The Best Fit Fifty Essential Songs of 2016

Dream Wife's enchanting punk brew is dizzying, with springy guitars and charm-infused bravado grabbing you by the lapels and demanding your attention – there's no way you can focus on anything else when they're in the room. February's “Hey Heartbreaker” is one of the group's fiercest cuts, stapling together classic pop harmonies and vintage rock vibes for a particularly rowdy outing overflowing with fun.

It's brash, ragged, and perfectly sums up their self-proclaimed “poolside pop with a bite” style. The Icelandic/British trio have won applause for their incendiary live performances and a dazzling cabal of tracks, and there really doesn't seem to be any stopping them as we approach 2017.

- Larry Day

Dropping their debut single on Halloween, QTY landed with all the excitement and thrill that's befitting of the holiday. Two and a half minutes of unadulterated rock and roll, "Rodeo" is the kind of song the repeat button was invented for. Channeling the storming sensation demonstrated by the likes of Lou Reed and T.Rex in the 70s and driving it to a newfound euphoria, the track floods the system with elation - not least because the duo wrote it about their creative relationship with each other.

Through a shared adoration of their idols and a shared appreciation of each other, with "Rodeo" QTY have created a freewheeling ode to friendship that'll have listeners doing hairbrush karaoke and air guitaring on their knees in a mere instant.

- Jess Goodman

Baywaves' self-termed "hipnopop" has been steadily on the rise this year. One listen to "Marsupilami" and it's instantly apparent why. There's something seductively serene about the track. Rolling drumbeats and squalling guitar solos are captured within an air of bliss, frenetic energy meeting rippling melodies in an implosion of what can only be described as true contentment. Vocals swim through reverb with a naturally ingrained ease, drawing the listener out of their time and place and into a multi-textured world of sheer fulfilment.

It's a lush and vibrant world that the Madrid-based outfit create through their music, and one that's ripe for becoming lost in.

- Jess Goodman

Debut singles don’t come much bigger or more highly anticipated than ZAYN’s “Pillowtalk”. As the only member to actually leave One Direction before their inevitable hiatus and other solo careers, Zayn Malik flew the nest and released the best solo 1D effort to date. Altogether more adult than any of his previous releases, the opening line says it all: “Climb on board / We’ll go slow in high tempo”.

Whilst his album makes for a slightly long, drawn out listen, “Pillowtalk” is very much a statement of intent, revealing not only who ZAYN is, but who he wants to be as an artist. Shaking off the boyband image by appearing in cover features and photoshoots for tastemaker press it was clear from that start that this was going to be a very different campaign. It's no surprise that “Pillowtalk” turned out to be the slow jam to end all slow jams.

- Matthew Kent

Upbeat pop contrasted with bitterly acerbic lyrics is always a winning formula, but few execute it with such precision as London-based trio Sälen. The success of previous single “Diseasey” - all rolling drums and indifferently saccharine vocal delivery - could have allowed any average follow-up to ride comfortably on its coattails. “Copper Kiss”, however, stands alone in defiant weirdness, as Sälen’s most bizarrely compelling release thus far. The band’s fourth single sees a plodding bassline and gory, gloriously scathing lyrics swirl together like blood and tap water down a plughole. Always straight-talking, lead singer Ellie Kamio lays down a vocal that manages to be at once brutal and honey-sweet, the gloriously contradictory icing on the cake that is “Copper Kiss”.

- Pip Williams