The 100 best songs of the 2010s (2024)

Sometimes taking time to step back and reflect is the healthiest thing you can do. At the end of 2019, hordes of publications sprang to release their “Best of the 2010s” lists, giving the short end of the stick to the more recent chronological entries and looking to wrap up a decade before it was even done. Even now, it’s probably too early to judge the previous decade accurately. As we get further away, the 2010s will become much clearer. The pop culture that really mattered will stick around while the rest will fall away.

But as a new decade starts off on the wrong foot, now’s as good a time as any to look back. Maybe those nostalgic days of the early 2010s, with Barack Obama and the iPhone 4, were the glory days. Maybe they were just as much of a clusterf*ck as our current times are (pandemics tend to pop up every once in a while). Hindsight might be 20/20, but it’s easy to put on those rose-coloured Ray-Bans and just remember the good times. A simple way to do that is to reflect on the day’s music.

The day in question formed a stark contrast with what came before. After a decade where laddish indie and sultry R&B were the mainstays, thanks to a booming party culture fuelled by drink so cheap you could even fill a swimming pool with it in a cost-of-living crisis, the economic disaster called time at the bar and a reassessment of sorts got underway. When the financial crash of 2007-2008 began to unfurl, we became cognizant that fat bastard banker figures had been figuratively fiddling while Rome was being built on false foundations.

This crumbling collapse echoed in the music of the 2010s. This was signposted when even chart heroes like the Arctic Monkeys ditched commercial sanctity and fled for less furrowed territory in the desert with 2009’s Humbug. That same year, people were moved to take note of avant-garde albums like Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest when previously it would have been condemned to the ash heap of history for being too arty. The next generation were taking note of this.

Challenging was now a compliment again. Spiritualism was a necessity. And having been failed so badly by the bourgeoisie, the boon that rose from the rubble was a levelling of the playing field and the birth of a more egalitarian music scene. Thankfully, stars like Angel Olsen and Julia Jacklin grabbed this space by the lapels, and soulful women dominated the landscape of the new alternative era.

As things moved on and the beast of the internet grew like a hungry caterpillar destined never to burst into a beautiful butterfly but to stay a fat, ugly lava, the world grew more bipartisan, and music followed suit. The modern divisive online battlefield is far from limited to politics. Cults are formed in culture too. In the 2010s, it was more difficult than ever to put your finger on the prevalent trend of the day. Rap certainly became the new rock ‘n’ roll, complete with all its pinnacles and pitfalls, but what does that say of the old rock ‘n’ roll, because it certainly didn’t just go away?

Old, hardened scenes that once lingered in dingy bars shipped out from our gentrified highstreets and were dispersed into the ever-darkening macrocosm of the world wide web. This was both good and bad for era-defining youth culture: if offered them more choice, but less unified collectivism. The unravelling effects of this can be seen in the strange conformity to non-conformity that besets the tail-end of today’s otherwise rosy music scene.

This decade-long mishmash of divergent music trying to find its feet in a fractious world is reflected in the list we’ve cobbled together. Few things are timeless in the modern cyber age where everything is somehow forever and utterly ephemeral, but amid this forgettable uncertainty, a slew of songs have stood out as truly brilliant pieces of art with more depth than the immediacy of days gone by would allow.

This might mean that the 2010s were perhaps not the most anthemic times, and certain masterpieces were fated to be bound to our bedrooms rather than transcending society at large. However, with everything only a click away, you’ve got those old barnstorms to rave about too. Now, thanks to the matured 2010s, we’ve also got these mellower balms to brighten up this moody world with a more measured intent.

Only a few years on, these tracks already let you revel in the nostalgia of the old halcyon days when we pieced things together.So that’s what’s going on here, by looking at 100 of the best, most important, and most influential songs of the past decade.

So break out your flower crowns and mourn Vine one more time as we look back on the best the music world had to offer in the 2010s.

100. ‘Entombed’ – Deftones (2012)

Alternative metal heroes Deftones are one of the most consistent groups out there, and if you look back at the list of their nine studio albums, you’ll see that none are duds. From their debut, 1995’s Adrenaline, to their last outing, 2020’s Ohms, they produce multifaceted bodies of work that have increasingly toed the line between punishing and melodic. For this reason, they are so revered, even by those who wouldn’t necessarily be fans of metal.

One of their greatest moments is 2012’s Koi No Yokan, which means “premonition of love” in Japanese, and that’s what it is. Whether it be ‘Swerve City’ or ‘Rosemary’, the project is bursting with an array of brilliant cuts that energise and subdue at different points. Although the question of what the highlight is is a tough one, it has to be ‘Entombed’. The real sound of a premonition of love, Moreno depicts unrequited passion with earnest and poetic zest, which is augmented by a blend of hypnotic melodies and electronic textures. It’s a strange thought, but when you listen to songs such as this Koi No Yokan masterpiece, you can’t help from viewing them as the refined counterparts to those found on the wholly underrated Saturday Night Wrist.

99. ‘Child’ – The Maccabees (2012)

Emerging amid the indie slew of the mid-2000s, The Maccabees were an outfit that pushed onto ever-progressive realms beyond many of their old peers. Given To The Wild was an album that marked the zenith of their rise to new artistic heights. With swirling sounds and experiential wonder in the songwriting, they remain a gleaming gem in both decades. The unspoken depth of the musicology and philosophy on display gave the songs a truly encompassing scope.

The swell of ‘Child’, building towards some gorgeous guitar work, is the pinnacle of how they constructed and composed a beautiful anthemic sound. Topped off with Orlando Weeks’ always unique but utterly sincere vocals, there simply aren’t many songs that sound like this. And vitally, it soars on a march of spiritualism rather than a grasp for faux originality. Rarely does such complexity seem to flow with such ease. That’s a feat that takes a lot of creative cohesion.

98. ‘In My View’ – Young Fathers (2017)

Good music evokes a feeling of some sort. Young Fathers are impossible to ignore. The feeling they induce is often one akin to a perturbing fear. There is so much energy in their music that the beat proves infectious. The sky gets a little darker when you play ‘In My View’, and life becomes more cinematic. This moodiness helps to deliver a sagacious message with a force that you can’t help but take notice of.

When they emerged in 2008, long before their first studio album, they had a look cooler than Top Cat’s and enough unflinching intent to convince you that there isn’t even a hint of ‘performance’ about them. Then, as the act became more polished over the years, they began blasting songs like this one live and slapped everyone’s face as they made a raucous mess. The world is less colourful without young Fathers around.

97. ‘Far From Born Again’ – Alex Cameron (2019)

A gloriously blunt take on sex work, Alex Cameron brings all the autonomy and pride, minus the shame and judgment, to an adult entertainment industry figure in ‘Far From Born Again’. Cameron paints a protagonist who is in control and in demand, taking full advantage of her own assets while those who can’t understand are stuck at home practising self-service.

Funny, hooky, and smooth as hell, ‘Far From Born Again’ is an anti-slu*t shaming anthem that could only be made in the 2010s. It’s a sentiment that set the course for many of Cameron’s better works and underpins this venture too.

96. ‘Get Lucky’ – Daft Punk (2013)

Disco never really died. Its reverberations were felt in the pop and dance music that came out in the decades to come, even if nobody dared say the dreaded D word. Daft Punk knew that some of music’s true geniuses lived in that world (they’d been stealing from Giorgio Moroder for years at that point) and they tapped a real icon to bring it back en vogue. Nile Rogers, through his work with Chic, made the best disco music ever, and he got to reinvigorate his own legacy with the help of two robots and Pharrell on ‘Get Lucky’, at once one of the catchiest and most anachronistic pop songs of the decade.

‘Lucky’ ditched the forward-thinking aspects of Daft Punk’s robot rock in favour of recreationist homage, but it was so well done that it still felt fresh. Convincing modern music fans to embrace the 1970s most antiseptic genre was like pulling off a magic trick, but like Rogers before them, Daft Punk found the humanity that could elevate and excite.

95. ‘Hope to Die’ – Orville Peck (2019)

The world wasn’t exactly clamouring for grand indie-country from a pseudonymous gay cowboy in a bondage mask, but most people don’t know what’s good for them anyway. Pony is full of dramatic turns, but ‘Hope to Die’ is the most ambitious, from the hushed intro to the gradual ramping up of intensity and instrumentation to the ridiculous final key change that drives the song into the territory of campy masterpieces.

It’s only logical that Peck would go on to duet with Shania Twain: with bravado and mystique to spare, the world finally has a country crooner that can embrace the drama and grandeur that embodies the best of the genre.

94. ‘San Francisco’ – Foxygen (2013)

California duo Foxygen have been delivering the heady sounds of the sunshine state since 2005. They’ve released six albums to date and a slew of EPs, and their fusion of baroque pop and psychedelia is enough to quench even the bluest of days. Their most significant body of work came in the form of 2013’s We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, which boasted singles such as ‘Shuggie’ and ‘No Destruction’.

However, the best cut from the album and the pair’s best piece has to be ‘San Francisco’. A catchy tune that takes as much from the countercultural rock of the 1960s as it does the French pop of the same era, it is the aural embodiment of floating on a cloud of smoke, and it is utterly exquisite, confirming that Johnathan Rado and Sam France are an artistic force to be reckoned with. Luckily for us, they’re still going strong, with their style of music one of the most summery in existence.

93. ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ – Grinderman (2010)

Taken from the deep trenches of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ hard rock outfit Grinderman and their 2010 LP Grinderman 2, ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ is a standout moment from the beginning of the decade. It’s far removed from the debonair connoisseur of creativity that Cave would become later in the decade. Here we have the uncaged animal often prowling through Nick Cave’s work.

Part of Cave’s transformation into the aforementioned suited agony uncle came through his Red Hand Files, a place where fans can directly speak with the rock icon. During one such exchange, Cave answered a question about the song’s origins: “It’s not the sort of question I feel I have the authority to answer,” Cave said. “These songs, you know, just present themselves.”

92. ‘Graceless’ – The National (2013)

Pairing spacey rock instrumentations with brooding baritone vocals, it became commonplace to call The National a modern Joy Division in the 2010s. With Trouble Will Find Me, Matt Berringer and the band effectively broke the mould and created their own identity through sheer force of will and great songwriting. The one link from past to present was ‘Graceless’.

Even their most dour imagery could lift you up when you needed it, and ‘Graceless’ sparkled even as it sank into its own darkness, creating a strangely dichotomous light that could only come from one band.

91. ‘Wide at Midnight’ – The Wytches (2014)

Brighton-based alt-rock group, The Wytches, brought their dark, gritty sound to our ears in full force with their 2014 debut album, Annabel Dream Reader. Drawing on grunge, punk and garage rock influences, the band established a unique sound characterised by reverberated, shrieking guitar runs and Kristian Bell’s entrancing vocals.

The LP was packed with highlights, but a cut above the rest was the ‘Wide at Midnight’, a strange nocturnal excursion deep into the dark recesses of an illusive nightmare that flirts with death, yearning and wide, piercing “feline eyes”. The track marks one of the highlights of the decade thanks to its absorbing poetry and impressive swelling instrumentals that reach a climax of emotion towards the song’s closing seconds.

90. ‘Shelter Song’ – Temples (2012)

Kettering, Northamptonshire, and psychedelic rock are not things that anybody, even great surrealists like Bob Mortimer, would consider conflating. Led by Marc Bolan MK.II, James Bagshaw and the band broke through in 2012, a year that saw many a great psychedelic band rise up. Out of this set, the finest are Temples, with there a reason that they were by far the most successful of their peers.

The band have released three albums to date, and although all have been well received, it takes a lot of work to top their debut, 2014’s Sun Structures. The album’s opener, ‘Shelter Song’, is the best and is one of the ultimate psychedelic classics. Featuring one hell of a riff on the twelve-string guitar – evoking the sounds of The Byrds – and a hypnotic beat, this was the 2010s getting truly groovy. There’s no coincidence that sales of paisley shirts and Chelsea boots skyrocketed after this piece dropped.

89. ‘Catamaran’ – Allah-Las (2012)

There is something effortlessly breezy about the cool tones of Allah-Las and their standout hit ‘Catamaran’. It might be that the band was built out of the garage rock scene from Los Angeles and is blessed with the kind of seamless chicness that few can match up to. But, in truth, the smoky guitars and laconic rhythm give this track more potency than most.

Their debut self-titled album is positively brimming with this kind of comfy summer jam. Like the titular boat, the track asks you to slack off work a few hours earlier, fill a cooler with some beers, roll a joint, and float into the watery horizon.

88. ‘Isle Of Arran’ – Loyle Carner (2017)

Making his waves in the latter part of the decade, south London rapper Loyle Carner differentiated himself from the hip-hop set with a blend of melodic beats and carefully curated lyrics. It was on his 2016 album Yesterday’s Gone that he truly took things up a notch with ‘The Isle of Arran’, a song that explored the side of his family from Scotland.

Carner explained to BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac: “I spent a lot of time there. It’s where my granddad grew up, it’s a little island off the top of Scotland, and there’s not much to do there. It’s a very long journey (from London), but it’s beautiful; it’s secluded.” While Carner does a good job of explaining here, his descriptive process within the song really shines.

87. ‘Two To Birkenhead’ – Bill Ryder Jones (2015)

Bill Ryder-Jones may have initially been best known for his brilliant work as the youngest member of The Coral. However, since leaving the band in 2008, he has crafted a remarkable solo career that has illuminated the fact that he is one of the best songwriters of his generation. One particular crowning moment came with the release of ‘Two To Birkenhead’, taken from his nostalgically-titled album West Kirkby County Primary.

The track exonerates Ryder-Jones’ enviable ability as both a guitarist and a songwriter, opening with a brilliantly crafted intro guitar piece before settling into a calm and patient verse. Ryder-Jones takes us down memory lane through his Merseyside youth (as he is wont to do across much of his oeuvre). In many ways, ‘Two To Birkenhead’ exemplifies the sound of the 2010s, which would be perfectly stated throughout the decade by bands such as Big Thief.

86. ‘Nerve Endings’ – Eagulls (2013)

Leeds post-punks Eagulls were one of the decade’s highlights, and it’s a crying shame they opted to call it a day in 2018, as you can’t help but think that the best was yet to come. Despite this, over their nine years of existence, the band delivered two stellar albums, 2014’s Eagulls and 2016’s Ullages, both of which have aged like fine wines and are now ranked amongst the most cultish records by British groups.

Fusing blistering post-punk with a more expansive sound that drew on genres such as shoegaze, psychedelia and industrial, it was topped by frontman George Mitchell delivering visceral vocal performances carried by a naturally melodic undercurrent. 2013’s ‘Nerve Endings’ was their breakout track, and it was a way to announce their arrival. Anthemic, punishing and mesmerising, with the reverb-drenched guitars stirring, this track inspired a generation of bands who are currently playing their trade under the post-punk moniker but with much less power.

85. ‘Dancing on My Own’ – Robyn (2010)

You know that feeling you get when you see your ex with someone else? That anxious churn in your gut as the floor drops from under you? Well, it kind of feels like the propulsive synth bass that kicks off ‘Dancing on My Own’, the brilliantly heartbreaking ode to losing love at the club from Sweden’s best export since ABBA, Robyn.

Despite her immense popularity, it still feels like Robyn flies under the radar at times, even as she’s put out some of the most dependably danceable music for 20-plus years. Few, though, can challenge the bubblegum power of ‘Dancing on My Own’, at once one of the saddest and most triumphant productions of the 2010s.

84. ‘If You Need To, Keep Time On Me’ – Fleet Foxes (2017)

Delicate and beautifully performed, ‘If You Need To, Keep Time On Me’ is Fleet Foxes at their most elegantly stripped back. Mostly just Robin Pecknold and his acoustic guitar, the song is intimate in its presentation and lush in its simplicity.

After years away, Pecknold needed comfort and reassurance, personifying the intense feelings that come with leaning on someone else in your own time of need. It turned out to be the decade’s quietest and most heartfelt love song.

83. ‘Composure’ – Warpaint (2011)

Appearing on Warpaint’s 2010 debut album The Fool, ‘Composure’ was a long source of mystery for fans of the band, desperate to decipher the elusive chant that opens the track. Eventually, the band revealed that they are repeatedly singing, “The cl*t-cut, the cl*t-cut, the cl*t-cut, the cut what?”, a reference to the gruesome events of Lars von Trier’s 2009 film Antichrist starring Charlotte Gainsbourg. The song deals with the crushing weight of wanting someone you find astoundingly beautiful. Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman sing in harmony, “How can I keep my composure? I turn my back, and you’ve got my shoulder,” before the words “you are beyond” are repeated with unnerving desperation.

The song moves through gorgeous shimmering guitars and intricate drumbeats, creating a slightly unnerving yet beautiful sound – the perfect sonic encapsulation of the lyrics. The track feels darkly feminine and unashamedly so – hypnotising listeners with experimental vocal delivery and mesmeric instrumentation. Jenny Lee Lindberg’s moody bassline brings the track together perfectly, holding together the volatile and capricious track.

82. ‘Revival’ – Deerhunter (2010)

Although they’d been around since the early 2000s, Atlanta-based alt-rockers Deerhunter reached their full stride in 2010 with their most commercially and critically revered fifth album, Halcyon Digest. Commenting on the album’s theme, frontman Bradford Cox told Q Magazine: “It’s supposed to be like a collection of short dispatches,” adding that it “has a lot to do with how people romanticise the past, even if it was horrific”.

The album explores a satisfying array of ethereal and experimental sounds and emotions with the use of synthesisers and effect-warped guitar patterns. A shoutout to the rapturous beauty of ‘Desire Lines’ will come later, just swiping the gold medal from ‘Revival’, which sits proudly in second place; who would have thought a group could fit something so powerfully stimulating into just two minutes?

81. ‘Miami’ – Baxter Dury (2017)

If this list were based upon the best lyrics, then Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ would be placed much higher thanks to the poetic line, “I don’t think you know who I am, I’m the sausage man”. It’s the opening track to Dury’s 2017 album, Prince Of Tears, written from the perspective of an arrogant mischief maker he invented as the protagonist for the record.

For an album opener, ‘Miami’ has all the ingredients you’d desire and makes you, as a listener, want to go on a wild journey with this madcap character, even if you suspect it’s destined for disaster. On the one hand, the track makes no sense, but then again, that’s precisely Dury’s point. Songfacts quotes him as saying: “The man singing and speaking it all is unreliable; he can’t see the world properly. It’s massively delusional, but because of that, it’s also emotionally true.”

80. ‘Hold On’ – Alabama Shakes (2012)

It must be something in the water. Some of the greatest artists, and some of the greatest sounds, have come from the land once and forever known as Dixie. A healthy mix of soul, country, rock, gospel and fried foods led to a mouth-watering combination, and the greatest representation the south got in the 2010s was the band that bore the name of its most notorious state. The Alabama Shakes played southern rock for the modern man, and it was never more potent than it was on ‘Hold On’.

A good old-fashioned ode to staying strong when the odds are stacked against you, Brittany Howard alternately explodes in righteous fury and consoles herself for making it this far, bringing a dynamic rush of funky soul to the rock-solid music provided by her fellow Shakes. The band was a torchbearer for what rock music could be in the modern musical landscape, and it was with simplicity and God-given talent that they produced a song that brought them out of the south and onto the world stage.

79. ‘Bad Girls’ – M.I.A. (2012)

M.I.A. is not an artist for a Monday morning. However, if you catch ‘Bad Girls’ in the right setting and lighting, the atmosphere of the anthem alone will put you in a very singular place. Mixing influences from all over the world, the eclectic sound of the song is unplaceable, and that’s the epoch of its achievement–it almost seems otherworldly, both foreign and familiar.

The lyrics might be nothing new, but when accompanied by eastern instrumentation, they are sharpened and repurposed into a daring culture clash. All of this comes together to create a truly bold barnstorm. In short, ‘Bad Girls’ is one of the very few songs you’ll find that genuinely don’t seem to give much of a damn, and that is a liberating thing to listen to. It’s a swagger beast to meet in below strobing lights of some sort.

78. ‘Jubilee Street’ – Nick Cave (2013)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds delivered one of the best songs of the decade in the form of ‘Jubilee Street’, the fourth track on their magnificent fifteenth album, Push the Sky Away. The single was accompanied by an excellent music video directed by John Hillcoat and starred none other than the inimitable Ray Winstone. The lyrics tell of a prostitute who lived on the formerly sleazy Jubilee Street in Cave’s hometown of Brighton, England.

Sonically, the track opens with a simple rimshot drumbeat and a guitar that just about threatens to break into distortion. Nick Cave’s unique vocal style cuts us to the core before several delicious instruments join the fray, including a truly gorgeous string section. The whole band drifts away momentarily, allowing us to reflect on Cave’s lyrics before coming back in full force, resulting in a glorious crescendo that only the Bad Seeds could genuinely muster.

77. ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ – Arctic Monkeys (2011)

Arctic Monkey’s 2011 record Suck It and See might not be their best, but ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ ranks as one of their best songs. Largely for its beautiful harmonies, touching tone, and off-beat lyrics.

It’s naturally a confounding set of lyrics by design, as Turner refuses to paint any picture too clearly. “There’s always a load of words in our tunes, isn’t there,” remembered Turner, speaking the NME. “And I was trying to think of a way of being a bit more economical, so we thought the one way of doing that is having really simple choruses but quite complicated verses lyrically — and that were one of them. I mean, it’s based on a place that I’ve been, but I don’t necessarily want that to be what the listener associates it with. ’Cause maybe they can relate it to a place they’ve been. I don’t want to ruin that by giving them a map.”

The song will go down as one of the band’s finest moments.

76. ‘Ready to Start’ – Arcade Fire (2010)

What once was can never be again. You either keep moving or die, but you have to take that first step. By the time a new decade rolled around, Arcade Fire began to tire of their twee indie folk sound. The Suburbs was their last stand before transitioning into a dance band, complete with more ironic visuals and less earnest lyrics.

‘Ready to Start’ is an embrace of the future, even at the expense of those who might be left behind. Arcade Fire had exhausted their original sound, but it brought them to a level of success that allowed them to transition elsewhere. That conflict is present in The Suburbs, but their intentions were clear with ‘Ready to Start’: damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

75. ‘Under the Cover of Darkness’ – The Strokes (2011)

Never count The Strokes out. Just when you think they’ve been gone too long, they come back and surprise you. Created among increased tensions and decreased morale, Angles was an experimental turn that still yielded some of the best material of the band’s career, the top of which was ‘Darkness’. Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. add fantastic harmonies to beef up their once raw and paired back sound, while Julian Casablancas lets his full-throated yelp go full-on pop for the first, and possibly last, time.

Only Casablancas could get away with a line like “everybody’s singing the same song for ten years” and then put his own band on hiatus for almost that long, sh*t-eating grin, presumably still intact. The 2010s were not kind to The Strokes, but ‘Under the Cover of Darkness’ was the one moment that seemed like the New Yorkers were back on track. It would take them another decade to get their sh*t together.

74. ‘Baby’ – Ariel Pink (2012)

In 1979, Donnie and Joe Emerson released a beautifully sexy track entitled ‘Baby’, which they had recorded on their family’s farm in Washington. Over three decades later, Ariel Pink listened to the tune and thought it was “pure atmosphere”. To celebrate his love for the track, he recorded a cover version and released it as the lead single from his ninth studio album, Mature Themes.

Mature Themes was the last album he would release under the Haunted Graffiti project name. His cover of ‘Baby’ retains the original version’s sensuality whilst giving it a 21st Century makeover. Here, a simple guitar riff is brought to the fore to amplify the chilled-out effects of the song. Pink himself channels the soul singers of yore, though with a modern spin provided by the ultra-soothing electric piano tones and effortless backing vocals. Ariel Pink’s ‘Baby’ cover is a genuine lights-down-low, sleek and sultry banger.

73. ‘Let It Happen’ – Tame Impala (2015)

Tame Impala, the project of Perth’s Kevin Parker, has been one of the most exciting acts for over a decade. The 2010s was an incredibly fruitful time for the band, with them metamorphosing from psychedelic warlocks into electronic pop masters. There’s much to dig into in their four albums, with their gradual stylistic shift making for a fascinating listening experience. Throughout, we hear Parker refining his craft and maturing as a human.

The band’s masterpiece is 2015’s Currents. The perfect middle ground between the psychedelia of their early years and the pop that was to come, this was one of the greatest crossover hits of the decade, off the back of singles such as ‘Eventually’ and ‘The Less I Know the Better’. The best song of the lot is ‘Let It Happen’, which features one of Parker’s best basslines, one hell of a chorus and some riveting synth parts, all topped off by dream-like production. This was where Parker’s ascendance really started, and without songs such as this, he wouldn’t be in such high demand as he is today, with him now boasting a collaboration with Gorillaz.

72. ‘Oldie’ – Odd Future (2012)

The clearest distillation of Odd Future is, weirdly enough, in the form of a ten-minute hodgepodge of Adult Swim beats and endlessly hazy rhymes. Go figure. The farm team for some of the most talented writers in modern music, Odd Future, was always bursting at the seams, with the kind of lineup and in-universe mythos rivalled only by the Wu-Tang Clan in terms of sheer quantity. But the talent doesn’t lie: Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, the Creator, and Syd tha Kid all came from this group.

Even the second-tier stars, like jokester Jasper Dolphin and rappers Hodgy and Left Brain, get to take the mic and leave a legacy. ‘Oldie’ is the one off song that even comes close to summarising the group as a whole, so it makes a fitting end to their first, and likely only, studio album.

71. ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be’ (Good Times)’ – Jamie XX (2015)

Featuring Jamaican musician Popcaan and American rapper Young Thug, English producer Jamie XX’s 2015 track, ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ featured on his debut studio album In Colour. Describing the creation of the gold-certified track, Jamie XX, otherwise known as Jamie Smith, said: “I don’t feel like I’m very good at making music, in terms of like the technical side of it—it’s more like trying stuff out until something that I love happens. Sometimes I’ll be quite good at the first 10 seconds of a song, then I’m lost. ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ was like that.”

The infectious track features a sample of ‘Good Times’ by The Persuasions. However, while in New York, Smith “thought [he’d] have a go at trying to make a song that would get played” on one of the hip-hop stations he found himself gravitating towards. After asking various artists to provide vocals, he merged cuts from Young Thug and Popcaan, liking how their voices sounded. Sounds of steel drums, soul, and R&B influences make the track an instant summer classic.

70. ‘TCR’ – Sleaford Mods (2016)

Nottingham’s beloved post-punk duo Sleaford Mods established themselves as a class act over the 2010s. Across their prolific studio output and energetic, provocative live shows, they’ve left us with fond memories aplenty. The head-bopping ‘TCR’, released in 2016 on the titular EP, encompasses the Mods’ sense of humour, a knack for social commentary and an eye for a catchy beat.

‘TCR’ is an ode to a late 1970s racing car game, which singer Jason Williamson elaborated on in an interview with NME. “It’s a pretty crap device, and I thought it married perfectly to the idea of life’s (at times) rotating dross,” he opined. “The narration/vocal over the song is just that, an account of a bloke reacting to what he feels is a routine-laden existence by ‘escaping’ for the night to the pub, only to realise this is also a limited experience and, in turn, all options kind of merge into a circular experience of never-ending repetition that he tries to navigate.”

69. ‘Western Questions’ – Timber Timbre (2017)

If you were looking for a noted folk-tinged jaunt through the society of western culture, then Canadian outfit Timber Timbre have them in spades, but ‘Western Questions’ is by far the best. Found on their 2017 album Sincerely, Future Pollution, the song was nestled quietly between the first single and titular track of the album.

Muted vocals and a strangely glitching beat provide a sense of unstable vulnerability that accurately defines the end of the decade. But as the song progresses, finding its feet and piercing the gloom with shards of light, the beauty of the track reveals itself.

68. ‘You Want It Darker’ – Leonard Cohen (2016)

Leonard Cohen looked at death like almost nobody else. He stared it down unflinchingly, weakened its defences and, in the end, just cosied up to it as a benevolent final chapter to life. He penned a heart-touching letter to Marianne on the subject and illuminated its ways in this tower of a song.

Often singers lose their vocals in later years, but age enriched Cohen’s baritone with a deep sense of wisdom and drama. And often, when more mature artists dabble in new-fangled production techniques, they come across as lost old folks who have stumbled into the wrong room. Still, Cohen’s taste remained true to the last, making a beast of soaring soundscapes available to him.

67. ‘Unbelievers’ – Vampire Weekend (2013)

Combining religious anxiety and romantic devotion, ‘Unbelievers’ was the moment that Vampire Weekend graduated from preppy Paul Simon devotees to Ivy League-level professional songwriters. Some of the standard features are still here: the Chamberlin keyboard sounds of ‘A-Punk’, the manic tempos of ‘Cousins’, and the sarcastic bite of ‘Oxford Comma’. But this version of Vampire Weekend is a fascinating blend of architecture and poetry: building soundscapes around meditations on time and faith, no longer talking about rich kid themes but rather growing up and fending for yourself.

Modern Vampires of the City was such an achievement that the band couldn’t top it. Guitarist/keyboardist Rostam split, and the remaining members became a jam band, but that only makes their final album together more fascinating. It stands as the crowning achievement for Vampire Weekend’s first phase.

66. ‘Blackstar’ – David Bowie (2016)

How do you summarise an enigma like David Bowie? The androgynous, hyper-literate, reliably manic shapeshifter alien felt like he could have easily outlived us all with his magical powers. Still, his humanity (and mortality) was always there to be found in his music. Bowie did exactly what he wanted for almost 50 years, leaving us as challenged and mystified as ever. Blackstar is one of the strangest albums ever to be a great commercial success: it’s genreless (although experimental electronic jazz was the closest I got), incredibly creepy, and, much like its creator, almost impossible to decipher. Through all this, it retains a certain beauty that is inextricable from its uniqueness and boundary-pushing sounds.

When Bowie died two days after the album’s release, it became a swan song epitaph from one of the greatest artists of all time. The song ‘Blackstar’ is its greatest condensation, a final gift to those who loved Bowie.

65. ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’ – Ought (2015)

For a moment, the Montreal band Ought looked to be the pioneers of a new post-punk movement. Little did they know that the whole world was planning their own descent into the musical realm. Charged with leading such a stampede, the band delivered one of the decade’s finest albums in 2015’s Sun Coming Down.

Within that record was the highly-prized ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’, a song that defined the band’s career – before becoming Cola – is rich with layers of expertly crafted rock and roll. Tim Darcy’s vocals are some of the most delightfully sardonic and melodic we’ve ever heard, and this beautiful mix of Talking Heads’ energy and deadpan anger is a joy to behold.

64. ‘One Rizla’ – Shame (2017)

If any genre defined the latter part of the 2010s in the UK, it was post-punk. While the genre has now (thankfully) begun to loosen its grip on the ever-expanding neck of the British music scene, at one point, it was the go-to for new bands wanting to stamp their authority in the world of sonic artistry. One band who enjoyed waves of success in this light was the South London outfit, Shame.

Their defining song is ‘One Rizla’, suitably titled given the band’s critique of British society. However, whilst predominantly considered a ‘post-punk’ outfit, ‘One Rizla’ proved that Shame had more strings to their bow than was expected of those within the scene, with nods to the sound of 1990s alternative rock. Singer/shouter Charlie Steen sings/shouts in the song, “My nails ain’t manicured, my voice ain’t the best you’ve heard, and you can choose to hate my words. But do I give a f*ck?” Which may serve as the manifesto for the genre in sum that would dominate British guitar music for the best part of half a decade.

63. ‘Tilted’ – Christine & The Queens (2014)

‘Tilted’ was born into the world in 2015, but the previous year, it was released in French under the name ‘Christine’. The English re-release, which didn’t feature a direct translation of the lyrics, brought vast attention to the feet of Christine & The Queens and became an unexpected yet, deserved hit.

There’s a vulnerability in Chris’ lyricism which centres upon feeling like an outsider for most of their life. However, an infectious optimism runs through ‘Tilted’ that juxtaposes perfectly with the emotional vocal delivery. Chris described the song to Time as “an easy song with an uneasy subject. It’s about feeling out of place, not finding your balance, or being depressed even, but with playful images, with a song you can dance on.” In 2022, Chris revealed he is now living as a man, which amplifies the message expressed in ‘Tilted’, cementing it as one of our most critical LGBTQ+ anthems.

62. ‘French Press’ – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (2017)

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever released their EP The French Press in 2017, which featured the sun-drenched single ‘French Press’ – the perfect anthem for summer car rides and garden parties. On the track, the band prove themselves to be indie geniuses, creating a perfect slice of pop in just five minutes. Lyrically, the song sees singers Tom Russo and Fran Keaney pretending to be brothers (despite being real-life cousins) having a conversation over the phone. The Australian band reel us in with captivating storytelling, placing us amongst named characters and intimate settings that feel strangely familiar.

An addictive riff bleeds with a vintage sound that encapsulates a timeless feel, paying homage to the biggest indie bands from decades past. With a sound comparable to The Go-Betweens, who formed in the late 1970s, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever inserted themselves into a long line of successful indie bands from down under with ‘French Press’. The mighty track ends with a drawn-out instrumental send-off which is both sentimental and danceable, proving the band to be masters of both evocative musicianship and instant crowd-pleasers.

61. ‘An Ocean Between The Waves’ – The War On Drugs (2014)

Throughout the 2010s, Philadelphia-based neo-psychedelic rock collective, The War On Drugs enjoyed their most fruitful period to date. Broadly accepted as their masterpiece, 2014’s Lost in the Dream drew from the psychedelic experimentation of Spacemen 3 and the anthemic sentimentality of Bruce Springsteen. ‘An Ocean Between The Waves’ stands out as the album’s proudest moment.

The dynamic production and brooding, insightful lyrics perfectly portray The War On Drugs for the perfectionists they are. Having laboured over the track for a year, songwriter Adam Granduciel scrapped it as “a pile of garbage”. He gave it a full rework five days before the album’s deadline. “Everyone thought I was crazy for wanting to rerecord, but it ended up being one of a lot of people’s favourites,” he later recalled.

60. ‘Dream House’ – Deafheaven (2013)

You can call them post-metal, blackgaze or screamo, but one thing is certain, San Francisco outfit Deafheaven are one of the most interesting bands out there. Fusing the punishing dynamics of black metal with the emotive melodies of shoegaze and post-rock in one track, the band can deliver the visceral and the tearjerking. There’s also a lot going on, courtesy of frontman George Clarke’s punishing form of delivery and gloomy lyrics, Kerry McCoy and Shiv Shiv Mehra’s dovetailing guitars and drummer Daniel Tracy’s thunderous work.

Many cuts were vying for a place on the list, but it just had to be ‘Dream House’, the opener of 2013’s Sunbather. A nine-minute piece of genius, the section in the middle when it slows down never fails to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. It’s cacophonous, melodic and unrelenting, with the production elevating the band’s work to unmatched levels.

If you’re looking for catharsis, this is it. Deafheaven reel it in at the end, with the tempo change and McCoy’s swirling lead work capable of bringing even the toughest metalheads to their knees.

59. ‘Venice Bitch’ – Lana Del Rey (2019)

It took almost a decade for Lana Del Rey to pull together all the greatest facets of her talent for a complete record knockout. When Norman f*cking Rockwell came out, most of the reactions were along the lines of, “Wait, is this Lana Del Rey?” And indeed, it was, distilled to her most potent elements. An icy, aloof coolness contrasts extremely personal emotions and a new focus on storytelling that sprawls all over the nearly ten-minute ‘Venice Bitch’.

No longer concerned about what her critics or detractors may have thought, Rey gets so deep in her own world that listening almost feels like voyeurism. But it’s too good to turn away from. “Fresh out of f*cks forever”, indeed.

58. ‘Myth’ – Beach House (2012)

Euphoric is a brilliant adjective to apply to art. Beach House somehow reach that lofty emotional height with a gorgeous hush. It’s eudaimonia delivered with not much more than a whisper. How? Nobody quite knows, but perhaps with songs like ‘Myth’, it comes down to the lived-in feel that Victoria Legrand ladles into it. Somewhere in the mix is a sunset she has seen or a moment she has been through.

This near-ambient sound became a boom for a time after Beach House brought it to the masses. Similar bands popped up, and the indie scene became a little bit more spiritual. Now, the ripples continue to roll off of tracks like ‘Myth’, and that’s no surprise. It is an anthem akin to the legendary ‘Maps’ by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the second, a less booming decade of the century.

57. ‘1998’ – Peace (2012)

There was a moment in British culture when it looked like we were all destined for another Summer of Love. As psychedelic drugs proliferated the underground clubs, bands like Peace dominated the airwaves with their delicious blend of hedonistic attitudes and baggy tunes; they operated as the second coming of the second coming.

The Stone Roses may have overseen the most recent season-driven romance, Peace, a quartet from Worcester, showed the promise of eclipsing them. Their EP Delicious was received with warm criticism, and their lead single from the record ‘1998’ was a showing of the quasi-retro jams.

56. ‘Sixteen Saltines’ – Jack White (2012)

How would Jack White feel if he knew he was this close to forever rivals The Black Keys on this list? How would he feel to know he didn’t even end up beating them in the ranking? Probably none too pleased. The good news is he’s carved out a fantastic solo career, the peak of which is this buzzsaw guitar-filled stomper from Blunderbuss.

When the White Stripes folded, The Black Keys became America’s favourite two-man blues band, but White proved he still had the staying power to keep solo rowing and stay atop the riff rock mountain.

55. ‘Lonely Boy’ – Black Keys (2015)

The pride of Akron not named LeBron, The Black Keys languished for the entirety of the 2000s without getting much more than club gigs. Then they paired up with Danger Mouse, shed some of their stronger blues elements, and became arena rockers. ‘Lonely Boy’ combines their riff-rock tendencies with a giant chorus and hooks to spare.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney may have come up in The White Stripes’ shadow, but with ‘Lonely Boy’, they carved out an identity all their own. This song was a ubiquitous moment across pretty much every radio station in the world when asked for the latest ‘rock song’, and it’s hard not to recognise it as a pivotal moment for the band and music as a whole.

54. ‘Lotus Flower’ – Radiohead (2011)

Forever mixing it up, Radiohead once again confounded and amazed their fans with 2011’s The King of Limbs. The Oxford five-piece completely ditched the alternative rock sound that had comprised much of their 1990s output (and had at least had glimmers of on In Rainbows) in favour of the syncopated beats as had been expertly employed on Kid A and Amnesiac. One of the most memorable tracks from the record was ‘Lotus Flower’.

‘Lotus Flower’ is an anomaly amongst the album’s other tracks in that it contains an actual chorus. Here, Philip Selway’s drumming is as tight as you can get (hasn’t it always been), while we can be confident that Jonny Greenwood is likely f*cking around on some antique analogue synth with about a million wires sticking out of it. The song has become something of a Radiohead classic, and it’s an anthem to be played in the off-world discos of the post-apocalyptic future. Hopefully, Thom Yorke will be there to show us the dance moves he displayed in the track’s often-memed music video.

53. ‘The Wire’ – Haim (2013)

Haim is unquestionably placed near the top when discussing the most important groups of the 2010s. The sisterly trio broke through in 2012 with their debut EP, Forever, which they followed up with Days Are Gone the next year. The record spawned a series of singles such as ‘Don’t Save Me’ or ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’, which parachuted Haim into the big-time, but ‘The Wire’ is the group at their quintessential best.

The positive energy of ‘The Wire’ will put a spring in anybody’s step, even the most cold-hearted individual. Hearing the three Haim sisters jostle over the vocals set them apart from other groups, with each sister bringing a different energy to the mix that powerfully complements the others. ‘The Wire’ also laid a marker for what was to come from Haim and set the group a high bar to follow, which they rose to on their most recent album, Women In Music Pt. III. On a wider note, when they established themselves with their debut, there was a frightening lack of all-female rock bands around. Haim played a pioneering role in helping it become more commonplace.

52. ‘Nobody’ – Mitski (2018)

In 2018, Japanese-American musician Mitski released her fifth album, Be the Cowboy, arguably the artist’s greatest achievement thus far. Awash with disco influence, ‘Nobody’ works within a conventional pop song structure. However, Mitski’s lyrics transcend the mainstream. Instead, the singer pours her heart out with admirable honesty, singing lyrics such as, “I’ve been big and small/ And big and small/ And big and small again/ And still nobody wants me/ Still nobody wants me.”

As Mitski repeats the word ‘Nobody’, her desperation becomes more and more apparent, and you just can’t help but sing along with her helpless cries. Alongside tracks such as ‘Washing Machine Heart’, ‘Me and My Husband’ and ‘A Pearl’, ‘Nobody’ is an example of Mitski’s ability to retain her honest and introspective songwriting skills without sacrificing lush, full production and danceable sounds. Be the Cowboy was Mitski’s first album to chart on the Billboard 200, signalling her movement towards greater success – something she has continued to achieve in the four years since the album’s release. Tracks like ‘Nobody’, which possesses both a mainstream and alternative appeal, have made Mitski a champion of the indie genre.

51. ‘Human Performance’ – Parquet Courts (2016)

New York art rockers Parquet Courts brought us six tasty studio albums throughout the 2010s, building up artistic scope and maturity with each new release. While many fans will contend that 2018’s Wide Awake! tops its 2016 predecessor, Human Performance, few can argue that the latter’s eponymous single was among the decade’s most memorable hits.

The track came with a rumbling post-punk sound akin to Wire. Lead vocalist Andrew Savage reflects poetically on a failed romance as he walks us through feelings of self-doubt, hurt and loneliness. Later in the song, the narrative shifts to the solitude of his flat, where he continues to ruminate on missed chances and the enveloping reality of his darkest thoughts. The poignance of the lyrics makes ‘Human Performance’ one of Parquet Courts’ most memorable and emotionally vested releases to date.

50. ‘Masterpiece’ – Big Thief (2016)

​​Big Thief’s arrival in 2016 with their debut album, Masterpiece, was a refreshing addition to the musical sphere. On the record’s title track, vocalist Adrienne Lenker shows off her breathtaking ability, and Buck Meek does a fine job supporting her on backing vocals.

‘Masterpiece’ tells the inevitable tale of ageing and the tragic feeling of loss that comes with that. While the song has a personal meaning for Lenker and the rest of the band, everybody can relate to ‘Masterpiece’ in their own unique way. Her storytelling instincts on the track are reminiscent of the greats from the Greenwich Village scene of the 1960s, and the ragged vocals are another reason it deserves a place on this list.

She painstakingly sings in the final verse: “Cause I saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you, Wrapping your left arm round my right, Ready to walk me through the night”.

49. ‘The Barrel’ – Aldous Harding (2019)

In the short time that Harding has been amongst us, her influence has been seismic. Across all of her albums, Harding has often challenged her listener not only to find the value in her own work but change the way we listen to music at large. Her affecting singles have dealt a similar blow to many. It’s the sort of sound that barely seems to have been created, it’s as though Harding simply lassoed it from the floating ether.

‘The Barrel’ finds her at her natural best. There are moments when her singing can drift towards an affectation elsewhere, but here, she looks the song, well, straight down the barrel. The result is something that grabs the mood of a moment and forces it to coalesce with her ethereal ways. Pop this on during a stroll in the woods, and something special will happen.

48. ‘Doused’ – DIIV (2012)

When Zachary Cole Smith and his band DIIV (previously Dive, but forced to change their name by the Nirvana estate) hit the airwaves, they did so with a set of dreamy-pop tunes underpinned by a bustling set of basslines. On their 2012 record Oshin, they did this best of all, especially with the truly fantastic song ‘Doused’.

An archetypal moment in the Brooklyn scene the band were born in, ‘Doused’ shows the group to be a complex crucible of sound. Largely propelled by the creative vision of Smith, the band lived and died by his struggles with mental health. However, in 2012, there was no band more exciting than the Brooklynites.

47. ‘Down The Line’ – Beach Fossils (2017)

Sometimes dream-pop can feel a bit silly. Perhaps owing to the very airy nature of its composition, such songs from the genre can feel wafer-thin in comparison to the chunkier moments of rock and roll. However, when Beach Fossils delivered their stand-out song ‘Down The Line’ in 2017, they did so with an irreproachable charm.

Found on their record Somersault, ‘Down The Line’ is the typification of the group. Beach Fossils started life as a lo-fi dream-pop project, rising out of the same New York scene as groups like DIIV. The band’s sound has undergone several transformations since then, with Somersault seeing them blend swelling string sections and bossa-nova leaning chord progressions with a shoegaze sensibility.

46. ‘Disparate Youth’ – Santigold (2012)

Santigold dropped one of the ultimate vibe-inducing anthems of the decade with ‘Disparate Youth’. It came in hot in 2012 as the lead single from her second studio album, Master of My Make-Believe. An instrumental version of the track aided its popularity when it was used in one of Honda’s iconic television adverts. The track opens with an arpeggiated synth lead piece that doesn’t immediately give any clue as to where it will take us.

However, things become more apparent when the bassline comes in with one of the hardest-hitting tones of the 2010s. Soon enough, a wonderfully snappy and jazzy beat kicks us into an undeniably danceable rhythm. A guitar tone that defined the early part of the decade (reminiscent of The Maccabees and O. Children) comes in to take ‘Disparate Youth’ to the absolute limit. Here, Santigold’s vocals are at once controlled and euphoric, reminding us now of better days gone by.

45. ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ – The National (2010)

‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ by The National captures a universal emotion that comes to us all at one point during adulthood as we reminisce upon how our life has changed and the person we’ve become. The stirring track finds Matt Berninger drunkenly missing his old life in Ohio and perfectly tapping into a feeling emphasised by the moving orchestral arrangements. Additionally, Berninger’s baritone delivery on ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ is gripping, and how he successfully transmits the pain inside of himself through his voice is spellbindingly jaw-dropping.

Speaking to Uncut about ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, Berninger said: “It’s about being stuck between an old version of yourself and the one you’re becoming. I was trying to shed my skin. That’s what the first line about lifting up my shirt means to me. I definitely didn’t feel like the same person I used to be. I didn’t feel like an Ohioan anymore, and I definitely was not a New Yorker. I was married with a baby, living in Brooklyn, which was still a foreign land to me, and on the verge of becoming a rockstar if I didn’t blow it. It was winter, and I remember pacing around ice puddles in (co-producer) Peter Katis’s yard, trying to finish the words.”

44. ‘Stoned and Starving’ – Parquet Courts (2012)

New York via Texas rockers Parquet Courts have kept the legacy of Sonic Youth and New York no-wave bands strong in the modern era. Obscure literary references? Check. Atonal guitar textures? Check. But what might have been their creative peak was, more or less, a goofy joke song about wandering around Queens high off your ass looking for a fill when you get the munchies.

While they’ve since gone in different stylistic directions, ‘Stoned and Starving’ cements the band as the rightful heroes of stoner rock in the 2010s. To chart this track above ‘Human Performance’ may hurt many readers’ artistic souls. In truth, to compare the value of each is to compare McDonald’s with a T-Bone steak, but who doesn’t need a cheeseburger Happy Meal every so often?

43. ‘Lazarus’ – David Bowie (2016)

Taken from David Bowie’s 26th and final studio album, Blackstar, released two days before his tragic death following a secret cancer battle in 2016, ‘Lazarus’ is simply heartbreaking. Collaborator Tony Visconti described the album as Bowie’s “parting gift”, and no track makes for a better send-off than ‘Lazarus’. In the saxophone-led track, Bowie discusses his impending death, opening with the words, “Look up here, I’m in heaven”.

The musician condensed life and death into one track, making it his final goodbye and thank you to his fans. Musically, the song feels elegiac, mixing synths, jazz and rock instrumentation, creating an emotionally-stirring soundscape that fits the bittersweetness of Bowie’s lyrics. The song’s title refers to the religious story of Lazarus, who transcended humanity when he died, instead becoming a symbol of something greater. Thus, Bowie uses this imagery to suggest that his death would only heighten his fame and legacy. ‘Lazarus’ was the final single Bowie released in his lifetime, bookending an outstanding career.

42. ‘Royals’ – Lorde (2013)

Hailing from New Zealand, Lorde (née, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor) grew up listening to a variety of artists such as Billie Holiday, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, The Weeknd and more. Needless to say, influences and inspirations for her own music came in diverse forms and genres. In 2013, she announced herself to the world with one song.

The young singer rose to prominence, with critics and audiences acclaiming her for not only the musical aspect of the song ‘Royals’, which borders on the line between pop and hip-hop but also for its lyrical significance. In addition, Lorde’s vocals give the song a distinct sound, one which is equal parts laid back as it is groovy. It’s a song that defined the decade for a generation of teens who found a new pop icon.

41. ‘Slip Away’ – Perfume Genius (2017)

Across the 2010s, Iowa’s Michael Hadreas, known creatively as Perfume Genius, brought four consistently evocative and conceptually vital albums that unpicked themes of sexuality, domestic abuse and discrimination through the lens of a hom*osexual artist navigating his 30s. Hadreas’ fourth album, 2017’s No Shape, brought some of his most creatively stimulating work to date and hit a particular high with ‘Slip Away’.

The track was released two months before the album as the lead single and brought a unique rattling beat that works its way into a euphoric climax. Hadreas told NPR of the song: “It’s about a love that other people tell you is devious or not natural being very pure and true, physical or otherwise. When I was doing press for my last album, everybody kept asking me why I was writing about all this when gay people can get married, and it’s not illegal to suck dick in Wyoming or wherever — but there are still a lot of really horrible things going on right now. So there’s a joy to this song, but it’s a protest too.”

40. ‘The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt’ – Father John Misty (2015)

Father John Misty famously began his 2010s as the drummer with Fleet Foxes. In a significant turn of events, by the end of the decade, he’d amassed a spectacular oeuvre that was impressive as anybody’s over that timespan. 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear is where Misty came into his own with ‘The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt’ the album’s highlight as he invites the listener into his debaucherous universe.

Josh Tillman is the birth name of Father John Misty, and the track tells the real-life story of a drug-fuelled threesome which made him filled with sadness. Tilman’s delivery on ‘The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt’ is hilarious and sorrowful in equal measure, underpinned by gorgeous instrumentalisation that adds a sense of extravagance to the track.

“The asshole in that song is me,” Tillman told Q magazine. “I left that experience feeling like a f**king worthless human being. It’s a destructive song, and it’s definitely one that I will not perform after this album cycle.”

39. ‘These Words’ – The Lemon Twigs (2016)

The sprawling pop landscapes of Brian Wilson didn’t quite catch on as electronic instrumentation and stadium-ready anthems became the norm for mainstream rock music. That will most likely keep brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario out of the mainstream, but if you venture out to their bizarre world of baroque pop and Beatles harmonies, you’ll find some of the most audaciously creative music of the decade.

‘These Words’, a masterpiece of stilted communication and sprawling melodic hooks, is the perfect balance of maximalism and simplicity. I defy you to find another song that makes a xylophone solo sound as cool. The Lemon Twigs are indie rock club stalwarts, but their music is meant for the biggest of stages.

38. ‘Bad Guy’ – Billie Eilish (2019)

The biggest teenage pop sensation since Lorde, Billie Eilish was the indie world’s favourite up-and-comer until ‘bad guy’ made it clear that she was meant for much bigger things. A master of mumblecore and Day-Glo horror, Eilish and brother/producer Finneas crafted one of the decade’s most indelible hooks out of little more than some synth bass, a keyboard line that sounds like it’s straight out of Rugrats, and a few finger snaps.

The 808s and beat switch make it clear that the pair are influenced by modern-day hip hop, but the lyrics are totally unique: mocking, sarcastic, and the furthest thing from vulnerable, Eilish clearly revels in taunting her preening, posturing boy toy. It’s hard to say what such a young artist will sound like in the coming years, but if her songs have the same immediate pull of ‘bad guy’, there’s a strong chance that Eilish will be sticking around for a while.

37. ‘New York’ – St. Vincent

After spending the better two decades exploring psych-folk and becoming the guitar hero for a new generation of indie rockers, St. Vincent went headlong into electronica on 2017’s Masseduction, wielding her magnetic presence as a weapon to conquer the world. But the album’s best moments are when she narrows her view and meditates on the fractured relationships that fill her life. Plainly romantic and unadorned with much of the synthesised production that colours most of Masseduction, ‘New York’” gets its greatest mileage out of its space. Pauses in piano lines and vocal melodies leave a wistful feeling in the air, and like a modern-day Lou Reed or a female Julian Casablancas, St. Vincent (Annie Clark) dissects the grime and excesses of the Big Apple, combining the whirlwind romances and endlessly electric atmosphere of the city through the context of an unbreakable, unwavering connection with another human being.

But the song’s textures express more than any words ever could: intimate, bittersweet, and beautiful, not unlike the eponymous city itself, ‘New York’ is Clark’s ghost in the machine, the human connection around the mechanical sprawl. It’s love and loss and how the unforgiving metropolis will never look the same without those special people but will continue to create new connections.

36. ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ – Foster the People (2011)

In the 2010s, there were at least 177 school shootings in America. The big ones, like Sandy Hook and Parkland, bury the high number of smaller but equally tragic shootings that occur roughly once every two weeks. Gun legislation became one of the most hotly contested and heavily debated political topics out there. As children were no longer safe in schools, a pillar of idealised Americana was taken down by unconscionable violence.

The ultimate example of contrasting lyrics and melody, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ is the catchiest song of the decade with the darkest tone. Summarising the circ*mstances of a f*cked up kid who advises his peers to run faster than his bullets, Mark Foster made cheery pop music whose relevancy was the hardest part to swallow. The reality of what was going on while the song gained fame was not lost on Foster: “I was scared to see where the pattern was headed if we didn’t start changing the way we were bringing up the next generation.” Foster knew that all a mentally ill kid needs to fixate on are the expensive shoes his classmates are wearing to stir thoughts of rage, jealousy, and revenge.

This could have all been a moot point had Foster not backed up those lyrics with a monster earworm. ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ has the best bassline of the decade, and the flourishes like the whistle solo, all build to a chorus that hits you right between your eyes.

35. ‘The Look’ – Metronomy (2011)

If any song can summon the sun, then ‘The Look’ would be where my money goes. This cloudbusting gem is a dollop of summer from the get-go. The number of bald heads that have been burnt to this balm is endless, the amount of air-bass playing is innumerable, and the number of toe-tapping is infinite. Simply put, tight musicology is the secret to delivering simple joy.

Beautifully layered, the song never once rests on its laurels and continually adds another flourish just when it’s needed. Over ten years on, it’s still titillating fans in the same way on endless summer playlists – if a track makes it that far, it will likely remain a constant sunshine accompaniment for life now. Taking inspiration from old Motown magic and dressing it up in a new indie way is a shortcut to innovative timelessness.

34. ‘Marks to Prove It’ – The Maccabees (2015)

The Maccabees broke their silence of three years with the powerhouse single ‘Marks To Prove It’, perhaps their most urgent and intense release. A hark back to Maccabees of old, the band simultaneously tackle social problems with the same enthusiasm they did for young love. “These new songs are a reminder of why we started the band,” says Hugo White. “With the enthusiasm to play music that’s exciting and makes us excited.”

In 2015, we were very happy to see a trip back to the original arthouse-driven punk sound the band can lend to a pop song. The energy and the vibrancy of this release did away with the orchestral indie pop the group had been previously producing. This was a curtain call moment for the group, celebrating the band’s beating heart as the blood stopped rushing.

33. ‘Pretty Pimpin’ – Kurt Vile (2015)

Kurt Vile had contributed to the early work of The War on Drugs, a group that would come to dominate the rock arena of the 2010s. However, he departed the band in 2008 as he felt that his solo work was not getting enough credit compared to what he had been making with Adam Granduciel. Smoke Ring for My Halo began to put Vile’s solo work on the map, but it was the follow-up albums, Wakin on a Pretty Daze and B’lieve I’m Goin Down…, that cemented Vile’s place as one of the best songwriters of the decade.

The latter album opened with ‘Pretty Pimpin”, a track which showcases Vile’s extraordinary approach to guitar music. Where Granduciel is akin to Bob Dylan, perhaps Vile is the Neil Young equivalent, and ‘Pretty Pimpin” is undoubtedly in the vein of the great Canadian folk-rock musician’s output. The track is a real head-bopper, perfect for walking through the woods on a cold but crisp autumn afternoon. Always a fan of a big, self-indulgent guitar solo, Vile puts it to one side for a moment and lets the pure songwriting do the talking.

32. ‘This Is America’ – Childish Gambino (2018)

If this list were celebrating the best music videos of the decade, then Childish Gambino’s final foray into music before officially returning to his Donald Glover moniker would be right at the top. A song released during the melee of Donald Trump and the subsequent escalation of racial tensions provides a potent view of what’s to come.

Winning a handful of exclusive Grammys at the 2019 event, the song was a showcase of marketing and political messaging. Built out with ad-libs and a truly provocative video, Glover released the song as he was both host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

31. ‘Sweetheart, I Ain’t Your Christ’ – Josh T. Pearson (2011)

Texan musician Josh T. Pearson’s reputation precedes him, with the late Mark Lanegan lauding him as “a one-of-a-kind artist” and Elbow’s Guy Garvey describing him as “the greatest male vocalist of our time”. Lanegan was bang on the money with his description, as there really is no one like Pearson. There’s also substance to Garvey’s claim.

Although Pearson’s work with cult indie heroes Lift to Experience is great, it’s as a solo artist where he’s really shone. His masterwork is the extensive and utterly bleak cut ‘Sweetheart, I Ain’t Your Christ’ from 2011. Pearson’s voice, bleak lyrics and expressive acoustic guitar work do the talking in it. In many ways, this is the ultimate break-up song, channelling the utter despair we’ve all experience at one point or another. Have the tissues ready.

30. ‘Pressure to Party’ – Julia Jacklin

“Pressure to party, gonna stay in/ nothing good can come from me drinking”. And with just the first two lines, Julia Jacklin tears down any romantic notions of going out and getting f*cked up. Articulating the anxieties that come with trying to follow the right way to react after a breakup, Jacklin rallies against friends, family, or anyone else who might be trying to push her out of her room in ‘Pressure to Party’.

Behind a rave-up backing track that throws guitars, fuzz bass, and cowbells into the mix, Jacklin makes a case for living your life on your own terms, no matter what the prevailing logic might say. It’s an anthem for individuality and autonomy wrapped up in one of the decade’s catchiest three-minute rock songs. Not partying has never felt so much fun.

29. ‘All the Rage Back Home’ – Interpol (2014)

Interpol was against the wall in the early 2010s. Bassist Carlos D had left after the group’s self-titled 2010 release, and the group took an extended hiatus as the remaining band remembers decided to pick up the pieces and continue on. Four years later, with singer/guitarist Paul Banks substituting on bass, Interpol made one of the most impressive comeback records of the decade. The first taste anyone got of the renewed group was ‘All the Rage Back Home.’

The most immediately cut from El Pintor, ‘Rage’ combines all the band’s best elements while signalling a direction for the future without one of its essential elements. Carlos D will most likely never return, but Interpol has made it clear that not only do they don’t need him to create incredible indie rock, but they might also even be better off without him.

28. ‘Shut Up, Kiss Me’ – Angel Olsen (2016)

Four chords and a killer chorus. That’s all it takes to make a great song, and Angel Olsen used every last drop of that efficiency in the decade’s most yearning and paranoid love song, ‘Shut Up, Kiss Me’.

Starting off stark, the tune climaxes in intensity as Olsen shouts her lyrics in a blend of desperation and devotion that conveys the complications of a whirlwind romance. Rollicking rock and roll only had its brief moments in the 2010s, and Olsen doesn’t dip into the genre very much. But at its best, rock and roll is angry and anguished, pushing back against everything that caused those negative feelings in the first place. By that logic, Angel Olsen is the best rock and roll songwriter in the world right now. “If I’m out of sight, then take another look around” is the kind of rebuke that any great writer would have loved to come up with. It’s simple, direct, and venomous, just like all of Olsen’s music.

27. ‘N****s in Paris’ – Jay-Z and Kanye West (2012)

Two of rap’s biggest names, Kanye West and Jay Z teamed up for a collaborative album in 2011 called Watch the Throne. The project was widely praised by critics for its decadence and audacious nature, with lyrical explorations of wealth, success and race. The album features singles such as ‘No Church in the Wild’ (featuring Frank Ocean), ‘Otis’ and ‘Lift Off’ (with Beyoncé). However, Watch the Throne’s greatest cut is ‘N****s in Paris’, built around a synth loop taken from a Dirty South Bangaz music library.

The track won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song, solidifying its status as an instant hit. Through a menacing beat, static-sounding snare and lyrics dripping with swagger, such as “Doctors say I’m the illest because I’m suffering from realness,” the pair create an unforgettable track. There is even an unexpected sample from the film Blades of Glory, with Will Ferrell’s character saying, “No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative.”

26. ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ – Tame Impala (2012)

Kevin Parker and Tame Impala have permeated modern music. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed across all genres to think of an artist whose influence has been more widespread. From the resurgence of psychedelia to the bedroom-bound feel of Billie Eilish and others, Tame Impala’s sound is everywhere. Their production knack is so on point that you can hear when others are imitating it, so much so that you could almost dub something Impala-esque, ala Lynchian.

Best of all, their various elements came right to the fore with this Lonerism classic. The measured bass sound rattles your bones from the start, the atmosphere is transformative, and Parker’s appreciation of topline melodies allows the toes to tap along nicely. It’s an epic that’ll never age because its appeal is timeless. Is it their best work? We’ll leave that musing up to you.

25. ‘Cooking Up Something Good’ – Mac Demarco (2012)

Mac DeMarco’s impact on indie music over the 2010s is hard to underestimate. His lo-fi approach to production spawned a whole generation of wannabes, but nobody could do it like Mac. ‘Cooking Up Something Good’ is the perfect distillation of his chain-smoking, slacker persona, which could make even the bleakest day feel fine, but the track also has a darker truth hidden to it too.

During the chorus, ‘Cooking Up Something Good’ transforms from this blissful number into something deeper and meaningful. DeMarco unloads about his traumatic childhood and how he attempted to cope with the chaos around him.

On the live version of the track from Live & Acoustic, Vol 1., DeMarco can be heard at the end of the song saying, “Thank you, that song is about my dad’s methamphetamine habit.” While he often presents himself as a goofy clown, who doesn’t have a care in the world, ‘Cooking Up Something Good’ shows the serious side of the singer-songwriter who is also unafraid to tackle tough topics.

24. ‘Paradise Circus’ – Massive Attack (2010)

Just entering the 2010s by the skin of their teeth were Bristol’s trip-hop pioneers, Massive Attack. They released their fifth album, Heligoland, in February 2010, marking a solid return to form following 2003’s underwhelming 100th Window. The album as a unit is a well-balanced update on the band’s sound and, in our eyes, deserves the appreciation Blue Lines, Protection and Mezzanine still attract to this day.

Heligoland boasts collaborations with Damon Albarn, Adrian Utley, Guy Garvey, Martina Topley-Bird and Tunde Adebimpe, but its salient moment came courtesy of Mazzy Star singer Hope Sandoval. ‘Paradise Circus’ is a perfectly composed single and never fails to raise the neck hairs with its rapturous orchestral outro. It has since been treated to remixes, and alternative takes in collaboration with Burial, Gui Boratto and Breakage.

23. ‘Archie, Marry Me’ – Alvvays (2014)

Something was bubbling up in Canada during the late 2000s. Artists like Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Drake were becoming beloved mainstream fixtures, while legacy acts like Neil Young and Rush continued to put out career-defining albums. But leave it to an indie pop band from Prince Edward Island to create the greatest song from any Great White Northerner in the 2010s.

Indie bands made their bones by keeping their feelings hidden under giant Parka jackets and ironic cigarettes, but Alvvays took the opposite approach, embracing grand gestures of emotion and pairing them with rapid guitar lines, synths, and poppy hooks. Anthems weren’t generally their thing; instead, songs about doomed relationships, college life, and childhood memories gave off an erudite, bookish, and somewhat twee air about them. But they had one song on their fantastic debut album where the relationships weren’t tragic, the domestic life was blissful, and the memories were just beginning.

‘Archie, Marry Me’ is just so simple. It’s five chords, two verses, a bridge, and an absolute monster of a chorus that elevates you every time you hear it. The sentiment is big and gooey and grand. It’s all there in the title: forget the floral arrangements, the complications, and the detractors. Marry me, Archie. That’s it. That’s all you need. Sometimes love can really just be that easy. Alvvays put out one more album of delectable indie pop before embarking on an extended, currently in progress, hiatus. Maybe one day they’ll return from hibernation, but if their legacy rests solely on ‘Archie, Marry Me’, then that would be enough to make them legends.

22. ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ – Gotye ft. Kimbra (2011)

The 2010s showed that the lines between genres were going to get incredibly blurry. Can folk, pop, and world music be wrapped up in an art rock package and still hit big? With a production as unique as ‘Somebody That I Used to Know,’ that would be a resounding yes. Cleverly turning the breakup song into a two-person dialogue, Gotye and Kimbra trade lines and melodies in a swirl of beautifully pent-up anger while xylophones, marching drums, and twitchy keyboards keep the atmosphere icy and tense.

Hopping up an octave, Gotye explodes into a chorus that every heartbroken person could shout from their car. While 2011 was full of celebratory anthems, Gotye crafted a bitter kiss-off that turned out to be his masterpiece.

21. ‘Shark Smile’ – Big Thief (2017)

Big Thief have wiped the etch-a-sketch of modern music clean since they arrived. They made humble folk sounds seem huge and suddenly pushed the emerging genre towards the main stage. Untethered by any notion of adhering to a particular lane, their sound wanders but remains eternally melodic. It’s as though each member brings a record from their collection, and the sound coalesces in unison.

With Last Waltz energy in the mix, Big Thief have a grand quality that proves captivating. ‘Shark Smile’ has the beautiful ability to illuminate life. It tells you something without yelling it — it has a story to tell. The subject matter might seem small in the traditional musical sense of things, but down the years, you often realise the small things were actually very big–this sepia-toned anthem encapsulates that bittersweet reality.

20. ‘All Mirrors’ – Angel Olsen (2019)

It’s fair to say that Angel Olsen has been on a musical journey throughout her career. She’s traversed the dangerous peaks of synth-pop, meandered through the possible pain of rock and roll riots, and all from her warm folk basecamp. On her 2019 album All Mirrors, she excelled even further, with the titular track quickly seen as one of the best of her astounding career.

It’s hard to disagree. While much of Olsen’s fandom was likely scooped up during her singer/songwriter, power-pop sashaying on MY WOMAN, this album reflects her growth as an artist, and human, so much more clearly. This is Angel Olsen’s move from an interesting act to an undeniably talented artist. The textured and touched sonics work so beautifully with her lyrical content that it would feel a shame to remove the orchestral arrangements which provide so much buoyancy.

19. ‘Desire Lines’ – Deerhunter (2010)

Deerhunter consistently delivered a steady stream of excellent guitar tunes throughout the 2010s. They kicked off the decade with their fifth studio album Halcyon Digest. Conceptually, it explored the nature of memories, and the band’s frontman, Bradford Cox, wrote: “The album’s title is a reference to a collection of fond memories and even invented ones. The way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that’s kind of sad.”

Undoubtedly, one of the album’s best songs is its sixth track, ‘Desire Lines’, which begins with several iconic and well-crafted guitar riffs. Nostalgia is at the fore across the album and is particularly evident in ‘Desire Lines’. Listening to the tune even today is reminiscent of the days of yore spent with no responsibility and not a care in the world. Bradford Cox sings: “When you were young, your excitement showed. But as time goes by, is it outgrown? Is that the way things go? Forever reaching for the gold?” Timeless.

18. ‘Thinkin’ Bout You’ – Frank Ocean (2012)

The idea of the mainstream musical auteur was nearly extinct this decade. Culture was simply too impatient, too recycled, and too ADD to let anyone grow and mature into a completely unique figure who could make their career happen on their own terms, no matter how long the spaces in between were. At least, that’s what we thought. Then came Frank Ocean.

Coming to prominence as the hook singer in rap collective Odd Future, Ocean was able to personify all the harshest feelings of love and loss that were universally understood but rarely said out loud. What do you do when you’ve invested all you have in someone that won’t give the same back? You deny it, you lie to yourself, you act like you don’t care, and you go through turmoil. But you’re still unrequited. You’re still empty.

Ocean was the poet laureate of heartbreak in the 2010s, and he never worried about staying visible in pop culture with constant output or frequent promotional pushes.

17. ‘River’ – Leon Bridges (2015)

American soul singer Leon Bridges possesses a fine voice. It is so warm and potent that it channels the likes of Marvin Gaye and Al Green, which is not a lazy assertion. His relatively short back catalogue is brimming with moments of such profound beauty that it is hard to argue against the claim that he is one of the outstanding talents of his generation.

Whilst the likes of ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Smooth Sailin” are both timeless, and his recent work with Khruangbin is great, Bridges’ best moment comes in the form of ‘River’, the closer of his 2015 debut Coming Home. Evoking gospel music and classic soul, there’s a transcendental essence to the song that never fails to strike at the heart. Speaking of his mother’s wishes to surrender to the good lord, you also want to give yourself up to him. His name is Leon Bridges, and ‘River’ is his gospel.

16. ‘Breezeblocks’ – Alt-J (2012)

Released in 2012 as a single for Alt-J’s debut studio album, An Awesome Wave, ‘Breezeblocks’ has become the Leeds band’s most recognisable hit. Although Joe Newman’s distinctive vocals are not to everyone’s taste, they work perfectly on ‘Breezeblocks’, conveying an anxious and offbeat sentiment paralleling the desperate and violent lyrical pleas. The singer said, “The song is about liking someone who you want so much that you want to hurt yourself and them.”

He continued, “We related that idea to Where The Wild Things Are, which we all grew up reading, where in the end the beasts say ‘Oh, please don’t go! We’ll eat you whole! We love you so!’ That they would threaten cannibalism to have that person – it’s a powerful image.” The folk-inspired indie pop track is driven by a pummeling drum beat, ending in a build-up of melodic backing vocals, making it one of British indie’s most memorable moments of the past decade.

15. ‘Motion Sickness’ – Phoebe Bridgers (2015)

Calling out your sh*tty ex is one of pop music’s greatest traditions, and it’s even better when everyone knows exactly who you’re talking about. But this entry isn’t about Ryan Adams; it’s about Phoebe Bridgers and her melancholic kiss-off that translated into one of the decade’s best songs: ‘Motion Sickness’.

Like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks before her, Bridgers is complete cellophane, letting us look right into the pain and confusion that comes with emotional manipulation. Those emotions come in an icy cool production of hazy drums and floating harmonies, disguising a vitriolic f*ck you as a poppy dance song. But what Bridgers gave us was more than a pop song: it was a highly personal turn that signalled a changing of the guard. Adams may have been in a band when she was born, but Bridgers owns the next generation.

14. ‘Seventeen’ – Sharon Van Etten (2019)

In 2019, New Jersey singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten released her fifth studio album, Remind Me Tomorrow. The immersive lyrics explore a range of deep emotions with atmospheric tranquillity and intense synth-driven ecstasy. The album marks a career-high for Etten and offers a bounty of candidates for this list. For us, the poignant, reflective and musically unique ‘Seventeen’ scrapes the ceiling.

The reflective lyrics consider the freedom and hope of youth as Etten flows through ruminating verse with periodic climaxes of intense yearning. In a 2019 press release, Etten described the track as “the chain reaction, of moving to a city bright-eyed and hearing the elders complain about the city changing, and then being around long enough to know what they were talking about.” ‘Seventeen’ is the most powerfully relatable track in Etten’s armoury and embodies all of her greatest attributes as an artist.

13. ‘Bros’ – Wolf Alice (2015)

London quartet Wolf Alice became one of the decade’s top bands with spectacular songs and powerhouse live shows. The group also spent a fair chunk of that decade confusing record shop owners with their diverse range of everything from grunge to folk and indie pop, perhaps their best song ‘Bros’ fell under the latter.

The band take their name from Angela Carter’s novel about a coming-of-age story for young girls, which seems entirely fitting as Wolf Alice displayed the purest of innocence with the desire for guilt. As formed by Ellie Roswell and Joff Oddie, Wolf Alice has often been described as ‘grunge folk’, and with Roswell pulling the beauty from the melody and Oddie bringing the edge, Wolf Alice is a fearsome foursome.

‘Bros’ is a light-hearted, summer-filled song of dependence and trust. The diversity that Wolf Alice brings is clear, as Roswell noted: “I’m always a fan of bands who never write the same song twice.” I imagine they will create plenty more head-scratching as people attempt to place them in a category.
As quintessentially English as this band may seem, Roswell has an innate ability to paint a hauntingly beautiful picture with her vocals and Oddie’s scarring guitar backed by a fearful rhythm section.

12. ‘Heavy Pop’ – Wu Lyf (2011)

A few people may question the inclusion of Wu-Lyf’s song ‘Heavy Pop’ on this list. While the wildly popular band grabbed headlines for being as elusive as they were in demand – something that would eventually lead to the group’s premature demise – they also delivered some stellar singles alongside mind-boggling live performances. But the contention comes with the date. This song was originally released in 2009 but given a makeover in 2011, so we’ll use that release as our entry.

The closing track of the band’s debut LP, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain the song had a beautifully delicate piano intro before exploding into something much bigger. Masculine energy permeated much of what the band did, and a maniacal vocal makes this song feel particularly wild. As the competing elements of the song vie for attention, the cacophony of noise is a good reminder of the great band we lost too soon.

11. ‘Destroyed By Hippie Powers’ – Carseat Headrest (2016)

Being a kid sucks. Whether you’re 12 or 26, the constant need to be cool, the compulsion to party as if your life depends on it, and the pressure to enjoy as much of it as you can before it’s gone can be overwhelming. Sometimes you just want to give it up and go home to your mother’s house when you lose your friends and the drugs hit in the worst ways. This is the background that Will Toledo has built his entire career around.

Toledo, the somewhat nerdy, taciturn leader of Car Seat Headrest, created a style unlike anyone else in the 2010s and became, in a somewhat unlikely fashion, one of the biggest rockstars of the decade. Combining fuzz guitars, sardonic wit, and a drugged-out storytelling structure that could push songs well past the ten-minute mark, Toledo took rock music to heights rarely seen in the decade where attention spans were shorter than ever. The dynamic rock of Pixies and Nirvana had found a fresh voice. Once he backed himself up with a full band and a professional studio, his genius became fully realised.

It’s all there on ‘Destroyed by Hippie Powers’, where the mumbly Toledo gets to scream his disgust at the pointlessness of lame college house parties. It became a rallying cry against “cool” while still being the coolest thing out there. There’s not a single song this decade that can match its ferocious intensity. Guitar bands were on a steady decline in the 2010s, but Toledo almost single-handedly brought the potent mix of distortion and anthemic choruses back in vogue.

10. ‘Alright’ – Kendrick Lamar (2016)

Sometimes songs are more than just songs. Due to the cultural context that picks them up and swallows them whole, some songs transcend their modest roots and take on the kind of status that gets them talked about in history textbooks. Now inextricably linked to the Black Lives Matter movement that codified its message into a rallying cry, ‘Alright’ is what Kendrick Lamar will be remembered for in the decades to come.

The song itself is a propulsive force that holds on to optimism in the darkest of scenarios, but like all great art, it became something else once the people got a hold of it. For all the anger and unrest that have (rightfully) fuelled protests around the world, there’s something comforting and uplifting about ‘Alright’ being the torchbearer song. It reminds all of us that no matter what happens, no matter how dark it might get, we’re still going to be alright.

The most legendary rapper of the past 20 years gave us a message that will live well past our own expiration dates, likely fueling the fires of our socially conscious allies for years to come.

9. ‘Too Real’ – Fontaines D.C. (2019)

One band that emerged quickly out of the blocks as a generational talent near the end of the decade was Fontaines D.C. The group are built on a poetic post-punk ethos that rarely disappoints, and on their record Dogrel, the group provided a blueprint for their mammoth success and wild influence.

The sheer post-punk pandemonium the band caused with the 2019 spring release was cause for hopeful anticipation for a genre-defining record. Luckily, Fontaines D.C. wasn’t going to let us down. Much more protest-full than earlier in the decade, as we now cringe at all that Biffy Clyro and The Fratellis nonsense. Urgency is at the fore of punk again, and if you can play Joy Division-esque riffs like that on ‘Too Real’ — the group’s best effort of the year.

Ripped through with structure, ferocity and eloquent delivery, production is rough around the edges and cynically simple. With supremely supported sell-out gigs attended by a fevered audience, Fontaines D.C should look to build on the fortune mined in the previous decade to make this one more special than ever. ‘Too Real’ is just one more reason to fall for this band.

8. ‘Pedestrian At Best’ – Courtney Barnett (2015)

When she originally started out, Courtney Barnett was playing in tiny clubs around Melbourne without any signs of breaking out past the land down under. In only about five years’ time, she was releasing her debut album worldwide, playing in large venues, and appearing on national television. Not bad for a former pizza delivery girl.

All that success could go to one’s head, but Barnett decided to go the opposite direction with ‘Pedestrian at Best’. Through three stream-of-consciousness verses, she jumps from braggadocio to self-deprecation to sh*tting on the music industry with a speed and fury that often has more in common with rap than it does indie rock.

Layers of fuzzed-out guitar and a constant deadpan affection belies the humour that Barnett brings to the track, taking cracks at everything and everyone: Freud, daylight savings, star signs. It all serves the impeccable punk spitfire that is Courtney Barnett, who beats out surprisingly stiff competition as Australia’s greatest export of the 2010s.

7. ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ – LCD Soundsystem (2010)

Everyone needs a banger. One song that is guaranteed to take you to a different place the moment you hear it. Leave it to an ageing misanthrope from New York to provide the most giddily indulgent and wildest banger of the decade. James Murphy, the resident music geek, knows how a good dance floor song rises and drops, so he takes it to the very limit: nine minutes of rising tension, dynamic shifts, and ecstatic release that pairs punk and disco into something otherworldly.

The first three minutes are just anticipation, and when the live drums come crashing in for the first time, it’s like stepping into the coolest party on the planet.

That one moment was good enough to catapult Murphy from a grumpy indiehead to an iconic frontman. It all got a little too big, so Murphy pulled the plug on the band’s first iteration at the height of their powers with a farewell gig at Madison Square Garden, the last “you had to be there” moment of the 2000s indie rock boom.

The show has a number of memorable moments, but none are more transcendent than seeing an entire stadium go ape sh*t all at once during that first drop in ‘Dance Yrself Clean’.

6. ‘My Kind of Woman’ – Mac DeMarco (2012)

While he may have been meme’d out of existence in any real capacity in the 2020s, Mac DeMarco was a tour de force when he arrived in earnest with his 2012 album 2. The record was a delightful mix of irreverent guitar jamming and the kind of stoner rock that would litter college dorm rooms across America. But while DeMarco always had a glimmer of a smile on his face, it was when he turned his attention to love, and most importantly, love songs, that he really shined.

‘My Kind of Woman’ is the type of song that, if Neil Young wrote it, would be celebrated as one of the greatest of all time. Simple, sweet and honest, it typified a reflection of DeMarco’s character that he rarely showed.

A lot of speculation about the origins of this song, but the overwhelming acceptance appears to be DeMarco’s muse and long-term girlfriend, Kiera McNally. In what feels like a direct dialogue between the two, DeMarco sings, “You’re my, my, my, my kind of woman,” before adding: “My, oh my, what a girl”. Later, some genius had the idea of adding the track to the iconic Jean-Luc Godard film Masculin Féminin, and the results are spectacular.

Whichever way you listen to it, ‘My Kind of Woman’ is a song that will be hanging around in the speakers of generations to come, not as a smash-hit nor a hard-rocking anthem, but as a cult classic. Mac DeMarco is scheduled to be revered within the next few decades, so get on board now.

5. ‘Seasons’ – Future Islands (2014)

Future Islands are, in many ways, an unlikely success story. On paper, they don’t make much sense, a frontman who looks like the love child of Henry Rollins and David Brent with a dance style inherited from the latter, a penchant for ’80s synth sounds and almost no guitars in sight. However, with the release of the 2014 album Singles – particularly the leading track ‘Seasons (waiting on you)’ – and helped by a performance on David Letterman, Future Islands became one of the most interesting bands in recent years.

Seemingly appearing from nowhere and earning themselves a level of popularity and credibility almost instantaneously, Future Islands have provided some of the strongest pop music in a particularly competitive field. Though ostensibly an overnight sensation, the reality proved in excess of a decade of hard work, which saw the Baltimore-based quartet reach their current level of commercial success, honing their craft over the course of three previous albums as well as numerous musical side projects.

However, the band likely peaked with their truly inspirational song ‘Seasons’ and that performance on Letterman. Sometimes musical moments can swell through the grass of a generation, lifting the ground to new expectations and other moments hit like meteorites, this song, and that performance, was most certainly the latter.

4. ‘Video Games’ – Lana Del Rey (2012)

Lana Del Rey is one of the most celebrated musicians to have emerged over the last decade. The singer-songwriter has carved herself a niche in music like no other in contemporary pop music. It has seen the esteemed artist become a certified festival headliner the world over. Listening back to the defining moment of her career, ‘Video Games’ proves why she has become a modern-day icon.

Lana Del Rey’s journey began with her independent Lana Del Ray album in 2010, a record which arrived before the artist changed her stage name from ‘Ray’ to ‘Rey’ and, since 2012’s Born To Die, she has been on an unstoppable path to stardom.

The stand-out track on Born To Die, which introduced a large portion of her fanbase to her work, is the irresistibly beautiful, ‘Video Games’. The song plucked her out of relative obscurity, helping her on her way to becoming the international sensation she is today. Her breakout song was not just a sensation with critics but was an even bigger commercial hit across Europe.

‘Video Games’ reached number one in Germany as well as top ten positions in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, which set Del Rey’s career into the stratosphere. Suddenly, the world became her oyster. The track is unarguably one of the finest singles of the 2010s and managed to establish her as one of the defining artists of the era.

3. ‘Don’t Know How To Keep Lovin’ You’ – Julia Jacklin (2019)

How many breakup songs does the world need? Aren’t we all fully fed on our filling of musical love for a few hundred years now? Well, not so long as Julia Jacklin spent much of the decade finding refreshing ways to tackle it. The title of the song says it all, and it is such a simple and exacting concept that it hits home with the same peculiar reality as it would if we only just discovered the wheel a week ago.

The caustic side of a breakup can often prove so cutting that it has endlessly been poured over by professional songwriters in a raging war against “happily ever after” since the guitar was invented. However, in truth, that brutal severance period proves somewhat fleeting, and it’s the uncomfortable parting of the final lingering threads that Jacklin tackles in such a way that it seems like the first time anyone has ever put their finger on it.

The reality that the song looks at is: When a relationship is done, it is done. It’s not like leaving home; you can’t just pop back when you miss it, or you realise you left a hoody behind. And when you’re on your next one, you can’t just say to your new interest, “Sorry, I’ll be back in a minute, just going to ring my ex and tell them I still really like them at heart,” it’s simply not the done thing. Thus, Julia Jacklin mourns the lost friends, out-of-bounds pubs and places mired in bad memories that come with an otherwise amicable split.

It was a defining moment in Jacklin’s career and showcased her wild talents not only as one of the purest vocalists of the modern set but as a supreme songwriter, able to capture the beauty of pain as the horrendous scarring it leaves behind.

2. ‘Danny Ndelko’ – IDLES (2018)

It’s been a long time since any kind of artistic movement took root in Britain. Sure, there have been trends and styles, but rarely has a band captured a slice of the nation as IDLES did with their stunning 2018 record Joy As An Act Of Resistance. The album was the definition of a new kind of thinking: positive punk.

Some of the topics Joe Talbot and Co. took on within that record may be of the buzzword variety, but they approach them with a genuine dog in the fight, an earnest axe to grind, and with every track, that axe glints a little sharper. One of these touchpoints, as well as Brexit and social class issues, is immigration.

Expertly crafted, they demonstrate the nonsense of anti-immigration rhetoric in their quality song ‘Danny Nedeiko’. Named after their Ukrainian friend, the song is deeply rooted in trying to gain the attention of the working class. The chorus, in particular, rings out like so many classic chants do, with simplicity, truth and poetry.

Joe Talbot told Q of the song: “There’s no confusion in that song; there’s no artistic prowess. It’s not saying, ‘You voted for Brexit, so you’re a racist.’ It’s just, ‘I love immigrants.’ And because it’s so simple, a lot of people will think I’m stupid. I know that. I know that people will criticize me for it. But what I want to do is to be as vulnerable as possible, to open up my feelings in the song to encourage the listener to feel like they can be vulnerable with us.”

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of IDLES performing live and witnessed the swell of humanity that permeates such events, then you’ll know ‘Danny Ndelko’ to be the crux of that sentiment, the most memorable scene and the jewel in their crown.

1. ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ – Arctic Monkeys (2013)

Throughout the Arctic Monkeys’ back catalogue, the band have boldly adhered to a mantra of constant evolution. It would have been easy for the Sheffield scoundrels to ride the blazing trail of their explosive debut until the flames fizzled out. Instead, they whisked their creative maelstrom into the studio and moulded it into an unfurling tapestry of different tales and textures.

From the swampy shrouded world of Humbug to the moonscape lounge of Tranquillity Base, where postmodernist novelistic techniques mingle at the bar with the same acerbic wit, Alex Turner has always sported, and a sonic martini of range recorded Hamilton Leithauser music shot into space— their trampoline laurels are not for resting on, just rebounding the creative muse into something new.

However, the band is never more swashbuckling than when they have their hands firmly gripped around their instruments. A group capable of playing to opera houses and dive bars in the same set is a band that deservedly defines the decade, and ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ is easily the best song of their era.

Turner is a songwriter who understands the ways of the world and man, and he has the talent to illuminate these home truths in song and cast them in the golden hue of lustrous wordplay. On any given record that he has been part of, there’s a slew of psychological introspections that prick a nodding ear. Quite often, these shrewd observations are about the relationship between a handheld device and alcohol, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that he’s clearly a man with his finger on the pulse, ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ is one such song.

Constructed sparsely, instruments slow dance in the background as Turner croons hardboiled Raymond Chandler-esque home truths about nights being made to say the things that scuttle away in the gaudy light of day. Sleek and assured, this fresh era welcomed many new fans into their realm with good reason: it had more sex appeal than the History Channel’s view of Cleopatra and left the same legacy in the process.

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