As requested by Aaron in legal, I must preface this by saying that this list does not constitute the actual best songs of the year, simply my favourites – the ones that moved me, impressed me and surprised me. As ever, I’ve lasering in on those emerging artists as much as I can though naturally there’s a few big dogs in here that I just couldn’t get past. That’s on me. Is Tkay way too far gone to be considered for a list such as this? Absolutely. But it’s my list and I can be stubborn as a mule, so Tkay stays. Middle Kids’ Stacking Chairs could’ve been included under the same logic but I didn’t think about that at the time, so here we are. This is a mess isn’t it.

Before we get into The List™, please take a moment to tip one out for the songs that didn’t make it. Those that were right on the cusp and are worth your investigation and on any other day, might have landed into the light. Songs like ‘Swine Lake’ by Naked Waste, the afforemention Middle Kids’ ‘Stacking Chairs’, ‘Jiggy’ by Perth rapper BLXSS or Molly Millington’s ‘October’

So without further effin’ and Jeffin’, no more shenanigans and not even a hint of additional tomfoolery – it’s time for Sound Doctrine’s 20 Best Songs Of 2021. Let’s get dumb.

Danika
If You Call My Name

‘If You Call My Name’, pulled from Danika’s this year released EP is a delight. From the structural creativity, the directness of the idea, the warmth of Danika’s vocal in the chorus and her deadpan delivery of the verses. “You got no credit and your phone screen’s fucked so I guess it’s up to me if we’re to keep in touch…”

It speaks to a detached partner, a lover who only half-heartedly wants of you. There’s a relationship between those emotionless verses and the impassioned chorus that works to deliver that sense of hot’n’cold mixed message love. Couple all of this together with production that is both stripped back and boasting a proper groove and you’ve got yourself one of the best songs of 2022, stamped and sealed.

Puppy Mountain
A Pathway to Others Like You

Another debut single here and at this point we’re certainly recognizing that I’m a sucker for a first song moment (see Pookie in last year’s list). Puppy Mountain came through not just with one of my favourite artists names of 2021 but a song that channeled the visceral discomfort of two televisions zeitgeist moments from this year: White Lotus and Squid Game. Lean into the tension of the chopped samples, the unresolved melody and hand drummed percussion and feel yourself getting a little knotted up.

Golden Vessel
Getforward

It’s been what… seven years since golden vessel first started releasing music? Suddenly he’s dropped the best song of his career, a track that seemed untethered from any formal project or radio friendly run times, gratuitous in it’s full ten minutes! Max’s vocal has already been a lil weird in all the right ways and he’s shop a penchant for getting the best out of other vocalists when he produces for them, but this feels like the first time that those two skills have come together in just the right way. I love.

Tkay Maidza
High Beams

Kim’s the track that’s had international crowds screaming themselves into a catatonic state but High Beams is the one that moved me. I mean, Kim really does bang, but if you’re gonna put this sort of choral arrangement behind a rapper as good as Tkay then you’d best expect results and these are they. Between Tkay’s hard hitters and the soulful singalongs, High Beams lands the best of both worlds.

Hector Morlet
Picture Frame

A debut not just on this fine list but to releasing music of any kind. ‘Picture Frame’ was his first ever release and one of two singles this year that I hope will form an upcoming body of some kind (album please Hector!). Think the west coast drugged wobbles of methyl Ethel and the gentle earnestness of the whitest boy alive and you’ll start to feel the Morlet magic. He plays a whole gag bag full of instruments including mostly everything you hear on these records.

Sesame Girl
Get Up

Canberra’s Sesame Girl are carrying the dream pop torch into 2022 with a firm grip and the brightest guitar tones. Heather’s laissez faire vocal is breathy as a spring mist with the drawn out strength of Victoria LeGrande and a little extra punch in those galloping moments. It’s a song lean on word economy that makes you feel a lot with a little.

Morgan Wright
I Think Of You

Sydney producer Morgan Wright released a very good record this year titled Class Tourist. Thick with aggressive percussion and clever electronica, it also contained this cut that featured 3NDLES5 (aka Mitch Tolman of good band Low Life). It’s direct, driving, four to the floor garage but it’s the lyrical picture painting of 3NDLESS that lodges this one deeper more deeply than you’d expect for a clever dance record. This one’s got heart and gives me a touch of the ‘We’ve Lost Dancing’s

Luca Rain & Fatshaudi
Dance All Day

Luca Rain and Fatshaudi teamed for a two track released with ‘Dance All Day’ seemingly the A-Side. When I wrote it up, I made reference to the production palette of Lonelyspeck’s Lave EP and several months late I’ll stand by that. It feels like warm winter sun on your skin while lying on a grassy oval. Headphones in, buildings in the distance but direct sunlight and nowhere else to be. That’s the spirit of this. Those scenes are semi pulled from the lyrics of the song, so too this direct line “now I finally know how it feels to love”.

Henny x Zinny
Watching Me

Look, don’t overthink it, just chalk this one up as the stone cold funnest record on this list. It’s not a pavlovian thing either, responding to high tempo or chaotic production but a simple song executed perfectly. It’s a loved up record that’s just real cute and delivers on its lyrical quirks in all the right enunciations. The way that Henny speaks ‘but I know I gotta stay wiser’ is something I’ve repeated time and time again throughout this year. Watch the video too, it’s well worth it if just for the shapes they pull.

Genesis Owusu
No Looking Back

In March this year, I took my friend Sam to see Genesis perform at the Basement as one of those shows that happened between lockdowns where all did whatever we could to put on or turn up to shows. This was one of those two shows per night over multiple nights type moments for Kofi. As we walked from the car to the venue, I earnestly told Sam that of all the artists in the country, Genesis was the one I held in the highest hopes for international success, that his progress had been steady but constant.

He went on to win every possible award in 2021  as well as my personal, internal award for best live act and general all round good guy. This is one from the album that struck me first listen through and has continued to since. Does it sound like the chorus of the full house theme song? A little bit. That’s chill.

Ruby Gill
You Should Do This For A Living

With a choir that featured the likes of Maple Glider (we’ll come to her in this list very soon, promise) and Angie McMahon, you knew a special song was afoot. Not because they’d make it special, but because their involvement would tend to imply a cosign of quality. And rightly, the song is very special. A tale of heavy handed music industry men delivered with a voice to crush stones. Breath it in, dwell on it, help prove it untrue in years ahead.

Big Skeez & Gold Fang
Where Yuh From

The sort of record that just demands to be hammered loud through your automotive subs late at night as you thunder down an empty M7. Skeez and Fang came up with a chorus that jumps out the speakers over gliding 808 bass and ultimately it’s the sort of ‘state your credentials’ record that you can throw at your rivals as needed. This hits hard, hits hot and hits right, one of the many fruits of NLV Records in 2021.

IJALE
Juju

Jerry Ijale Agbinya put himself on the map with a debut longplay project this year, an album that many have been calling ‘very good’. My cut of choice? This one right here, heavily laden with wise lyricism, top flight production (much of which is the product of IJALE’s own hands) and  unexpected hooks. It’s called JUJU and obviously I love it for the afro-swing riddims and the warmth of his vocal but the word play and confidence of the lyricism is a sight to behold, or a sound to be…hear. It’s a wonder it wasn’t a single from the record but such is the strength of the project, I suppose.

Elsy Wameyo
Nilotic

After a score of soulful releases, Elsy made an about face this year and delivered something direct and confrontational, a rap record full of colour, character and inspiration. It’s a long way from aggressive but it’s mighty assertive with Elsy reclaiming all that was hers. Regaining what was lost or rather, what was attemptedly taken, she walks astride the track with scepter in hand, commanding deference before the throne. If her next single can harness any of the shine she applied to Nilotic then expect to see her on All The Festivals.

Snowy Band
Call It A Day

Snowy Liam is the one around whom Snowy Band orbits and his songwriting has been an important part of my emotional catharsis through the last decade. He can be tongue in cheek and absurd as hell one day and then score your heart clean through the next. One of the truest characters of Australian music and when he’s on, he’s on. With his Alternate Endings LP, he was very much on. This was my favourite from the record for it’s two part vocals, beaming seventies guitar moments and an unquantifiable capacity to make me feel very sad under this lavender sunrise.

Voidhood
Dissociating

On another night I may have considered assigning this the number one spot on the list, but we’re here and we’re now and we’re settling on number five. Structurally it’s one of the most impressive records of the 25 inasmuch as it properly feels like an artist who’s done something… new. It’s got hints of that wave of hip-hop inspired post-punk (think Shady Nasty, Behind You, Craterface) but it’s something different again by virtue of that more electronic production and industrial designed synth. Very special song from the dark child of Canberra.

Matahara
Alas, Alas

Pure magic, the kind of magic we’ve heard from artists like Snowy Band or Bored Nothing. It feels directionless, meandering, indistinct… and I mean none of those things as a negative, because Matahara sings about just that headspace, a nostalgic sadness of being out of place. I want to sit in front of the stillest body of water imaginable and listen to this song over and over and over and over. Serial ‘best of’ list attender Tram Cops had his fingers on the production which likely helped move this from the lilting early stages to the synthier drive at the song’s end. Keep this same pairing, this is the sweetest fruit.

 

ZAN
Tu

Did I think my third favourite song of 2021 was going to be a vibrato heavy blend of some of my favourite experimental elements of the past decade, sung in Urdu-Hindi? Thought I was gonna say no didn’t you, but HELL YES I did, I read that shit in the tea leaves and I knew it was true before it came to pass. ZAN put a multiplier on the promise they’d shown on their GULNAZ EP and their collaborations with Perth production duo FEELS and this is what we got for it, a re-introduction of the highest quality. This, along with ’8000 Years’ were the entirety of their output this year but those two songs alone were enough to make a full blown ZAN-stan out of this boy right here. It was hard to pick a favourite between the two but the way the music video made me feel the first time I watched it tipped me over the edge for Tu. Appreciate this, the sort of song that wraps around you like a warmly fitting capsule, cradling your form and filling all the empty space.

Kwame & Tasman Keith
ONE

I’ve had the opportunity to experience a little of what these two coming within across their separate projects next year and lemme tell you, this is just the precursor for PURE HEAT ahead. Kwame’s tryna be the #1 Australian producer of 2022 and already has the cuts in the bank to make a case for it while Tasman’s album is shaping to be the rap release of the year (he’s gonna win the Best Hip-Hop ARIA in 2022, you heard it here first). It seems fitting that they’d put down this statement of intent before moving into their next stages, a classic hip-hop hitter that sees Tasman on his Kendrick-esque tone while Kwame’s sounding a lil Ludacris in moments. These two head to head over those iconic 2000s synthetic horns and the fact that NBA2K2022 didn’t land this a sync is a betrayal that can never be made right.

1300
No Caller ID

Shoutout Nerdie and Pocari Sweat for some of the best produced records of the year. Shoutout Rako, Goyo, Dali for spitting some of the best bars of the year, most of which I cannae understand for I’m an English and [a little bit of Spanish] speaking philistine. My song of the year is yes, largely in Korean and yes, hits like a freight train with brake issues. It’s the five piece Sydney crew’s second single but it’s the one that put em on the map. I couuuuuld’ve considered the other track they released this year ‘Smashmouth’ for this hallowed spot but ultimately No Caller ID had the more varied and impressive flows so that’s where we are. Having heard a handful of demos, I’m confident in saying that the year ahead of 1300 is going to be a mighty fine one.

I’m constantly coming back to this new one from Adelaide based Elsy Wameyo, a song called Nilotic which is effectively a refence to the Nile river and the group of languages spoken across a region of Africa. The opening and closing lines are powerful moments but I find myself most compelled when Elsy leans into the specificity. A tour de afrika on expatriated minerals and cultural exports that Elsy reclaims as her own, a parallel to the identity she grasps with white knuckles and an iron will all through this record. She’s smart, assertive and if you’ve watched the corresponding music video you’ll know the aesthetic doesn’t miss either. I was preeeeetty surprised to find that Elsy produced the damn thing herself too. What can’t she do? Add to her list of assets a sweetness of vocal that she holds back from this record, something you’d note if you’ve been listening to the last few of Elsy’s releases. She’s leaned more heavily into emotive soulful songwriting but here she channels the sentiment of that songwriting but lacquers it in conquest. Nonetheless, it’s amazing to see an artist feel so dominant without ever veering into aggression. Mighty.

I know there’re a million new releases dropping today but if you don’t mind I’d like to point you back to last Friday when IJALE dropped his newest project called OTTN (On To The Next). Increasingly I’m finding I don’t like to write about anything until I’ve had more time to digest it whereas young Tommy wanted to bang that shit out pronto because he was an urgent idiot. This my cut of choice from the new Jerry’s new record an album that you need to immerse yourself in for the lyricism, the production (much of which is the product of IJALE’s own hands) and the unexpected hooks. It’s called JUJU and obviously I love it for the afro-swing riddims and the warmth of his vocal but the word play and confidence of the lyricism is a sight to behold, or a sound to be…hear. I guess. Anyway, it’s really bloody good.

When the chorus rings out “I ain’t worried about no championship ring, this ain’t bout the competition I’m just doing my thing” I believe it. Not because he puts it down with conviction but his career is testament to that. We’ve watched as he’s leant on his songwriting and production instead of momentary fluctuations in taste and flavour. He’s not the dude who jumps on the next trend to right some streaming numbers.

The only visible about face I’ve seen from IJALE over the years was the name change to IJALE. Working previously under the name Crooked Letter he released some of the early tracks you’ll now see under the IJALE mantle as well as a spattering of remixes and production credits. Don’t misunderstand though, I’m not implying he hasn’t developed his craft because the growth is supremely evident, but the trajectory has remained focused. Don’t let it seem like he’s all colour and flavour with no nutrition though because Jerry’s capacity to speak with nuance and lived experience on issues of race and politics is second to very few others on a local level. Meantime though, just appreciation the juju.

I might just put one more here for your ears, something on a real Jack Harlow type beat built around a twisted recorder sample and thick with bounce. But truly, go listen to the whole body of work, it’s worth it.

I like this song for so many different reasons and, as is my way, I shall tell you those reasons. I like the way that HAAi starts the records sans drums, just letting you luxuriate in those oscillating synths that only hint at a melody. I like the way that she delays that percussive gratification for a full ninety seconds and then welcomes it with the most threatening sub-bass imaginable. I like that when the breakbeat arrives, it sounds soaked in glycerine, smooth and sluggish like it’s beholden to viscous goop, moving with great effort.

Remember Dark Bells? Well they, and I quote, didn’t call it quits just drifted off into the sunset around seven years ago. In these years since we earned ourselves this project from Teneil, one third of Dark Bells and evidently a solo artist with an elevated sense of sound design. She’s been making DJing and producing under the name HAAi and doing so with with great success.

Here, this is for you.

Danika, formerly Danika Smith, has gone full Rihanna with this standalone moniker and frankly, I’m inclined to allow it. You can’t lay claim to the name Danika unless you’re confident that you are the central Danika in the world of Danika related narratives but let me tell you – this is THE Danika. This is the one. I just image-searched all the other Danikas and you can see it in their eyes, they know they’re bit-part players.

Put your auditory nerves around ‘If You Call My Name’, the Danika’s newest single and tell me you’re not moved by the structural creativity, the directness of the idea, the warmth of Danika’s vocal in the chorus and her deadpan delivery of the verses. “You got no credit and your phone screen’s fucked so I guess it’s up to me if we’re to keep in touch…”

It speaks to a detached partner, a lover who only half-heartedly wants of you. There’s a relationship between those emotionless verses and the impassioned chorus that works to deliver that sense of hot’n'cold mixed message love. Couple all of this together with production that is both stripped back and boasting a proper groove and hell, we might just start rewriting our end of year lists. The bassline and guitar arpeggios are quite simply a joy.

She’s been at it a minute but how about you stop demanding that every artist break out with their debut single and give them the chance to mature into realized artists and we might end up with more songs like this. From her forthcoming album, out sometime, somewhere.