I posted my list of favorite from the first half of 2015 back in July (here and here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this a continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year.
(from the Xtra Mile Records release Positive Songs for Negative People)
An epic rock anthem from an artist whose enthusiasm and positivity is downright infectious. The rock song of the year, hands down.
So try and get better and don’t ever accept less
Take a plain black marker and write this on your chest
Draw a line underneath all of this unhappiness
Come on now, let’s fix this mess
We could get better because we’re not dead yet
(from the Thirty Tigers Records release Fables)
The latest release from Ramirez is filled with exceptional ballads. For this song, however, he straps on an electric guitar to show that he is equally adept at ferociously rocking. Point well taken.
(from the Sugar Hill Records release Bittersweet)
Although the song title sufficiently conveys the song’s sentiment, it doesn’t fully capture the haunting beauty of this duet between Chambers and fellow Australian singer Bernard Fanning.
(from the Bloodshot Records release South Broadway Athletic Club)
Leave it to Brian Henneman to perfectly describe the increasingly rapid passage of time and the Monday morning blues in a song that is gleefully catchy.
(from the Anti- Records release Didn’t He Ramble)
The song may start sweet and soulful but Hansard builds it into cathartic conclusion, complete with horns and a gospel chorus. Enchanting and inspiring.
(from the Clubhouse Records release Searching for the Supertruth)
Newly-found favorites The Dreaming Spires serve up a song that is as lyrically uplifting as it is sonically alluring.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re lost on the way, just as long as you make it in the end.”
(from the Provogue Records release Into the Deep)
The seminal New Orleans group prove yet again that there is no genre that they can’t master. They team here with Macy Gray for a modern soul classic.
(from the Low Country Sound/Elektra Records release Delilah)
Newcomer East establishes himself as an artist to watch with this soulful Muscle Shoals ballad.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.