The Best Songs of 2020 So Far Will Get Us Through the Months Ahead

The Best Songs of 2020 So Far Will Get Us Through the Months Ahead  @tchatchioff https://24hcoronavirus.blogspot.com/ I m...

The Best Songs of 2020 So Far Will Get Us Through the Months Ahead  @tchatchioff

https://24hcoronavirus.blogspot.com/

I mean, looking back, it was foolish to think 2020 would be any less exhausting and terrifying than the years that came before. The world is still on fire, plus now there’s a pandemic to freak out about, and the knowledge that two of your most embarrassing grandpas will be debating each other on television and Twitter until November at the very earliest. It is enough to make you want to hibernate, or at least drink yourself into a semi-functional stupor.

But there is a better way. So far, though it’s been a terrible year for things like serenity and stability, it’s been a great one for music. Artists young and old have stepped up to the job of addressing our general malaise, while others have done the equally important work of making us want to dance and/or have sex. “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,” goeth the olde saying from English poet William Congreve, and though we may only now be learning how savage a breast can get, I’ll be damned if ol’ Bill isn’t all the way right. Here are a few of the year’s best songs so far. Follow along as we update this list and our own Spotify playlist throughout the rest of the year. Apply liberally to the affected area.

The Orielles “Space Samba (Disco Volador Theme)”

The title of this English indie band’s second album Disco Volador translates to Disco Flying, I guess, and though it may not make sense on the page, put on this track and tell me you’re not out of your chair within fifteen seconds. There are hints of early ‘90s rave-inflected Britpop in here, put through a Stereolab filter and aimed for the dancefloor. The Orielles ask “Can you re-align the boundaries of my sensory home,” and while I have no idea what that even means, I lean toward yes. —Dave Holmes

Jensen McRae — “White Boy”

Over a lush, Mazzy Star-esque groove, 23-year-old Los Angeles singer-songwriter McRae takes us to a college party where an African-American woman finds herself code-switching for a charming white guy: “Twirl my hair, watch my voice jump the octave/I don't like who I am for you, white boy.” She’s described her sound as “Tracy Chapman writing music for Adele while studying for the vocab section of the SAT,” and with an equally frank and stunning second single “Wolves” just out, we think she is poised to be massive. —Dave Holmes

Eef Barzelay brings his indie-country band Clem Snide back after a five-year hiatus, and if it seems strange to be doing that with a song about Roger Ebert’s dying words (“This is all an elaborate hoax”), Clem Snide never did play it safe. It’s a soothing meditation on the mysteries of life, the perfect sonic cushion to ease our increasingly chaotic day-to-day. —Dave Holmes

Jason Isbell — “Be Afraid”

“Be afraid, be very afraid, but do it anyway”: The exact right message at the exact right moment. With the first single from his upcoming Reunions album, the alt-country firebrand makes the case for speaking your mind, especially if your voice is shaking. “We don’t take requests, we won’t shut up and sing/Tell the truth enough, you’ll find it rhymes with everything.” And for Isbell, it’s not just talk: on March 3rd, he did a Super Tuesday fundraiser for Alabama Senatorial candidate Doug Jones. He’s been overdue for a breakout, and this might just be the track that does it. —Dave Holmes