Already halfway through the 2020s, isn't that great?! I mean, I'm glad we made it passed those first few years of the decade, but maybe it's cool if it slows down a little bit now. Throughout the past 5 years, music has been seeing a shift, and it's not quite the one I was expecting, but... even so, there were a lot of great songs released. Some are groundbreaking and others are just perfecting an already existing sound. Tons of great artists grabbed my attention for the first time, while lots of already established artists released new projects that also caught my attention in good ways. I wanted to look back at those songs that I loved the last 5 years and give them a shoutout and hopefully get people to maybe give some new artists a shot, or go back and listen to some of these great songs and albums you've heard before. So here's my personal favorite 20 songs of the last 5 years! I'm going to try to somewhat put them in order from least favorite to most favorite, but it will be harder the closer to number one I get. Obviously, I haven't listened to every single album that's come out in the last five years, so if you see a great song missing, feel free to recommend it to me. It might have been on the verge of making the list, but I'm going to have to leave out some really good songs to make this list of 20... plus a few extra bonus mentions HERE WE GO!?
A few honorable mentions:
Chapell Roan - Pink Pony Club (2023)
It's Chappell Roan, it's the Pink Pony Club, what else needs to be said?
MICHELLE - Akira (2024)
I discovered this album late in 2024, so I didn't get a lot of time with it before the year ended. It didn't take too long for the track "Akira" to become one of my favorite songs of 2024. It's one of those songs that grabs your attention from the first second with its interesting guitar intro, followed shortly by a busy bassline that really drives the song. That and the awesome vocals and signature catchy melodies by the band really make this one stand out.
Taylor Swift - August (2020)
Taylor's first new album of the decade, which would be the first of many. It still remains the best overall album by Taylor in my opinion, and most people would probably agree in saying that "August" is the standout track in this album. It's got the great lyrics you expect from Taylor, but it's got an interesting mix of sadness and hope in the music that makes it stand out. It also has one of the best bridges I can remember from a Taylor Swift song.
Remi Wolf - Toro (2024)
Another one of my favorites from last year. I hadn't heard of Remi Wolf until this album was released, and I became a fan pretty fast after hearing a few of the singles from her last album. This song (Toro) in particular really stood out as a showcase for Remi's awesome vocals. That, on top of some awesome bass and guitar work, made this a song I played repeatedly a lot.
Magdalena Bay - Killing Time (2024)
Notice a lot of songs from last year on the list. Mostly because I haven't had enough time with some of these songs to truly know if it's more recency bias or if they really do belong on the list. I think over time, these songs might have made the list, but it's hard to say with so many other good songs to have to replace. This song was another one I got to later in the year, but it also didn't take long for it to become one of my favorites of the year.
20. Amyl and the Sniffers - Hertz (2021)
Australia's own Amyl and the Sniffers have become a big name in the punk scene this decade. Back in 2021, they released a fantastic punk album called "Comfort to Me" that was full of some awesome tracks. To me, "Hertz" has always stood out in that album with its iconic bass line and rowdy energy that's hard not to join in on. Amy's energy is felt through the vocals, and it feels like she's having a blast singing this song. I think that's what I like about the band the most, the big energy you feel from every song.
19. Perfume Genius - On the Floor (2020)
Mike Hadreas found success after releasing his first album under the Perfume Genius name back in 2014. Since then, he's released lots of great music over the last 10 years. I think his best work came from the 2020 album Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, specifically the song "On the Floor". Right away, it comes in with this fantastic guitar that plays throughout the song, giving the song a nice, bright sound in the background. Mike's vocals are, of course, fantastic too, but the lyrics convey a sick feeling you get when you want someone and they don't want you back. The ending of the song is so beautiful as the music slowly fades out into this interesting strings and vocals section, which really elevates the song from great to amazing.
18. Jessie Ware - Begin Again (2023)
Jessie's 2023 album "That! Feels Good!" was my introduction to her music, and what an introduction it was. It ended up being one of my favorite albums of that year, and it's still an album I like going back to. The song "Begin Again" has this amazing big sound and feels completely different than anything I really heard back in 2023 and probably since then. Jessie's vocals are insanely good in this album, but this song really showcases her range. A song about the feeling of wanting to start over, begin anew, because you feel stuck in life or like you need something new to inspire you.
17. Carly Rae Jepsen - Psychedelic Switch (2023)
One of the most beloved pop artists of modern music, Carly doesn't miss. Proving that by releasing two fantastic albums back to back years. This song (Psychedelic Switch) is one of the best songs she's released. It's got one of the best bass lines I've heard in a pop song, and it's got really great energy, almost impossible to not want to dance to this one.
16. Vince Staples - Étouffée (2024)
One of the more recent songs on this list comes from Vince Staples' latest album, "Dark Times". One of the best albums of the decade so far, easily, but also has one of the best songs in "Etouffee." It's the best of Vince Staples with the lyricism and amazing beats and an earworm of a chorus. If you haven't heard the album, definitely go check it out, but yeah, it's just amazing.
15. Fountaines D.C. - Jackie Down The Line (2022)
A band that really took off in the last few years to become one of the more popular rock bands around. Really, it seems like the rock scene is a lot stronger over in the UK and Ireland these days than it is over here, but maybe I've just missed more of the bands around here. In 2022 the band released the album that I think really put them on the map with "Skinty Fia", which is an old Irish saying that means "Damnation of the Deer". Now, what that means exactly, I haven't a clue, but hopefully I'll find some Irish lad to help me out there. "Jackie Down The Line" is a really great song, with lyrics that are about the Irish and British relationship and the identity of people from Dublin. I like the sound of the song, it feels really original for a modern rock song, and it's got this great repetitive riff that really drives the song along.
14. Caroline Polachek - Bunny Is A Rider (2023)
One of the best pop artists of the decade dropped her best album yet in 2023. "Bunny is a Rider" is a song about being free and just doing life on your own time and having space. A chill song with a really cool bassline that's just fun to listen to over and over. It feels like a simple song, but it still has great production and, of course, great vocals.
13. Hayley Williams - Why We Ever (2020)
Taking a break from Paramore after their 2017 album "After Laughter", Hayley spent some time releasing some solo albums. It ended up being better than I would have even hoped, especially her first solo album, "Petals for Armor". It was something completely different than Paramore, felt a lot darker and moodier at times than anything she'd done to this point. Either way, it worked well with her songwriting and vocals. "Why We Ever" is a song I frequently go back to because of its interesting lyrics and music. It's a song about losing your connection to somebody, maybe they hurt you, maybe you hurt them. Missing someone so much that you forget just why you lost the connection to them in the first place.
12. The Japanese House - Sad To Breath (2023)
The Japanese House returned with only her second full-length album in 2023 after about 4 years since her first album. It was yet another hit for me as it was just as good as the first album. "Sad To Breath" is a sad song (title gives it away?) with a more hopeful sound than the lyrics give off. The song is about the struggles one feels after a relationship ends, feeling like you could have done something to save the relationship. I love how the song starts off with the slow piano and vocals and ramps up to a more upbeat pop sound after a minute. Hopefully, I won't have to wait another 4 years for another album? Please?
11. Five Iron Frenzy - Lonesome For Her Heroes (2021)
Five Iron Frenzy released their second album since reuniting in 2013, after nearly a decade away from music. This time, they release what's probably their best album they've made up to this point, with some of the best music and lyrics. The album has a lot of songs that are calling out the state of our country and American Christianity, but my favorite is "Lonesome For Her Heroes". The song is about the band's hometown of Denver, Colorado, and how frustrated they are with the city's growing prices and heavy focus on consumerism and disregard for the environment. Even though it's about Denver, it's still relatable to me and probably a lot of people in the USA these days.
10. Phoenix - Tonight (ft. Ezra Koenig) (2022)
Sometimes you just want to hear a fun song to put you in a better mood, and this song is what that is for me. A band that knows how to make catchy and danceable songs continued to make more of that in this new decade. Phoenix has been around since at least the year 2000, and they haven't stopped making great music in those 25 years. It's a fun song, but I think it might be one of those happy songs that is actually sad when you see the lyrics. I don't know, in a way, I think those are the best songs.
9. Young The Giant - Otherside (2022)
Young The Giant released a 4-part album back in 2022 called "American Bollywood," and it ended up being the best album they've released since probably their second album. It was really cool to see after a somewhat disappointing album before this one. The album has a lot of sounds and lyrics that are rooted in India and its culture, like the lead singer. Those sounds mixed with the signature Young The Giant sound made for a fantastic album. "Otherside" is my favorite from the album, but it's hard to pick because I really enjoyed a lot of the tracks. The chorus in "Otherside" is so powerful that I ended up sticking with that one. The lyrics feel like a struggle with identity and the two sides of a person trying to find balance or peace to make the best version of themselves, or at least that's how I see it. It feels very emotional, and it always gets me right in the feels when I hear it.
8. The Last Dinner Part - The Feminine Urge (2024)
This group really came out of nowhere in 2023, but man, that first single was amazing (the song Nothing Matters). I was completely excited to finally hear the full album in early 2024, and it did not disappoint. The album has this interesting, unique sound I'm not sure I've heard before. At times, it feels like a sadder album, but it has its moments of big, almost operatic sounds and epic choruses. I think the song "The Feminine Urge" has a good mix of those sadder and bigger moments, with its slower darker darker-sounding verses jumping into the big, catchy chorus. The song is meant to be about the generational trauma between the singer and her mother.
7. Bonny Light Horseman - 10,000 Miles (2020)
Bonny Light Horseman released their first album in January of 2020, very early into the start of the decade. Honestly, that album really helped get me through the first year of COVID. I probably listened to it a hundred times that first year. So many beautiful songs, but "10,000 Miles" is one of my favorite songs ever, really. I guess the only thing stopping it from being higher on this list is how it reminds me of that first year of COVID, pretty rough times. The duet vocals of Anais Mitchell and Eric D. Johnson are so amazing and just bring this nice calm over me with the slow music.
6. Silk Sonic - Smoking Out The Window (2021)
The team-up between Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak led to one of the best albums of the last 5 years. It was a charisma overlord with both artists bringing out the best in each other with awesome throwback songs to 70s-80s Soul, Funk, and R&B. "Smoking Out The Window" feels like a more comedic song about how the guys are in a relationship where they're spending tons of money on their girls and their kids. Ultimately, the relationship doesn't work out, so they are angry/sad about all the time that was wasted and having to be single again. It always makes me laugh when Paak says the line "not to be dramatic, but I wanna die". It's just a funny song with fantastic music and even better vocals.
5. Paramore - Big Man, Little Dignity (2023)
Two years ago, Paramore made their big comeback after taking a break for about 5 years or so. While Hayley Williams released a few albums in that time, even made a song on this list back at number 13, I was still hoping the band would eventually return. They released "This Is Why" in 2023, and it was a completely different album than anything they'd done before. It felt like a good coming together of where they left off in 2017 and what Hayley was doing in her solo albums. "Big Man, Little Dignity" was a song I really got behind lyrically, as well as musically. It's just a song calling out all the men in the world who abuse their power and keep getting away with it. Hayley's frustrations about how she wants justice, but they keep getting away with it, are sad but relatable.
4. GROUPTHERAPY - Nasty (2023)
One of the biggest surprises of 2023 was GROUPTHERAPY's album, released that year. It ended up as one of my favorites of that year. I hadn't heard of this rap group before then, but they won me over very fast with their great beats and lots of variety on the album. My favorite song on the album "Nasty" is a fun, upbeat song with fun lyrics and a great beat. Sad news about a year later when one of the three members decided to leave the group. They go by PARTYOF2 and I recommend giving them a listen if you haven't heard of them before this. The new single "Mad Love" is fantastic.
3. The Weeknd - Out of Time (2022)
The genius of using a sample from "Midnight Pretenders" is still so amazing to me. If you haven't listened to Tomoko Aran's "Midnight Pretenders", please go do that at some point; it's one of the best 80s Japanese pop songs out there... really just go listen to City Pop in general. But to go back to The Weeknd's "Out of Time," I love the song past the sample, although that's what really carries the song. The melodies that that he adds on top of the samples are brilliant, and the chorus of "Out of Time" is so damn good. Also, Jim Carrey comes in for the outro of this song, and that's really cool.
2. Sam Fender - Spit Of You (2021)
There aren't many songs that can completely blow me away in their opening seconds, but this is one of those songs. I mean, the intro to this song is so perfect with the guitar opening riff that sounds so perfect for a Sam Fender song. The lyrics are very relatable and emotional, as Sam talks about his relationship with his father. The song is about how both of them are pretty bad at expressing their emotions, especially to each other. Sam brings up the moment when he saw his dad cry for the first time at his grandma's funeral, and how it made him realize he'd be doing that to his own father someday. It's very powerful, and it's what Sam Fender does best: telling stories in his songs.
1. Everything Everything - Pizza Boy (2022)
Everything Everything has released two albums in the decade so far, and both of them have been my favorites of the years they came out. The 2022 album Raw Data Feel was my introduction to this band, and I instantly fell in love with their music. I had a hard time picking which song would be on here, but ultimately I went with "Pizza Boy". Mostly because it was the song I think really hooked me on the band, but it's a song I haven't gotten tired of listening to after almost 3 years now. I could say that for most of the songs on that 2022 album, to be fair. The song Pizza Boy is about the act/dangers of buying products and consuming to fill empty voids in your life. Like being alone, but finding satisfaction in just constantly buying things and letting that alone keep you feeling alive. It's an interesting topic for sure, and the music is also done so well with the bass line and the clapping effects that come in at random times. The chorus brings in the heavier synth sounds that really bring the song to life. It's just all so amazing, and I love every second.
Anyway, here's a playlist of a bunch of songs I considered for this list and all the ones that DID make the list as well. Have fun?!
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