Year In Review: Rajan Lakhani's Top Tracks Of 2017

Words: Rajan Lakhani

Kicking off our Best Of 2017 features with a selection of my favourite tracks of the last year, many of which soundtracked (and helped ease) the commute into work. In no particular order, here are thirteen of the best tracks of 2017, accompanied by a YouTube playlist for your viewing and listening pleasure:

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST:

Susanne Sundfor - 'Undercover'

'Undercover' starts off as a beautiful ballad which then builds into something extraordinary. It was so good that I just had to keep listening to it, even though I’d already got to my desk in the office!

Paramore - 'Hard Times'

Their most commercial track yet, 'Hard Times' sees Paramore’s sound move even further way from their emo beginnings, taking cues from Talking Heads and Blondie.

Arcade Fire - 'Everything Now'

While the album was a disappointment, 'Everything Now' is a perfect, bouncy distillation of the prevailing culture where patience and long-term thinking are sadly lacking when we need them most.

Spoon - 'Hot Thoughts'

Spoon never phone it in, and 'Hot Thoughts', the title track from their latest fantastic album, is arguably their most earworm of a song yet.

Future Islands - 'Ran'

'Seasons' was so incredible, a lightning in a bottle track that following it up was going to be nigh-on impossible. While 'Ran' doesn’t quite reach those heights, it’s still a stunning song.

Julia Michaels - 'Issues'

It was a toss-up between including 'Issues' or Lorde’s 'Green Light' but the former won out. Julia Michaels, whose songwriting credits already include Justin Bieber’s 'Sorry', is the biggest popstar that people haven’t heard of yet, and 2018 is likely to be her breakout year.

Kasabian - 'Are You Looking For Action?'

Already a live favourite, 'Are you Looking For Action' features an infectious bass and hypnotic beat before a typically Kasabian stadium-sized chorus gets you jubilantly pogoing up and down.

Bleachers - 'Dream Of Mickey Mantle'/'Goodmorning'

Springsteen-style epic, check. Beatles-esque melodies, check. Weighty issues of love, life and loss. Check. There’s no way these tracks would not work, and Jack Antonoff is a strong enough songwriter to avoid it sounding like pastiche.

Foxygen - 'On Lankershim'

Foxygen’s music goes in so many different directions, it’s hard to keep up so you can sometimes miss great songs like Oh 'Lankershim'. But you wouldn’t have one of indie’s most confounding and entertaining bands any other way.

Radiohead - 'I Promise'

There was a little sense of frustration when I heard this track, which didn’t make the phenomenal 'OK Computer'. I don’t think Radiohead are incapable of producing brilliant songs like this anymore but wilfully avoid something so direct. A reflection of time when Radiohead weren’t such an insular occupation.

Wolf Alice – 'Don’t Delete The Kisses'

I didn’t get the hype about Wolf Alice’s first record but their second album is far stronger, and 'Don’t Delete The Kisses' is the highlight, with its genius Cocteau Twins/Shangri-Las mash-up.

Grizzly Bear - 'Losing All Sense'

So-called ‘Pitchfork Indie’ might be in drifting towards irrelevance, but Grizzly Bear, one of the leading artists from that musical movement, are continuing to deliver gorgeous, ambitious and intricate songs like 'Losing All Sense'.

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