2021 in Review: 100 Best Tracks
This one's going to be even more arbitrary than the albums one I did last week, so hold onto your hats! 2021 wasn't a stellar year for pop. There was something of a cruel irony in last year producing excellent singles and albums from the likes of Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Jessie Ware and Grimes that deserved to have their hits pulsing through sweaty nightclubs, where the only risk of contamination came in the bathroom stalls. This year... sure, there were some gems, but nowhere near on the same scale. Introspection seemed to dominate this year, with Adele and ABBA spearheading the biggest pop moments. Comebacks were often disappointing: Normani's hit with Cardi B might prove popular with some but I found it to be a monotonous waste of time, Shakira's Don't Wait Up was inanely catchy for a brief period but had no right being a lead single, and there were similar damp squibs for Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato and Rita Ora. Contrary to all this preamble, I do