I started this year like so many of us — by declaring that 2020 was going to be my year.
Narrator: It wasn’t.
Good things happened, bad things happened, and all of it seemed to be a slog. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about it.
Overall I was scattered and unfocused, and that was the same story with the media I consumed too. I plowed through The Great, only to stop with two episodes to go. I left more books unfinished than read. (I was so proud of myself for starting War & Peace, and then I gave up like eight pages later.) There was a two-month dry spell where I didn’t listen to any music beyond my Quarantine & Chill mix.
That said, every December I write a post listing my favorite new songs, and I have fun doing it. So here we are!
Note: For the past couple years, I’ve mashed up my favorite books with my favorite songs for a year-end wrap-up extravaganza. But in 2020 I just can’t make that work. I’m not even going to try.
If you want to know some of my favorite books of 2020 (ones I DID finish!), you can check them out here. For my favorite tunes? Keep going.
The River • Goth Babe
I listened to this song in February on a flight to San Francisco, when the world felt ripe with promise. I was working on a travel piece for a magazine, and I was thrilled about the assignment, the editor, the fine hotels where I’d be staying, old friends, multi-course meals, sexy cocktails, all of it.
It was the same weekend the city declared a state of emergency due to a growing number of Covid-19 cases.
I polled my friends on Instagram: “Should I be concerned about coronavirus?”
“Nah, just wash your hands,” most of them said.
My story never ran. The magazine has now folded. And I am concerned about coronavirus. But this song was right there with me, teetering on the edge before we plunged into the deep end.
Color My Life • Chicano Batman
In the early days of lockdown, I was diligent about being not sober. This song accompanied me on those nights.
Woo! • Remi Wolf
I know I’m not the only one who experienced this pandemic as a rollercoaster. This song was for the high points — the giddy whoosh of days that didn’t seem so hard, the good writing days or the sunny beach days — when I couldn’t feel gravity holding me down.
Say So • Doja Cat
I had a little crush on someone this spring, and that person loved this song. I still get fluttery stomach feelings whenever I hear it.
Without You • Perfume Genius
A sweet and sad confection, like getting to the middle of a Blo-Pop.
Cheap Regrets • The Districts
Here’s more of that roller coaster I was talking about. But here we’re heading down the hill.
How Will I Rest in Peace If I’m Buried By a Highway • KennyHoopla
Right about the time I felt like a glass bottle full of screams, I heard this song for the first time and instantly added it to my Spotify queue. KennyHoopla electrifies me, like a modern Bloc Party but better.
Lovefool • twocolors
I just like a good cover, and this one makes me feel like I’m a cool person who goes to clubs and NOT someone who longs for bed at 8:45 (a.m.)
IN MY ROOM! • Tatiana Hazel
Obviously this song resonates.
I am so tired of my walls.
Interstellar Love • The Avalanches ft. Leon Bridges
This is maybe the best song that samples the Alan Parsons Project that I’ve heard all year. (Fine. It’s probably the only song this year that samples the Alan Parsons Project.)
Anyway, I love everything in this layered, space-age love song, including Leon Bridges, whose voice can transport me to other galaxies.
Loner • Dehd
I get a Siouxsie Sioux vibe from lead singer Emily Kempf. Then a reviewer said this song is a spiritual cousin to “Only the Lonely,” and now I can’t shake the ghost of Roy Orbison when I listen to it.
This song is an ode to longing and loneliness, two things I’ve become intimately acquainted with in 2020. Bonus points for a video shot in Joshua Tree.
Lancaster Nights • Charlie Burg
Charlie Burg took an immersion blender to a big pot of soul, indie pop, and R&B, and the result is a creamy, comforting soup of everything I like.
Don’t Start Now • Dua Lipa
This is by far the song I listened to the most this year, and it is a direct result of spending so much damn time on the Peloton. I liked Dua Lipa before, but then I started hearing her songs in every pop ride, and it’s like anything on high rotation — one day you realize you’re a fan and you don’t even know how it happened.
(However, I distinctly remember the live DJ ride in January when Cody played air cowbell during this song, and I was IN.)
Virtual Aerobics • Wallows
Fun. Upbeat. And … it’s about a trip to San Francisco.
Wanna see music lists from previous years? Here’s 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.