Tove Lo & SG Lewis - "Heat"

With this collaboration with producer SG Lewis, Tove Lo joins Charli XCX and Robyn in the ranks of summer bangers. Get ready to hear this a million times on the dancefloor.

Nelly Furtado ft. Tove Lo & SG Lewis - "Love Bites"

With summer kicking in, we get this dance floor banger from Nelly Furtado with help from Tove Lo and producer SG Lewis.  

Tove Lo - "I like u"

Tove Lo amps up the fun on "I like u," a non-album dance track that harkens back to 90s Eurodance songs. 

Tove Lo - "Kick In The Head"

Off her fantastic new record Dirt Femme, "Kick In The Head" shows off Tove Lo's funky side. 

Tove Lo - "True Romance"

Tove Lo's new single "True Romance," from her upcoming record Dirt Femme, is based on the movie of the same name. The song is a slow-burner that reaches a fever pitch with some of the most powerful vocals of her career. It's rather stunning. 

Tove Lo - "No One Dies From Love"

Swedish pop goddess Tove Lo returns with the fantastic electropop single "No One Dies From Love." As she states, it is a song about heartbreak that you can dance to. It comes with a futuristic video where she falls in love with a robot.

Broods ft. Tove Lo - "I Keep"

Broods and Tove Lo join forces on this sleek pop track from Broods' exquisite new record Space Island. I saw Broods open for Tove Lo on their last tour right before COVID and they were amazing (Tove Lo too). Worth seeing out. 

Duran Duran ft. Tove Lo - "GIVE IT ALL UP"

From their 15th album FUTURE PAST which comes out Friday, "GIVE IT ALL UP" is a fantastic collaboration with Tove Lo. The electropop track slowly builds to a killer chorus and ends in a swirling storm of disco strings. Based on the singles already released, it looks like this is going to be one of Duran Duran's best records.

Martin Garrix ft. Tove Lo - "Pressure"

 Dutch producer Martin Garrix and Swedish songstress Tove Lo kill it with their first collaboration, the slinky, sultry, thumping club track "Pressure." They need to collaborate more.

2019 Favorite Albums (15-11)

We now reach the half-way point in my list of Favorite Albums of 2019:

15.

Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty

According to Spotify, Tove Lo is my artist of the decade and it is quite difficult to argue with that assertion. She has an innate pop music gift for catchy, super-melodic tracks. Sunshine Kitty is no exception.

14.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

Cave's first proper album written after the accidental death of his teenage son is a devastatingly honest rumination on life and death. While it may not provide any answers, it takes you on a rewarding journey.

13.

black midi - Schlagenheim

The young upstarts in black midi pretty much take an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to their post-punk sound. Just when you think you know where a song is going, it abruptly shifts and morphs into something unexpected and challenging. When I begin to doubt that rock music is getting stale, it is bands like black midi that restore my hope.

12.

Caroline Polachek - Pang

Polachek's debut solo album is her bid to jump from alternative to pure pop music, and the results are dazzling.

11.

Burial - Tunes 2011-2019

It appears we are never going to get a proper follow-up album to Untrue. Honestly though, how does one follow up perfection? Since that landmark record, Burial started putting out EPs roughly once a year or so, and Tunes 2011-2019 fittingly compiles these tracks into one 2.5 hour-long play. This compilation shows off Burial's diversity and how far he has come. It only bodes well for his future.

2019 Favorite Songs (10-1)

And here we come to the end of the decade and these are my top 10 songs of the year. Stay tuned in January when I put together my decade lists.

10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Waiting for You"

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' 18th album Ghosteen is a haunting song cycle meditating on loss and grieving. The album is the first one released since the accidental death of Cave's son Arthur. It asks the big questions about life but is never heavy-handed or maudlin. For me, the record is most touching during the quiet, contemplative moments. Cave's voice is so emotionally bare and resonant on "Waiting for You." Stark piano chords and subtle electronics provide the perfect canvas.



9. KAZU - "Undo"

Kazu Makino, the former lead singer for Blonde Redhead, released her debut solo album this year, entitled Adult Baby. It's an enigmatic record, full of strange sounds, and lots of intriguing uses of her voice. "Undo" is both gorgeous and offsetting; using odd backing noises (clicks, whistles, and drones) to keep you off-center. Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier adds cavernous drums to the mix, anchoring the song to the earth.



8. Rhye - "Needed"

Rhye returns with this haunting, and vaguely sinister new track called "Needed." Lyrics like "Why you look so fragile? Do I seem so bad?," hint at a darker under current, as the narrator implores his lover that all he wants is to be needed. The song was co-written with Dan Wilson of Semisonic.



7. Tove Lo - "Glad He's Gone"

Excellent kiss-off track from the always awesome Tove Lo.



6. FKA twigs - "Sad Day"

"sad day" is a stunning, haunting collaboration with Nicolas Jaar, Skrillex, and benny blanco. Her vocal performance and the production tips its hat squarely to Kate Bush's most enchanting work.



5. Broods - "Too Proud"

From their brilliant record Don't Feed the Pop Monster, Broods release this moving track about struggling with depression. It's something I have struggled with all my life and it hit home very deeply.



4. Hayden Thorpe - "Human Knot"

Hayden Thorpe, the former lead singer for art-pop band Wild Beasts, released his first solo album, the gorgeous piano-led Diviner. One of my favorite tracks is the starkly beautiful "Human Knot," which focuses on Thorpe's haunting voice. It's a touching song that deals with the interconnection between people and that, even if there is a split or absence, it doesn't mean there is not still love or caring.



3. Angel Olsen - "All Mirrors"

It's difficult to imagine a more sweeping, dramatic track this year. Angel Olsen erupted this year like a volcano, showing an all-consuming command of her craft. The sweeping strings and swooning synths of this track just propel her titanic vocals forward, leaving us in its wake.



2. Charli XCX ft. Christine and the Queens - "Gone"

This was pretty much my theme song this year. It was a year of massive change for me, and really figuring out what it means to be friends with people, and learning also when to know to drop certain toxic people. And in my head and heart, I recite these lyrics: "Don't search me in here, I'm already gone, baby."



1. Thom Yorke - "Dawn Chorus"

Lord, what do I say about this song. "Dawn Chorus" is an achingly beautiful song from Thom Yorke's solo album ANIMA. It's a song about the loss of his former partner. It's sad, it's incomplete, it's inscrutable; just like life. There is sorrow here and loss of hope, seeing everything lost to ash. But in the absence of that hope, there is also a light, something pulling him forward, making him choose to move into life. Dawn chorus refers to the cacophony of sounds birds make in the dawn; it provides a restart, a resolution, a new day.

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo - "Shifted"

Sunshine Kitty is one of Tove Lo's best records and one of the best pop records of the year. "Shifted" is a sleek, minimalist electro-pop track with a killer melody.

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo and Kylie Minogue - "Really Don't Like U"

With a collaboration this good, why the hell did Tove Lo and Kylie not do this sooner? From Tove's upcoming album Sunshine Kitty. This song is ripe for killer dance remixes.

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo - "Glad He's Gone"

Excellent kiss-off track from the always awesome Tove Lo.

Jam of the Day: Diplo ft. Tove Lo - "Win Win"

Diplo releases this new club banger featuring Tove Lo from his house-centric EP called Higher Ground.

2017 Favorite Albums (Numbers 20-11)

Continuing my countdown, and getting close to the top:

20.  Cymbals - Light In Your Mind

Downsizing from a quartet to now a duo, Cymbals' third record Light In Your Mind is a record that dwells on breakups, betrayals, grief, and decay.  Needless to say, it is much more muted affair than the dance-floor ready tracks on their last LP The Age of Fracture.  While these songs won't readily make you grab your dancing shoes, they will certainly linger long in gorgeous contemplation.





19.  Bjork - Utopia

Bjork self-described this album as her "Tinder record," and while the thought of her on a dating app is rather hysterical, it does lend some insight into what to expect.  Far removed from the dark, introspection of Vulnicura, Utopia finds Bjork, if not necessarily in love, in love with the idea of love.  And this translates into some amazingly intricate, hopeful love songs.





18.  Tove Lo - BLUE LIPS (lady wood phase II)

Tove Lo is the undisputed queen of debaucherous pop songs.  This collection finds her deep in the throes of excess and self-gratification, and making no apology for it.







17.  Everything Everything - A Fever Dream

The world gets crazier and crazier, and Manchester quartet Everything Everything's albums follow suit, with their latest A Fever Dream no exception.  Hyper-manic, paranoid, surreal songscapes punctuate this album, putting one at edge, but never to the point of collapse.  I want to say there is a bright light at the end of this album, that there is hope, but in these times, that might be a luxury we are not privy to.




16.  The Horrors - V

Hard to believe this band started out as an almost schlocky retro-60s garage rock act that has since transformed into a post-rock, krautrock, shoegazing powerhouse.   V, their fifth record, doesn't leap out at you at first, as The Horrors' days of constant reinvention has slowed down.  instead, it is like the perfect distillation of their past strengths into something unifying and brilliant.





15.  Spoon - Hot Thoughts

Spoon is at that stage in their career where they don't really have anything left to prove.  They could continue to release versions of Kill the Moonlight or Gimme Fiction, and no one would mind.  Of course, the band minds, and they continue to stray outside the lines of what makes them "Spoon."  Hot Thoughts finds the band funkier and groovier, with lots of chugging riffs and slinky bass lines.  There is also more reliance on electronics, which add to the allure of these songs rather than detract.




14.  Run the Jewels - Run The Jewels 3

I will never make a claim that I get or understand hip-hop and what makes someone's flow better than another's.  I just like to be engaged and usually form my opinion off of the beats themselves.  The beats here are impressively dense and mind-blowing.  And Killer Mike and El-P effortless flow over them, feeling more focused, energetic, and pissed off than ever before.





13.  Sylvan Esso - What Now

If it's not broken don't fix it.  Sylvan Esso heed that warning on their fun, sparkling sophomore album.  More catchy, folktronica tracks that engage the mind and shake the booty.








12.  Drake - More Love

Drake's "playlist" More Life shows more guts and talent than anything off his last commercial release VIEWS, which was a tone-deaf, glutted mess.  The various songs on this release are loose, engaging, and teeming with creativity.    "Passionfruit" is so off the cuff, it sounds like he just started singing over some Garageband presets; and it sounds fantastic.   More of this please, Drake!





11.  SZA - ctrl

2017 was the year for amazing R&B albums from female artists.  But even saying just R&B is too limiting with the artists who appear on my list this year.  SZA certainly makes some lovely R&B tracks, but that neglects her forays into confessional singer-songwriter territory, hip-hop, alt-rock, pop, and electronica.  And throughout it all, ctrl never sounds like a mish-mash.  Her vision is singular, and awe inspiring.

Jam of the Day: Charli XCX ft. Tove Lo and Alma - "Out of my Head"

Two of my favorite female artists, Charli XCX and Tove Lo, team up with Alma for this sleek pop track produced by SOPHIE. Charli XCX releases her star-studded mixtape Pop 2 next week.

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo - "Bitches"

Another irresistible pop track from Tove Lo.

"Bitches, I don't trust 'em
But they give me what I want for the night
Bitches, I don't trust 'em
But I tell 'em and they do what I like."

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo - "shedontknowbutsheknows"

Minimalistic electropop track from Tove Lo that is slinky perfection. You can listen to it here.

Jam of the Day: Tove Lo - "Disco Tits"

Tove Lo continues her streak of hedonistic singles with "Disco Tits" coming from her upcoming album Blue Lips.