The Top Indie Songs of 2020

Here are the top indie songs of 2020, according to our panel of writers.

• “Land of No Junction” by Aoife Nessa Frances
• “Quiet Weather” by Caitlin Pasko
• “Sour Flower” by Lianne La Havas
• “Kerosene!” by Yves Tumor
• “I Want You To Love Me” by Fiona Apple
• “Can I Believe You” by Fleet Foxes
• “Climb” by Charlie Cunningham
• “Call Me in the Morning” by Billy Lockett
• “Now I’m In It” by Haim
• “Red Shoulder” by Squirrel Flower
• “Umbrellar” by Dua Saleh
• “Bad Decisions” by The Strokes
• “Happiness in Liquid Form” by Alfie Templeman
• “Beautiful Faces” by Declan McKenna
• “Exile” by Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver
• “Bloody Valentine” by Machine Gun Kelly
• “Letter To You” by Bruce Springsteen
• “Lost In Yesterday” by Tame Impala
• “Good News” by Mac Miller
• “Love Me Better” by joan
• “Sugar on the Rim” by Hayley Williams
• “Mountains (we met)” by Christine and the Queens
• “Wrong Places” by H.E.R.
• “Don’t Wanna” by Haim
• “Cut Me” by Moses Sumney
• “Escape from L.A.” by The Weeknd
• “I Know Alone” by Haim
• “Conversion” by Leon Bridges and Khruangbin
• “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers
• “Feel These Heavy Times” by King Charles
• “A Little Alive” by St. South
• “Rue” by girl in red
• “Graceland Too” by Phoebe Bridgers
• “The Birthday Party” by The 1975
• “Through Glass” by Wild Nothing
• “Station” by Låpsley
• “Oceans” by Seafret
• “Honey + Tea” by Mōzi
• “Sunset Inn” by Noah Vonne
• “I Know The End” by Phoebe Bridgers
• “Wildfires” by SAULT
• “Do It” by Chloe x Halle
• “Gospel for a New Century” by Yves Tumor
• “Susie Save Your Love” by Allie X feat. Mitski

Note – by indie, we mean the word as it’s commonly understood: the genre. (For the most part, at least.) We definitely don’t mean that all of these artists are fully independent. But they’ve got the right vibe.

You don’t need us to tell you what a nightmare this year was. Even before the pandemic blew up and made the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry, it was shaping up to be a real corker: wildfires! Tension in the Middle East! The death of Kobe Bryant! The inevitable maelstrom of a presidential election! And while at least one of those things sorted itself out, the ceaseless onslaught of bad vibes in tandem with quarantine-induced ennui made this year uniquely horrible. But while it was tempting to go full My Year of Rest and Relaxation, we’re glad we didn’t: there was still life to be lived, fun to be had, music to love.

Each of our contributors listed their five favorite songs of 2020, and wrote a brief piece about their number one favorite song of the year. (The contributors who were here at the start of the month, at least–sorry, Nandy and Marshall!) You’ll see some familiar names and some up-and-comers, some living legends and some who were gone too soon. But they all helped make this year a little easier to bear. May the next year be just as fruitful, and significantly less hellish.

Joe Hoeffner

5. “Land of No Junction” by Aoife Nessa Frances

4. “Quiet Weather” by Caitlin Pasko

3. “Sour Flower” by Lianne La Havas

2. “Kerosene!” by Yves Tumor

1. “I Want You To Love Me” by Fiona Apple

When Fetch The Bolt Cutters came out on April 17, we had been in quarantine for a little over a month. We stocked up on toilet paper over the course of that month. We picked up and put down various hobbies. We rolled our eyes at Gal Gadot singing “Imagine,” as though rolling our eyes made a difference. We were getting a little tired of Animal Crossing. And we were coming to terms with something we had tried not to think about: that it would be many more months, if not years, before things went back to anything approaching “normal”.

“I Want You To Love Me” was the first thing we heard when we hit play on Fetch The Bolt Cutters, and it felt like a dusty curtain had been pulled aside to let light spill into a cramped attic. We had spent a month drowning in our own thoughts, communicating with each other through laggy Zoom calls and pretending it was as good as the real thing. And now we were hearing this fully-formed, idiosyncratic vision, full of pinwheeling piano and sandpaper-sweet vocals, and we were reminded that there was life outside of our bedroom. For the first time in what seemed like ages, someone was talking to us. Someone was here.

It was a coincidence, of course. Fiona Apple works on no schedule but her own, and “I Want You To Love Me” has nothing to do with the pandemic. But it resonated all the same, reminding us that there is something colorful and bizarre and true in all of us that the virus cannot touch.

Brilie Dun

5. “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers

4. “Can I Believe You” by Fleet Foxes

3. “Climb” by Charlie Cunningham

2. “Call Me in the Morning” by Billy Lockett

1. “Now I’m In It” by Haim

2020 has been a difficult year to say the least. More than ever, I have turned to music for comfort which is evidenced by the slightly concerning statistics that Spotify gifted us with early this month. I more than doubled my total minutes listened from the year before, with Haim’s “Now I’m In It” rising above all others as my top song of the year.

“Cause now I’m in it / And I’ve been trying to find my way back for a minute / And the rain keeps coming down along the ceiling / And I can hear it / But I can’t feel it, oh”

If it wouldn’t make for a very poorly written piece, I would paste the entire song right here and let it speak for itself. Standing alone, though, this hard-hitting chorus truly sums up the heart of the song. Something I have struggled with this year, it cuts directly to the dizzying fear of losing oneself and the ability to feel, trying to hold the disjointed pieces of yourself together as they slip away. It’s raw and expressive in every way that a song should be with a ferocity of vocals that are equally matched by a full and driving arrangement.

“Now I’m In It” is without a doubt the guest of honor on all of my 2020 playlists, being one that never has and never will fail to resonate with a year that has found me truly “in it” more than I care to admit. What I believe to be some of the best work of this mega-talented and badass group of sisters, Haim and “Now I’m In It” will forever hold a special place in the darker parts of my personal history.

Olivia Yarvis

5. “Red Shoulder” by Squirrel Flower

4. “Umbrellar” by Dua Saleh

3. “Bad Decisions” by The Strokes

2. “Happiness in Liquid Form” by Alfie Templeman

1. “Beautiful Faces” by Declan McKenna

Declan McKenna is not a stranger to social commentary and the song “Beautiful Faces,” off of his 2020 album Zeros is no different. Amid a year full of hyper-partisanship and a pandemic, this track, which McKenna called “a brave new anthem for doomed youth” is both an empowering respite from the madness and emblematic of the embattled sentiments of coming of age during this era.

The track begins with an almost dystopian sound that serves as the perfect introduction to McKenna’s musings on the eeriness of social media culture and the isolation it produces. As we log on, he contends we must confront ubiquitous false personas and a never ending surge of social problems against which we feel powerless.

A hard rock drive carries this track, swelling into an unrelenting sonic bath full of distorted and reverberated guitars in its final third. In addition to embodying the state of disorientation and madness symptomatic of living in this contentious year, this section capitalizes on the anger of embattled and isolated youth. So, not only does “Beautiful Faces” promise a driving rhythm and an infectious hook, it presents a lens through which modern youth can channel their rage and make sense of their feelings. Perhaps more than McKenna’s other tracks, this is a rallying cry.

While “Beautiful Faces” carries an anthemic quality that’s capable of transcending a particular “Moment,” the signature social commentary McKenna brings to the track is sure to echo the contentious climate of 2020 and its enormous pop-rock sound is a safe haven amongst the madness.

Jordan Drazen

5. “Exile” by Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver

4. “Bloody Valentine” by Machine Gun Kelly

3. “Letter To You” by Bruce Springsteen

2. “Lost In Yesterday” by Tame Impala

1. “Good News” by Mac Miller

In the beginning of the year, before everything went to hell, there was a glimmer of hope that 2020 would be a new beginning. A new decade, full of good times and great music. This was only confirmed when Mac Miller’s estate announced the release of an album which Mac had been working on up until his untimely death in 2018. Advertised as a complimentary album to his previous release, Swimming, Circles was slated to be both equal and opposite in its musical style. When the first single of the album, “Good News,” was released on January 9th, this description proved true.

Keeping in line with the rest of Mac Miller’s catalogue, “Good News” defies all expectations as to the type of music a modern-day rap star can create. Starting out with a delicate symphony of plucked string-instruments, the song immediately sets the stage for what is sure to be an emotional journey. On top of this, we have Mac’s delicately sung vocals. You won’t find any rapping on this song, and that’s just fine. Despite not being the best technical singer in the world, he still delivers a brilliantly touching vocal performance. One cannot help but reflect upon the song’s lyrics taking into account Mac’s death, especially with sections of the song where he sings, “There’s a whole lot more for me waiting on the other side.”

All in all, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about this song that I don’t absolutely adore. The instrumentation, the lyrics, the vocal performance: everything. Since first releasing back in January, I’ve easily listened to this track hundreds of times, and I’m still not bored of it. I could probably sing this song backwards in my sleep at this point. If you somehow still haven’t managed to check it out, I highly, highly recommend you do so. Oh, and play it loud.

Hannah Rogers

5. “Love Me Better” by joan

4. “Sugar on the Rim” by Hayley Williams

3. “Mountains (we met)” by Christine and the Queens

2. “Wrong Places” by H.E.R.

1. “Don’t Wanna” by Haim

My song of the year is “Don’t Wanna” by Haim, off of their album Women in Music Pt. III, released in June. I’ve been a pretty big fan of Haim for a few years now, and was delighted by this most recent album. As a fiercely feminist, female college student, how could I not love a band of three sisters – each of whom play multiple instruments and sing – that write about experiences that I can relate to?

Not only is “Don’t Wanna” a great singalong, but it’s sound is just so catchy and fun, I can’t help but really feel the music every time I hear it. Danielle Haim’s voice is distinctive; she has this very crisp and clear tone to her vocals with which she hits each note perfectly. I’d even call it a perfect voice for alt-pop/rock, which is what Haim’s sound can be described as.

The song opens with an upbeat, bass-infused sound, as Danielle Haim’s vocals let off an “ooh yeah” that draws you right into the song. In the first verse, we learn that the focal point of the lyrics is a disappointing love, who she claims “Left me low with my high heels in the parking lot”. The pre-chorus moves into a higher, faster delivery of the lyrics, as she proclaims she should’ve known better.

The chorus is this explosion of synthy, poppy, and funky production with pleading lyrics that indicate “I don’t wanna give up on you”, as if singing these words will somehow convince us that we indeed shouldn’t give up. Not only is this a really fun song to sing, but it’s got a great dance beat, a super fun guitar solo, and is what I consider the anthem of anyone who is begging their love interest not to mess up again.

Gus Rocha

5. “Cut Me” by Moses Sumney

4. “Escape from L.A.” by The Weeknd

3. “I Know Alone” by Haim

2. “Conversion” by Leon Bridges and Khruangbin

1. “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers

Remembering is the act of dreaming. Memories are no more than handpicked collections of half-truths, violently thrown against our imagination’s blank and open canvass. 

This is how we go about informing and altering our perception of ourselves. It’s how we’re able to carry on the pretense of an inherent significance, and therefore, meaning in the illusory identities we have chosen to adopt. The operant question isn’t “who am I?” But instead, “how am I more or less like the person I believe that I am?” The answer to this is an unending process of self-discovery that occurs throughout our lives. 

For Phoebe Bridgers, this ineluctable act offers more than psychological conciliation. For her, it provides spiritual deliverance. It’s against the shapeless and randomly bizarre backdrop of dreams that she’s best able to gauge the nature of whatever selfness she possesses by measuring it against her repressed desires, far-fetched hopes, incalculable sorrow, and undue expectations.

For Bridgers, dreams are part of a necessary process that enables her to derive fulfillment out of her present condition, filling her with a sense of gratitude so profound that she declares that there’s nothing that she’s ever wanted that she doesn’t presently have. This wholesale truce with and acceptance of her current self is no small triumph, as it ultimately instills in her a sense of peace and contentment that she previously had lacked. And it stands as a conclusion that is marked by a personal victory whose significance can’t be underestimated given that, in the end, her present self is all she can ever hope to have. 

Kelsey Marlett

5. “Feel These Heavy Times” by King Charles

4. “A Little Alive” by St. South

3. “Rue” by girl in red

2. “Graceland Too” by Phoebe Bridgers

1. “The Birthday Party” by The 1975

The 1975’s “The Birthday Party” is a warm, wandering exploration of addiction, self-concealment, and the casual sadness of life online. It’s a fairly subdued track, and quietly reverent even as it explores these heavy topics. The lyrics are stream-of-consciousness, following the speaker’s experience at a birthday party where he is simultaneously desperate to be seen and desperate to escape. It seamlessly weaves contrasting elements – such as a banjo, a choir of robotic voices, and tender, sweeping saxophone – into a cohesive whole that is both subversive and addictive.

Despite its unusual sonic elements, “The Birthday Party” can appear deceptively simple upon first listen. The vocal melody remains consistent throughout nearly the entire track, and the soundscape is relaxed and gentle. Matty Healy’s voice is similarly unassuming – he doesn’t reach for impressive notes or elaborate vocal runs. Rather, Healy guides you through a strange, casually apocalyptic landscape with a soft-spoken frankness.

The song interrogates desire by describing ordinary temptations – at the party, the speaker is offered drugs and the opportunity to cheat on his partner – and it investigates the vague, unanswerable sort of pain that comes with feeling disconnected in a group of people, a feeling that has only amplified since the rise of the internet. The band has a long-standing concern with technology and disconnection. “The Birthday Party” examines the distance and self-concealment allowed by a virtual world, and how this distance is magnified in the face of addiction. Then it places that feeling into an ordinary setting – a party.

Marked by the band’s trademark lyrical punch, saxophone solos, and hypnotic soundscape, The 1975’s “The Birthday Party” is frightfully compelling. It’s a stand-out in 2020 releases, and a stand-out from The 1975’s extensive body of work. That being said…it’s probably not something you should play at a party.

Catherine Gregoire

5. “Through Glass” by Wild Nothing

4. “Station” by Låpsley

3. “Oceans” by Seafret

2. “Honey + Tea” by Mōzi

1. “Sunset Inn” by Noah Vonne

Noah Vonne blends her Texan origins with some Nashville folk flair in a wondrous conglomeration of soul, blues, and R&B. Her edgy, fervent, rustic style breaks through in an explosion of fierce drumbeats, palpable guitar, and powerful vocals that can bust forth like in “Wreck Me” or can flow in effortless movement like in “Poor In Peace.” Vonne infuses her own unique vibe into the aforementioned genre scenes with beautifully controlled vocal runs and a diverse yet deep-rooted pattern.

One of her 2020 singles, “Sunset Inn,” possesses that raw, heartfelt authenticity that can be heard from all her music. This one’s gentle yet resolute vibe is brought about by the absence of percussion and the dominance of powerful intermingling guitar strums. Vonne accompanies with her voice in its flowy, effortless movement version: soft and stoic, deep and iron-willed. You get the sense that she really means what she says with all her unyielding passion. 

With the words, Vonne leaves an impression of an old bittersweet memory. She fills you with a nostalgia that seems wonderful yet with a part that didn’t make it quite perfect, reminiscent of something we dream of having back but are so afraid to relive.

All our dreams

They didn’t last

How will I ever

Oh ever put you in the past now?

Vonne’s last lyrics leave a punch that reminds us that the longing we have for that wonderful time that came to an end may never leave us. But that’s not a bad thing.

So I got two room keys

Just in case.

Andrew Zhang

5. “I Know The End” by Phoebe Bridgers

4. “Wildfires” by SAULT

3. “Do It” by Chloe x Halle

2. “Gospel for a New Century” by Yves Tumor

1. “Susie Save Your Love” by Allie X feat. Mitski

Although my fond impressions of 2020 are few and far between, music has been a real bright spot in this doozy of a year. Whether it’s been an excuse to cry into my pillow, a bittersweet reminder of the forgotten days of concert-going, or background noise for rants about Zoom fatigue, music unearthed some real gems this year. My favorite track of 2020, though, is “Susie Save Your Love,” a dreamy collaboration between Allie X and Mitski off of the former’s 2020 album, Cape God. 

At heart, “Susie” is an ode to unrequited love, a tale of a woman who loves her friend Susie, who in turn loves some problematic guy: “Susie needs a ride / She’s way too drunk to drive / But oh, she’s such a sight to see.” Fun, right? By the first chorus, we’re sucked into a world of longing that feels all too relatable. “Save your love / For someone like me,” Allie X pleads. “Save your love / And take mine from me.”

We’re all in agreement that anything Mitski touches is gold, right? By the time the revered co-writer and featured artist jumps in for her verse, this dark thriller becomes a certified sad bop. “Susie’s riding shotgun / Saying that I’m no fun,” Mitski sings over a delicious bass lick, so slyly you can almost see her flash a coy smile. 

From the precise drums to the glittery synths to the way Allie X and Mitski’s voices seem to fall into one, “Susie” is a stunning narrative of heartache that is just as much a song to weep to as it is to dance to. I’m sure I’ll be doing both long after the year ends.