Our Picks of 2015, Part 2

Alfie and I have come together to create a couple of posts of our favourite albums and tracks of 2015. In this post, in no particular order, we picked our favourite tracks. All of which we highly recommend you have a listen to if you haven't already. There is a playlist at the bottom of this post with all the tracks on. So hit shuffle and have a listen! Let us know if you agree with our choices, and what your top five tracks were of 2015 in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Top 10 Tracks 2015 

FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney

Written by: West, McCartney, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein, Kirby Lauryen, Ty Dolla Sign, Dallas Austin and Elon Rutberg

Apart from being very surprised when this track was released in January 2015, I was very excited! I thought it was really cool to see some of my favourite artist come together to release a track that was pretty different to what any of them had done before. What made me laugh when this track was release was that some fans thought McCartney was unheard of before this track, and before Kanye discovered him (if you think this, check yourself). FourFiveSeconds is very minimalistic (as is the music video) which is really effective in making you listen to the lyrics and the meaning behind the song. I think its simplicity and catchy hook made it a great track to start off 2015 with.

 

Alabama Shakes – Don’t Wanna Fight 

Written by: Alabama Shakes  

I know it seems as though I’m trying to force Alabama Shakes on you – but I’m desperately trying to make it clear that 2015 was a great year for them. ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ starts with an echoed, gritty riff which builds into a fusion of aggressive strums and plucks. Brittany Howard then comes in at the peak of the sound wall with a heart wrenching howl which restarts the assaulting guitars. Assuming the song is sung from Howard’s point of view – she is clearly bemoaning her relationship with a loved one, stating the difficulties she goes through, but ultimately… she “Don’t Wanna Fight No More”.  The song was engineered by producer Blake Mills and I think Mills was key in achieving this punchy, sonic sound the Shakes were aiming for in this song. 

 

Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

Written by Ali Payami, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, The Weeknd and Peter Svensson

Can't Feel My Face was the massive summer tune of 2015, along with OMI's Cheerleader (released in 2014, why it's not on the list). This Canadian singer, songwriter and producer smashed the charts with his album Beauty Behind The Madness, but the one that stood out for me most was this one. Can't Feel My Face was leaked prior to its release on the 8th of June, debuing at number 24 before shooting to number 1 in the Hot 100 USA. The funky bass line and awesome lyrics make the song super catchy as well as the strong beat and break beats that make the song a great club track.

 

Brandon Flowers - The Way It’s Always Been 

Written by: Brandon Flowers and Benji Lysaght 

Similarly to Alabama Shakes, Flowers has had an excellent year. He reached number 1 in the UK; again, he also had a successful UK tour. However, more importantly, he achieved a sound which is different to previous work with The Killers and other solo efforts. I’ve done my research and Flowers found inspiration in David Bowie for his latest album – and I think it’s most evident in this song. This song starts in the rawest fashion with just his voice with no added effects alongside a bass and high hat. The vocal goes from this natural, cute head voice to an almighty gospel choir in one bar. From here the song moves up a gear into a psychedelic frenzy of synths, organs and melodic guitars. The song’s about hope, redemption and, well, Jesus? “Everybody sitting around waiting for the Son to come again” which is pretty admirable – he’s saying ‘Is anybody actually doing anything?” I suppose aiming this at world leaders and innovators... 

 

Coldplay - Adventures of a Lifetime

Written by: Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion

 I really wanted to put this whole album in the top picks of 2015, however I knew I wanted to focus on this track as it is arguably one of their best tracks of all time. Although its nothing like their massive, sing your heart out, ballads like Fix You, The Scientist or Yellow. It has its own charms with the awesome guitar riff and upbeat feel, quite different to the usual stuff Coldplay produce. Although I have felt that over their past three albums they have started to become a lot more upbeat, with songs like Paradise and Sky Full of Stars. I must also mention the amazing music video for Adventures of a Lifetime. It is an incredible piece of animation, with the whole band being turned in to chimpanzees. Definitely give this video a watch if you haven't already, it's amazing!

 

St Paul & The Broken Bones - Call Me 

Written by: Paul Janeway 

Next up is a song by another band from Alabama – maybe I have a type? This song is up there with the best of soul music. One thing you can take away from this track is the charisma of frontman Paul Janeway, the rest of the band just bounces and reacts to his movements and flamboyance; which is why it works so well! Lead guitarist plays funk guitar for the Broken Bones which is a huge factor to the ‘good time’ sound they have going on. It was also used in the Fifty Shades of Grey film, although not on the soundtrack, you can hear it in the background to one of the scenes… also quite fitting because it’s such a sexy groove.  

 

Justin Bieber - Love Yourself

Written by: Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Benjamin Levin

If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be a belieber I would have laughed in your face. I obviously knew all the words to the big  Bieber cheesy pop tunes from the beginning of his career, who doesn't?! But I would never have said I liked his music. However with the release of Purpose, his new album, I couldn't help myself. The album has some huge tunes on it, 3 of which were numbers 1,2 and 3 in the charts for a couple of weeks in the UK, in January. Love yourself was partly written by Ed Sheeran which I feel you can really tell. The lyrics are awesome, something Sheeran is really good at is writing amazing lyrics. Considering how basic this track is the lyrics are very important and the biggest part of the track really. I think the simplicity of the track is what makes it so special and different to everything else we usually hear from Bieber. The music video to this is mesmerising by the way, give it a watch and see.

 

One Direction - History 

Written by: Wayne Hector, John Ryan, Ed Drewett, Liam Payne, Julian Bunetta and Louis Tomlinson 

This is from the album Made in the A.M. and is a little more slow rock in comparison to the rest of the heavier album. This is a climaxing anthem to the end of the album and, I suppose, end of the first One Direction. It’s about their journey and a tribute to the die-hard Directioners. I love the stripped down version of One Direction, similarly to their hit Little Things. It will be interesting to see what happens during their break – hopefully they will come back with a matured musical direction to make some great music to, well, move them into classic rockstars. 

Maroon 5 - Sugar

Written by: Adam Levine, Martin Johnson, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Mike Posner

First of all watch the video, it's one of the cutest things ever! what makes it better is that the bride and grooms faces is genuine surprise! Although the Grooms knew there would be a surprise band turing up and that they were a big band, they were not told who it would be, the brides had no idea. It was directed by David Dobkin, the same guy who directed Wedding Crashers. The song itself is such a feel good song, something that everyone can get up and dance to, no matter if you know the song or not. Although it was on their 5th album, V released in 2014, the single wasn't released until 2015. It is easily one of my favourite tunes of 2015.

 

Leon Bridges – River 

Written by: Leon Bridges, Austin Michael Jenkins, Joshua Block and Chris Vivion 

Listening to Leon Bridges is like hearing Sam Cooke again – with the same authentic 60s feel. The song is beautiful; it’s a powerful sacrifice of his emotions and is easy to get lost in. The song has a smattering of scattered skitter coupled with the slow burning guitar alongside warm, heartfelt vocal is a comforting end to the album. I’ve also just found out that Bridges has been recording for his second album and I’m hugely anticipating a strong follow up to the magical debut hit record.  

 

 

Our Picks of 2015

Alfie and I have come together to create a couple of posts of our favourite albums and tracks of 2015. In this post, in no particular order, we picked our favourite albums. All of which we highly recommend you have a listen to if you haven't already. There is a playlist at the bottom of this post with (almost all, we won't discuss this business today) the albums on. So hit shuffle and have a listen! Let us know if you agree with our choices, and what your top five albums were of 2015 in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Top Albums of 2015

Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

Alabama Shakes’ second record has seen a huge step from earthy, American-South jangle to powerful, spirit lifting brute force. The album is also a showcase for the different ranges of genre and sound that Alabama Shakes can lay out for their growing audience. They can spill out messy rockers like ‘The Greatest’ but also refrain themselves to soulful subtlety in ‘This Feeling’ and ‘Dunes’. The album has a plethora of GRAMMY nominations, but more importantly slots nicely in What’s The Set List’s Top 10 albums of 2015.

Adele - 25

As a massive fan, this album was a huge deal for me! I have been waiting for this album for what felt like an eternity. When the album was finally released I think I lost count of the amount of times I listened to it in its entirety in the first 24 hours. 25 comes from a much more mature Adele, and although it can't beat 21 for me, it's still a fabulous and record breaking album. Like Beyonce in 2013 (and throughout her career really), anything to do with Adele in the last couple of months of 2015 and in to this year has turned into record breaking gold dust, for example tickets to see Adele live are being re-sold for at least 4x their original price (I won't get into what I think about this now). But with ballads like All I Ask and Hello, this album is set to go far and easily deserves a place in our top 10.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday 

Even before the High Flying Birds, Noel Gallagher had already, in my opinion, firmly set himself among the giants of rock and roll songwriting. Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Dylan are a few to mention. But what Chasing Yesterday has done is thrown down, perhaps, his greatest writing as of yet. The Britpop legend has once again charmed us with his explosive melodies and strong riffs on great songs numbers like ‘Riverman’ and ‘Lock All the Doors’ (which was written in 1992!). However, my favourite song on the record is ‘The Mexican’, a bluesy, Rolling Stones-esque change up from the rest of the album sitting beautifully in the middle of a sea of great songs. Noel will be pleased to know he and his High Flying Birds have soared into our Top 10.

Jamie XX - In Color 

Jamie xx is a new found love for me, not that I didn't like his music before, I just hadn't really given it a proper listen. However after missing him at Glastonbury for a second time, I thought I better up my game. In Colour has got some fabulous tracks on it with some awesome samples on it, especially in I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times). My personal favourite track on the album is Loud Places ft. Romy, I think its because it has that slight gospel feel in the chorus. This album has seen Jamie xx get nominated for a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance album this year, along with another album in our top 10 coincidentally. 

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly 

Those of you that know me will understand that I am in fact not a fan of hip-hop. As it turns out, I am a fan of experimental hip-hop and ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ ticks all the right boxes. In this alluring frenzy of jazz-funk rap, Kendrick Lamar voices an assault of lyrics on tracks like ‘King Kunta’ and ‘Alright’. He also teams up with soul legends The Isley Brothers for a few tracks, even titans like Michael Jackson and Tupac get songwriting credits on a few songs which really hits home his insightful messages of racial discrimination in America. Overall the album is a masterpiece; it has an attitude of a young, debuting artist with nothing to lose but also the presence and magnitude of a career defining performance.

Tame Impala - Currents

One of my close friends introduce Tame Impala to me, and he was just as excited as I was when they released Currents in July. The album opens with Let It Happen, a massive track that straight away grabs you and makes you want to dance. There are so many really good tracks on this album; The Moment, Disciples and Yes, I'm a Man. 

They have Indie Rock/ Psychedelic rock vibe going on which I love, and is especially obvious in this album. Some tracks have a little funk influence to them as well, like in The Less I Know The Better, which is another reason this album is so cool. 

Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect 

2015 saw the continuation of Brandon Flowers’ solo career. Who could have seen this one coming? First of all, possibly the greatest pop album by a rock star ever and I mean that genuinely. It seems as though Flowers took great inspiration from the recently lost icon, David Bowie. The Desired Effect screams “Fabulous Las Vegas” with all the grit and glitter culminating in a righteous cinematic-pop album. I am also a believer that Flowers and The Killers are under appreciated and fall into the category of unsung heroes, but they needn’t worry as this album hits the heights in our top 10. 

  

Lianne La Havas - Blood

Lianne La Havas' music was a big part of 2015 for me. I was a big fan of her first album, so when Unstoppable was released in April, I was super excited to hear her new music. Especially as it reminded me of Is Your love Big Enough. Blood has so many of those truly heartfelt, soulful tracks that La Havas absolutely nails, just like in her first album. Green and Gold and What You Don't Do have to be two of my favourite tracks from the album, they just demonstrate Lianne La Havas' skill and awesome songwriting ability. I was lucky enough to see her at Glastonbury and the the O2 Academy Bournemouth (a review to be posted soon), both times she and her band were incredible. Blood easily earns Lianne la Havas a spot in our top 10 albums of 2015.

Miley Cyrus – Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz 

After the success of Bangerz, we were all desperately waiting for the return of the lunatic pop princess; fortunately it was free so we didn’t mind too much. Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz is a kaleidoscopic trip into her weird and wonderful drug and sex fuelled life. The ex-Disney chick teamed up with Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips to take us through a journey into her rock chick lifestyle and has made incredibly attractive and sexual songs like ‘Something About Space Dude’ about a man in her life who is never there – more heartache and feeling than rival Taylor Swift could ever dream of…  

But for me, Miley releasing this album as a free download is a significant step the music industry must take note of. Pop legends like Sir Elton John have shown great support for the move. It is a real ploy that could bridge

the gap between music industry and music distribution

to the fans.

Disclosure - Caracal

Last, but not certainly not least, is Caracal, Disclosure's massive 2nd album. It features some huge artists and has a Grammy nomination for Best Electronic/Dance album. My favourite track on the album is Hold On ft. Gregory Porter, and is also one of my favourite tracks of 2015. Although it does help that I'm a huge Gregory Porter fan, this track just sticks out of the pack and was probably chosen as the lead single for that reason. Sam Smith, who was featured on Disclosure's last album, features again in Omen, another awesome track on Caracal. A lot of tracks from Caracal were featured in What's The Set List's Uni playlist, as I was hearing them every night in the clubs during Freshers. Disclosure have this awesome sound thats is like pop music, but is electronic, you can't help but dance. So dances it's was in to our top ten.