Ranking songs each year is a subjective, arduous task that, in our case, is best summarized as a simple playlist. So, in lieu of some arbitrary review of songs that’ll just get lost in the year-end shuffle, I’ve put together a condensed list of songs released in 2019 that’ll hopefully be on repeat into 2020 and beyond. At the end of this post, be sure to check out the embedded Apple Music playlist to get the party started.
2015, a dynamically strong year in music, full of resonating sounds from decade-spanning legends and fresh talent alike. Just as we emerge into the new year, we see the rock n’ roll era shift and become forever altered.
While authoring this year-end list, it started to feel slightly foreshadowed and curated. Just as this post was about to be published, with Bowie appropriately topping the list of songs from 2015, news broke of his unfortunate passing, succumbing to an 18 month battle with cancer, which he kept under the wraps as he finished his “swan-song” album, Blackstar. This shattering news was beyond devastating, catching rock purists off guard, just as we were all attempting to process Lemmy’s death, which occurred only a week or so prior. Both David Bowie and Lemmy Kilmister were close in age, both recently celebrating their birthdays, 69 and 70 respectively. There’s many morbid coincidences, but most importantly, both artists set the archetype for blurring musical genres and becoming massively prolific in their discographies, at an exceedingly high standard. You’ve probably already read a dozen or more year-end lists on other sites, so we’re not reinventing the content-wheel here, nor attempting to write obituaries, but as The Chelsea Tribe’s inaugural post, here is a select list of memorable songs that spurred many repeated listens over the year. Also, check out our friends at Antiquiet for some of their staff picks, which share some of these same artists.