1. As It Was
Harry Styles
The jumpy peppy synth-pop track from Harry Style’s latest album, Harry’s House, has topped all possible charts in as many as 35 countries, including the UK Singles Chart, the second time after Sign of The Times. The song spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the fourth-longest-running number one in the chart’s history. An absolute party favourite despite its poignant lyrics talking about personal transitions and heartbreak, As It Was sits on number one on our list as well. It’s just Harry’s House we are living in.
2. Anti-hero
Taylor Swift
From her 2022 album, Midnights, Anti-Hero, the synth-pop song, bearing shimmering traces of ’80s rock, is a complex and poignant reflection of Swift’s issues with depersonalisation, insecurities, self-image, the crippling effect of societal pressures, the lyrics delving deep into the psychological tenders that are often so personal, and yet so scary. It broke the opening records globally on Spotify, peaking charts and sat atop the Billboard Hot 100, her ninth single to do so and making her the first solo artiste to debut five songs at number one. She might just be the only answer the world has at this point.
3. About damn time
Lizzo
The lead single from her 2022 album, Special, this track has been an unmatched party favourite. As Lizzo as the flute melody can possibly get, the funky groove-heavy track is a package in itself. The song peaked on Billboard Hot 100, the second after Truth Hurts. With a catchy rhythm and an impressive bassline, the uplifting song caught Lizzo in her element, unfiltered, audacious and provocative, and is an absolute regular on party playlists.
4. Pasoori
Coke Studio 14
The cross-border phenomenon, Pasoori from Coke Studio Season 14, featuring the uber-talented Ali Sethi and the charming Shae Gill, celebrates cultural diversity and plurality with statement and brilliance. Produced by Xulfi, the song spread like wildfire across the sub-continent, becoming a text of artistic significance and sonic quality. It became the first Pakistani song to feature on Spotify’s Viral 50 global chart and the most watched Coke Studio video of all time.
5. Cuff it
Beyonce
The song from Beyonce’s seventh studio album, Renaissance, echoed everywhere. In an interview with a publication, Beyonce talked about coursing through the lockdown where she “spent a lot of time focusing on building my legacy and representing my culture the best way I know how”. Bringing out her understanding of desire, culture, and aura, it is a funky disco anthem with catchy guitar work, knee-deep in Beyonce’s sound.
6. N95
Kendrick Lamar
From his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, the track became the most talked-about one, with the Pulitzer-winning Lamar at his uncensored and piercing best. Through this track, Lamar attacked social trends and inquiries in the most caustic and visceral of ways. The song circled top five on numerous charts, making the track an absolute favourite, and one that emphatically stands on our list.
7. Until I found you
Stephen Sanchez
The ultimate emo-anthem for the loverlorn optimists which struck the right chord with millions across the world, the lead single from Sanchez’s second EP Easy On My Eyes is all melody, soul, feelings and fleeting memories of the past, performing well on charts in many countries. With blissful guitar work, the track is vintage, classy and immensely hummable, with Sanchez absolutely nailing the live renditions.
8. Unholy
Sam Smith ft. Kim Petras
Sultry, unabashed and snazzy, Unholy, the second single from Smith’s upcoming album (Gloria), entered at the top of the UK Singles Chart. Outside the UK, the song peaked in Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US, becoming both Smith’s and Petras’s first chart-topper in the US. The song has also been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. We drop with Sam, obediently.
Ethel Cain
Shifting from her gothy era, Ethel Cain dropped one of the most euphoric and peppy tracks of the year with her album Preacher’s Daughter. Although a concept album “centered around the character Ethel Cain, who runs away from home only to meet a gruesome end at the hands of a cannibalistic psychopath”, the track is heartily teenage-y and lively. Indubitably one of the most beautiful tracks on our playlist.
10. Bad habit
Steve Lacy
A chilled-out cocktail of pop and R&B, the song that has probably been everywhere. The second single from Steve Lacy’s second studio album, Gemini Rights, is an absolutely delicious earworm. His first single to enter major charts, the song was the first song to peak at number one on three charts: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Songs and Hot Rock and Alternative Songs charts simultaneously.
11. Yeh ek zindagi
Achint-Anupama
From the humorous comedy thriller, Monica O, My Darling, the beautifully crafted ’70s retro dance track featuring Huma Qureshi, draped in scarlet, recreates the RD-Bappi soundscape to absolute p
12. There’d better be a mirrorball
Arctic Monkeys
From their seventh studio album, The Car, and this ballad, released as their lead single, enraptured the listeners with its jazzy, floating soundscape and introspective lyrics, bearing traces of ’60s pop, carefully and consciously distanced form their usual swagger and punch.
13. Doobey
OAFF-Lothika
The track, a part of the 2022 film Gehraiyaan’s OST, featuring Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi, is a sonic mood which traverses the tricky terrains of desire and longing, working the groove and beats with melodic perfection and atmospheric satisfaction. It’s a mood track and an absolute peach, on a road trip, on a romantic beach evening or at an intimate house-party.
14. Bhober Pagol
CSB Season 1
The high-octane fusion track from Coke Studio Bangla Season 1 is a musical cornucopia, with guitars, saxophone, keyboards, dotara and drums fusing into an audacious auditory cocktail. Featuring artistes Nigar Sumi and the explosive Bangladeshi hip-hop group Jalali Set, and directed by Arnob, the track is an absolute mood raging through multiple terrains and genres.
15. Meri jaan
SLB-Neeti Mohan
Meri jaan from the the OST of Gangubai Kathiawadi is a sensual piece on seduction, desire and longing, played to absolute perfection on screen by Alia Bhatt playing the titular character and Shantanu Maheswari, inside a car. It glides into your soul, just like a mellow Sanjay Leela Bhansali number would.
