed' by The Raconteurs; 'Can I Borrow Your Eyes' by Dyson Stringer Cloher; 'Cold Outside' by Duff McKagan; 'Every One Of Us' by Rick Astley (yes, really – listen to it); 'First Time' by Blink-182 ; 'From Out Of Nowhere' by Jeff Lynne's Electric Light Orchestra; 'Graveyard Blues' by Lords Of Beacon House; 'Hallelujah' by Haim (this was so very close to the main list); 'Heart Explodes' by The Darkness; 'I Need To Move On' by Alex Lahey; 'Let Love Reign' by Robbie Robertson; 'Misery Guts' by Alex Lahey; 'Motor City Steel' by The Dandy Warhols (so different from the Dandys… and I only recently got the album this came from, even though it was released in January 2019); 'My Miracle' by Brad Paisley (yes, my favourite country artist does it again); 'No Soul/No Control' by Suzi Quatro; 'Tammy Wynette Kind Of Pain' by Reba McEntire (the lady still has it); 'The Archer' by Taylor Swift ; 'Time Of Our Life' by Electric Light Orchestra; 'Under The Graveyard' by Ozzy Osbourne; 'Violence' by Grimes and i_o; 'Walk Me Home' by P!nk; 'Why So Serious' by Alice Merton; 'You Are So Beautiful' by Cold Chisel; and 'Zero Gravity' by Kate Miller-Heidke (from Eurovision 2019).

Before I start, two more songs need mentioning. ' Desperado' by by the Stray Cats is my favourite instrumental track of the year.

And my favourite video of the year comes from a so-so song, but the video is stunning in its story-telling: 'Someone You Loved' by Lewis Capaldi.


All right! The list proper! So… my list of the best of 2019! Only 2 rules: released or on an album released in 2018; no cover versions. My one song per artist rule is waived this year.
'By Myself' by Fidlar

I got the album this comes from – Almost Free – only last week. A friend gave me a copy of it because she thought I might like it (she didn't – it was a regift) and she was right. And this is the stand-out track. It's a great song, that has a sing-along vibe to it and some of the weirdest/best lyrics. The fact it jumped straight into my top ten shows, I think, just how good I regard it. This has a real party vibe. I can imagine this being bellowed live.
'You're Shit' by Laura Imbruglia

What a simply awesome album this comes from! This is the shortest song on the list, but I don't care. As I said in my original review, I can imagine this being belted out by a live crowd along with her on stage. I kept going back and forth between this song and one other as my favourite song from the Scared Of You album, and in the end, I voted for this one as my Triple J Hottest 100 song of the year.
'Die' by Stella Donnelly

This song is possibly not my usual listening, but there is something about her voice that just dragged me in. I bought the album after Christmas on the strength of this one track, and it is a really good album. Stella has appeared on a list like this before with a frankly superb cover song, but her originals are just as wonderful. And her voice…
'I Can Teach You To Fly' by Suzi Quatro

From an album that was far better than radio would have you believe, this is my favourite track from it. She sounds awesome, and the music is a perfect balance. It has a hint of the 1960s (The Turtles, especially), but it is a song that stands with the best of today's rock. And the fact one of the best music documentaries of the year was about her and her life I hope indicates we will be seeing more of Ms Quatro in the foreseeable future. I, for one, will be extremely happy.
'I Don't Wanna Get Wise' by The Who

From WHO, an album that was far better than anyone was expecting, comes my favourite track from it. I think it's because it actually speaks to this 50 year old and his life. Daltrey's voice is in fine form and the guitar playing shows Townshend has not lost any of "it". A superb addition to The Who's canon.
'Getting The Band Back Together' by Cold Chisel

And sticking with albums that were better than they had any right to be, Cold Chisel's Blood Moon was a wonderful return to form, with two tracks that are amongst the best they have recorded, and this is the better of those two. This is not a glorified Jimmy Barnes solo song, but a genuine Cold Chisel track, with everything that makes Chisel Chisel. Just glorious.
'Don't Be So Hard On Yourself' by Alex Lahey

The lead single from the The Best Of Luck Club album is just a superb bit of pop-rock. Alex Lahey keeps on popping up on my lists of best songs of the year recently, and that's because she is brilliant. I just wish she was able to make more of an impact on the greater musical scene… Then again, maybe not. I reckon some moron running a big company would try to change what makes her unique and brilliant. Let's just enjoy her and her music.
'Diptych' by Laura Imbruglia

And here we have the reason for my multiple songs by an artist rule being waived. Laura Imbruglia's Scared Of You album was so magnificent. This slow ballad, accentuated by fuzz-tone guitar and with the only song I can think of in recent times using artistic terminology as an allusion to a relationship in its lyrics is my favourite song from the album. Yes, I voted for 'You're Shit' for Triple J, but there is something about this song that strikes a personal chord in me. A vastly underrated performer.
'This Is Never Ending by Aiden Hatfield

Out of the UK comes an artist not enough people have heard of. Aiden Hatfield's EP Chapter One was a revelation. Intelligent lyrics, great music and wonderful delivery. This young man could well become a rock music great. I am trying to convince anyone I can to help him do an Australian tour because I would love to see him perform live. A musician at the very start of his career, and already he can produce music like this. What the future must hold…
'Falling Clouds' by Dyson Stringer Cloher

And my favourite song of the year, from the wonderful Dyson Stringer Cloher album . I'm just going to copy-paste what I wrote in my original review: "The glorious harmonies set over a fuzz-tone guitar make for a beautiful piece of pop-rock. A wash of cymbals and some pretty intense lyrics… While not gay, I was also at a Catholic high school in almost the same time period and know what it's like not fitting into their little pigeon-holed society… though obviously not to the same extent. Like her, I went to see bands as an underaged high school kid in Adelaide. But where I saw art and its possibilities for getting me out of the hole I was falling into, she saw a way out of the life that was being forced upon her by the sexual mores of the time. What a stunning track this is."
Song of the year.
And, to finish, my album of the year. I guess it's not a huge surprise:
Scared Of You by Laura Imbruglia.

And that is that. If you ignore the charts, 2019 was far from rubbish. But you might have to look a little bit further afield to find the highlights and the best of the best.

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