On the heels of the Grammy Awards, deemed “music’s biggest night,” coming to Las Vegas, the Scarlet & Gray Free Press decided to ask its staff what their favorite song of 2022 has been.
Here are some of the selections from our staff on their best songs from 2022 so far:
Chris Johnson, Staff Writer: Best song is from the album “Who Cares?” by Rex Orange County. The song “The Shade” has a lovely little boots and cats ‘beat with a little electric guitar, xylophone, and piano that just makes me happy and is super upbeat but has depressing lyrics.
Allison Hunter, Copy Editor: I’ve been loving “Feel My Rhythm” by Red Velvet. It samples “Air on a G String” by Bach, which adds a unique classical element to the pop song, and they blend so well in the chorus. It’s very light and upbeat and overall a vibe. The chorus especially hooked me. Plus, at the end, they do a key change that stays in your head.
After another listen, I was even more sold – especially if you see the music video, which references a lot of classical art in a very aesthetically pleasing way. If you listen to it for the first time, definitely watch the music video first!
Jimmy Romo, News Editor: I am into listening to what my girl calls noise for music. This dude from Tucson, Arizona was running around with narcos and now makes punk music on his own. I struggled finding songs that came out this year, but I knew N8NOFACE came out with some new singles. “A Joy in Death” is one of his recent singles from a drop of three singles.
Usually his synth-punk style brings chaos, but with this single, I could have this on repeat after my morning coffee right before it kicks in to raise hell. You also do not get to see Latino guys producing punk music—as a fellow Latino that loves a little more chaotic punk, this has been my go-to guy for a little while now.
Stephanie Overton, Staff Writer: After the success of “Enemy” last year, Imagine Dragons has come back strong with Bones, which first appeared in the teaser trailer for Amazon Prime’s show “The Boys,” one of my personal favorite shows. I’ve always been a big fan of “happy sad” songs, and Bones is definitely one of them.
The song has an upbeat, thundering melody and dives into some rather morbid themes. The song deals with the fragility of life and the idea of grief and trying to survive through it. Life can throw you boulders, tests of grief and loss, and this song tells you that you are stronger than those boulders. I’ve always been a fan of Imagine Dragons and this song is no different. I’ve had it on repeat for several weeks now!
Alex Wright, Editor-in-Chief: Nearly all of the music I listen to was made before I was born. But recently I have been listening to a lot of music from the Foo Fighters after the tragic passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins. And right before he passed, they released the album “Dream Widow” for the movie Studio 666 that the band released. The song that I enjoyed most from the album is “Come All Ye Unfaithful.”
The album as a whole has a heavy metal sound to it. This song is the perfect mix of that classic 80’s heavy metal sound, with that same Foo Fighters sound we all know. I love the guitar riffs and how they are able to complement it with the lyrics. And as always, Hawkins is fantastic on the drums.
Maddie Platt, A&E Editor: As an almost exclusive country music listener, 2022 has been a big year for releases in this genre. Both up and coming artists as well as Nashville veterans have kicked off this year with new releases. The ACM 2022 Entertainer of the Year, Miranda Lambert, just released the first song of her new upcoming album. “Strange” from her upcoming album “Palamino,” is going back to her Western roots. Lambert is releasing the new album April 29, just in time for her new Zappos Theater residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas this upcoming fall.
