Top 100 Songs of 2018 - #80 to #71

Vera Blue, Mark Harding + Middle Kids!

#100 - #91

#90 - #81

#80. WASTED TIME

by CLOVES

I'm bittersweet emptiness and do you like it more

'Cause you know I'm a mess?

Did you know that Cloves was on season two of The Voice in Australia? I most certainly did not, but the system is wrong if she didn't win because seriously... what an amazing voice! She's been building up a loyal following over the past couple of years with gorgeous tracks like 'Frail Love' and 'Don't You Wait', both of which featured on her 2018 debut album, One Big Nothing. 'Wasted Time' captures the same magic as what's come before from Cloves with dreamy vocals that completely grab your attention. It's the type of song you should expect to hear popping up in season finales for all your favourite shows over the next couple of months. (Matt Bond) 


More young people writing and singing songs about things well beyond their years, or perhaps the real truth is, singing about things that are eternal internal battles, therefore ageless. A little self-loathing has always gone a long way in a musical sense, hell, some people have built entire careers around it and if Cloves keeps performing moody songs like this one. (Jo Michelmore)

#79. DEEP BURN BLUE

by The Paper Kites

But I can't give you what you want

If you don't want it from me, baby.

The Paper Kites. Is there anything they can't do? I can't definitively say for sure all of the things they can or can't do. What I can tell you is they can release two albums in a single year that are both awesome and need to be listened to. How do I know this? Well obviously they released two albums in 2018 that are both awesome - On The Train Ride Home and On The Corner Where You Live. 'Deep Burn Blue' was released as the lead single for the latter album and it will give you all of those feels I've heard so much about. Creating an 80s pop/rock atmosphere with a modern Australian indie edge probably shouldn't work this well, but we can add that to the list of things The Paper Kites can do so very, very well. Just one of many knockout tracks released by one of Australia's most criminally underrated acts, you'd best believe this isn't the last you've seen of The Paper Kites in this countdown. (Matt Bond)

#78. ADORED

by Hatchie

'Cause it's you now I'm thinkin' of

As I fall into the sun.

Singing about not wanting to be adored is kinda funny, considering that songs like this one are going to make people do exactly that. Hatchie (ex-bassist from Babaganouj, which I didn’t need to mention but is really just an excuse for me to say the classic words 'The Nouj'), has a great sense of pop in her sound, with such a feeling of fullness in the instrumentation but a real feeling of lightness in the melody. I adore ‘Adored’ (no, but seriously, it was handed to me, I had to say it, right?) (Jo Michelmore)

Harriette Pilbeam has been a star of Brisbane's music scene for years now, but the young artist is now ready to take on the world as she garners international attention as Hatchie. And deservedly so, because everything we've heard from Hatchie has left us swooning it up. We talk about dreamy music a lot, but that's because dreamy music is the best and there's no other word that fits Hatchie's shimmering electronic pop sounds than dreamy. 'Adored' hasn't been out in the world for long, but it's worked its way into our brains and refuses to budge. With a lyrical depth that makes for a stark contrast against those oh-so-dreamy beats, you'll likely find yourself in the same place and coming back to this one again and again. You might even say you'll adore it and I'm okay with making bad puns because I'm old now, so whatever. More in 2019 please, Ms. Pilbeam. (Matt Bond) 

#77. CAR RIDE

by Alexander Biggs

Like a landslide covered in dirt

Like a car ride into the earth

Like the last light ever to burn

I read an interview with Alexander Biggs in which he introduced himself to the reader as “Alexander Biggs. I write songs and I sing them” and from that moment on I pretty much decided I was a fan because there’s nothing lovelier than the confident simplicity of that. ‘Car Ride’ is a perfect example of that simple perfection; sweet little chords, gentle lyrics and thoughtful beats wrap themselves around your ears like a little hug, waiting to be hugged back. On a side note: do not get song ‘Car Ride’ by Alexander Biggs mixed up with 90s Australian band Taxiride if you google this song. They are not the same thing. (Jo Michelmore) 

Have you ever had one of those nights that starts out quiet, like nothing's going to happen and then you get a call from a friend to go out and the next minute you're in a cab to a party at someone's house that you've never met and it's massive, you know pretty much no one but you have the best time going from that party to a club and with all the dancing and deep conversations that really go nowhere you didn't realise it's already five in the morning and the sun's about to come up so you stumble to the cab line to go home? 'Car Ride' is the song that's playing in the taxi taking you home and you can't help but shake your head a little and smile. Because night's like that are rare and eventually you just stop having them altogether and before you know it those 'best days of your life' seem to get further and further away. But you'll hear a song like 'Car Ride' every now and then, you'll remember all those good times, you'll shake your head a little and you'll smile. Alexander Biggs has a way of putting together music that's both happy and sad, but you wouldn't have it any other way. (Matt Bond)

#76. GOODCRY

by Mark Harding

Fear is always on the horizon out here.

I googled Mark Harding to find the clip for this track and came upon a sermon from another Mark Harding who appears to be a Baptist Preacher somewhere in the US of A. Which interestingly brings me to the track ‘Goodcry’ by this Mark Harding, which interestingly gives me more fulfillment than any church service I’ve ever been to. “Fear is always on the horizon…let a good cry in, let a good cry in” some of the greatest advice one can ever give or receive, which proves that music is more than my religion, it’s simply a way of life. This Mark Harding can lead my church of music any day, because he knows some of my lifetime constant and exact thoughts; “If I die with my headphones in, check the time, check the radio, so you can hear what song was playing…” and I can only hope it’s a song as beautiful as this one. Or something by Taxiride (see number 77). (Jo Michelmore) 

#75. HOROSCOPES

by LANKS

Brushstrokes of mess

Well is that him at his best?

A moment of silence for LANKS' wasted Pad Thai that is now all over the floor. The moment is over, let's talk about 'Horoscopes'. Taken from LANKS' long-awaited debut, twentyseven, 'Horoscopes' has just the right amount of manic genius stamped all over it and features those unique beats that have made LANKS one of AUS music's brightest up and coming stars. And he's showing no signs of slowing down, with the three track Inoue EP released at the end of November. When the music's this good, why would we want LANKS to slow down anyway? (Matt Bond)

#74. FACES

by Holy Holy

If you want I could be

Anyone, anything.

Clap your hands and say Holy Holy, for your favourite rocking duo-turned-five-piece is back with yet another song for you to love. 'Faces' has a sense of urgency that gives the track a rolling momentum right up to a temporary breather of a bridge, then builds right back up again as it thunders through to its conclusion. It's over far too soon, but luckily you can go right back to the start and do it all over again. Holy Holy wraps up a national tour this month and if you miss them, I wouldn't worry too much... hopefully they'll be back on the road ASAP to support album number 2! (Matt Bond)

How good can Holy Holy get? Quite good good apparently, from do’s to bops that introduce us to ‘Faces’ and from every strength to strength, each time they release something you expect it to be good, and better than the last, which it always is. Which makes for an interesting concept, because when will they become a household name in this country like countless others? If every new album is like the manic build of this song, I’m starting to get slightly comfortably nervous; because I know where they’re going but I can’t tell how good they can possibly get. Very very good good it seems. (Jo Michelmore)

#73. SALT EYES

by Middle Kids

Friday night, drink a Cab Sav

At your stupid party, no-one danced.

I love the first verse of this song; “Friday night, drink a cab sav, at your stupid party, no one danced” because it’s so simple and so depressing and so inclusive and so descriptive of so many nights and like a good first page of a book, it makes you desperately listen to the rest to find out what happens, which is lots of Middle Kids riffs and slightly dirty drums and rough guitars which they do so well. (I suspect they do their Friday nights better than they describe, but who can say?) (Jo Michelmore)

#72. I'M GOOD

by Wafia

I was bad, now I'm better

I was sad, now I'm better.

I love it when a little artist you like who your workmates didn’t know existed suddenly starts getting played at your workplace and you’re all like “Oh yeah, they’re great, have you heard their first track?” all smug like even though you had absolutely nothing to do with their meteoric rise to national radio play, but you just know you knew who they were five minutes before someone else. It’s a ridiculous thought process, but then ‘I’m Good’ is a ridiculously good song, so everything works out in the end. (Jo Michelmore)

#71. ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS

by Vera Blue

Girl, don't get

Girl, don't get too close.

Who hurt you, Vera Blue?! No one should be making Vera Blue cry. Or anyone for that matter. Vera Blue has established her brand of indie pop in a huge way, getting all of the love on national radio, so you should already be loving 'All The Pretty Girls'. It's hard to resist when it's super catchy, universally relatable (just change the word girls for whatever gender or non-gender wording you'd like, should you need to) and ready made to be shouted along with whenever it comes on. How high will this one go on the Hottest 100? (Matt Bond)