This is it.
THE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT AND 100% DEFINITIVE LIST OF 2015'S 45 BEST SINGLES.
2015, eh? Twelve months. 52 weeks. We lost count of how many days but it was loads of them. And throughout that period there was music.
Most of that music was absolutely terrible but some of that music was alright, some was really good and some was GREAT.
We've compiled the year's Top 45 singles in the list below. It's a right old white-knuckle ride so hold on tight.
(There's a Spotify playlist too, if you like that kind of thing.)
45. Erik Hassle — No Words
[badge color="#fff" bgcolor="#48cfee" value="IT'S A HASSLEBANGER"] This song has lyrics. Despite being factually inaccurate Erik's single was the summer smash the world quite clearly did not a) want but also, on a deeper and more significant level, b) deserve.44. Dua Lipa — Be The One
[badge color="#fff" bgcolor="#48cfee" value="FUTURE SUPERSTAR ALERT"] If you think this is good wait until you hear what she's got ready to go for 2016. One song in particular will make your shit yourself in amazement. As it stands, 'Be The One' (which was written by Lucy Pawws and produced by Digital Farm Animals) is a great crossover moment.43. Eric Prydz — Generate
Eric Prydz has always had the whole dance-music-that-sounds-like-pop-music thing down pretty well. We would have put 'Opus' on the list instead but it doesn't have any words in it and everyone knows you need to have words in a song to make it proper. SORRY CLASSICAL MUSIC, YOU LOSE AGAIN.
[adpostbig]42. Ellie Goulding — On My Mind
Ellie would have been in the Top 10 of this list if she'd released 'Lost & Found' as a single.
41. Dada feat Paul Harris and Dragonette — Red Heart Black
This came and went with little attention, which was just not on.
40. Elle King — Ex’s & Oh's
[badge color="#fff" bgcolor="#48cfee" value="PUNCTUATIONAL NIGHTMARE"] Such a strange state of affairs that a song this good can come with a video this bad, but what can you do? The rest of Elle's album is a little bit of a racket, sadly, but one song this good is more than most artists manage.39. Olly Murs — Seasons
[badge color="#fff" bgcolor="#48cfee" value="NO WAIT, COME BACK"] That rare pop beast: a song about holding your hands up and going, "fine, yes, I'm a bit of a wanker". The recent release of the 100% execrable 'Stevie Knows' means that once again Olly Murs has failed to release three good singles in a row, but album launch single 'Kiss Me' was great (if a commercial disaster) and there's also loads to like about this, the final single from Olly's last album. The video depicts Olly's cleaning lady walking in on Olly in bed with his girlfriend then chasing him down the street, or something.38. XYconstant and Tom Aspaul — Do It Well
2015 was a fairly miserable year for UK dance music, as the arse-end of the deep house scene shat out a succession of pathetic covers and pointless remixes while everyone else put their money on Liltpop, the unconvincingly tropical sound that looks to dominate 2016. Anyway, XYconstant and Tom Aspaul did it well, so well done to them.
37. CHVRCHES — Clearest Blue
In an ideal world Chvrches would have recorded half the Carly Rae Jepsen album and Carly would have recorded half the Chvrches album, but nothing in life is ideal.
36. Jason Derulo — Want To Want Me
He had the shits on the floor.
35. The Weeknd — In The Night
There's some great "OH!" action in this song. Also notable for the line "she's capable of anything, it's riveting". Who uses the word 'riveting' in a pop song? Incredible scenes.
34. Major Lazer feat MO & DJ Snake — Lean On
Rihanna was offered this song but passed on it. Yet another reason to be furious with Robyn 'Rihanna' So-Called Fenty in 2015.
33. Selena Gomez feat A$AP Rocky — Good For You
This is basically a song about looking nice in a dress then looking nice not in a dress. It's a song about sexual intercourse. Here at Popjustice we generally take a dim view on this sort of filth but it's alright when there's a nice tune.
32. Grimes — Flesh Without Blood
There's a strong sense of 'late-career Girls Aloud album track' in this song, which is to say it's close to perfection.
31. Josef Salvat — Open Season
This was first out in 2014 as part of an EP, then it came out again in 2015. A song for all (open) seasons, twice. Maybe it will come out in 2016 too, and everyone will go "oh I didn't listen to Josef Salvat in 2014 or 2015 because I was busy listening to other things, but now I've heard 'Open Season' I can finally recognise that it is a very special song and I now realise that I was a fool to ignore it". Maybe that will happen. (Maybe it won't.)
