9. “Tennis Court,” Lorde
The world went nuts for “Royals,” but back when Lorde had only two songs in visible circulation earlier this year, it was the heavy-handed “Tennis Court” that caught our attention. When she sings about flying in a plane for the first time, just think about how far she’s come since. The biggest — and realest — teen music sensation since Elvis fookin’ Presley.
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8. “Man I Need,” Jagwar Ma
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The future of pop sounds like Madchester and is made by Australians. We’ll take it. Even Noel Gallagher knows what’s up with Jagwar Ma, chastising the BBC for ignoring them and Temples this year. “Man I Need” combines all the right elements, and disciples of baggy never sounded so good.
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7. “Concert Pitch,” Empire of the Sun
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Though April single “Alive” declared the triumphant return of Australian duo Empire of the Sun after a few years between records (and was clearly written a while back), it was album cut “Concert Pitch” that once again proved Luke Steele and Nick Littlemor as top-shelf post-millennial melody makers. Coping a mean Rik Ocasek impression, the lush, warm instrumentation and lyrical yearn of “Concert Pitch” is like a bottomless synthpop swimming pool.
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6. “Glitter & Gold,” Little Daylight
Brooklyn electro pop trio Little Daylight showed fast-lane ambition on tracks like “Restart,” but it’s their deliberately-paced vibrations that shook our foundations.
