In no particular order, here are 2017’s best songs so far – and we’ll be regularly updating this list with new tunes.

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1. Lorde – ‘Green Light’

Lorde’s first taste of second album ‘Melodrama’ was this flawless breakup banger, written with fun.’s Jack Antonoff.

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2. Father John Misty – ‘Pure Comedy’


The soulful title track from Josh Tillman’s third album encompasses the whole of human history, skewering politics, organised religion and big business with his trademark savage wit.

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3. Dangerous – ‘The xx’

The opening notes of The xx’s third album ‘I See You’ are the brass belches of ‘Dangerous’ – an unexpected but welcome step in a dancier direction for the south London trio.

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4. Sälen – ‘Heartbreak Diet’

Following the disarmingly odd likes of ‘Copper Kiss’ and ‘Diseasey’, the lyrics on ‘Heartbreak Diet’ are possibly the best yet from this minimalist London trio. “I am done with sticky people,” it goes. “They’re too hard to pick out of my teeth.”

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5. Kehlani – ‘Undercover’


This early cut from the precocious R&B star’s debut album ‘SweetSexySavage’ is deceptively simple, but it’ll burrow deep into your brain.

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6. Young Fathers – ‘Only God Knows’

Lighting up the Trainspotting 2 soundtrack was this propulsive stormer from the Mercury Prize-winners, alongside Edinburgh’s Leith Congregational Choir.

7. RAC – ‘This Song (ft. Rostam)’

Following his sepia-hued collaboration with The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser last year, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij showed a different side on this big-hearted cut with the Grammy-winning electronic producer RAC.

8. Run The Jewels – ‘Down’

Sure, it came out in 2016, but it was so late in the year that we’re giving this honorary 2017 status. It’s the opening track from Run The Jewels’ blistering third album ‘RTJ3’, full to the brim of furious lines like “Ballot or bullet, you better use one“.

9. Syd – ‘Nothin to Somethin’

Odd Future and The Internet’s Syd Tha Kid broke out on her own this year with her solo debut ‘Fin’ – including this woozy synth cut that delivers flashes of lyrical bravado like “If I go to hell, hope my bitches get to visit.”

10. MUNA – ‘So Special’

The LA trio’s debut album ‘About U’ opens with a rush of pure pop whose lyrics will take you by surprise: “You think that I’m beautiful / But it’s not enough”