ifitbeyourwill most listened to songs of 2022

see you on the other side xo

 

best of 2022 • Air Waves • The Dance

As its name suggests, The Dance refuses to stand still. Instead, it spins, flips, and sidesteps through different moods. Stand out track “Wait” is a synthy and addictive beast that will beg to be put on repeat. Titular “The Dance” is a nostalgic romp that evokes the stuttering, violent emotions of slow-dancing at a sepia-toned prom. Closing track “Peer Peer” is an ambient, stilted ditty that ends the album on a pleasant question mark. Schneit‘s throaty, melancholic vocals— which have become a calling card for Air Waves—provides the glue to these different textures. The Dance feels like a blurry night out, complete with romance, mystery, and good music. The ebbs and flows, good times and uncomfortable moments, and abrupt endings—That’s what life is about, packed up and presented through this record. highclouds

best of 2022 • Fortunato Durutti Marinetti • Feels Like

What I’ve learned over the last several years of making records is that the recordings benefit from inviting other people in. I’ve recorded several albums basically entirely by myself and I can’t imagine doing that again. Memory’s Fool is the record where I consciously embraced opening up the process and deliberately left space for other peoples’ contributions and presence. It’s the first record where I didn’t feel like I had to predetermine every aspect of the recordings, which is how I operated previously. Now I don’t want to know exactly how it’s going to turn out. The other thing is that inviting contributors allows for a different palette of instruments that I can’t play, like strings and horns. The recordings I’m working on right now for the next record lean even further into this zone and it feels really good.   foxy

Quiet Arrows • Heart of Winter • 2022

A cozy winter love song that sounds like a warm fire and feels like home. Lushly layered harmonies float over fingerpicked acoustic guitar, dreamy harmonica, intimate ethereal synths, and thick molasses tones of upright bass. "Cold night oh the stars are stunning, we warm by the fire like honey, these moments must mean something…"

SPC ECO • Friday I'm In Love • 2022

Low • Just Like Christmas • 2010

On our way from Stockholm

Started to snow

And you said it was like Christmas

But you were wrong

It wasn't like Christmas at all

By the time we got to Oslo

Snow was gone

And we got lost

The beds were small

But we felt so young

It was just like Christmas...

It was just like Christmas... 🎅 

best of 2022 • Heavy Gus • Stock the cupboards out for winter...

heavygus

Verified

Stock the cupboards out for winter, we've got months til new things start to grow

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best of 2022 • Friendship • Love the Stranger

James Champion There are certain albums that make very specific time periods in my seem to glow a little extra in my memory. this summer I’m sure every little thing I do while listening to this album will have that special memorable glow that I’ll look back on in years future with extra human fondness.

best of 2022 • Whistle Peak • Endless Spaces

 

the space between organic and synthetic, acoustic and electronic.

Indie Music of 2022

 

Sparklehorse • It Will Never Stop • 2022

1. marklinkous.com

best of 2022 • Kevin Morby • Bittersweet, TN (feat. Erin Rae)

“‘Bittersweet, TN’ is a love song dedicated to time,” explains Morby. “It is about the abundance and scarcity around it that I feel almost always – that there is either a daunting amount or not enough but regardless – time is always on my mind. I tell this love story to the backdrop of America, or rather a Bittersweet, Tennessee – which like time itself can be a very beautiful or very tragic thing, depending, and one may not exist without the other. I sing it with my great friend – the very talented Erin Rae who really helped bring this song to life. There is a moment towards the end of the song where we have a cheers ‘to time,’ and I am so honored to be having those cheers with Erin in some sonic landscape for the rest of time.”

Devoted my life to the passin' of time

Crossed over county to the Missouri line

And how does one sail on the waves of time?

Hey there sailor, can I hitch a ride?

There was a time when you were mine

Oh, there was a time when you were mine

There was a time when you were mine

Oh, there was a time

Well, have one on me, bittersweet

Tennessee

Bittersweet

Tennessee

Goddamn you got old, you got upset you got sick

The livin' took forever, but the dyin' went quick

And oh, just to think you were a little kid

Wonderin' what you'd be when you got big

And there was no time, suddenly

Oh, there was no time, suddenly

There was no time, suddenly

Oh, there was no time

Well, have one on me, bittersweet

best of 2022 • Jaguar Sun • With You

With Jaguar Sun’s latest album “All We’ve Ever Known” he digs into the aftermath of his debut album “This Empty Town” exploring the process of accepting where you’re at in life, looking at your past, and moving on from mistakes or moments that have caused pain. The album is a bittersweet but hopeful look into the future and everything that tomorrow can be.

best of 2022 • Big Thief • Red Moon

https://bigthief.net/

There is a jubilance to these performances, even a joyousness. A wailing fiddle, played by guest member Mat Davidson (aka Twain), loosens up the country stomp of “Red Moon” and the gorgeous, blue-eyed harmonies of “Dried Roses.”

Red moon rising like a fire in me

So many questions, she asks them all to me

I have to answer most curiously

Scarlet angel, I am too small to see

Earn earn, shuffle round the big city

Burning the rubber down, crossing the hot concrete

I'm gonna leave town, there is someone to meet

She turns her head around a full 360

Woo

Bedroom rising from an old growth tree

Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams

Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams

Rings like Saturn telling their old story

Felice Brothers • "Jazz on the Autobahn" • (2022 XPoNential Music Festival)

http://www.thefelicebrothers.com/

The Felice Brothers perform "Jazz on the Autobahn" at the 2022 XPoNential Music Festival. Recorded live at Wiggins Park on the Camden Waterfront, NJ on September 17th, 2022.

Storefront Church Featuring Phoebe Bridgers • Words • 2022

Sparhawk said of his wife: “Hers was the voice of someone who is just singing, not trying to convince you of something. She was not singing to you. She was not singing to be noticed. Sometimes she didn’t even want to be seen. She just wanted to be.” Obituary 

Storefront Church is the project of Los Angeles–based artist Lukas Frank. He released his debut album, As We Pass, last year via Sargent House. In a statement about the Low cover, Frank wrote, “In the wake of Mimi’s passing, I’d like to dedicate this to her. Low’s music has been incredibly useful to me; it’s like an antidote to anxiety, with Mimi’s voice at the heart of it—relieving, cathartic, and honest.” PF

best of 2022 • Hurray for the Riff Raff • SAGA

http://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/

Before Alynda Segarra (she/they), who records under the moniker Hurray for the Riff Raff, went into the studio to record the mostly excellent Life on Earth, their eighth album, they had decided on a new plan of action. Instead of trying to save the world, they would try to save themselves.

Take it

They always want you to take it

Just close your eyes, baby, fake it

Burning inside-out

Shaking

Screaming hysterical, I get

Lost in an ocean of regret

Burning inside-out

Cold feet

I was a kid, I was lonely

Would've done anything only

To be by his side

I can't speak

I get to feel in my heartbeat

It's been a terrible news week

And I don't know how

Oh, I don't know how

But I, I don't want this to be

The saga of my life

The saga of my life

The saga of my, I

I just wanna be free

Get over it in time

Push it out of my mind

Cold feet

I was a kid, I was lonely

He pushed me down on the concrete

Oh, I can't speak

I get to feel in my heartbeat

I'll just make it through this week

And I'll get out alive

But I don't know how

Oh, I don't know how

And I, I don't want this to be

The saga of my life

The saga of my life

The saga of my, I

I just wanna be free

Get over it in time

Push it out of my mind

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Oh, nobody believed me

Nobody believed

Oh, nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

best of 2022 • Courtney Barnett - Sunfair Sundown

https://courtneybarnett.com.au/

 “Sunfair Showdown” show Barnett’s strengths: riffs and toplines married to a wryness as chronic as a scowl.

Oh, what a day, and congrats on the keys to your place

You've escaped the rat race, as they say

Now you're settling in for the stay anyway

You got a blank slate to renovate

Take it all

Yeah, you reap what you sow and so it goes

What you put in the ground comes around

When you don't really know what you're missing at all

In a daze, I can picture you whittling away

With such care, with such patience and grace

And I smile when you say that you'll build me a table one day

Well, I'd be so grateful

Sometimes it's hard, getting lost, you say is a fine art

Put the map down and follow the stars

Shall we leave? Are you sure?

Let me grab my bag, we can sneak out through the side door

In the dark, are you scared?

Did you hear those dogs bark?

And do you ever wonder what sets you apart?

Shine the torch on the path, darling, please don't let go of my arm

When you sleep, are you warm? Can you feel my cold feet?

Are you good? Are you making ends meet?

At the end of the day, you're awake with your thoughts

And I don't want you to be alone

And I don't want you to be alone

Yeah, I don't want you to be alone

And I don't want you to be alone

LAVEDA • F*** • 2022

https://www.lavedaband.com

A windows down, wind-in-your-hair, late night drive-worthy track, “F***” sees Laveda perfecting their ansty and ethereal brand of dream-pop while tapping into the agitations and anxieties of young adulthood.

Blending chiffon shoegaze rhythms with propulsive ‘90s-tinged guitars and distant drums, the new cut builds gently to its shimmering conclusion like a college coming-of-age story that sees a disillusioned protagonist defeat their adversaries to come out on top. 

George Hennessey • Prisoner • 2022

With a glimmering guitar lick that Paul Weller or Noel Gallagher would have been proud to put their names to at the peak of their powers, the new single “Prisoner” is a psychedelic-tipped, Brit-Pop embodying joie de vivre. Finding nuance in nostalgia, the song is ultimately about escaping the constrictions of life through the music you love.

As George explains:

“"Prisoner" is about when luck isn’t on your side, and you feel like you're being held emotionally captive… your guitar and melody can be your only ways out.”

From its day-tripping lyrical wonderings, to its reality-crashing drum rolls, and its electrifying guitar solos, “Prisoner” is a record of fearless rock’n’roll escapism from an artist primed and ready to break into the big time.

Mike Legere • Memory Forming Clouds • 2022

“The final time I left no fanfare played me out, memory forming clouds”    The album was written about my profound feeling of loss. I felt like I needed to process the grief and loss I was experiencing; the feelings were so strong that I wanted to make something of them. Through the process of making the record, I also went through giant life changes and shifts, did a few years of therapy and found myself on the other side of this experience

Tom Rosenthal • To The Forager • 2022

Website

Charlie Clark • ‘No Big Deal’ • 2022

PRAISE FOR CHARLIE CLARK

“A superb piece of jangle pop classicism, it seems to reference everyone from The Byrds and Big Star through to Teenage Fanclub”
CLASH

“His recordings are full of beautiful, haunted melodies and stripped down plaintive acoustic beauty.”
JOHN ROBB, LOUDER THAN WAR

“Immense choruses and deep heartfelt lyrics that serve to tighten the throat and quicken the pulse. It is vital and organic music: guitar driven indie pop at its very best”
BACK SEAT MAFIA

Taken from his debut solo LP, ‘Late Night Drinking’ (available 25th November, only via Bandcamp), “No Big Deal” stands as one of the lighter-hearted moments on the album. Shrugging-off the sonic finesses to capture a livewire atmosphere and lackadaisical feel, the single was recorded in a deliberately relaxed session with regular collaborator and producer Jason Shaw (Cambodian Space Project). 

Your ex and I • For All the Loves • 2022

Website

Your Ex And I are a band in it for the right reasons. The Montreal-based rock group comprises five pals with very positive musical chemistry poised to explode on the scene with the debut single, “For All the Loves.”

That Old Quiet Lighthouse • Decade • 2022

“Like many of us, I had had all of my work disappear over-night, and in the midst of the despair and the uncertainty I had turned to the bittersweet comfort blanket of reminiscing over my last relationship.”, says TOQL frontman Ashley Garrod.

Lead singer/bassist Ashley Garrod channels the keen insight of Pinegrove’s lyricism, balancing from-the-heart melodies with passionately intricate bass lines. Gabe, as the rhythmically tight, emotive backbone of their alternative sound, sits comfortably beneath the expressive and varied textures crafted by guitarist James Cooke.

bulldog eyes • express • 2022

bulldogeyes.com

shiny happy records • So Much Fun • 2022

Labor of love since 2009.
Based In Tangerang, Indonesia

Motherhood • Shuttered Down • 2022

“sounds like Brian Wilson sipping cocktails with Ty Segall, as Chance The Rapper spits rhymes and holds court.” - Secret Meeting

“one of the most exciting and fiercely creative bands you’re bound to come across” - Grid City Magazine

“insatiable atmosphere, gritty, dynamic, and provocatively raw” - Circuit Sweet

"an off-kilter cross of punk, folk and rock" - Post-Trash

Jacklen Ro • "Made of Sugar"• 2022

"Instrumentally, 'Made of Sugar' lives up to its name, delivering candy-coated harmonies paired with chugging guitars and warm glowing melodies. The band’s talents with charming pop songcraft and plaintive melodicism are on full display here, building the track into a heartfelt confession tinged with driving instrumentation."
- Under the Radar

"The 11-track pick-me-upper that is 'Sunshine' is full of emotional high-fives. Beyond their penchant for sticky melodies, the duo wield their vocals, and especially their harmonies, in a euphoria that stops short (somehow) of sounding cloying. It’s cherub rock that is reminiscent of a straight-from-the-cradle Tegan and Sara."
- Buzzbands.LA

Wesley • Not Sure That Was Me • 2022

"Wesley once again conjures the restless unease and pastoral beauty of indie folk with his latest effort, 'Not Sure That Was Me.' Westley’s voice is the honeyed centerpoint within a chiming haze of winding melodies, a plaintive style that fits perfectly with the moonlit locale and easygoing charm of the track."
- Under the Radar

"An echoey aura of sound that creates a psychedelic whirl of imagination flutters through his work also touching musical cornerstones like Iron & Wine and Phosphorescent."
- Glide Magazine

"He performs with a languid grace, vocals coming smooth and easy as a cosy afternoon nap."
- Various Small Flames

"This track has a glorious lo-fi, psychedelic pop feel with fuzzed out riffs and beautiful powerpop-esque harmonies."
- SPILL Magazine

Micah P. Hinson • What Does It Matter Now • 2022

Website

“When I was half the man I am today, I left my hometown of Abilene, Texas for the first time and moved to Denton, TX to try this whole music thing on a different level,” explains Hinson. “Of course, upon arrival I realized that it wasn’t what I imagined - instead of playing shows and pushing a dream, I found myself working day-wage jobs, drinking probably too much, and was quite unfocused and confused by what surrounded me. During this time was when I turned this song out, recording it in my small apartment with my tailless cat, Pixie. To this day, I can’t quite recall if I had already written it in my hometown, or if it was a creation from those lonely Denton days of my youth. I do know that it captured a very lonely, sad, and painful time for me, struggling with the concept of whether losing love or gaining love is more painful.” 

Kit Major • I'm Bitter! • 2022

"If you had to place the sound of Vampire Saturday, it feels as if you traveled back to 2004, took everything on a suburban teen’s iPod, tossed it all into a blender, and reassembled it in 2022."
- Under The Radar

"If you’ve been looking for that next great artist that checks all of the boxes of awesomeness, look no further than Kit Major."
- CHORUS.FM

"If you like MUNA, you’re gonna dig Kit Major."
- The Alternative

"A grunge-pop jam that recalls the nostalgic modern rock theatrics of Chloe Moriondo and Olivia Rodrigo."
- Beats Per Minute

Darko the Super • I Need a Haircut Too (One for the Biz) • 2022

“Darko the Super is music, Darko the Super loves you,” says the Philadelphia artist. Darko the Super is one of the most prolificly consistent artists in music history. Not just in releasing thousands of tracks over the course of his career but the variety in which he creates. Each album providing insight into Darko’s psyche and sending the listener on a new experience and adventure every time one presses play on a brand new album. When coupled with the massive amount of collaborations and performances it’s even more evident that Darko the Super will be written in the annals of hiphop for the rest of time.

Fixtures • Jimmy Needs The Money • 2022

Fixtures are back! After our 2020 collaboration (Weak Automatic), we are happy to present a new Fixtures song from a coming album.

Fixtures is a 6 piece Brooklyn band. Combining elements of power pop, post punk, krautrock, and 90s indie, one review of their last EP, Weak Automatic, called them “an unholy collision of Television, Ramones, Dino Jr. and The B-52s” Oh yeah, and there’s horns.

Their first full length album, Hollywood Dog, is coming February 24th as a co-release from Spanish indie-pop stalwarts Bobo Integral and new Brooklyn label Naturally Records. The first single, “Jimmy Needs The Money”, is shaded darker than their past blasts of sunshine but will still have you whistling the fuzzed out lead guitar line. Is Noir Pop a thing?

RIP Mimi Parker • 2022

https://pitchfork.com/news/low-mimi-parker-has-died/

Trying to keep time

Closer than we like

Memories still lie

Tonight

Faces of the day

Pressed up to your spine

Blessings still to come

Tonight

Tonight

Precious things unsaid

As the night begins

Who will hang his head

Tonight

Tonight

Tonight…

Bret Koontz & Truancy Club • "Lonesome Rambler" • 2022

"The sound at the center of A Sparkle Road Cult is Bret’s voice. It’s an idiosyncratic writer and composer’s voice that has shades of the outsider sounds of Robert Wyatt, Syd Barrett, and Arthur Russell. The accompanying arrangements bring to mind the songcraft of the Carpenters and Prefab Sprout-esque Sophisti-Pop shaken up/down by a touch of the large format boogie of Wings and raw Power Pop of Big Star."

- Glide Magazine

Denni Ian • So This Is How We Dance • 2022

Ian's new single “So This Is How We Dance" is an underplayed eruption of emotion. The ballad features piano lead and strings swirling around a vibrant vocal performance, with lyrics elevating a profoundly poetic and haunted vision of amore disperato.

TVOD • MANTIS • 2022

"'Mantis' is a blast of driving no-frills punk, capturing both the band’s irrepressible persistent energy and their surprisingly sticky melodies. It very much encapsulates the punk ethos of loud, fast, and simple, with blaring guitars, machine-gun percussion, and jittery melodies driving the track forward."

- Under the Radar

"Beautifully noisy and chock full of lyrics an audience can chant along to, it’s easy to imagine this new single riling up a crowd of concert-goers engaged in absolute mayhem"

- The Big Takeover

"Tearing back through our tympanic membranes like a siren, TVOD has landed back to earth and crashed its ship on the rocky shores of Brooklyn with a brand new single 'Mantis.'"

- Full Time Aesthetic

Awkward Branches • A Frame (Not a Window) • 2022

‘A Frame (Not a Window)’ is the first single to be shared from forthcoming debut EP due out next spring. The debut single is a tranquil sun-flecked number, driven by bouncy acoustic guitar and verdant synth, with tender vocals that speak to the nature of trust, faith and dogs. The song is complemented by a charming animated video, created by Mike Barrett, that satisfyingly mirrors the colourful textures and sanguine spirit of the song itself. Barrett on the video: “The video began life as a simple zoom through abstract spaces, inspired by a craft-paper collage Phil had made as a potential EP cover. Using a blend of hand-drawn elements, original footage and AI-assisted animation techniques, it soon evolved into a somewhat labyrinthine journey across a variety of fantasy landscapes, culminating In the slightly tongue-in-cheek / slightly deadly serious ascension to heaven for the final scene. Mostly it was a chance to indulge my affection for kitsch architectural forms, potted plants, and - in a nod to the first line of the song’s lyrics - the illusive joy of dogs”

UJI • FLECHAS • 2022

Website

"The vocals in vernacular languages add another layer of mysteriousness to the production that must be better appreciated on a dancefloor." [On "Flechas"] - Remezcla "In the context of the 2000s Latin American folklore movement (in which ZZK Records is still a leading force), Uji approaches this extremely rich shared cultural baggage with his mind set in the technological present, offering a sweet, conscious and danceable clash of the ancient and the modern." - Rhythm Passport "Amid gurgles, water drops, and swooshing sounds, also featuring artist and healer Zola Dubnikova, the song is an evocative, meditative affair that drifts into the abyss" - Billboard

Pillars of a Twisted City • Incinerator • 2022

Website

The album finds Stewart incorporating banjo, accordion, and classical nylon string guitar into his compositions. The recording of these more exotic instruments took place in the aforementioned floating studio, housed in a shipment container entitled Sentinel, thus also serving as the inspiration for the album title. “The goals of this band are to push boundaries, explore new sounds, and write good songs. Pillars of a Twisted city is an artistic collaboration celebrating freedom of creativity, removing consumer pressure, and concentrating on unique recording and songwriting experiences," explains Stewart.

True Body • "Jade Green" • 2022

"True Body are gorgeous new(ish) entrants in the diverse modern scene encompassing post-punk, goth, dream pop, synth pop and related genres" - Revolver "Ten wide-eyed, fence-swinging songs that divinely balance post-punk tradition with anthemic ambition" - FLOOD "A lighter, dreamy tone and a deep, baleful mood amid glimmers of reverberating guitar chime and miasmic washes of synths, and airily sighing backing vocals" - The Big Takeover

Fake Shark • Paranoid • 2022

Jacklen Ro • "Sunshine, I'm counting on you" • 2022

Website

"A blissful and vibrant atmosphere"

- EARMILK

"'Side By Side' is a dreamy ballad with ’60s doo-wop sensibilities. Throughout the single, Jacklen Ro deliver shimmering melodies, upbeat percussion, and soft, sweet vocal lines."

- Indie88

"A song about a love being tested by distance, Jackie Giroux and Caelen Perkins have once again delivered a single with a lyrical twist that gives pause"

- Country Queer

"Making the video about trying to survive vampires came from the line 'sunshine I’m counting on you,' as in the sun will kill the vampires. We did it completely DIY with our bassist Lauren directing and producing it, and our drummer edited it. We had friends helping every step of the process, and shoutout to them. We couldn’t have done it without you! We’re just love bugs trying to spread it all around."

Field Medic • "i had a dream that you died" • 2022

Few songwriters are able to pinpoint difficult emotions and address them with such devastating clarity and disarming humor quite like Field Medic. The long-running musical project of Los Angeles-based musician Kevin Patrick Sullivan, he makes music that’s so startlingly honest that it can cut the tension in any room. He’s excelled at self-reflection and making deceptively simple folk songs about loneliness, sobriety, and growing up. But for his latest LP, grow your hair long if you're wanting to see something you can change, which is out October 14 via Run For Cover, Sullivan decided to completely reinvent his approach to recording. The result is his most ambitious, fully-formed, and emotionally resonant collection of tracks yet.