#1. VNV Nation - Only Satellites
As I look back on the list of previous #1's, I see there has recently been a unique trend of firsts. Last year, we had our first repeat band take the #1 spot with Florence + The Machine. Morning Theft made history being the 1st local band, and Purity Ring made history in 2015 being the first female-fronted group to take the top spot. VNV Nation doesn't really tick any of those boxes, but I suppose it falls into its own unique category: it's the first time one of my favorite bands has taken the #1 spot. Several of the previous notches were groups I had never listened to before (Morning Theft, DMA's in 2016, Young the Giant and Hockey in '11 and '10 respectively), or bands that I had liked before (Florence and Purity Ring obviously fit that mold), but there's never been a band that I really loved.
I suppose it's worth noting that just because they are a band I adore doesn't mean that automatically qualifies them for the Countdown, or immediately thrusts them into the top spot. In fact, the band (which is essentially a solo project by singer Ronan Harris) did not even come close to charting with their last release, Transnational back in 2013. More often than not, the albums I look forward to the most are the ones that end up letting me down the heaviest. For reference, Slipknot's new album was nowhere near charting this year, either, which honestly shocks the pants off of me after they catapulted their way into 3rd back in 2015. As far as anticipation goes, I barely even knew this record was coming before it dropped, and I had to give myself a week or two to actually let myself get ready for it before I could listen. I generally do this any time one of my favorite bands releases a record.
For the sake of Noire, Ronan suggested that his fans listen to it from top to bottom all the way through, to truly experience the journey he was trying to paint with the album. The record is just astonishingly good, with rage bangers like "A Million" and "Immersed", emotionally charged numbers like "Collide" and "Armour", and of course the staple of any VNV (that's Victory, Not Vengeance) record, the instrumental gold of "Nocturne #7", "Guiding", and "Requiem for Wires". Those are generally the main categories when I try to distinguish his music, as well as separating the lyrically strong with the musically transcendent.
Is it silly that I use a word like "transcendent" to describe music, though? Perhaps ascendant is the word you're looking for with "Only Satellites", which I have to say in 20+ years of making music might musically be his best work. On my first listen through the record, I set aside 3 songs to go back and listen to again - "Armour", "Collide", and our #1. It was this one that made the biggest impact and immediately became my go-to track for the year. The opening synths before the drums punch in, the layered keys that make you feel like you are literally orbiting the Earth, and the eerie opening vocals that punctuate the silence. "No voices here above a small and fragile sphere - hang one every word, but no one hears us speak". Are the lyrics great? Absolutely. But my absolute favorite part of music from the entire year comes at the 2:56 moment, as everything slowly subsides, only to be built back up for the next 45 seconds or so. There is a single key press among the ambiance, and then at 3:56, as if shot out of a cannon, the song absolutely explodes.
It honestly does not get any better than that. I rewound to that moment over and over and over again. Where did it come from? How does Ronan know to pile on the great electronic beeps and blips? It is truly a genius song, and was the runaway #1 this year, despite massively strong competition behind it from The Broken Relics and Smith & Thell. Either of those songs would have made a fine #1 on any given year, but the fact that "Only Satellites" had 20 +more scrobbles than any other song for me this year is truly telling. It was the everything song for every day this year. It was my strength when I needed healing, it was my darkness when I needed solitude. It was greatest and it was tremendousness. It was what a #1 should be. Bravo, Ronan Harris. May you ever blow my mind.
Favorite Line: "So it's only left to ask, is change too great a task? From the smallest steps, waves transform the Earth"
Title: Only Satllites
Artist: VNV Nation
Album: Noire
Previous #1s
2018: Florence + The Machine - Sky Full Of Song
2017: Morning Theft - Skeleton Twins
2016: DMA's - Lay Down
2015: Purity Ring - Heartsigh
2014: Cadets - A Drop In The Ocean
2013: Surfer Blood - Demon Dance
2012: Fun. - Some Nights
2011: Young The Giant - My Body
2010: Hockey - Song Away
2009: Morrissey - I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
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