My 25 Favorite Songs of 2018
Start writing a post
Entertainment

My 25 Favorite Songs Of 2018

The year's best songs include re-worked indie rock odysseys, political jazz-funk suites, gothic country masterworks, and to-the-point trap bombshells.

66
My 25 Favorite Songs Of 2018

The music of the 2010s has been angry, socially conscious, lush, quiet, simple, massively complex, and just about everything else in between. As the decade draws to a close, musicians are left looking at albums such as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Fantasy, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, and Joanna Newsom's Have One on Me, to name a few, just wondering where to go next. The best songs of 2018, so far, effectively bring the landmark musical decade to a close. Mitski is crafting monstrous noise pop ballads about identity; Judas Priest roars back with their most effective work in decades; Eric Taxxon takes the digital anarchism of vaporwave and plunderphonics to its logical conclusion; and SOPHIE unmasks herself with her intensely personal debut studio album. The best songs of 2018 are necessary, beautiful, stirring, and above all, an absolute blast to listen to.

 Judas Priest - "Spectre"

The metal gods return better than ever with this triumphant, beautifully heavy monster of a track.

 Playboi Carti - "R.I.P."

The centerpiece to Carti's Die Lit is deceptively simple. The bass-heavy beat, while fairly elementary, morphs into an entirely new, darker beast as the track progresses, and Carti's repetitive vocals compliment it perfectly.

 Mitski - "Geyser"

Mitski's best songs are emotional, slow, and soul-crushingly sad. This checks all three of those boxes and cements Mitski's place as one of the best songwriters working today.

 Parquet Courts - "Mardi Gras Beads"

Similarities to Pavement's classic "Range Life" aside, the slacker-rock quartet strike gold with a weary ode to commitment.

 Kali Uchis - "In My Dreams"

With help from Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn and an intoxicating synth line, Uchis crafts one of the most beautiful pop songs in recent memory.

 Elysia Crampton - "Nativity"

This is the kind of track that Crampton's entire career has been building towards. The opener to Crampton's self-titled record is an utterly nightmarish trip into the worlds of latin electronic, sound collage, industrial, digital cumbia, and practically everything but the kitchen sink.

 Natalia Lafourcade - "Te sigo"

Lafourcade's Musas records have elevated the singer/songwriter beyond the breezy folk pop of her prior albums. While "Te sigo" is still a beautifully simple, light listen, the songwriting is brilliant, and the vocal performing is layered and gorgeous.

 Eric Taxxon - "Squaredance"

"Squaredance", a mashup of M.I.A., Lily Allen, American Authors, and Rednex, seems simple, but the track speaks volumes about the state of the music industry with its blatant, anarchic disregard for copyright.

 Let's Eat Grandma - "Donnie Darko"

On the 11 minute closer to I'm All Ears, the delightfully bizarre pop duo throw caution to the wind and deliver a stellar, engrossing masterpiece of progressive pop music.

 Courtney Barnett - "Hopefulessness"

The opener to Barnett's second studio album immediately sets it apart from the uptempo garage rock of its predecessor. The dissonant guitar and pained vocals make one thing clear—Barnett is here to completely command the listener's attention.

 John Coltrane - "Untitled Original 11386"

A long lost recording of the classic Coltrane quartet presents a group in flux, torn between the hard bop of days past and the exciting avant-garde sounds of records to come.

 Sons of Kemet - "My Queen Is Angela Davis"

This dub-influenced free jazz track feels just as vital and revolutionary as its namesake.

 Haley Heynderickx - "The Bug Collector"

The stunning I Need to Start a Garden is anchored by "The Bug Collector", a song with a guitar performance so extraordinary it feels entirely effortless.

 SOPHIE - "Immaterial"

After staying in the shadows for years producing for artists such as Madonna, Vince Staples, and Charli XCX, SOPHIE shed her anonymity on Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, and "Immaterial" is its best track, a beautifully personal piece of pummeling, experimental pop music.

 Kevin Coleman - "Charlotte Street"

The "american primitive" guitar style of John Fahey seems like a style that died with the iconoclastic guitarist, but Coleman carries the torch on "Charlotte Street", a beautifully expressive guitar ballad.

 Teyana Taylor - "WTP"

The closer to Taylor's K.T.S.E., the last of 5 seven-track album produced during Kanye West's "Surgical Summer", is a bounce-influenced instant classic. The beat is infectious, and Mykki Blanco's chant evokes the classic, empowering film Paris Is Burning.

Pusha T - "Come Back Baby"

"Come Back Baby" is exactly what a listener would want from a Pusha T song. Inventive production and a tough-as-nails performance from a legendary rapper somehow still at the top of his game.

Iglooghost - "Clear Tamei"

Fresh off the success of his debut studio album Neō Wax Bloom, Iglooghost releases another track that encapsulates exactly what makes him great. Clean-sounding, kaleidoscopic production; a wonderful music video; and odes to the drill and bass of Aphex Twin that gives the track a heavy, undeniable edge.

Beach House - "Dive"

Beach House, while a remarkably consistent band, found themselves in a creative rut in 2015 with the dual releases of Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars. 7 is a remarkable return to form, and the beautiful "Dive" is its towering mission statement.

Car Seat Headrest - "Bodys"

Twin Fantasy is an interesting record. It's a remake of the band's seminal 2011 record of the same name, albeit with significantly better production. This production update seems the most necessary on "Bodys", a mini epic with dance-punk grooves, singalong choruses, and the most cathartic ending of any song this year.

Saba - "Prom/King"

The first half is a smooth-as-silk jazz rap track, the second half is an aggressive drum and bass-influenced song with one of the best hip hop beats of all time. Combine them and you've got an absolute masterpiece.

Against All Logic - "Cityfade"

Nicolas Jaar's music has slowly shifted towards pop as his career as progressed. Under the guise of Against All Logic, he embraces the deep house sound that made him famous on "Cityfade", a hypnotic track with a groove that never lets up.

Denzel Curry - "Black Balloons"

Curry has always been a shining light of "soundcloud rap", yet his previous projects have been somewhat one-note, filled to the brim with trap hi-hats and aggressive flows. "Black Balloons", the fourth track from Curry's TA13OO, completely shatters this notion with a smoother performance from Curry and a brilliant beat that equally recalls OutKast and To Pimp a Butterfly-era Kendrick Lamar.

Graham Lambkin - "Summer Tape Work"

43 minutes might be a bit too long to consider something a "song", but "Summer Tape Work" appears as its own track on Lambkin's latest record, so it still counts. Length aside, Lambkin has a perfect grasp on how to evoke memories and images through sound. With every single bird chirp, water drop, and bell hit, Lambkin creates a fully fleshed-out vision of summer for the listener to get lost in.

Anna von Hausswolff - "The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra"

"The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra" sounds like the perfect cross between Kate Bush and Swans. Hausswolff has the vocal theatrics and ear for melody of the former, and the brutality and rhythmic edge of the latter. As a complete project, it's jaw-dropping, and easily the best song of the year.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

54188
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

34876
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

957222
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

182689
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments