The Top 10 International Songs of 2022

Regular readers of this blog might be surprised to hear that I even listen to music from anywhere other than this glorious country some call Australia.

But I don’t control what they play on the radio (yet), so every now and again some sneaks in. Sue me. And wait in anxious anticipation for the reveal of my top 10 Australian songs of the year.

Without further ado, here are the ten best songs by international artists from 2022.

10. ‘Shatter’ by Maggie Rogers (U.S.A.)

One of the great vocal performers of a generation takes a rockstar turn. It’s a surprising evolution for Rogers, who rose to fame on the back of her breathtakingly beautiful voice on indie folk-pop tracks like ‘Alaska’ and ‘Fallingwater’. ‘Shatter’ is a rollicking belter, with buzzy guitars and 80s-style synths creating a platform for a vocal delivery more ferocious and forceful than any she’s recorded before.

9. ‘LAZY’ by Baby Queen (South Africa)

The chorus is a slam dunk live show crowd pleaser, no doubt about it. But it’s really the verses where Baby Queen flexes her wit, insight and lyrical brilliance. It’s an anthem written for a generation driven to apathy and existential depression, delivered with the swaggering confidence of someone who could own the world… if only she could see the point.

8. ‘Hive Mind’ by Slipknot (U.S.A.)

It’s hard not to read into the politics of a song with this title and this level of aggression. Slipknot clearly have something to say, though they tend to obfuscate their messaging with sheer unadulterated noise. ‘Hive Mind’ is subversive, skull-shaking heavy metal. If you’re sick of the discourse, exhausted by the increasingly hateful way people discuss politics, you’re always welcome in the mosh pit. Just leave the bullshit at the door.

7. ‘October Passed Me By’ by Girl in Red (Norway) 

In a year where Taylor Swift became the first person to score all ten spots in the Billboard Top 10, who would have thought that the best Taylor Swift song was actually released by a Norwegian alt-pop queer icon. Of course, in typical Girl In Red fashion, the sweetness is undercut by a certain menace, a slightly off-kilter eery beauty.

6. ‘Walkin’ by Denzel Curry (U.S.A)

Curry’s fifth record, Melt My Eyes, See Your Future, turned out to be a real contender for best album of 2022, and Curry’s most accomplished project yet. The album’s lead single, ‘Walkin’ sets the tone: epic and introspective, thoughtful and aggressive. Curry has the full MC arsenal, capable of complex change ups in flow and rhyme scheme, but this song isn’t a flex – it’s a rally cry against capitalism, racism, and a world that seems shockingly content with its many injustices.

5. ‘Messy In Heaven’ by Venbee x Goddard (England)

Some songs grab you right from the first line – and oh boy, is this first line a cracker: “I heard Jesus did cocaine on a night out”. Many dance tracks would be content with just that, repeating it ad nauseum. But ‘Heaven Is Messy’ is a lyrical tour de force. In a distinctive vocal style over a hectic drum and bass rhythm by producer Goddard, Venbee delivers a masterpiece in imagination and storytelling about a tragic Christ figure succumbing to the pleasures of a world that can’t be saved.

4. ‘2 B Loved (Am I Ready)’ by Lizzo (U.S.A)

Lizzo is a font of joy and delight, a beacon of acceptance and self-love. She’s also human. On this track, Lizzo transforms her insecurities and doubt into a dazzling fireworks display. Lizzo’s confidence is one of her strongest attributes, but by introducing vulnerability to her song writing, she becomes damn near invincible. Infectious, powerful and fun as hell.

3. ‘YUKON (INTERLUDE)’ by Joji (Japan)

Sombre, intimate piano gives way to subtle, enthralling production that mixes the tinkling of the keys with driving claps and pulsating beats, providing a unique space for Joji’s vulnerable lyrics and layered, quivering vocals to dance. Joji has a special talent for making the mournful and melancholic transcendently beautiful.

2. ‘New Gold’ by Gorillaz (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown) (England)

The fascinating musical odyssey of the world’s most famous virtual band powers onward. It’s their first collaboration with Bootie Brown since 2005’s ‘Dirty Harry’ and their first ever with perfect fit Tame Impala. Over euphoric synths and striking beats, they paint a picture of a broken utopia, or perhaps more accurately, a dystopia in fading makeup.

1. ‘Mother I Sober’ by Kendrick Lamar (feat. Beth Gibbons) (U.S.A.)

There is no record I have listened to less and thought about more than Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 effort Mr Morale & The Big Steppers. The album is complex and messy, but it’s the jagged edges that allow it to cut so deep. It reminds me of the film City of God - a breathtaking, viscerally real, often difficult to watch masterpiece that you only need to see once to be captivated by it for life.

I was driving when I first heard the album’s intensely personal six-and-a-half-minute climax ‘Mother I Sober’, and when I pulled up at traffic lights, I realised there were tears streaming down my face. In a near whisper, Kendrick unpacks mountains of generational trauma, and in doing so brings clarity and ascendance to the entire record. Everything you’ve just heard makes tragic, desperate sense. Brutal, mesmerising, unforgettable.

And a few honourable mentions: ‘Oh Caroline’ by The 1975, ‘ALIEN SUPERSTAR’ by Beyonce, ‘No One Dies From Love’ by Tove Lo, ‘Lavender Haze’ by Taylor Swift, ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’ by Arctic Monkeys