Musical Remedial Guide | Marissa Groguhe’s list

After (another) year rich in musical love at first sight, here are the songs that have passed the test of time in the headphones of our journalists.

Satelliteby Harry Styles

The artist we’ve listened to the most this year is Harry Styles. The album we listened to the most this year is Harry’s House, released last summer. The song we listened to the most, surprise, is As It Was. In short, here he is at the top of our retrospective charts, this time with the song Satellite, a pop jewel that you never get tired of. In our eyes, this has been the year of the British singer, who is establishing himself as the most popular artist of our time.

Hello Youfrom Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys released their best album in the fall, the magnificent The Car. A masterpiece that has been our refuge during the last months of the year. A disc which has everything good, which allows itself to put in the foreground a grandiose instrumentation. Alex Turner, leader of the group, continues to impress us, both with his pen and his vocal performance. The room Hello You is, in our opinion, the culmination of this recent offering from the British.

Not his motherof the Boulay Sisters

What a moving piece! Not his mother is a piece that put us upside down from the first listen. The album from which it is taken, escape the night, continued to inhabit us intensely, even once accustomed to its words and its melodies (more catchy than on the previous opuses). A marvel as heartbreaking as it is intoxicating.

Your shift is not overby Gab Bouchard

A perfect song, both in its lyrics and its chorus, not to mention the interpretation. The disc from which it is drawn, Gravines, has played dozens of times in our ears since its release. Gab Bouchard excels at it: the themes he tackles are poignant, from mourning to the desire to die, from self-destruction to hope. He depicts them with a sharper pen than ever, which is combined with superb instrumentation. It is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year.

Rich Spiritby Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar seems unable to miss his shot. With Mr. Morale & the Big Steppersfeaturing the incredible track Rich Spirit, the Compton rapper excels. The number of songs that we could have chosen for our chart is large. Kendrick tackles themes he hadn’t explored before, more personal than ever, on this disc. His legendary elocution is sharper still, his rhymes are more striking and the rhythms on which he puts his words, more catchy. This is Kendrick Lamar at the top of his game.

Ullutamaatfrom Elisapie (1969 Collective)

Ullutamaat is a sweet and delicate ballad given to us by Elisapie as part of the album 1969. The disc is a superb collective work paying homage to the end of the 1960s, thought up by director Connor Seidel, for which he brought together 12 artists, including Half Moon Run, Louis-Jean Cormier, Elliot Maginot, Ariane Moffatt and Philippe Brault. The song in Inuktitut that Elisapie signs is one of those to which we return most often. She wraps us in her delicacy, draws us to tears, cradles us in all her beauty.

WhirlpoolMilk & Bone

The way the voices of Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin are worked on this piece (as often on the album) is brilliant. More than ever, the Montreal duo is letting their vocal cords loose. The instrumentation that accompanies his lyrics is catchy, futuristic and cleverly thought out. On this piece that speaks of resilience, we feel all the duality between the deep texts and the music that lets off steam. The album has often accompanied us on gray November mornings, like a balm to lift our spirits. Whirlpool is one proof that Milk & Bone has reached a new musical peak.

Get BetterAlt-J

It had been five years since we had heard anything from the excellent British group. Suffice to say that we were impatiently awaiting his return. The Scrapbook The Dream turned out to be reassuring for the admirers of the group, who found its distinct paw there, but also exciting, since it shows that Alt-J can always go further. Get Better, folk ballad, is located at the crossroads of the “new” and the “old” Alt-J. It’s one of the songs we’ve listened to the most this year.