2019: Intro & Singles
- kevpalowe8
- Mar 24
- 9 min read
Originally posted Sept 2025
INTRO
2019. I'm going backwards through the years, so we have come out of the Covid-era into a world where we were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. I've theorised that ‘The Covid Years’ was a dip in the quality of pop music. However, I can only conclude that if things picking up in 2019 and that that way. I certainly hope so – because my listening schedule for this journey back to the year 2000 sees me spending 7 weeks per year, so 2022-2020 was 21 weeks (nearly 5 months) of my time spent NOT enjoying this part of the project very much.
Well? ---------- It’s looking good. You can see my ‘m'eh’ list is the shortest yet and my ‘good’ and ‘top ten contenders’ lists are more extensive. I'll say more below and in Part 2. When I look back to 2019 now I have a bizarre juxtaposition of evocation. On the one hand, it only feels like a few weeks ago. On the other, pre-Covid does feel like another world, and therefore an age ago.
The biggest single of the year in the UK was the mighty “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi which is more than justified as it is a brilliantly written and performed track which now has over 1 billion views on YouTube before we even tally up streaming on audio platforms.
He also took the top spot for most successful album of the year too – managing to stop the seemingly unstoppable Ed Sheeran from claiming the honour.
ANYTHING I DIDNT LIKE
Kygo & Whitney Houston “Higher Love”
Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love the original. And that’s exactly what this is. It’s the actual original track – just slightly re-mixed. Actually, I call this ‘unmixed’. It happens now and again. A track is ‘‘‘‘remixed’’’’ – but what actually happens is that anything with any depth or soul is removed from the mix – turning it into mindless beat-music. I don’t ‘get’ tracks like this.
Russ Millions, Tion Wayne, Aitch, Swarmz Sav'o, & Jay1 “Keisha & Becky”
Maybe this IS the old grump coming out in me – but this is just juvenile objectification – I’d probably understand it more if it was a group of 13 year old boys.
THE ‘M'EH’ LIST
Post Malone “Wow”
Its OK as part of the album. It doesn’t sound that great as a standalone.
AJ Tracey “Ladbroke Grove”
Dominic Fike “3 Nights”
Regard “Ride It”
Jax Jones, Martin Solveig, Madison Beer, & Europa “All Day And All Night”
THE GOOD LIST
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber “I Don't Care”
Stormzy “Vossi Bop”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Carbello “Señorita”
MENDUZA & Goodboys “Piece Of Your Heart”
Dave & Burna Boy “Location”
Ariana Grande “7 Rings”
Tom Walker “Just You And I”
Ed Sheeran & Khalid “Beautiful People”
Ed Sheeran & Stormzy “Take Me Back To London”
Sam Smith & Normani “Dancing With A Stranger”
Avicii & Aloe Blacc “SOS”
Young T & Bugsey, & Aitch “Strike A Pose”
Joel Corry “Sorry”
Khalid & Disclosure “Talk”
Sigala & Becky Hill “Wish You Well”
Wiley, Stefflon Don, Sean Paul, & Idris Elba “Boasty”
Lil Tecca “Ransom”
‘TOP TEN’ CONTENDERS
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
People sometimes get confused at my take on ‘the album’. I do understand the confusion at times and Lewis Capaldi in 2019 would be an example. I won’t give away my mini-review and mark out of ten for his album (which will be in part 2) but I can see how me taking 3 tracks from it and holding all of them in very high regard might be considered inconsistent. I know that others WILL understand the viewing on an album as a ‘work’ – a piece of art. Many of us view an album as 1 item i.e., not a collection of items.
This track, while by no means original, is a staple example of excellent song-writing. The melody is good and the lyric is relatable to many. The arrangement of largely just piano and vocal, which is fairly unusual for a huge hit single (although we cant help but be reminded of Adele’s “Someone Like You”). The vocal performance is also quite outstanding.
Lewis Capaldi “Hold Me While You Wait”
Another very well written song. Good melody. There are a few interesting points to make. The phrasing is unbalanced in places which compliments the uncertainty of the lyric. The arrangement is markedly different from your average pop song (but perhaps not Capaldi) with piano and vocal enhanced by strings and a pulsating bass drum sound.
Lewis Capaldi “Bruises”
Great track again. Built on a foundation of piano and vocals again. Of the 3 tracks this probably has the strongest chorus (which also shows off Capaldi’s vocal strengths).
Going back to the point about the album. These 3 tracks are superb in isolation. They are, therefore, superb singles. However, you will have noticed similarities I’ve commented on. Although it would be inaccurate to say ‘they all sound the same’ – the similarities, track after track, get tiresome. That means an album full of them would have very little balance.
Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Sampling the music from the Billy Ray Cyrus track for a rap track. Thus creating a ‘country-rap’ track. I’m on board.
Calvin Harris & Rag ‘N’ Bone Man “Giant”
Calvin Harris-produced collaborations tend to be very good and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is an excellent vocalist. Apart from it being an excellent song and record, I think a few things make this track what it is. Firstly, the brass figures that back the chorus and come forward for the instrumentals. Secondly, the chanting sounds made by Rag ‘N’ Bone Man in the middle 8 section that I think are meant to represent giants –Fe Fi Fo Fum -style.
Mabel “Don't Call Me Up”
I think this is simply a well written song with very good melodies in the verses and bridges (arguably not so much the choruses but.... the 2-tonic make up of that melody is catchy and perhaps compliments the instructive nature of the lyric well).
Tones And I “Dance Monkey”
I knew this track. Its a divisive track. Some love it, others hate it. I think its the tone of the voice and singing style that people either love or hate. I think its striking. And, its a good meaningful song to boot.
Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart”
I don’t have loads to say about this. Its just a good song that’s very well done on record.
Jonas Brothers “Sucker”
I’d say this one just misses out on my top 3. Its a well written song with a great melody. It has an infectious whistled tune that fills out the brief instrumental sections so that they are more that just the usual mundane bridging passages. The verses are sparsely arranged so that the guitar, that enters at the bridges, builds to a big sounding chorus. This is all topped off with handclaps replacing drums at times, suddenly short pauses, and short rapid-fire snare fills to keep us guessing. It balances ‘fun’ and ‘quality’ perfectly.
Billie Eilish “When The Party’s Over”
I’ve tried and tried to get to the bottom of whether or not this was ACTUALLY a single rather than just a track that streamed very well (which illogically counts on the modern singles chart). If it is...... it is both remarkably dark, beautiful, and unusual for a pop single.
Coldplay “Orphans”
Also very close to hitting my top 3 and this was my favourite single from Coldplay in quite a while. I was, in fact, slightly disappointed with the track. I’ll explain. I do really like it. But I saw the video (linked just above) first, and its arranged differently – and I kind of wish it was this way on the actual recoding. As you’ll see in the video, after an intro of a chorus of child’s voices, it goes like this......
It starts with acoustic guitar and what sounds like a child explaining how they believe the drums should sound. Then we hear Chris Martin and the acoustic guitar as if we are hearing him performing in the room next door to us........ then busking outside complete with background noise....... then the same but with the background sound omitted........ then the sounds of the other instruments are introduced and the sound morphs from that ‘busking’ sound to a raw ‘studio’ sound....... then we have the outside (without background noise) sound again but with the full band. Finally we get the fully produced record sound. I loved this. I’ve watching it again for the 1st time in a few years just now – and my eyes welled at how great it is. However, on the audio single and album track the whole thing is that final fully produced sound. That’s still good. But I think the audio version in this video should have been the actual record too. Much more interesting.
TOP 3
3 – Panic At The Disco “High Hopes”
In some ways I’d hope to just say ‘its a cracking track, right’ (like you would, for example, “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen) and that should cover it. Nothing more to say. But, I’ll say a bit more. To begin, the melody is strong. It has shape, reaches heights at high points (when we’re singing about ‘high hopes’ and ‘shooting for the stars’), aims for lower in the register at calmer moments (like the storytelling recollection of the verses ‘Mama said.......’), and using chromaticism at tense points (‘its a little complicated’). The melody does become more monotonic during the verses but I’d argue this cleverly punctuates the narrative of the lyric. ‘Mama Said....’ is declared using a fanfare-like announcement of the dominant and upper tonic notes of the scale (as fanfares do). This acts as a call for us to ‘listen up’ which is emphasised by a sort pause in the melody to give us time to follow its instruction. We then hear what Mama said – delivered to us through speech-like, expeditious, monotonic phrases.
The music is dynamic, offering loud full passages of thick texture against quieter sparse sections. The horn ensemble adds a great bit of extra punch to the proceedings as does the string backdrop. There are extra little flourishes of effects and production that keep the ear keen throughout.
2 - Billie Eilish “bad guy”
I thought this one was good but not amazing until it stops and there is a coda section that feels so sinister that its like a murder scene is about to commence. Before then its a playful but dark affair. It seems to explore the idea that we often try to present ourselves in certain ways. I’ve always believed that its rare we are actually ‘ourselves’ – even in front of loved ones, those we live with, close friends, life partners etc. There’s always something of a ‘persona’ at play. We’re always ‘thinking’ about how we are presenting ourselves, how ever subconsciously it may be. There’s a traditional dominant/submissive idea going on but a playfulness comes through with exclamations of ‘duh!’ (and similar). Eilish delivers it with a nonchalant vocal providing an unsettling character that manages to draw us in...... its a little frightening but we are entertained. I think as a listener you feel, without realising it, on the side of the character rather than any potential victims.
The music reflects the lyrics. It is dark, calm, and playful. The darkness comes from the strong and very low bass that dominates the mix. The calm comes from the minimalist arrangement of the music. That said, elements move in and out of the mix for every section and this keeps the ear’s attention. The playfulness comes from the keyboard melody we can hear between vocal sections.
And then...... there’s the murder scene!
1 – Billie Eilish “Bury A Friend”
Probably the easiest winner of any year so far in this project. I was fascinated, hooked, addicted from the very 1st listen (which admittedly was well before I got to the 2019 part of the project). Dark. Creepy. Calmly chaotic. Perfect.
The main melodic part (melody doesn’t play much of a role for the majority of the track) is a few notes that circle downwards towards the tonic note. In one sense this is like a melodic sequence so it has the effect of spiralling downwards (which supports the lyric). But this is not quite the case. The top half of the melody works downwards step by step - but at the bottom, it never falls below the tonic. Therefore, the melody has the effect of crushing in on itself. Again, the subject matter in the lyric is reflected well in the melody.
The arrangement is sparse, and contains passages where we hear just 1 sustained note or even complete silence. This creates the feel of a horror scene. Its tense, uneasy, and even a little jumpy if played loudly in your ear buds. The layered voices are intricately and complexly arranged. This creates that ‘calm chaos’ I referred to above.
The lyric asks questions about death..... but liken it to falling asleep – perhaps playing on the fear of not waking up that some people have. Many of the lyrics are disjointed and unsettling. “Step on the glass. Staple your tongue. Bury a friend. Try to wake up.” “I thought that I would be dead by now.” “I wanna end me”.
It’s chilling. I love it.
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