#835-#831

#835. Illy - Then What (#68, 2019)

79th of 2019

So soon after "Loose Ends" (#842), here comes that other song from Illy's 6th album. This came out a whole year and a half before the album but still stood as clearly the biggest hit on it so it was probably never going to be orphaned between projects. This was also Illy's last top 50 hit in Australia. His singles chart appearances wrap up neatly into the one decade, charting first in 2010, and finishing up in 2019. 'It got a lot harder to break through in the 2020s', is the theoretical answer to that 'Then what?'.

You always have to remember that any song that's made it into the countdown has done so on the back of a passionate voting base. I find this to be fairly lightweight and harmless, but I love the idea that it's someone's favourite song of the year, lots of someones even. I don't really have much to say on this one.

#834. Milky Chance - Cocoon (#12, 2016)

85th of 2016

The middle of the 2010s was a strange time on the charts where there was enough direct influence from digital sales to create strange possibilities that flew in the face of what the rest of the world was thinking. Australia is that peculiar country where Omi of "Cheerleader" fame had a second top 10 hit. Nico & Vinz had a second top 10 hit. LunchMoney Lewis & Rachel Platten nearly did too. The biggest fluke of them all though has to be Milky Chance taking their favourable Hottest 100 result to gasp over the line and get a second top 10 hit with "Cocoon", an effort so concentrated that it was #25 the previous week, and fell to #20 the week after.

I'll probably have more to say about Milky Chance in a later entry, but at least for their first two albums, they successfully found a hugely receptive audience in Australia, landing both albums in the ARIA top 10, something they couldn't even manage in their native Germany. It tapered off a fair bit after that but you could briefly almost imagine a version of events where they superseded The Wombats to be the new international band that Australia stays in touch with for all eternity.

At the time I definitely found myself rooting for this song. Watching it take off the way it did was just a fascinating novelty. The song itself can't help but live in the shadow of the duo's bigger hit. It doesn't bring along the same sprinkling of detail to it though, and you're left with a song that's just passing time to get to the lightly catchy chorus. Of all the Milky Chance songs I know, it's the one I feel least interested in going back to.

#833. Vallis Alps - Oceans (#84, 2017)

85th of 2017

Vallis Alps occupy a fairly prominent subset of Australian music, one that I find myself dipping into constantly. That is our electronic music scene that shifts around being moody, classy, and tidy. A lot of them are duos, think Willow Beats or Lastlings. A lot of them never make the Hottest 100, think Willow Beats or Lastlings. Vallis Alps managed to make something of themselves though and crack the Hottest 100 multiple times in a row, with thanks to a big breakthrough hit I'll eventually get to.

Those Hottest 100 appearances completely stop after "Oceans". I don't think it's the fault of the song, but just a long gap between releases that really stunted any momentum they had. After 2017, they wouldn't release another single until late in 2022, leading to a debut album finally arriving in 2023. It's got some of my favourite songs they've made but the hype just evaporated, two whole digits from their typical Spotify streaming numbers gone along with it.

"Oceans" isn't a pivot away from what they'd done before, but it does feel like everything coming unstuck just a little bit. The synths pop up a bit more prominently to form a melody that doesn't quite land. It's inheriting a vocal effect after the chorus that was also used on their previous single, and that's the strongest sign for me that the melody behind it just isn't sticking into place.

#832. The Wombats - Be Your Shadow (#91, 2015)

83rd of 2015

I've found myself stuck on writing this one for quite a while. Usually I can find a solid angle, but this is a remarkably fine song that doesn't warrant much further inspection. The more entries an artist gets in a single year, the more likely you're going to fall into that territory where they're just filling out what's expected, with very little for the average onlooker to grasp at.

I suppose the lyrics are striking, in more ways than one. Many years before and after this we've gotten "Kiss With A Fist" and "LOVE AGAIN", both by artists who will eventually appear on this list. The stakes feel a lot lower here, with a song that stays in permanent second gear. I often think about artists who go from scoring nonstop hits to suddenly being bereft of the ability to do so, and how much of it comes down to the material in question. You can never prove it but this feels squarely like the sort of song that's riding on the imperial phase, rather than extending or justifying it.

#831. Ocean Alley - Tombstone (#14, 2020)

81st of 2020

Ocean Alley have finished in the top 20 several times since 2018, but this is the highest they've ever managed outside of that one shining year. The difference is probably trivial but it's funny to think about how much the opening guitar riff matches up with their most famous song. They've pivoted their sound a bit over the years, but this is that reassurance to the streaming algorithms (which have not been kind to future Ocean Alley material) that they can still do that one thing the people want. The jury is still out on whether or not they landed on the right stone at the wrong time, but they're certainly more confident about it than the ever questioning Midnight Juggernauts were with their similar conundrum.

I do find myself enjoying this song more when it veers away from the mellow sound that's more than expected from Ocean Alley at this point. They don't fully stick the landing, it's not the most compelling of tunes. They're trying at least, which must be hard to do if you pay too much attention to the numbers telling you that everyone's jumping ship.