Genre
pop
38 tracks.
Robin Thicke, T.I., Pharrell Williams
Blurred Lines
A cowbell-clacking, falsetto-laced funk-pop strut from Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. that owned the summer of 2013 and then the courtroom.
Robin Schulz
Sugar
Sun-bleached deep house with a soul hook: Robin Schulz builds a sweet, bouncing groove around Francesco Yates and an interpolation of Baby Bash's 2003 'Suga Suga', a number one in seven countries in 2015.
Paloma Faith
Upside Down
Paloma Faith's brassy, swing-tinged retro-soul romp about a world turned on its head, with a stomping rhythm section and a voice that relishes every theatrical flourish.
Michael Jackson
Billie Jean
One of pop's most recognisable bass lines carries Michael Jackson's paranoid tale of a paternity claim, a tight, shadowy groove that sounds as sharp now as it did on Thriller.
Kygo, Maty Noyes
Stay
Soft-focus tropical house from Kygo, with plucked melodies and a warm, pleading vocal from Maty Noyes asking someone not to leave just yet.
Jain
So Peaceful
Zanaka's gentle closer, a reggae-tinged sway where Jain lets the album's travels settle into calm, sunlit contentment.
Jain
Mr Johnson
Handclap-light percussion, a bouncing bass and Jain's playful, slightly mischievous delivery make Mr Johnson one of Zanaka's sunniest little stories.
Jain
Hope
Jain's light, sing-song voice, her own drum programming and Yodelice's bass and trombone carry a small, sunny plea for a better world, the title track of her first EP in 2015.
Jain
Come
Jain's debut hit hides a lovesick lyric under a happy bounce: chugging guitar, bashful horns and double-tracked vocals, under three minutes of Afro-pop lightness that went to number one in France.
Jain
City
The closing song of Jain's 2015 Hope EP, produced by Yodelice: her bright, slightly mischievous voice riding a homemade-sounding beat that mixes pop simplicity with the rhythmic colours of a childhood spent between Dubai, Congo and Abu Dhabi.
Ivy Levan, CADRÉ
Like A Glove
Ivy Levan's smoky, swaggering vocal slinks over a sleek, bass-heavy pop beat, with a rap verse from Cadre: a track from her 2015 'swamp-hop' debut that fits its title, tight, dark and made to measure.
Imany, Filatov & Karas
Don't Be So Shy (Filatov & Karas Remix)
Imany's smoky contralto meets a sleek, pulsing house remix from Filatov & Karas, turning a slow seduction from a film soundtrack into a continental dancefloor hit.
Gin Wigmore
New Rush
Gin Wigmore's 2015 comeback single, co-written with Charlie Andrew, hits like a jolt of adrenaline: pounding drums and a chant-along chorus pushing her husky voice towards a fresh start after a stifling relationship.
Gin Wigmore
Dirty Mercy
Swaggering and swampy, Dirty Mercy pairs Gin Wigmore's raspy snarl with a stomping groove and a sly, sinister edge, the opening shot of her Ivory era.
Gabriella Cilmi
Left With Someone Else
A smoky, retro-soul kiss-off from Gabriella Cilmi's independent third album: an old flame walks out with somebody new, and a sparse arrangement leaves room for a vocal that is pure venom wrapped in velvet.
Gabriella Cilmi
Cry Me A River (Live Version)
A sixteen-year-old Gabriella Cilmi takes Justin Timberlake's 2002 break-up hit into smoky, live soul territory with a three-piece band: a 2008 B-side recorded by Xenomania, her husky voice carrying all the hurt.
Ed Sheeran
Shape of You
A plucked marimba-like loop, a dancehall bounce and a flirtation that starts at the bar: Shape of You is the minimal pop machine that took over the world in 2017.
Daft Punk
Get Lucky (Radio Edit)
Nile Rodgers' chicken-scratch guitar, Pharrell's easy vocal and Daft Punk's robot choir turn a four-chord loop into the most irresistible disco revival of the 2010s: the lead single of Random Access Memories, in its radio edit.
Corinne Bailey Rae
Put Your Records On
Corinne Bailey Rae's sun-dappled soul-pop single is a gentle invitation to let your hair down, all breezy guitar, soft horns and a warm voice telling you to grow into yourself.
Clea Vincent
All that she wants
Cléa Vincent turns Ace of Base's 1992 hit into breezy, homespun French synth-pop, trading its reggae-pop strut for a dreamy, lo-fi groove closer to hip-hop and R&B.
ayokay, Quinn XCII
Kings of Summer
Bright synths and Quinn XCII's easy vocal paint a memory of summers when you and your friends felt untouchable: the 2016 breakthrough of two school friends from Michigan.