Top Songs of 2017

Top 10 Songs of 2017:

Below is my list of my favorite songs from 2017. It took quite some time for me to get the order just right - I moved things around quite a bit before finalizing. It was a great year for music - I don't know if it topped 2016, but it definitely produced some tracks that I'm going to be listening to long after the year is over.

1.  Black Butterflies & Deja Vu - The Maine
• The moment I heard this song for the first time, I knew it was going to be one of my favorites of the year. With each and every time I listened to it this year (107 times, to be exact), I fell more and more in love with the upbeat and soaring instrumental, the incredibly meaningful and relatable lyrics, and the way those elements came together to create a song for both the good and bad times. I know with confidence this is my favorite song of the year ( & possibly my favorite song by The Maine ever). 
2.  Young & Menace - Fall Out Boy
• I also vividly remember the moment that I heard this song for the first time, and I knew as well that this one was going to be a definite top 5 favorite for the year. With Mania, the album "Young & Menace" is the lead single for, being delayed till next month from it's original September release and the other singles released so far being a bit more lackluster, I have been giving this song even more attention and reveling in the way that it pushes the limits of where Fall Out Boy can go with their music. This song has divided the fans in terms of its reception, but I think it's absolutely stellar. The huge jumps between the lows and highs, building from brooding verses to the immense chorus that harnesses a gritty, blaring synth as Patrick Stump's voice is sampled dizzyingly high and crashing drums and roaring guitars create a wall of sound that I still find invigorating. 
3.  One More Light - Linkin Park
• I knew Linkin Park was going to be releasing a new album this year, so I knew something from the release would make it onto my end of the year list. After the album released, I was very fond of both "Invisible", "Nobody Can Save Me", and "Sorry For Now", thinking one of those would be in this spot. That changed with the passing of Chester Bennington, one of the band's frontmen and one of my heroes. This song was already an incredible and beautifully haunting song, but it took a completely new meaning after Chester's death. It will be one of the best songs that Linkin Park ever does; the gut-wrenching, vulnerability of the lyrics and instrumental create a truly touching song about loss and the impact one person's life can have. 
4.  Headphones - Walk the Moon
• Another release that I was anticipating greatly, Walk the Moon released "Headphones" as the second single from What If Nothing. I enjoyed "One Foot", but "Headphones" grabbed me and held tight throughout the 3 minute ride that is this song. Gritty guitars and bass, thundering drums, and the back and forth of Nicholas Petricca's speaking-then-yelling vocals create a track that doesn't let up for a moment and reveals a lot about the talents of the group. I pestered my girlfriend about listening to this song for a few days after it released before she had the chance. I told her it was really good, but when she listened to it, she was almost mad - she asked my why hadn't I said it was absolutely incredible and that she needed to listen to it right at this very moment? I highly recommend you listen right now.
5. Hook, Line & Sinker - Royal Blood
• A band that I had heard relatively little of before 2017, I happened across their second album by chance and knew there was something fantastic happening here. While almost all of the songs on the album are absolutely incredible, "Hook, Line & Sinker" was the hidden jem near the end that I couldn't get enough of. The mind-boggling talent of two musicians Mike Kerr & Ben Thatcher is displayed ferociously on this song as they jam out for 3 & 1/2 minutes of rock n' roll bliss. The synchronization of the bass guitar and vocals on the verses gets my head nodding every single time I listen, without fail. The simplicity yet speaker-filling quality of the instrumental is just wonderful. 
6. 24/7 - The Neighbourhood
• This band keeps me interested in how they're able to create an alternative reality within their music; an overcast, almost dreary, Southern California. At least that's the impression I get when I listen to their music, and as I live in SoCal, it's a really interesting concept of music that reminds me of a place that rarely exists. This song in particular uses lots of electronic elements mixed with guitars and drums to create a blurry, syrupy instrumental that's both urgent and relaxed. I love Jesse Rutherford's vocals on this song as well; the softness he utilizes for the verses in particular, as well as the way the melody climbs as he sings "Just give it some time" (there's also a very edited and muted scream he does right after this line during the second chorus that's really, really wonderful). Contradictions are the name of the game with this tune, and part of what keeps me coming back for more. 
7.  Passionfruit - Drake
• Drake seems to have a knack for crafting certain songs that just blow up and resonate with people (or he employs dad dance moves). I remember I was listening through his new "playlist" (it's an album, but he called it a playlist), and this song started and I was immediately captivated. The sensitive, soft-sounding synth and marimba melody that goes throughout the song got stuck in my head constantly, and Drake backed it with vocals that matched the smooth nature of the track. I've always liked Drake best when he goes for the vulnerable sound, and this song is his peak in terms of that. 
8.  Told You So - Paramore
• After Laughter had a lot of songs that really resonated with me; this struggle of keeping appearences of being happy and content while dealing with internal and external turmoil. While "Hard Times" & "Pool" were both other contenders, "Told You So" feels like it's going to stick with me the longest in terms of it's composition and lyrical content. The opening line, "For all I know, The best is over and the worst is yet to come" came to me in a time when I was dealing with a lot of struggling and resonated with me to the core. The juxtaposition of a poppy & bright instrumental with lyrics like this create a piece that is at odds with itself, much like it's composers seemed to be when it was created. 
9. Anyone Else - Pvris
• Pvris' latest album was another I was very much anticipating, and while the overall record didn't feel quite as strong as I'd hoped, many of the songs had individual strength that left me still pleased. "Anyone Else" was the top contender from the album, with strong lyrical content and a prominent etherial sense to the instrumental. "I could touch a hundred thousand souls, but none of them would feel like home" was the line in particular that caught my attention - Pvris has always delved into the subject of souls and I was glad to see them continuing it here. The instrumental does an excellent job of flowing from the soft to the gritty as well, giving me another reason to love the band.
10. Halfway Off The Balcony - Big Sean
• I've never really been an avid Big Sean listener, but found myself very much impressed with this year's I Decided. The concept, story driven backbone resulted in some very introspective songs from the man who was gaining a lot of fame for "I Don't F**k With You". "Halfway Off The Balcony" is a brooding, darker rap that relies more on singing than the spoken word, but manages to combine Big Sean's real life with this imagined reality he creates within the album in a way that's almost haunting. The chorus is one of the strongest, lyrically, that I've heard this year: 
• "I'm hangin' halfway off the balcony, overthinkin' 'cause my job is way more than a salary, everything around me gold like I just practiced alchemy, I realized when it comes to girls, that chemistry means way more than anatomy"

Honorable Mentions:

•  hell is where i dreamt of u and woke up alone - blackbear
• Another new artist for me this year, the opening track from blackbear's first release of 2017 (digital druglord) is a big contrast to the rest of the release. Employing just piano and vocals as opposed to the trap and rap influenced R&B, blackbear shows off some vulnerability in this stripped down track that caught my attention and showed some signs of potential from the still growing artist.
• Lit Me Up - Brand New
• The title track from the last album from emo veterans Brand New showed me that this release was going to be something special. The darkness is so strong in this song, from the creepy intro of a woman talking about dreams to the brooding sense of the instrumental and the vocals. It's a slow building song, never fully erupting in an aggressive or gritty sense, but gaining strength and momentum through the power of it's haunting nature.
• Sober - Lorde
• As someone who wasn't super impressed with Lorde's debut album, her follow up release surprised me greatly (see below for more on that). "Sober" mixes both sensuality and melancholy, an odd combo but one that works in the context of the song. She reveals the growth she's gone through since breaking into the music scene, and this song is one of the strongest examples of that.
• Dirty Laundry - All Time Low
• This song was a bit of a sleeper for me - I listened to it a few times when it first came out, left it alone, and then ended up really becoming entranced by the way it slowly shifts from a polished, pop-leaning track into a full-blown rock song at the end. Alex Gaskarth's vocals are the highlight for sure; he employs vulnerability throughout, both in a more subdued and soft sense and then with grit and volume by the end.