Editors - the weight of the world, 2007

"singer Tom Smith tempers his constant anxiety with flashes of optimism, his brittle nihilism with gooey sentiment"

The Cranberries - saving grace, 1999

“When I got pregnant, I started singing again. It was my saving grace. I literally mean having this amazing human life, and our relationship in the sense of mother and child redeemed my soul.”

Moby - summer, 2000

"Moby was famous for his devout Christian beliefs, as well as his environmental and vegan activism. First breaking into the British Top Ten with the 1991 single "Go," he soon established himself in the U.S. as one of the scene's premier producers with 1995's critically acclaimed Everything Is Wrong. After a brief foray into punk rock introduced fans to his other sonic inspirations, Moby transitioned into a new role as a crossover pop star with 1999's seminal blockbuster Play. While his chart success would not reach the same heights again, he maintained his fan base with steady, reliable output, swapping between traditional house tracks and expansive ambient collections into the 2020s. Occasionally, he even dipped back into guitar-based, politicized anthems with side band the Void Pacific Choir. In 2021, he issued his 19th full-length, the reimagined retrospective Reprise. Born Richard Melville Hall, Moby received his nickname as a child, derived from the fact that Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, is his great-great-granduncle."

Club 8 - spring came rain fell, 2002

"Maybe I shouldn't be listening to this as the sun lowers on the last warm afternoon of the year. Clouds hover and obscure the rays from time to time as the soft sounds play. Six months ago this would have fitted well, floaty music and breathed vocals being more apt when the promise of warmth is due. How it will fare in colder months is anyone's guess. Being from Sweden they should be used to cold though, so they'll survive. The problem might be the frailty, in the sunshine it is easy to drift along with the soft vocals and restrained chugging and noodling. The title track is lovely, shimmering and glowing, as does Baby, I'm Not Sure If This Is Love and they surpass anything that St Etienne could muster, which is probably the closest comparable band. Maybe the problem I have is that I don't like that sort of thing over the long haul. Luckily, maybe, they up gear by track six, The Chance I Deserve kicks in like Beck and grooves away happily and I Give Up Too provides a (very) brief intermission of strangeness. Then it's back to afternoon lazing mode, fading in and out with your sleepy brain. Teenage Dreams tells of young love and fits the summery mood of holiday romance, but some of the songs do flounder in the soft air, Karen Song being one, coming too close to the Kings Of Convenience, but full of good intentions nonetheless. As We Set Ourseves Free wafts off into the horizon you're ready for something heavier, with more bite, something that will shake the afternoon slumbers away. Still, it's not a bad way to while away the time on a sunny afternoon, just as long as the storm clouds hold off."

Vaya Con Dios - heading for a fall, 1992

”I'd like something that sounds like Hot Chocolate”

Barclay James Harvest - child of the universe, 1974

"Everyone Is Everybody Else is the fifth studio album by British Rock Band Barclay James Harvest released in June 1974. This was their first album for the Polydor label after they had parted company with EMI. The album was produced by Rodger Bain, who had previously worked with Black Sabbath in producing their first three albums. He also produced heavy rock bands Judas Priest and Budgie. There was said to be strained relations between Bain and the band, due to the preference of his musical style, with the band unhappy with the results of the song "Child of the Universe" in particular; Woolly Wolstenholme's only contribution was also left off the original album."

Laurent Voulzy - rockollection scène ten, 1977

"Laurent Voulzy, whose real name is Lucien Voulzy, is a French singer-songwriter who started his musical career at the age of 14. He goes from group to group ("Les tigers", "Les Ellences", "Mark Robson Sound", "Temple de Vénus", "Le Poing" ...) without meeting the expected success until 1974, a very decisive year for him because he will meet a certain… Alain Souchon. Their first collaboration gave birth to the album "Petite Annonce", renamed a few years later "J'ai 10 ans". In 1976 the album "Bidon" was released, then "Jamais content". And finally in 1977, the enormous tube which will explode the singer's career, namely the now legendary "Rockollection".

Laurent Voulzy - jelly bean, 1977

"Be still my heart. My two favorite French Pop stars! Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon! I died on the spot!"

Amanda Mair - it's gonna be long, 2012

"Mair sounds more like Kate Bush than Kate Bush does on her gorgeous, grown-up debut track"

Micheál And Eilish - dublin in the rare old times cover, 1990

"In the song, the narrator, Sean Dempsey, who comes from Pimlico, a working-class neighbourhood in the Dublin Liberties, recalls his upbringing. He laments the changes that have occurred in the city since his youth, mentioning the loss of Nelson's Pillar, the Metropole ballroom, the "Royal" (Theatre Royal). He dislikes the "new glass cages", the modern office blocks and flats being erected along the quays, and says farewell to Anna Liffey (the River Liffey)."

Micheál And Eilish - the mountains of mourne cover, 1990

"The song is a whimsical look at the styles, attitudes and fashions of late nineteenth-century London as seen from the point of view of an emigrant labourer from a village near the Mourne Mountains. It is written as a message to the narrator's true love at home. The "sweep down to the sea" refrain was inspired by the view of the mountains from Skerries in north County Dublin. It contrasts the artificial attractions of the city with the more natural beauty of his homeland."

Art Garfunkel - a heart in new york, 1981

"Paul's poetic style was so advanced, with its shades of dark grey. He had an unusually sophisticated poetic gift."

The Radio Dept - bound to happen, 2009

"Over the years there have been many songs written by the band, some appear on records, some were discarded and some are only played at certain live shows. This [...] never made it onto official releases."

Mike Oldfield - muse, 1999

"Oldfield plays all the music on the album, using only guitars of various types. The most remarkable usage is that of his Roland MIDI-equipped guitars, which he uses to trigger drum samples and produce string-like sounds. "Four Winds" is a four-part work, whose sections are musical portraits of the four compass points (North, South, East and West)."

Enya - lothlórien, 1991

"Lothlórien, the land of enchantment and wonder in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. Lothlórien is as beautiful as a dream, as pure as the dawn of creation and as old as the beginning of time. Here, the leaves of the Mallorn trees in Autumn do not fall, but turn to gold. Various translations and suggested origins of the name Lothlórien give us colourful and imaginative expressions such as ‘the vale of the land of singers’, ‘the valley of the singing Gold’ and ‘Dreamflower’."

New Order - nineteen sixty-three, 1987

"In New Order Music 1981–89, the band's lyricist Bernard Sumner writes a tongue-in-cheek account of the song's lyrics that relate it to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. Sumner facetiously theorises that Kennedy arranged for Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot his wife so that "J.F. could do one with M. Monroe". Monroe commits suicide when Oswald hits the wrong target (in reality, Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, over a year before the assassination took place) and Oswald is later shot by his boss (implied to be Jack Ruby), for "doing such a bad job and causing his hit-man business to go bust."

Cocteau Twins - half-gifts, 1996

"Take the spacious, drowsy lilt of ‘Half-Gifts’, which suggests the spectre of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Suzanne’. It may be ironic that a Cocteau Twins song should evoke a man known for his deep, restricted delivery and precise imagery, though the lyrics which float up through the musical mists are not only occasionally understandable – shock horror! – but, seeing as the thirteen-year relationship between Fraser and Guthrie had not long ended, startlingly candid. ‘I have my friends, my family,’ sings Fraser. ‘I have myself, I still have me.’"

Echo And The Bunnymen - all my life, 1987

"McCulloch sings in a mannered and understated way that allows the conflicted emotions within the song to play out on their own merits and the rest of the band plays in a restrained but beautiful fashion that serves the song. I especially love drummer Pete de Freitas’ martial fills during the verse that uses military imagery in the lyrics. It is a subtle touch in a song that is surprisingly subtle and mature for an early Bunnymen track. It is a song about the ebbs and flows of life and is the perfect way to end the last album that the original line-up would make before McCulloch left for a time and de Freitas died in his accident."

Fine Young Cannibals - suspicious minds cover, 1986

"Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by the American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was recorded by Elvis Presley with the producer Chips Moman. Presley's version reached No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, his 18th and final no. 1 single on that chart. In 1999, Presley's RCA Victor Records version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame."

Marillion - warm wet circles, 1987

"Warm Wet Circles" is a song by the British neo-prog band Marillion. It was the third single from their fourth studio album Clutching at Straws, released on 26 October 1987. "Warm Wet Circles" peaked at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's 9th top-thirty hit in a row, and remained on the chart for four weeks. The music video featured footage of the band's concert at Lorelei in West Germany on 18 July 1987. The B-side is a live recording of "White Russian", another track from Clutching at Straws also made during the Loreley concert. The 12" version additionally contains a version of "Incommunicado" from this concert. In Argentina, the single was published under the Spanish title "Círculos Húmedos y Cálidos".

Pet Shop Boys - winner, 2012

"As major pop stars, they've experienced virtually everything described in the lyrics: the struggles, the practice, the paying of "dues," the cheers and acclaim of roaring crowds, the feeling of being on top of the world—indeed, enjoying it while it lasts. Becoming a big-time pop star must feel like being a "winner," too. Neil himself noted in the January 2013 issue of their fan club publication Literally that while writing this song, "Part of me was also thinking about when we got to number one with 'West End Girls' and we were winners."

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - teenage tide, 2011

“Teenage Tide” is off that EP and it finds the band picking up where their debut left off. The song maintains that perfect dream-pop sound, with consistent guitar riffs draped softly in a fuzzy reverb and fronted by airy vocals. Like the earlier stuff, “Teenage Tide” hints lightly of The Radio Dept. circa Pet Grief. But Letting Up Despite Great Faults brings out the vocals a bit more and plays off the youthful nature of the band. These are songs about love and life, and so they find that middle ground between hope and despair. “Teenage Tide” is uplifting yet has to it a hint of sadness. It’s a core element that made Letting Up Despite Great Faults such a strong LP."

Keane - sovereign light café, 2012

"Sovereign Light Café" is a song by English alternative rock band Keane released as the third single from their fourth studio album, Strangeland. The band played the song for first time during the Perfect Symmetry World Tour on 17 September 2009 in Thunder Bay Ontario. It has been a staple of Keane setlist since 2012 and the primary closing song since 2019. The song was written with inspiration drawn from the town of Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, where the café is located in real life, and also the town of Battle, where many of the roads mentioned are close to where the members of Keane grew up."

Bodywash - massif central, 2023

"Bodywash’s “Massif Central” Is an Anthem of Solidarity for Anyone Whisked Into the Bureaucratic Abyss"

Of Monsters And Men - yellow light, 2012

"Set closer “Yellow Light” pits Þórhallsson as a will-o’-the-wisp leading Hilmarsdóttir off her path and into danger, urging her to “Just follow my yellow light / And ignore all those big warning signs.”

Amanda Mair - sense, 2012

"Amanda Mair is Swedish, which means that she has a particular knack for writing songs that you can keep returning to like catheterised lab rats to their teeny weeny opiate dispensers. Sure, before you know it you’ve completely warped your last.fm profile but you don’t mind because you’re now hooked on that chorus, making everything else in your life seem like faint background static."

The Fiery Furnaces - nevers reprise, 2006

"Though the Friedbergers work primarily within music and not literature or film, I argue that their music is literature, especially in the way Matthew's lyrics and Eleanor's performances of those lyrics engage with their personal memories, including their creative recollection of objects and traditions they refer to in their songs. After exploring how the music industry's indie rock category parallels the book publishing industry's literary fiction category, I illustrate how the Fiery Furnaces' allusions to history and popular culture connect the listener's memory of cultural objects to the songs' newly adapted versions. Narrative components like temporality, order, and character, customarily associated with literature or film, are central to the Fiery Furnaces' musical reminiscence. The article concludes by tracing the evolution of those elements in the songs to the endpoint (indeed the “moral") of the Friedbergers' attention to memory, biography, and fiction: that neither music nor text is sufficient to replicate the past, but that a literary approach to music and memory can playfully embrace that reality."

Saint Etienne - the process, 1997

"and then comes The Process, which was one of the b-sides of He’s on the Phone, presumably the track that necessitated this compilation in the first place. It’s also the track that comes next, and it’s a difficult one not to love. It’s a Motiv8 production, and his mixes do have a tendency to sound pretty much exactly the same as one another, but this one is pretty much as good as they ever got. You’ll find it very difficult not to sing along."

The Jesus And Mary Chain - darklands, 1987

"Darklands" is a song by Scottish rock band the Jesus & Mary Chain and the third single from their album of the same name."

I'm From Barcelona - jenny, 2006

“Less is more.” Can someone translate that into Swedish, please? The whimsical twee-pop band I’m from Barcelona (who actually hails from Sweden) combine for a total of 29 members. 29! And although I’m sure there are many instruments to go around, I have a feeling that after the banjos, tubas, and kazoos are all handed out there are still about a dozen stoners standing around, clapping their hands and harmonizing about tree houses. I’m from Barcelona is more of a communal experience than anything else; more like a campfire sing-a-long than an indie rock group."

America - riverside, 1971

"We never want the music to end. I suppose the reason is that we associate the end of music with the end of a party or festivities. For the recording artist, it is associated with the end of their career or even of their life. In the case of Dan Peek, there, apparently, was much more music locked up in his creative cranium that he wished to unleash on this world but it wasn’t meant to be."

Bee Gees - too much heaven, 1979

"I was really loved and impressed with the harmonies they achieved on that record. I'm very very proud of those guys; they're exceptionally good at harmony. They’re a very heavy duty harmony group."

Belinda Carlisle - circle in the sand, 1987

"Circle in the Sand" was written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, who wrote many of Carlisle's hit singles in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, including her signature song "Heaven Is a Place on Earth". The first known appearance of the song in progress is from the Lost Heaven Demos bootleg which features a solid drum beat, lead keyboard line and simple bass with no guitars present, and completed lyrics. The final album version of the song features a unique lead keyboard theme provided by Thomas Dolby, combined with a thumping bassline and accentuated with swirling and shimmering guitar, including some played in reverse during the bridge."

Quasi - queen of ears, 2023

“Queen Of Ears” finds Coomes and Weiss bashing away on their keyboard and drums, respectively, lending a raw edge to an otherwise bright and poppy song. The backing vocals are clutch on this one."

Belle And Sebastian - i fought in a war, 2000

"This ballad is the opening track from the Scottish Indie Pop band Belle and Sebastian's album, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant. Despite its title, the tune is not a protest song. Frontman Stuart Murdoch explained in an interview with Uncut magazine that it, "was a personal song inspired by the atmosphere of the short story, For Esmé – with Love and Squalor by JD Salinger."

Hooverphonic - waves, 2000

"Hooverphonic's sound has become increasingly hip and cosmopolitan, slowly processing out everything that made it so alluring in the first place"

Enya - flora's secret, 2000

"The Song was inspired by the various legends from classical mythology given to flowers. The "tears from Persia" are the Persian Iris. They are the tears of the Mourning Iris taken from the legend of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of the Corn. Persephone was abducted by Hades, and was made to spend six months of each year in the underworld with him (hence winter) and the other six months on earth (hence summer)."

The Cranberries - such a shame, 1999

"As lead singer of The Cranberries, the iconic County Limerick-born vocalist was an adventurous and truly singular talent fronting a band who weren’t just one of the great alt-rock acts of the 90s, but an outfit for whom longevity has long been guaranteed."

Pet Shop Boys - one in a million, 1993

"This song boasts a common, tried-and-true pop music device, though it's not at all common for PSB. In fact, it's downright rare for them: a climactic key change. Virtually a cliché in the work of some artists—just try to find a Barry Manilow single that doesn't raise its key near the end—it would appear that the Pet Shop Boys have assiduously avoided it. But not in "One in a Million." Its climactic key change in the final repetitions of the chorus does precisely what climactic key changes are meant to do: push the energy up a couple of notches, imparting an epic feel to the proceedings. Coming as it does, a rarity in a PSB track, it's nothing less than thrilling to hear."

Amanda Mair - house, 2012

"Amanda Mair was raised in Lidingö, Sweden, an island outside Stockholm. Her parents own a bakery. Her mother is Finnish and her father is Austrian. Mair has two older sisters and an older half-brother. Her sisters, who also sang and played instruments, influenced her music tastes during childhood. She studied at the Rytmus Musikergymnasiet, a performing arts school in Stockholm."

Moby - jltf, 2009

"David was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine and good. It seems as if too often an artists or musicians or writers creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, and how much market share it commands and how much money it generates."

Warpaint - new song, 2016

"After several years doing their own respective things in a whole host of other side-projects, the wryly named ‘New Song’ (the first hint of things to come on Warpaint’s third album ‘Heads Up’) sounds leagues removed from anything Warpaint have done previously. And after the bold leap between their muddied and submerged debut album ‘The Fool,’ to their second album’s soaring, saturated dreamscape - by way of the clattering industrial underworld of ‘Disco/Very,’ and ‘Love Is To Die’s cyclic, misted incantations - that thirst for reinvention should come as no surprise."

Micheál And Eilish - the lonesome boatman cover, 1990

"The Lonesome Boatman is a 1969 album by the Irish folk music duo Finbar & Eddie Furey. It is best known for its title track which is played hauntingly on a tin whistle, as well as its version of the traditional ballad Carnlough Bay."

Genesis - many too many, 1978

"Many Too Many" was released as a single from the album ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978 and written by the band's keyboardist, Tony Banks, who described it as "a simple love lyric". The single reached No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart, following the band's successful breakthrough into the Top Ten with "Follow You Follow Me". Its B-side had two non-album songs, "Vancouver" and "The Day the Light Went Out", both released on compact disc on the Genesis Archive 2: 1976–1992 box set."

Alvvays - not my baby, 2017

"Alvvays bumps it up a notch on the stereo with the release of their sophomore album Antisocialites. Their sound grew spunkier, as they begin to experiment further with motion and variety within each song. An especially driven song from the new album, “Not My Baby,” tells the story of heartbreak and the inconsistent feelings that come after. “Not My Baby” has an urgency not seen before from the Canadian indie-pop group. Racing rhythms coalesce exciting melodies, all charged by the song’s empowered lyrics. However, what really brings this song to the listener is the variation — fast to slow, flowing to sharp, loud to soft. People can connect to this inconsistency, because that is what the twirling and changing emotions of a break-up feels like. All of this beautifully chaotic musical construction is reflected throughout the lyrics, like the lovely line “Traded my rose-colored shades for a wide lens” and the play on the word “silence” as all the instruments cut out. Ultimately, the song frees you with fading melodies and echoes, sending you off in a soul-surfing bliss as you leave that ex (you know which one) in the dust."

Gerry Rafferty - mattie's rag, 1978

"At the time Rafferty wrote the song, he was travelling regularly between London and Glasgow. As such, he didn't get to spend as much time with his family as he would have liked, especially his daughter Martha. In fact, the name of the song is a shortening of Martha (Mattie) and a style of traditional folk song (a rag). Martha was 9 when the song was written. The lyrics describe Rafferty's joy at seeing his beloved daughter again after a long period of absence. The "magic thing" that he describes is the song itself. "Just wind him up and he'll start to sing" means that she will be able to listen to the song any time she likes. The city described in the song is London. Rafferty was unsure of himself there, but when he got back home to Glasgow and his family, he felt safe and relaxed, hence the lyric "you make me see the light".

Dolores O'Riordan - ecstasy, 2007

“Ecstasy was not written about me, but about people who had problems with depression, drug addiction. I met so many people through my life, so I write about that side of human spirit, when people suffer, how they survive and live with it and how to be strong. Life is not always easy”

Belle And Sebastian - mornington crescent, 2006

“Mornington Crescent” is a rather rambling ode that seems somewhat moralistic. These criticisms have to be taken with a grain of salt. For all its flaws, The Life Pursuit is a blessing because Belle and Sebastian tends to reach higher than the rest. Rimbaud is my favorite poet, but that doesn’t mean I love everything he’s ever done."

El Perro Del Mar - candy, 2006

"Sarah Assbring is effortless, not just with her ongoing relationship with music—or even when she walked down the runway for Balenciaga—but in the small intimacies of her everyday life. In Assbring’s world, she takes the good with the bad, and through both, only sees beauty. Creating under the alias of El Perro Del Mar, the Swedish indie pop star has released multiple albums, which all exist in their own respective space, giving way to Assbring’s wide spectrum of references. And while her sound is airy and light, she admits that it doesn’t come without intensive, and somewhat cyclical, emotional labor. “I always end up at that moment where I have to deconstruct everything and fall to the floor, and really ask myself, 'Why do I do this? Is it worth it?' Then I end up having that bare, raw, naked reason where I know, “yes this is the place, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

The House Of Love - the hill, 1988

"Early on we get glimpses of what a different band the House Of Love could have been had Andrea remained. The Hill and Welt are great examples of what might have been. Bickers supplied some fire on B-side Flow and Blind has a nice feel with some good percussion. Of the alternative takes, the echo-laden jangle of the demo of Real Animal pleases, with Happy being a mite tougher than the album version for my money."

Paul McCartney - let it be live, 1990

"Let it Be was always Paul’s song, he wrote it and it was about his mother Paul was the lead singer, however, I did hear a rehearsal demo where John did sing the opening, more like playfully singing and it was John sort of helping Paul work out the construction of the song but it was always intended to be Paul as the lead singer, often times during rehearsal’s other Beatles members would sometimes playfully sing each other’s songs, either as a joke or in helping each other out as a team, but the final recording was all Paul and the others as back up vocals and instruments."

Grant Lee Buffalo - we've only just begun cover, 1994

"Phillips, Kimble, and Peters transitioned from Shiva Burlesque’s more psychedelic and experimental sound to create something unique. Grant-Lee Phillips, the creative force in the band, brought with him a unique voice that could be both hauntingly gentle and powerful, paired with a sombre storyteller's honesty. This combination would form the core of Grant Lee Buffalo’s identity. The band’s early influences were a mix of 70s rock, folk, and country, but it was Phillips’ fascination with American history, landscapes, and personal narratives that shaped the band’s lyrical direction. Their sound was further characterized by the use of unconventional instruments and experimental recording techniques, which allowed them to create a distinct atmosphere in their music."

Azure Ray - your weak hands, 2002

"True to form, Azure Ray delivers another 12 tracks of curiously beautiful but quite intense melancholy on 2002's Burn and Shiver. Not since Lisa Germano dropped Geek the Girl almost eight years before has music so stark and so lovely made it beyond the dark confines of somebody's troubled mind and onto the brightly lit shelves of record stores. Well, "troubled" might be too harsh a word, as Azure Ray never approach the outwardly depressive lyrical statements of Germano on Burn and Shiver, but Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor do have a certain fascination with darkness."

Etienne Daho - retour à toi, 2003

"This is another really enjoyable CD from Etienne Daho. Nothing stand-out, but if you like his other CDs, you'll enjoy this one too."

Saint Etienne - answer song white horses remix, 2012

"a masterclass of pop theory and practice in perfect harmony, often within the same song"

The Coral - eyes of the moon, 2018

"For James though, another track stands out as the one most deserving of a place in their repertoire. "I like Eyes Of The Moon," he says, "I think that's a proper Coral song. "If you had one of those people on YouTube who were like, 'how to write a Coral tune,' that's the tune they'd write."

Warpaint - dre, 2016

"Having taken a collective step back from the brink and rolled away some of the intensity that living a life on the road brings, Warpaint now seem content to continue exploring their own unique musical identity from a more peaceful platform."

Pet Shop Boys - was it worth it, 1991

"Upon its release as a single, Dave Jennings of Melody Maker noted "Was It Worth It?" had "the chunkiest, most muscular music to appear on a PSB track in a long time" and added that Tennant's vocal is "so fey, even by his standards, that it threatens to evaporate at any moment".

James - born of frustration, 1992

"Born of Frustration" is a song written by Jim Glennie, Larry Gott, and Tim Booth and released as a single by English Madchester band James. It is the follow-up to 1991 hits "Sit Down" and "Sound", which both peaked within the UK top 10. The song was released from the group's fourth album, Seven (1992), and reached number 13 in the United Kingdom. It was also a hit on US alternative radio, peaking at number five on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; it was the group's highest placement on this ranking until "Laid" reached number three in 1993."

Alvvays - the agency group, 2014

"It’s a song that I heard when I was with some friends of mine and I suddenly realized the song is about friends that get high and pass the time together sometimes. Like, a group of people who don’t quite know how to react around each other or how to adjust to their emotions about each other. So they take drugs to vibe like that’s how they get on each other’s level. Like, life is a huge game of being together but not being together. That’s why the people in the song are weird about the way they feel about each other."

Saint Etienne - we're in the city, 1999

"Ten years on, Saint Etienne found themselves at a bit of a crossroads. They had long ago stopped having hits in the U.K., settling into a cult audience in both their homeland and the U.S. There isn't an inherent problem with having a cult audience, but cult bands often have the stigma of being on the cutting edge."

The Radio Dept - sleeping in, 2006

"I knew next to nothing about these guys The Radio Dept. A three piece originally from Lund, Sweden – who named themselves after a petrol station which was converted into a new premises repairing transistor radios. But I was already enraptured by the wonderfully dreamy sounds I was hearing from all their YouTube videos. Founded by Johan Duncanson, and joined by Martin Larsson and later Daniel Tjäder, with several other musical collaborators among them: Per Blomgren, Lisa Carlberg, and Elin Almered. The band were a core trio for the most part but often the line-up fluctuated to become a quartet, even a quintet, before once more settling for the trio / duo. Thus it transpires they’d been around a fair while – 2001 when they released their first music – but their genesis started even further back than that in the mid 1990s. To bring things to the present, their recorded output to date has been sporadic, if not exactly wildly prolific, in quantity. Since their formation in 2001 they have issued four studio albums and a dozen or so singles, plus many other download only tracks. The average gap between studio albums during this two decade stretch has been about five to six years. But, crucially, that is hardly of much consequence given that I belatedly discovered their music in 2019, by which time all of their physical singles and albums were readily available to seek out wherever I could, and so that was what I did as much as possible. I glutted on everything they brought out, belatedly picking up all their albums on CD, given that I had already fallen hopelessly in love with their music. Even more significantly, their records offered me solace and provided me with a comfort blanket during those horribly anxious times in 2020 to 2021 when everything – life as we all knew it – fell off a cliff and the world seemingly stood still due to the pandemic and lockdowns."

Pet Shop Boys - hey headmaster, 1993

"In the booklet accompanying the 2001 reissue of Very, Neil notes that "Hey, Headmaster" is one of those occasional PSB songs written almost totally by himself, with minimal input from Chris. In fact, he had composed it in its original form before the two even met."

Best Coast - the only place, 2012

"Crazy for You and its sound, "simple and pungent songs […] toying with 1950s and ’60s melodic structures," had become something of a touchstone for Best Coast and adopted by several other bands. Cosentino hid her vocals behind layers of reverb and distortion, which was an extension of her onstage anxiety. As a result, Cosentino desired to take their sophomore record in a completely different direction."

Isobel Campbell And Mark Lanegan - deus ibi est, 2006

"I am going to try and limit my post (there's just too many bands I want to talk about!). I've started a Morrissey Vox Group... Anyway: Isobel Campbell started off her career in the band Belle & Sebastian (you may have heard of them?), she released two albums under her own band The Gentle Waves. Then followed by a collaboration with Bill Wells and then her excellent solo album "Amorino". That's where she met up with Mark Lanegan, who sang on "Why Does My Head Hurt So?" (off the EP, not the album). Anyway, her second album, "Ballad of the Broken Seas" is the best duet album! It's mostly Mark singing with a little Isobel's sweetness thrown in for good measures."

The Postmarks - run away love, 2009

"Innocence Mission, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, Autumn’s Grey Solace, The Postmarks... I think all of these groups are fairly well known in the indie/dream pop community, but don’t get enough love for how great they are."

Saint Etienne - side streets, 2005

"A few years back, thanks to SiriusXM’s Coffeehouse channel, I discovered a delightful song called “Side Streets” from a band aptly named Saint Etienne, because the song made me feel like I was on the streets of Paris for some reason. It has a cool, hip (not hipster) vibe, and it immediately took me to another place, even though I was cooking in the kitchen. I immediately had to iTune it. The lyrics were not only animated, but at the same time in a funny way, relatable. I didn’t look anything up, I didn’t need to know anything about the band, I just enjoyed the song for what it gave me, and the vibe it provided me and continues to provide. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out now from Pete Wiggs, who wrote the song, that they’re from the UK. While I can play songs on repeat to where I can’t listen to it again for up to years at times, “Side Streets” has been my go-to song on the weekends, where it’s on permanent repeat mode, especially when I’m whiling away hours in the kitchen."

The Big Moon - your light, 2019

"The infectious beat and bassline are present from the start of the track, setting the perfect backdrop for frontwoman Juliette Jacksons’ powerful voice. Typical of The Big Moon, the harmonies and overlapping layers of voices soon come to light and builds to the chorus. Lyrically, the chorus is simple, yet as upbeat, compelling, and formidable as ever."

Love is Dark energy (actually it should be called "Light energy")

"Independently of its actual nature, dark energy would need to have a strong negative pressure to explain the observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe. According to general relativity, the pressure within a substance contributes to its gravitational attraction for other objects just as its mass density does."  

“I had jumped off the edge, and then, at the very last moment, something reached out and caught me in midair. That something is what I define as love. It is the one thing that can stop a man from falling, powerful enough to negate the laws of gravity.” Paul Auster, Moon Palace.

America - ventura highway, 1972

"Dewey Bunnell, the song's vocalist and writer, has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" in the song is a reference to the shapes of clouds in the sky he saw in 1963 while his family was driving down the coast from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California, where they had a flat tire. While his father changed the tire, he and his brother stood by the side of the road, watched the clouds, and saw a road sign for Ventura."

Allo Darlin - europe, 2012

"It’s fair to say that Allo Darlin’ succeed by building a world in their songs that’s different to the one we see everyday – people still wear ties, buy records and send letters to their loved ones proclaiming deep and meaningful messages. Throughout Europe, they manage to make that sound like a pretty nice place to be, and also serve a timely reminder that there’s life in such a simple but effective style of music."

The Waterboys - december, 1983

"Whimper, whimper. This week's 90th moody, tremulous ballad with lashings of tearful vibrato and acoustic twelve-strings. A record to sit down and listen to as the leaves fall, it informs us that 'December is the cool month'. Oh really?"

The Radio Dept - domestic scene, 2010

"Four years is smoothed into nothing with opener ‘Domestic Scene’, which picks up where they left off, all low-key shoegazey textures and Strokes-y vocals. There’s no fanfare, no triumphant comeback sound – the big statements are left to samples, like the one that opens ‘Heaven’s On Fire’ – "I think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture". It voices the most interesting aspect of underground music in 2010, especially scenes like chillwave: the reigniting of DIY culture, with the bedroom the studio again, the cassette in vogue – a complete rejection of mainstream industry."

Barclay James Harvest - poor man's moody blues, 1977

"Poor Man's Moody Blues" was written after a journalist angered the band by referring to Barclay James Harvest as a "poor man's Moody Blues". In response, guitarist John Lees wrote a song which sounded like the Moody Blues song "Nights in White Satin", but in fact was cleverly not the same - the words would not fit."

The Postmarks - all you ever wanted, 2009

"I don't even remember where I first heard the Postmarks. It was on some college radio station driving through somewhere, I would guess. I love the sound... Tim Yehezkely has this very, very quiet voice that just makes you think the tune is a dream floating in through the open window (and makes you fall in love, really)."

Stars - look away, 2014

“I was born the year this record came out and I’m here because you’re my favourite band.”

The Carpenters - they long to be close to you cover, 1973

"The song was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You" (without parentheses). However, while the single's other side, "Blue Guitar", became a hit, "They Long to Be Close to You" did not. The tune was also recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, was re-recorded with a Burt Bacharach arrangement for her album Make Way for Dionne Warwick (1964), and was released as the B-side of her 1965 single "Here I Am". Dusty Springfield recorded the song in August 1964, but her version was not released commercially until it appeared on her album Where Am I Going? (1967). Bacharach released his own version in 1971. But the version recorded by Carpenters with instrumental backing by L.A. studio musicians from the Wrecking Crew, which became a hit in 1970, was the most successful."

Del Amitri - behind the fool, 1992

"Mostly though “Change Everything” is just choc full of wonderful songs, like “Behind The Fool” – they nail not letting your guard down here – and there’s a sort of The Faces feel to the last one “Sometimes I Just Have To Say Your Name” and I think I knew that then, too."

Saint Etienne - teenage winter, 2005

"one of the saddest, most melancholy tunes of the 'naughties'. Taken from their 2005 album Tales from Turnpike House contained a song that will bring tears to your eyes – especially if you are of a certain age. An immensely British song..."

Pet Shop Boys - hit and miss, 1996

"a superb job of conveying the almost ineffable sorrow of lost love, all the more sorrowful on account of the joy it brought before its loss"

Keats - hollywood heart, 1984

"Keats were a short-lived British rock band, which produced one eponymous album in 1984. It was an Alan Parsons Project offshoot. Its members were Colin Blunstone (vocals), Ian Bairnson (guitars), Pete Bardens (keyboards), David Paton (bass and backing vocals) and Stuart Elliott (drums and percussion)."

The Housemartins - happy hour, 1986

"an impossibly catchy song about London office workers"

The Radio Dept - memory loss, 2010

"The Radio Dept. are famously shy and soft-spoken, traits distinctive enough to overlap into even their most ferocious songs. The shoegaze-heavy tone of debut full-length Lesser Matters featured frontman Johan Duncanson’s soft-spoken vocals and heavy layers of caressing guitars and keys, while follow-up Pet Grief retained the elegant beauty of the debut with more emphasis on electronica and dream-pop."

Tracey Thorn - plain sailing, 1982

"The album, featuring just voice and guitar, was in fact recorded in Pat Bermingham’s garden shed studio, and there is marvellously delicate and dulcet ambiance, that conversely puts the directness and emotionally charged nature of this song, and others on the album, fully into the foreground."

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - numbered days, 2012

"There’s no end, so just do the best you can!"

Violens - totally true, 2012

"The band's music eludes classification, expertly blending percussive guitar work and silky harmonies, seeking the silver lining yet to be discovered between the sounds we know and love. With a wash of 90s sonic pop drawn from artists like Pale Saints, Cocteau Twins and McCarthy, Violens paint soft watercolor notes across their compositions, adding crucial emotional depth via layered vocal harmonies."

The Radio Dept - always a relief, 2006

"I love Always a Relief, Where Damage Isn't Already Done, The City Limit, 1995 (the lyrics are so sweet) and of course, Pulling Our Weight, from the Marie Antoinette soundtrack."

Enya - afer ventus, 1991

"The moment experienced when everything in life suddenly makes sense – when everything fits into place and we know why – is a rare moment, but it does happen. If we are lucky enough we can bathe in the brevity of that moment for it passes as quickly as it arrives. Like Joyce’s ‘Epiphanies’ they can sometimes seem trivial, but are always crucial and revealing moments in our lives, delicate and fleeting. In ‘Afer Ventus’ it is those moments of pure enlightenment which are described."

The Postmarks - go jetsetter, 2009

"If the Postmarks' delightful, weather-obsessed, self-titled 2007 debut didn't quite catch fire, blame the times. As bands of musicologist types fronted by fetching lady singers go, the Miami trio doesn't quite have the cosmopolitan chic of seductive NYC labelmates Ivy nor London's dance culture-conscious Saint Etienne."

James - we're going to miss you, 1999

"It was a "strange, unpredictable and at times perplexing" album, which is why "it might just be the best album James have ever made."

Mika - any other world, 2006

"There is a little spoken introduction that many people may miss. It's about a family friend of mine who lost her eye during the war in Lebanon and I realized in everyone's life their comes one point, or several points where something happens and you have to completely change the way you have lived your life because of one event. And it really makes you readjust and rethink and rejudge parts of your life all over again. That happens to some people in a dramatic way like Rafa who lost both her eye and her husband within 6 months. Or it can be in a much quieter way like when you are 22-years-old and you finally leave university after being in education all your life or when you lose your job. I wanted to put that in the song, because when you're 68 or 14, it's still the same feeling and it's still just as hard. I wanted to try to capture that quite difficult period that people have to go through at least once in their life."

Pet Shop Boys - closer to heaven, 1999

"this song revolves around the age-old "so close and yet so far" conundrum—the common, almost paradoxical human experience of being in one sense extremely close to something highly desirable, while at the same time, in another sense, being as far away from it as ever."

Etienne Daho - sunday morning cover, 1987

DJ Young Pioneer · Etienne Daho - Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground Cover)

"The song "Last Ride" on Beach House's 2018 album 7 "was inspired by" Nico, according to lead singer Victoria Legrand."

America - hideaway part one, 1976

"Hideaway is the sixth studio album by American folk rock trio America, released by Warner Bros. Records in April 1976. The album was produced by George Martin, the third of six consecutive albums he produced with America."

Soft Cell - torch, 1981

"Torch" is a song by English synth-pop duo Soft Cell. It was released as a single in 1982, and in mid-June peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, ranking 45 for the year. It also reached number 31 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, number 12 in the Netherlands and number 6 in the Flemish Ultratop 50. Singer Marc Almond duets towards the end of the song with Cindy Ecstasy, an American clubgoer the band had met at the after-hours bar Club Berlin in New York the year previously. The single was originally intended to be double A-sided, coupled with the eventual B-side song "Insecure Me"; as such, both songs were included in the band's 2018 singles compilation Keychains & Snowstorms: The Singles. "Torch" ranked 49 in the New Musical Express critics' list of the year's 50 best singles."

James - english beefcake, 2001

“English Beefcake” has a somber low pulse and prominently features Saul Davies’ maudlin violin before completely switching gears midway through the song and becoming an almost triumphant chant."

The Waterboys - church not made with hands, 1984

"From the outset there would be something spiritual about all things Waterboys without a doubt influenced by their main man Mike Scott’s mother, an English teacher, reading him CS Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles when he was a child."

The Postmarks - no one said this would be easy, 2009

"the intrigue of a Spaghetti Western soundtrack"

The Alan Parsons Project - don't answer me, 1984

"Instead of the art rock and progressive rock sounds for which Alan Parsons was well-known, Parsons crafted "Don't Answer Me" in the style of Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound technique. Eric Woolfson, the co-writer, handled lead vocals on the single, with Mel Collins providing a saxophone solo with a "soothing yet destitute wail".

The Waterboys - don't bang the drum, 1985

"The trumpet in the song's intro was performed by Roddy Lorimer, which Scott described as being a "luminous high flying freeform trumpet solo in the style of 'Sketches of Spain' by Miles Davis, set against a dark 12 string guitar and piano landscape"

Keane - day will come, 2012

"this is a good Keane song. It’s got optimistic lyrics, it’s got a catchy beat. It’s definitely one of Keane’s happier songs, which is always nice to hear"

New Order - sub-culture, 1985

"Sub-culture" is the tenth single by English rock band New Order. It was released as the second and final single from their third studio album, Low-Life (1985) on 28 October 1985 by Factory Records."

Air - cherry blossom girl, 2003

"Cherry Blossom Girl" is a song by French electronic music duo Air. It was released in February 2004 by Virgin Records as the first single for their third studio album, Talkie Walkie (2004)."

Monaco - under the stars, 1997

"When New Order went on hiatus after 1993's Republic, bassist Peter Hook took the group's sound and spirit with him. After his previous side project Revenge was shredded by critics and snubbed by record buyers, Hook returned to the New Order formula - one he helped shape - when he collaborated with David Potts (guitar, vocals) as Monaco in 1996."

Saint Etienne - been so long, 1998

"The album was a departure for the group, who had been associated with the indie dance genre. Tiger Bay, their previous album, had added many acoustic and orchestral elements but still belonged to the synth-pop and dance genres, while Good Humor is more acoustic, having more in common musically with their 1993 hit single "You're in a Bad Way". Good Humor was demoed in the UK using synths and drum machines, but was recorded in Sweden under the guidance of Tore Johansson, who augmented their sound with a full band and a horn section."

Aimee Mann - little bombs, 2005

"‘Little Bombs’ was the first song from this album to leap out at me and it remains one of my favorites. I love how it’s quite busy musically — with layers of atmospheric percussion, a propulsive acoustic guitar and the piano and electric guitar trading off accent notes — but somehow feels achingly intimate. And I love the metaphor of a person’s life as an unexploded shell."

Liquido - wake me up, 1999

"Liquido was a German alternative rock band formed in Sinsheim, Germany in 1996 by four friends: Wolle Maier (drums), Wolfgang Schrödl (vocals, guitar, piano), Stefan Schulte-Holthaus (bass) and Tim Eiermann (vocals, guitar). Their only notable international hit, "Narcotic", was first released on a demo in 1996 and sold over 700,000 units when Virgin re-released it in 1998. Since then, Liquido hasn't been able to repeat this success, which led to a split from Virgin after two unsuccessful albums. 2005 saw the release of an equally ill-fated album on the new label Nuclear Blast."

Monaco - happy jack, 1997

"Released on June 9, 1997, on Polydor Records, Music for Pleasure may be regarded as the pinnacle of Hook’s songwriting prowess outside of his former bands, Joy Division and New Order; but, of course, not discounting the equally important contributions of Hook’s effective co-songwriter in Monaco, David Potts (drums, guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass). It also inadvertently gave away a hint of which New Order songs were borne primarily of Hook’s ideas or, at the least, his preferred musical direction, considering the almost purely Electronic Dance Music excursion of his New Order bandmates: Bernard Sumner, in his own side project in the same period; as well as that of The Other Two, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert."

Cocteau Twins - rilkean heart, 1995

"Rilke supported the Russian Revolution in 1917 as well as the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. He became friends with Ernst Toller and mourned the deaths of Rosa Luxemburg, Kurt Eisner, and Karl Liebknecht. He confided that of the five or six newspapers he read daily, those on the far left came closest to his own opinions. He developed a reputation for supporting left-wing causes"

The Postmarks - let go, 2007

"The sad and sunny Floridian classic pop trio Postmarks join the ranks of and the Women And Children and the Fiery Furnaces, with this hazily sylvan clip, rays of light pouring through green leaves, chem major Tim Yehezkely occasionally mouthing her happy/sad lyrics."

Marillion - script for a jester's tear, 1983

"Script For A Jester's Tear is a spontaneous feeling lyric; it seems to be set quite soon after a break-up, whereas The Web gives the feel of months wallowing in depression. It is for me quite the most beautiful expression of the pain of rejection."

The Radio Dept - messy enough, 2009

"Some people are weekend warriors, getting up and out early on Saturdays, taking the kids to soccer or swim lessons or karate, getting their grocery shopping out of the way, etc. That’s not us. When Saturday rolls around we all like to have slow, leisurely breakfasts at whatever time it is when we come down stairs, catch up on some reading, just take it easy. What’s the rush? To me Saturdays are like summer vacations; you have to appreciate them while you have them because they’re gone before you’re ready. Slow it down. The dishes can wait."

Barclay James Harvest - vanessa simmons, 1971

"Vanessa Simmons" is a simple but effective number with just acoustic guitars under the vocals."

Amy Macdonald - this is the life, 2007

"This Is the Life" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald from her 2007 debut album of the same name. It was released on 10 December 2007 in the United Kingdom and in 2008 in most European countries. It became Macdonald's most successful single to date, topping eight European singles charts and reaching the top 10 on nine other European music listings. Conversely, the song did not match the success of "Mr Rock & Roll" in the United Kingdom, stalling at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video consists of pictures of Macdonald and her friends' night out."

Pet Shop Boys - luna park, 2006

"if "Luna Park" is indeed the United States, then what does the line "It's always dark in Luna Park" suggest—aside, of course, from the historical fact that the original Luna Park was open only at night? In what ways is America an amusement park where it's always dark? That, in effect, is the subject of the song. To much of the rest of the world, rightly or wrongly, the United States must indeed seem like a vast national amusement park, an "unreal" place where people are devoted to entertainment and enjoyment, to keeping themselves amused, and to keeping themselves in the dark—though whether that darkness is merely a means to an end or an end unto itself is a matter of debate."

The Waterboys - the whole of the moon, 1985

"AllMusic instead suggests that its subject is a number of people who inspired Scott, including writer C. S. Lewis and the musician Prince. Scott himself says that he "couldn't have written" the song without having read Mark Helprin's novel Winter's Tale, but goes on to state that the song is not about Helprin. The official Waterboys website's Frequently Asked Questions clarifies that Scott has said that the song's subject is "a composite of many people", including C. S. Lewis, but explicitly states that it is not about Prince."

Aimee Mann - she really wants you, 2005

"For The Forgotten Arm, Mann hired a new (for her) cast of studio pros and had them play mid-’70s roots rock in the style of The Faces and Lynyrd Skynyrd (or in the album’s softer moments The Band and Tumbleweed Connection-era Elton John). For some of these players, this sort of meat-and-potatoes country rock was second nature; guitarist Jeff Trott, for example, who made his rep on Sheryl Crow’s second album. Others were slightly removed from their usual sphere; fellow guitarist Julian Coryell is more associated with jazz than cowboy-chord rock. At times the wailing guitar crosses the line from authentically 1970s into schlock, with the worst excesses come from Trott. On She Really Wants You, he sounds like a wind machine is blowing his hair. His solo on Dear John, which is similar in style, tone and technique, is even more stadium; the vibrato is so foot-on-the-monitor over the top you wonder whether Trott could possibly be being serious."

Azure Ray - safe and sound, 2001

"Azure Ray is an Athens, GA, duo composed of Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor; their self-titled debut album is a quiet, gentle set of lovely songs that doesn't fit neatly into any current pigeonhole. Both women have contributed to more well-known projects - both have played in the ever-changing Bright Eyes touring band and Fink has played with the interesting Japancakes instrumental ensemble (but she didn't hint at the sort of lovely and emotional soul-searching found on Azure Ray)."

Memoryhouse - caregiver, 2010

"We’ve all felt like ghosts at one time or another."

Genesis - one day, 1969

"From the abundantly pleasant pastoral opening, the song transitions into a verse of lovely backing music that the boys forgot to put a melody on. Really, the verses of this one might as well just be William Shatner doing spoken word; they wouldn’t lose anything from the switch. But then the horns pick up, and we enter a fairly effective chorus."

Indochine - sweet dreams, 2005

"When watching a show about albums on French TV, I came across a very interesting band I had never heard before, Indochine, pronounced Ondo-sheen. In the video, they were playing to a packed out arena with a lot of fans, mostly female, screaming their appreciation of the band. I came to the conclusion they were a huge sensation in their native country, which my good buddy, The Vintage Toy Adviser, has since confirmed."

Devine And Statton - crestfallen, 1990

"There was always something so exotic about Les Disques du Crepuscule, the Belgian label and European cousin (in essence) of Factory Records. Thus it was perfectly suited for the sophisticated pop music that Alison Statton came to be associated with. She had already been involved in two bands that had reached cult status overnight (Young Marble Giants and Weekend), so it is only fitting that her third musical venture ended up being held in equally high regard. Partnering with Ian Devine (who was part of forgotten Mancunian band Ludus), they continued in a similar vein to Statton’s work with Weekend: light, jazzy pop music that was reminiscent of early Everything But the Girl. Their first release, 1989’s The Prince of Wales, was a glorious showcase for Statton’s exquisite voice and the pair’s devotion to Welsh nationalism, even if it was done in a subtle, melodic way. 1990’s Cardiffians followed a similar template to its predecessor but in this case, more of the same was a very welcome thing. It featured a more substantial band (including New Order’s Peter Hook), although it is hardly noticeable, yet the under-riding Welsh theme is still evident."

Saint Etienne - woodcabin, 1998

"Good Humor generally opts for a live band sound, which stands in direct contrast to their past studio-centric output. Opener “Woodcabin” eases into this style with an isolated, mechanical-like rhythm that may or may not be a drum machine. Then, a funk bassline kicks in, followed by jazzy Fender Rhodes electric piano, acoustic guitar and muted trumpet filigrees. However, it no longer resembles a Cardigans song once Cracknell’s inimitable vocals appear."

Of Monsters And Men - lakehouse, 2012

"A close contender for the album’s emotional climax shows up here, in the second-to-last slot where such things are usually appropriate. If “Your Bones” was Raggi’s big, weepy anthem, then this is Nanna’s. It’s got a warm hint of nostalgia to it, but also a slightly haunted feeling, her clear, youthful voice hinting at a loss of innocence as she begs, “Can you chase this fire away?” Beyond that and her reminiscence about a special house she used to visit in her younger days, this one’s abstract enough that I’m not quite sure what it’s about. Whatever the subject matter, it would certainly make a fine concert closer for the band, as it doesn’t take long for everyone to come crashing in at the same time, with brazen electric guitar chords, loud and proud accordion, and rolling snare drums, turning the song into an up-tempo march that work together with another spirited round of “la la la”s to make the song feel like it could be played at the world’s happiest funeral. Admittedly, if you’re not a big fan of groups filling space with stuff like “la la la”, then you might find some of these bigger, more climactic songs near the end of the album to be a bit repetitive. But I’ll give them a pass for that since even without everyone singing in unison at the end, the musicians are playing their hearts out and the whole thing is rattle-the-rafters exhilirating."

Pet Shop Boys - liberation, 1993

"an ex-cynic who suddenly discovers the joy of love after a lifetime of dismissing it. Though he had always feared that falling in love would be constricting, he has found, on the contrary, that love has given him a sense of freedom he's never felt before."

The Golden Dregs - the company of strangers, 2025

“The Company of Strangers is a business empire into which one might invest their best life years, best health, best thoughts, every last hour of daylight in the winter months, to expire, become surplus to requirement, served notice, redundant. The Company doesn’t care about you but you are better than that. Godspeed The Company.”

The Waterboys - glastonbury song, 1993

"Glastonbury's a holy centre, a place of great spiritual power, and there are lots of spiritual legends associated with it, among them that Jesus came here when he was a boy. And Joseph of Arimathea – Jesus' uncle – brought the chalice, in which he'd collected Jesus' blood from the cross, and he buried it at Glastonbury and that's the legend of the Holy Grail. And when you go there, the place does have a power. You can really feel it."

Enya - someone said goodbye, 2005

"Everywhere life happens to everyone. Sometimes, when the day is over, reflection might bring saddest times to mind. This song is about those feelings."

Coldplay - viva la vida, 2008

"Viva La Vida is genuine, musically ambitious, and filled with sonic dynamics as Chris Martin and crew guides the listener across an auditory play land that is equally familiar and foreign."

Tame Impala - nangs, 2015

"Have you ever stared into the sun and closed your eyes? Or maybe tapped rapidly on the sides of your eardrums? Well, that is exactly what this song sounds like."

The Waterboys - out of all this blue, 2019

"Scott may no longer be the young man who gave us "Don't Bang the Drum" and "A Girl Called Johnny" but he is far from being a Bono-like pompous windbag and on this evidence, he's not only not finished, but he may yet achieve the same mythic status of some of his own great influences."

Aimee Mann - goodbye caroline, 2005

"Mann’s record traces the relationship of John, an alcoholic boxer, and his love being the titular Caroline. And, this tune inside of that larger narrative just sings; a jangly pop classicist gem with a bit of folk-rock flavouring thrown in there too."

Pet Shop Boys - a red letter day, 1996

"Back in 1996 when the song was released, the Labour Party had been out of power for 17 years and the U.K. public itself was just waiting for the next year, 1997, for the General Election so that they could vote the Conservative government out.… [W]hen I saw Neil and Chris… on Top of the Pops surrounded in red light and singing, "Go to work and take your calls/Hang the fruits of your labour on the walls," I naturally thought the song was about, amongst other things, New Labour (as the Labour Party had been rebranded)."

Architecture In Helsinki - like a call, 2003

"The overall vibe is that of «little-angelish» innocence, due to all the xylophones, glockenspiels, high-pitched electronics, quasi-surf guitars, and pseudo-pre-pubescent vocals."

El Perro Del Mar - let me in, 2009

"That's an old story by now, but for some reason, it still means a lot to me. It's strange that it still does, but somehow I was right when I decided to use it. It came about during a time in my life when I was quite lost and had an existential and creative crisis. I was aimlessly trying to get away somewhere, and I happened to go to a Spanish island — and not in a romantic way at all, because I was really at a loss, and I really just had to flee somewhere. I ended up sitting by the ocean and staring out in the blue and just wondering, basically, what I was going to do with my life."

Saint Etienne - kiss and make up cover, 1991

"Kiss and Make Up" is a song by English band Saint Etienne, released as a single in 1990. It features Donna Savage of New Zealand indie pop band Dead Famous People and is a cover version of "Let's Kiss and Make Up", a song by The Field Mice from their 1989 album, Snowball. The single peaked at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart."

Wild Nothing - live in dreams, 2010

"Live in Dreams" reveals Jack Tatum's real love for synth-pop of the Reagan years."

AC Newman - last minute travel plans, 2014

"At a diner, Wallace tells Chantry about the trip and his feelings for her, and she responds unfavorably, informing him that she has accepted a work promotion and will be moving to Taiwan."

The Moody Blues - and the tide rushes in, 1970

"Ray was my best pal. I met Ray when I was 14. We were two young kids from Birmingham who were reaching for the stars — and I think we got there. I'm really pleased that Ray was around to know we'd be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I spoke to Ray just before Christmas — because his birthday was after Christmas, on the 29th — and we had a long conversation. We're very close friends — or were very close friends. Very sad. Very, very sad."

Belle And Sebastian - funny little frog, 2006

"Funny Little Frog" is the first single released from Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian's seventh studio album, The Life Pursuit (2006). The track was released in January 2006 on Rough Trade Records and was produced by Tony Hoffer. The single became the band's highest-charting single in the UK, reaching number 13. The artwork for the single features Julie Coyle and Marisa Privitera. A different version of "Funny Little Frog" appears on Stuart Murdoch's 2009 album God Help the Girl."

Club 8 - straight as an arrow, 2013

"The duo of composer-instrumentalist Johan Angergård and wispy-voiced singer Karolina Komstedt has cycled through aspects of bedsit pop, hi-NRG chic, trip-hop noir, and quiet-is-the-new-loud bossa nova, eventually encompassing many of those within a tender, nuanced take on acoustic pop-- and that's not mentioning the pair's prior work with the twee-leaning Poprace, or Angergård's ongoing roles in the noisier Legends and lushly orchestrated Acid House Kings."

Wild Nothing - summer holiday, 2010

"Right from the drop, it has a late Velocity Girl-type sound to it. I love that. You know. After they quit being so noisy. Not that I dislike the noise. To the contrary. Just that they were almost a completely different band. Anyway, there’s that. And it’s such a bubbly, bright, “summery” song. I like it quite a bit."

Saint Etienne - this is tomorrow, 2008

"When Saint Etienne were chosen as the first ever artists-in-residence at London's Southbank Centre, their mission was clear: to document the historic £100m reconstruction of the Royal Festival Hall. The resulting documentary, This Is Tomorrow, depicts that process in parallel with the story of the venue's original construction in 1949. It's a beautiful celebration not only of the Royal Festival Hall, but also of a certain British optimism about the power of the arts, and of London itself."

Enya - china roses, 1995

"Everyone has their own idea of heaven. What creates the beauty of the world is the love we have for it, connected to memories, wishes, desires. For each of us it is a different treasure we embrace – a changing sky, the crimson flower of the Keys of Heaven, a love token, the endless delight of fairy-tales, the ever-shifting pictures of our world that we find in the words of poets. For each one of us a different love becomes our own wood of dreams."

The Cranberries - ode to my family, 1994

"Let Dolores be your station's guardian angel. Real Christmas family spirit is generated by this ballad which surpasses all the rest currently available when it comes to sincerity."

Pet Shop Boys - gin and jag, 2009

"Boredom deplores a vacuum" – At least that what how this line of the song reads in the lyrics section of the Pet Shop Boys' official website. But in the actual recording, Neil clearly sings "Boredom abhors a vacuum" [my emphasis], which more closely matches how the original phrase that inspired this line is most often rendered. It's a takeoff on the ancient dictum "Nature abhors a vacuum," attributed to the Greek philospher-scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC). I know of no reason for the deplores/abhors discrepancy aside from a simple mistake on someone's part."

AC Newman - chantry's ticket, 2014

"Eighteen months later, Wallace and Chantry return home from Taiwan after becoming engaged. They marry and contemplate the rest of their lives while sitting on Wallace's rooftop."

REM - make it all okay, 2004

"The song begins with some piano which is quickly accompanied by Michael’s vocals and an acoustic guitar. The first thing I noticed was Michael’s melody, especially during the “Didn’t you now?” part. It’s really catchy and sounds just nice in general. Mike’s bass comes in with some tasty fills and we get a little distorted guitar bends from Peter which starts filling out the song’s space quite well. So why isn’t this song better? I think it’s because the verses are by far the best part about it. When we get into the chorus, it’s kinda hard to tell it’s even a chorus. It’s becomes a little more minor key and when the drums come in they just don’t add anything to the song."

Mr Kitty - glycerin, 2023

"glycerin was great and remind grew on me, the other singles I didn't like. I'm scared but I'm also excited since I have around 25 Mr Kitty songs on repeat for years. His music really connects with me, especially Time"

The Lightning Seeds - the life of riley, 1992

"The Life of Riley" is a song by British band The Lightning Seeds. It was released in 1992 from the album Sense. The song was a minor hit when it was first released on 2 March 1992, reaching number 28 on the UK Singles Chart, and even reaching the top 100 in the US. However the song later gained popularity when the BBC football programme, Match of the Day, began to use it frequently for segments including "Goal of the Month", throughout most of the 1990s. The song was still associated with the programme many years later and featured in a similar "Goal of the Day" segment in the mid-2000s. It is still occasionally used for the same section as of 2023."

Keane - somewhere only we know, 2004

"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs...It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message...Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."

The National - slow show, 2007

"So, what’s so special about Slow Show? Just a miserable middle-aged man reflecting on his youth right? Well take the opening 20 seconds, an electric guitar swells, bristling with electric ambiance and a sense of tension. An acoustic guitar chops in with that rhythm, and it is so simple, yet so sophisticated, like a well made cocktail or a Michelin stared meal the devil is in the detail. This is before you even get to the first lyric"

The Flaming Lips - the sound of failure, 2006

"It was tough to find a snippet of lyrics that did justice to the beauty of this song. One thing I’ve liked about past Lips record is that they seemed blissfully unaware of the pop culture around them; mentioning such pop idols as Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani in their lyrics is tantamount to putting up a big red sign that says “Forgettable lyric with a shelf life here – move along, folks.” But don’t judge it by that. The temporary nature of said stars may serve as an adequate contrast to the “failure” of a girl who just wants to do, or be, something unique. What, I can’t tell. Her insecurity plays out against a backdrop of lovely guitar strumming and faint orchestral elements that builds to such a beautiful crescendo, that part of me doesn’t really care what weirdness is being discussed here. As if self-conscious regarding the beauty they’re creating, the Lips throw in an insistent, nervous, blurting electric guitar, but it just adds to the idiosyncrasy, not managing to divert the beautiful melody despite the guitar’s relative monotony. The whole thing is very 70’s, and just to be a little more “prog-rock” than normal, the song expands into a second section, with a brief, slow verse and gentle guitars and bells, before the calming sounds of flutes, synthetic bells, and humming insects conclude the song, which has now stretched leisurely past the seven-minute mark. A bit much for only track three, but who cares, it’s a lovely piece of work."