Best Songs of 2015 – #1
‘Play For Today’ – Belle & Sebastian
I had more Top 40 hits in this year’s top twenty countdown than I ever have before, so I guess I’ve earned the right to go full indie geek and give my #1 spot to an epic Belle & Sebastian song about battling depression.
What did you expect, ‘Hotline Bling?’
Best Songs of 2015 – #2
‘Want to Want Me’ – Jason Derulo
I’ve been anti-Jason Derulo for so long that I couldn’t help but put him in my top two this year. That’s how friggin’ great I find ‘Want to Want Me.’ It turns haters into lovers. It should be utilized in the Middle East peace talks.
I can’t go so far as to say that ‘Want to Want Me’ has turned me into a Jason Derulo fan — I still find most of his music absurd — but I can no longer dismiss him out of hand.
Best Songs of 2015 – #3
‘The Blackest Day’ – Lana Del Rey
I knew a Lana Del Rey song would show up somewhere in my top five. The problem was deciding which one.
Del Rey’s fourth full-length record, Honeymoon, sits atop my list of last year’s best albums because it is so remarkably consistent from start to finish. Every track complements the others. It’s an album in the old-fashioned sense, not just a collection of songs.
Best Songs of 2015 – #4
‘Can’t Feel My Face’ – The Weeknd
I featured The Weeknd’s ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ back in August during one of my Billboard run-downs. At the time the debate was over its prospects as Song of the Summer.
Forget that, it’s closer to Song of the Year.
Best Songs of 2015 – #5
‘I’m Not the Man’ – Ben Folds
Ben Folds’ latest solo release, So There, is more of an EP than a proper album. Half of the record’s running time is dedicated to a three-movement concerto for orchestra and piano, not exactly my cup of tea.
The eight proper pop songs are also performed with a chamber orchestra and while the music is lovely, the lyrical content on a few of them leans toward the frat-boy sensibility Folds is sometimes guilty of indulging.
