Not every waking hour of the day is filled with metal, sometimes Hammer staff need to cast their musical net into unknown waters. These are our pics for our ‘guilty pleasures’ of the year (aka non-rock songs we really really like). None of us feel one iota of shame for liking any of this.
Merlin Alderslade (Deputy Editor)
Bear Grillz – Praise It
“DUBSTEP ISN’T DEAD!!!”
Dom Lawson (Editor-At-Large)
Kamasi Washington – Change Of The Guard
“Guilty pleasure, my fat metal arse. Kamasi Washington’s extraordinary triple album The Epic is a modern jazz milestone and this opening track completely floors me. It’s wild, interstellar bebop with a dreamy psychedelic undertow. It’s a cosmic jazz thing and it’s magnificent.”
Jonathan Selzer (Reviews/Subterranea Editor)
Chvrches – Leave A Trace
“Partly because I always preferred the Vince Clarke era of Depeche Mode, but also because Every Open Eye sounded like pop viewed through some colour-magnifying crystal lens: part neon-lit wonderland, part 4am reverie, but infused with wonder, yearning and a voice that ran through your veins like delirium-inducing coolant liquid.”
Lewis Somerscales (Art Editor)
Bring Me The Horizon – Happy Song
“I can appreciate how massive they are but I’ve never really been into BMTH… but this is a great track. Heavy as hell and catchy to match. SING A HAPPY SONG!”
Alexander Milas (Editor-At-Large)
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Weats – S.O.B.
“I feel absolutely no guilt at confessing my adoration for this man’s voice that owes everything to Sam Cooke and an indubitable talent for classic songwriting. If this doesn’t warm you up like a strong bourbon on a cold night then nothing will.”
Eleanor Goodman (Features Editor)
Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – Rather Be
“IT’S SO HAPPY! I had this at my wedding reception, along with Nine Inch Nails’ Closer and Devin Townsend’s Love?. It fit right in…’
Luke Morton (Online Editor)
Charli XCX – Break The Rules
“It’s no secret that I love Charli XCX and her latest album Sucker is a quantum leap from her gothic-y first album, it’s complete bubblegum pop music with a punk edge. Not only that, but there’s genuine heart and (perhaps more importantly) brains behind it. One of the most sought after pop songwriters in the world is finding her feet as a star in her own right and Break The Rules is basically a masterclass in making pop music rule.”
