Just listen to them scream and snarl the chorus, overpowering shredded guitars and pounded drums. It isn’t a coincidence that the best of these songs, “Easier Than Lying,” is also the heaviest - it’s Halsey fully giving into the experiment, to spectacular results. Then there was Halsey, turning away from pop stardom to work with their heroes Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and make the most unique rock statement of the year in the process, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. Many of the songs that resulted gave us reason to do the same, when we desperately needed it most.Īs rock music has returned to the top of the charts over the past few years, some trends have coalesced: a revival of 2000s pop-punk, rappers building songs from guitar samples. This year, musicians collaborated and cross-pollinated, they experimented within and outside their genres, and - especially compared to the songs that captured the unease of 2020 - many of them loosened up and had some fun. Maybe you noticed it in the best songs of 2021 too, which also felt like signs of new life. Restaurants, bars, and crucially, concerts, buzzed once again even if you still didn’t feel up to any of that, you could notice the shift in energy just walking down a city street. Thanks to the miracle of COVID-19 vaccines, this year became one when many people, at least in the U.S., could reconnect with old friends and feasibly make new ones. Finally, whether your send-off is through a sea of waving sparklers or riding off in a getaway car, make a grand exit to an epic closer like 'The General Specific' by Band of Horses or 'My Body' by Young the Giant.Photo-Illustration: Vulture Photos by Getty Images

And we think the best way to signal a dance-off is with Haim's 'The Wire' because no one can resist that guitar opener, right? Next, get couples paired up to the utterly romantic 'Sweeter' by Awake or Sleeping and 'You and I' by Ingrid Michaelson. With sweet Ingrid Michaelson tunes and swoon-worthy Bon Iver wedding songs, this indie playlist reads more like a backyard bash than a formal ceremony but will still have your friends and family on the dance floor all night.ĭaniela Andrade's acoustic version of Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love' and Jack Johnson's live version of 'Angel/Better Together' make the sweetest indie first dance songs. We've curated a mix of 100 indie and alternative tunes sure to get your guests pumped up for a night of dancing and celebrating. If you're looking for the best indie songs to round out your wedding day playlist, you're in luck.

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