The songs of 2020
It's easy for 2020 to feel like a stagnant year for music. We were all dealing with COVID-19, and it made sense that there just more important things to think about. But what would 2020 be without all of the music that helped accompany our late nights in lockdown, figuring ourselves out and getting by with the changing routines of work? As we continued to stay at home, I continued to look inward at the music that I knew would never fail me. At the same time, I was using music to escape from my current environment, listening to more beats that gave me the same feelings of going out, dancing with friends, and having fun.
Every year I've kept my tradition to compile and select the music that mattered to me. This year felt more important than ever. What does a year plagued with so much change and uncertainty sound like? How does the radio define itself amongst staying in and not meeting others? The following are in no specific order, but I've kept my last song as the epitome of what I think 2020 has been.
Finally // beautiful stranger - Halsey
It starts with Halsey, the featured singer from Boy With Luv that continued to bleed into my streams in early 2020. When my friend Brandon introduced me to her album, this song was the record that stayed with me.
It's the guitar songwriting sensibility that really attracted me, paying homage to the Taylor Swift and John Mayer songwriting I've come to love and enjoy. The vocals seem to register in that sweet spot where it's palpable enough to sing in the shower without making use of so much falsetto.
This song reminds me of 2020 in its early months, a time before COVID-19 where things were mostly focused around work and relationships. It felt stable and laidback, much like the beat herelse
Minsu is confused - Minsu
I discovered Minsu from Discover Weekly in early April. This was about the time when things were getting serious with the pursuit of lockdowns and social distancing. It was 12:30 in the evening and everyone was mostly asleep. I've gone accustomed to staying up alone at night, the kind of peace I've enjoyed this year.
In the main chorus, Minsu sings "I don't know how I feel all day long" with a bassline riff that repeats over and over. I love the way she uses an electric guitar to put some colour to the chorus at the end, just before she transitions into the verse. There's nothing complicated about this song at all, and I think that's what makes it comforting and easy to listen.
Countless days have been filled with this track in the background. Of lazy days in bed, strolling the internet, taking long showers. And with that, the song's made this year a bit better.
Say So - Doja Cat
There's nothing like a simple funky beat to remind yourself it's the weekend. Say So was introduced to me by my good friend Brandon who shared it on his Instagram. It was the kind of discovery that was too ordinary, in between bus stops and in the midst of commuting.
Doja Cat probably made one of the catchiest songs of my 2020. All it took was a simple bassline (similar to Minsu, I seem to have a weakness for bassline riffs) and chorus to win me over. I couldn't help but compare this to my first experience listening to Super Bass. It was a surprise, that great discovery of a new artist putting some fresh mixture of pop and rap that showed her own voice without ever denying it.
I've listened to this song way too many times. I'm surprised no one's complained until now. And ten months later, it's still a solid record to put on repeat.
MORE & MORE - TWICE
I've been a fan of TWICE for quite some time now. They made a great debut with Like Ooh-Ahh and continued to pop up in my yearly playlists and shortlisted highlights.
But after five years, MORE & MORE became a song that really demonstrated a change of time for them. There's a certain kind of maturity in this track's songwriting and production, paying more attention to more melancholic melodies and saving the pop for the chorus. There's a lot of repetition here, but it never makes it feel less strategic or a total copout. And you can hear elements of Julia Michaels who helped co-wrote the song, which probably explains the different tone.
MORE & MORE was released when the entire world was in the middle of a lockdown. And I can remember listening to it, dancing to it, and watching the reactions on YouTube go wild. It's a mature and fun track.
Telephone - EXO-SC
The last time EXO was featured in my annual playlists was their group hit Growl back in 2013. That was seven years ago. This year Sehun and Chanyeol made a sub-group and released a track that ended up to be so distantly memorable, I just had to put it in this year's playlist.
Telephone is the kind of song that probably was never meant to be given any kind of critical attention. But in the context of 2020, Telephone gave us a sense of nostalgia that we all craved. The duo would always feature harmony in their melodies, and it's always fun to pick up and hear. The final third of the record pivots to a more soulful outro, singing "I hate your telephone".
And isn't that brilliant? As 2020 continued to fill our lives with screens and multiple devices, here's a song that thought it might do you good by coming to terms with how technology breaks us, and define us, all at the same time.
Modern Loneliness - Lauv
This year was a tough year for everyone mentally. 2020 for me was a year of coming to terms with the toxicity of workplace culture, letting go of my ambition, and pursuing a profession I only just discovered last year. Lauv's Modern Loneliness perfectly embodies this entire experience.
My favourite part of this song is the chorus. The lyrics are clear and contradicting, telling us that we "love to get high, but we don't know how to come down". The track begins with Lauv and his piano, but it ends with an entire chorus of singers. An anthem of emotional repair and resilience.
And I was singing along. I was singing with Lauv and his gospel because I too felt the need to recognise the emotional difficulty we all were facing. Modern Loneliness will continue to be a song that reflects what it means to endure 2020 - a frightening year that took away what we thought we could expect. We're never alone, but we're always depressed.
Levitating - Dua Lipa
Most weekends, I just want to listen to a track that's fun and makes me dance. Something groovy that helps me slip away from reality for a brief moment - enough for me to escape and have fun. Levitating was just the track for me.
Dua Lipa's sophomore album is absolutely incredible. She creates an experience that takes you back just enough for you to jump into the future. Levitating takes the cues of old-school clap Disco, but infuses new sounds to recognise that it's happening today. The rhythm of her melody is perfect, it's the best part of her songwriting.
I love listening to Levitating before a good night out or when hanging out with friends. The song invites a good time, something that we all needed as we managed our way into 2020.
eight - IU featuring Suga
I've always been a big fan of both IU and Suga (who just happens to be my bias for BTS). Since Palette IU has made songs that carry so much more weight. And with Suga's recent D-2 album release, we're starting to see a more confident side of his musical pursuits. And so when we heard that they'd be collaborating, the entire industry waited, and waited.
Eight gives a wonderful first impression of being an uplifting and upbeat record. The guitars are bright and shiny, the melody bounces around like a seesaw. But reading the lyrics and you find out that she's "lost everything", yearning to "forever meet you in this memory". There have been rumours that the song was written about late Sulli who committed suicide last year.
The song captures the duality of 2020, and of life itself. The idea that pictures give memories that might feel empty. The longing that goodbyes can be unpredictable and finite. Another reason that makes this song so complex for me was how I shared the song with two wonderful friends on Discord. It was a beautiful moment to talk about this wonderful, bittersweet song.
Yeah, Yea, Ya - Kuko
In April, one of my close friends in America shared me this record, sung by one of his actual friend from high school. All it took was a simple weekend for me to enjoy the track and keep it playing for the rest of the year.
The chord progression is perfect, married by his dream-like instrumentation of airy guitars, second-melodies and harmonies. His lyrics take us through a stream of pristine existentialism during COVID-19, telling us we've had "better days" and exclaiming that "this ain't the private island" that he's been dreaming of.
Yeah, Yea, Ya celebrates what it means to embrace online friendships and to take life as it comes. The song is the perfect buddy to play during a lonely weekend, giving you enough melancholy to think about life and death, but not feeling so serious about it. And that's pretty much what 2020 often felt like.
Having No head - The 1975
The 1975 continues to be an artist that I regularly follow and listen to. Ever since Chocolate and Somebody Else, the band continues to provide a musical experience that isn't ashamed of combining new genres and styles. Having No Head from their 2020 album Notes on a Conditional Form is the best example.
The best part is that it's an entirely instrumental record. It starts off with a soft hum that reminds you of Chihei, followed by a lonely piano that slowly starts the melody. But a few minutes in and it becomes a dance track with solid beats to focus you in the rhythm and momentum. All of this with incredible instrumentation that's typical of The 1975: multi-layered sounds and voices, with synths and strings that love to contrast and play with itself.
Having No Head pays homage to the everlasting conflict of my musical tastes and explorations. As a listener, I often switch between slow instrumentals to loud electronic drumkits to help me get through my day. The 1975 made one of the best albums of 2020, and this record perfectly explains why.
Dynamite - BTS
BTS has had a pretty busy year. They started off with an amazing and ambitious album which included singles like Black Swan and Outro: Ego - both amazing tracks. But that was before COVID-19 shook the world, ultimately putting their global concert on a standstill as fans and communities stayed inside. That's when they released Dynamite, a song sung entirely in English to not only give some love to the world - but also push boundaries too.
Dynamite is a perfect pop song. The chorus has a hook that hits you from the first listen. The rhythm and chords basically repeat the entire way through, and there's nothing bashful about it. Everyone from the band sung the song beautiful, and it's a step up that they're putting their own Kpop flavour with the English language.
The best part was the memory of what this song brings. I was chatting with the entire Bangtan discord server as we helped BTS score 100 million YouTube views of their MV in 24 hours. It was a global effort, and that's what I love about BTS and Dynamite - they brought the whole world together to sing and dance, and have fun. What a gift.
Passion - RAC
RAC continues to be one of my favourite artists of all time. He has such an ear for instrumentation and production, from his use of strings in Let Go to his incredible interpretation of Laura Palmer. This year RAC released his latest album BOY, and out of all the tracks - Passion would be my most favourite.
It starts with his iconic drums and guitar picks, a combination I've always come to love from him. But then the song surprises you with a chorus, an uplifting mantra that reinforces what it means to enjoy what you do and why your dreams matter. I love the way he combines so much texture with just the single instrument of the guitar, it’s a talent you rarely hear from other artists.
Passion is one of the best songs of my 2020. RAC released BOY at a time when the world was in questioning - we were all reflecting about what we wanted and what we enjoyed. The song perfectly celebrates our individual ambition, empowering all those ideas and dreams that we've come to think about during late nights and lonely mornings. And with this song, he gives every ambition the right to shine forever.
this is me trying - Taylor Swift
Everyone was surprised when Taylor Swift announced her new album Folklore. She produced the album during the global pandemic, around the same time we were all figuring ourselves out and coming to terms with all the changes we had to endure and get used to. Folklore will be remembered as one of the best albums of 2020. And for me, this is me trying is the best song of my 2020.
The song feels like a constant stream of both healing and pain. With her echoed vocals, she sings of what it means to feel angry and experiencing regret. The beat is slow and steady, with a chord progression that makes us feel like amongst all the weight in the world, we're still able to carry on and step forward. And her lyrics are bare, telling us that she "didn't pour the whiskey" and after all - "this is me trying".
Through her song this is me trying, Taylor Swift perfectly captures the struggles and triumph of experiencing 2020. The song gives us hope that even after so much pain, there is power in acknowledging our small wins and efforts. We've experienced a lot this year, and we might be too afraid to admit it. But this song will continue to be my anthem for 2020. A calling that whatever our troubles may be, there is strength in enduring.