EXHALE TOP 100 of 2021 - Full list revealed

[PokemonSpears]

#23 - deja vu
Olivia Rodrigo

This psychedelic pop-rock song was released as the second single off Olivia's debut album. It was written with the producer Dan Nigro, but it also credits the writers from Taylor Swift's 2019 Cruel Summer, since it's interpolated on deja vu. Lyrically it talks about Olivia's ex doing with his new girlfriend the same things he used to do with her, "do you get déjà vu when she's with you?" she asks in the chorus. Olivia defies him by asking when he's gonna tell the new girl that all the things she thinks are special were already done with herself, or even taught by her, like Billy Joel or watching reruns of Glee. The music video was shot in Malibu and was directed by Allie Avital; in it, Olivia plays the opposite role from her song, as she's the one that figures out that her boyfriend was using her to replace a past relationship.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#22 - Purge the Poison
Marina

Written by Marina and produced by Jennifer Decliveo, Purge the Poison was released as the second single off Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land. The electropop anthem calls out various contemporary topics, mainly the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, as well as tackling other social and economical ones such as the US wars, or people calling Britney Spears crazy when she shaved her head back in 2007. Racism, misogyny, the Me Too movement also come up in this song that asks for a change in humanity, a new order that will start only when we as societies start listening to the call that Mother Earth is doing. 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#21 - I Love You but I Love Me More
Marina

I Love You but I Love Me More is track No. 8 on Marina's Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land. A haunting track that was also produced by Jennifer Decliveo as our previous entry. It's about Marina realizing she's given too many opportunities and is tired of waiting for the man to change. She puts herself first and asks him not to come back knocking on her door. "Women love too early, and men love too late" and she's fed up with his suffocating promises.

 

[PokemonSpears]

we're down to the Top 20 I'll post some more before I go to sleep, and I'll try to post the rest tomorrow morning since I have the day off. Hopefully I can finish before the year ends, at least in my time zone lol

[PokemonSpears]

#20 - Leave Before You Love Me
Marshmello and Jonas Brothers

This "sweet hooky pop ballad" was produced by Marshmello, Alesso, Digital Farm Animals and Heavy Mellow. The Jonas Brothers warn you they're leaving before it's too late, 'cause they're too gone to be stayin'. The catchy beat contrasts with the sadness of the lyrics, the girl calling at five in the morning when they're already on they're way out. The song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 while charting in many other countries as well.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#19 - EveryTime I Cry
Ava Max

EveryTime I Cry is an electropop song that was produced by Cirkut and Sean Myer, who co-wrote it along with Ava, Caroline Pennell and Lauren Aquilina. It has house elements and and overall 90's euro dance vibe that gives a very nostalgic feeling (to those of us that belong to a certain age range, anyways). Lyrically it talks about getting stronger after the hardships and heartbreaks and these elements of self-empowerment and nosalgia are captured in its music video, co-directed with Charlotte Rutherford, which is reminiscent of the works of 90's artists such as TLC, Shakira or Fey.

 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#18 - Shivers
Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is completely in love in this song, which was released as the second single off his album =. The dance pop track was written by him, Kal Lavelle, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, the latter of which co-produced it with Ed and Fred Again. The accompanying music video was directed by Dave Meyers and it features AnnaSophia Robb as the girl he starts to date. The story depicts the awkwardness they feel during the first dates about opening up and showing their quirky traits, only to find out they're as weird as one another and are actually the perfect match. Ed's inner personality emulates Elton John. The song became a Top 5 in many countries, including a #1 in the UK.

 

 

[Slayer]

10 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

#35 - Heartbreak Anthem
Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix

Don't be fooled by its title, the girls make very clear this ain't a heartbreak anthem. This EDM track was produced by Galantis and David Guetta, and its creation process actually began since before the pandemic. In fact, Jesy's vocals had to be removed from the arrangement once she announced her departure from the group in December 2020. "Sometimes it works out, but it sometimes it don't" and the Little Mix members have no time to hear explanations about what happened, they're just ready to move on. In the music video directed by Samuel Douek like the previous one, shows the three girls performing the song dressed as angels in a theater production.

 

Deserved so much higher 

SUCH A BOP.

Again Leigh and Perrie hiding their pregnancies so well!

[PokemonSpears]

7 hours ago, Slayer said:

Deserved so much higher 

SUCH A BOP.

Again Leigh and Perrie hiding their pregnancies so well!

they never stopped working while pregnant and in the middle of a pandemic

[Slayer]

8 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

they never stopped working while pregnant and in the middle of a pandemic

They recorded 6 music videos whilst pregnant, filmed a documentary, interviews, 2 performances, recorded new music, numerous photoshoots - hard working Queens and now they are going on Hiatus after the tour in May 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#17 - All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)
Taylor Swift

Well, people never specified, but I guess Exhalers were talking about the 10 minute version of All Too Well when they voted. Co-written by Taylor and Liz Rose and produced with Jack Antonoff, the 30th track on Red (Taylor's Version) was released as a promotional single off the album in November, and it narrates the story of a romantic relationship that ends because of age difference, even though her ex keeps dating more girls her age. A short film for the song was directed and written by Taylor Swift, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien, with Taylor herself and Jake Lyon playing the older versions of the characters. The song went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest song ever to top the chart. It also topped the Global 200, as well as other countries' charts such as the Philippines and Australia.

 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#16 - drivers license
Olivia Rodrigo

 

2021 started off with Olivia Rodrigo's debut single, drivers license, released on January 8. Written by her and Dan Nigro, the producer of the track, it also served as the lead single from her album SOUR. A heartbreak indie pop song where Olivia talks about finally getting her driver's license, as they always talked about, only to end up driving alone past her ex's street. She expresses how difficult it is to forget about him or even visit the places they used to visit together, and feels sorry for her friends who are tired of listening how much she misses him, because they never got to meet him at the level she did. Or at least that's what she thinks, since this song seems to represent the beginning phase of a breakup which develops within the following singles off the album, where the feelings of sadness and pain are slowly replaced by anger and tiredness. The song went #1 in 25 countries and the Global 200.

 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#15 - Save Your Tears (Remix)
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande

On April 22, The Weeknd released the remix version of Save Your Tears (2020) featuring Ariana Grande. Just like the original, it was produced by Max Martin, Oscar Holter and The Weeknd, and it included additional writing by Ariana Grande. The synth-pop track reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. An animated music video was made for the collaboration, where we see The Weeknd at a factory assembling an Ariana Grande plastic doll.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#14 - That Kind of Woman
Dua Lipa

One of the new tracks from Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition, That Kind of Woman was produced by Justin Parker and Stuart Price. There can be a hundred people in a room, but unlike in Lady Gaga's experience, this time one person isn't enough to make Dua's love interest understand. However she's that kind of woman that will speak first and will keep insisting the whole night because it's hard to pretend, and also because sitting has become uncomfortable for the songstress.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#13 - My Head & My Heart
Ava Max

My Head & My Heart is a club banger that takes you back to the 2000's, and that's because it interpolates ATC's Around the World (2000), which in turn was a cover of the Russian Eurodance song Pesenka (1998). Ava's track was produced by Cirkut, Earwulf and Jonas Blue and it talks about the duality between what the heart wants and what the mind thinks, a mind that has a mind of its own and makes her hate herself. The song was Top 5 in several countries, including #1 in Hungary and Croatia. Its music video was directed by Charm La'Donna and Emil Nava.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#12 - Good Ones
Charli XCX

Charli XCX released Good Ones as the lead single off her upcoming album Crash, due in March 2022. The synthwave / dance uptempo was produced by Oscar Holter and it was co-written with Charli, Noonie Bao, Caroline Ailin, Mattias Larsson and Robin Fredirksson. In the song Charli explains her addiction to toxic relationships while letting the good ones go, reassuring is not anyone else's fault, but it's just all that she's ever known. The music video was filmed in Mexico and it was directed by Hannah Lux Davis. In a Lady Gaga-esque fashion, Charli is seen attending the funeral of her former lover, dancing around in underwear along with her friends. A tombstone can also be seen depicting her name and birthdate, with the other date being the release date of her album.

 

[PokemonSpears]

#11 - Boyz
Jesy Nelson ft. Nicki Minaj

It felt like centuries between Jesy's departure from Little Mix in December last year, and the release of her debut solo single, Boyz, this October. It was produced by Loose Change and it featured none other than Nicki Minaj. The song uses elements from Bad Boy for Life (2001) performed by Diddy, which also served as an inspiration for the Boyz music video that counted with a cameo by Diddy himself as Jesy's neighbor (with now Diddy playing the role that Ben Stiller play on his video). Amidst the controversy that sparked Jesy's appearance in her video, she explained through Instagram that her intention was never to offend people of color, but instead she just wanted to celebrate the 90's R&B music era. The song peaked at #4 in the UK singles chart and #86 on the Global 200.

 

[PokemonSpears]

we're now entering the Top 10, are y'all ready?

[PokemonSpears]

#10 - Easy on Me
Adele

Almost five years passed since Adele's latest single Water Under the Bridge, released in November 2016. Easy on Me was released as the lead single of her long awaited fourth studio album 30 last October. It was co-written by her and Greg Kurstin, who also produced the track. Different than her previous heartbreak hits, this ballad is dedicated to her son Angelo instead, as she tries to explain to him the reasons of her divorce from his father Simon Konecki, which finalized in March. Adele explained: "I just felt like I wanted to explain to, through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness. It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that's a real wound for me that I don't know if I'll ever be able to heal." The song became a #1 hit in 25 countries, including the US and UK, and also topped the Global 200 chart. A country version featuring Chris Stapleton was also released in November. The music video, filmed in Quebec, was directed by Xavier Dolan, the same director from her 2015 Hello video. 

 

[PokemonSpears]

#9 - Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)
Elton John with Dua Lipa

Cold Heart was released as the lead single off Elton John's 32nd album The Lockdown Sessions. Produced by the trio Nick Littlemore, Sam Littlemore and Peter Mayes, knonw as PNAU, Cold Heart is a mashup of various Elton John songs: Rocket Man (1972), Where's the Shoorah? (1976), Kiss the Bride (1983) and Sacrifice (1989). An animated music video was released for the song which mixes the stop-motion style with cartoons, and it was directed by Raman Djafari.