Absolute Radio presenters' favourite songs of the decade
To celebrate the launch of Absolute Radio 10s
Last updated 26th Feb 2020
To celebrate the launch of our brand spanking new station, Absolute Radio 10s, our esteemed presenters have cherry-picked their favourite songs of the past decade.
Available to listen to right now online, via your mobile and on smart speaker, Absolute Radio 10s features the finest tracks of the past 10 years from an eclectic array of artists including Arctic Monkeys, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Adele, The 1975, Bastille, Lana Del Rey, Coldplay, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Arcade Fire, Biffy Clyro, Eminem, Sam Smith, Kasabian, Florence & The Machine, George Ezra, Blossoms and many, many more.
We’re delighted to confirm that Absolute 10s is our eighth station to feature The Dave Berry Breakfast Show and Hometime with Bush & Richie, and once again there’s The No Repeat Guarantee on Absolute Radio 10s meaning you won't hear the same song twice between 9am and 5pm. Guaranteed!
Spanning the entire glorious decade from 2010 (Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’) through to 2019 (Sam Fender’s ‘Hypersonic Missiles’) and featuring THREE Arctic Monkeys tracks, here are the Absolute Radio presenters’ favourite songs of the 2010s:
Dave Berry – ‘Royals’ by Lorde (2013)
Few debut songs have had such a seismic impact in recent years as Lorde’s ‘Royals’. Written when Lorde (aka Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor) was just 15-years-old, the colossal international smash hit is a downtempo yet catchy, restrained yet sonically exciting musical gem. Importantly, it’s also been credited with inspiring many of Lorde’s musical contemporaries to adopt a more minimal pop sound. Little wonder then that it’s Dave Berry’s favourite song of the decade. Summing it up nicely, Dave calls it “a genre-straddling song that sounded so fresh when it was released.”
Richie Firth – ‘stevie’ by Kasabian (2014)
Kasabian have released a plethora of absolute bangers over the past decade, but it’s hard to argue with Richie Firth’s pick of the bunch, ‘stevie’. One of the zeniths of their fifth studio album ‘48:13’, from the opening ominous cello strings through to the urgent chorus delivered in Tom Meighan’s inimitable style, it perfectly showcases Serge Pizzorno’s songwriting genius and undoubtedly nods to ‘XTRMNTR’-era Primal Scream. Oh, and the Ninian Doff directed video is absolutely bonkers too!
Sarah Champion – ‘Dancing On My Own’ by Robyn (2010)
If you follow Sarah on Twitter or Instagram, you’ll no doubt be well acquainted with her now legendary dancing videos in the Absolute Radio studio. So, it comes as absolutely no surprise that Sarah has aptly picked Robyn’s electro-pop banger ‘Dancing On My Own’ as her song of the decade. A truly phenomenal tune that was covered by Callum Scott six years later.
Chris Martin – ‘R U Mine?’ by Arctic Monkeys (2012)
Chris’ wise choice is Arctic Monkeys’ colossal anthem ‘R U Mine?’. Propelled by a dirty riff written by bassist Nick O'Malley, it’s a stoner rock gem that’s sexy, addictive and clearly influenced by the band’s friendship with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age fame. Easily up there with Arctic Monkey’s finest songs in their distinguished back catalogue, it’s no surprise that the standalone single was later included on their fifth studio album ‘AM’ 18 months later.
Andy Bush – ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ by Sam Fender (2019)
Keeping things very present, Bush has picked Sam Fender’s superb album title track ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ as his song of the decade. Structurally, it’s hard to escape the overt comparisons to Sam Fender’s musical hero Bruce Springsteen, but the track is so MUCH more than that. Anthemic, huge-sounding and delivered with panache by Sam’s powerful pop pipes, it’s true heartland rock perfection. Crucially, it’s lyrically weighty too – essentially a love story set against the backdrop of missiles and impending doom with the Gaza conflict, tensions in global politics, and the corporate machine all getting namechecked.
Matt Dyson – ‘Figure It Out’ by Royal Blood (2014)
Not since The White Stripes has a duo kicked up such an impressive din as Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher. Heralded by Matt Dyson as “surely the breakthrough band of the decade”, he’s chosen the towering ‘Figure It Out’ as his song of the 2010s. Filthy, catchy-as-hell and oozing with pummelling beats and scuzzy riffs (incredibly played on Mike’s bass guitar), it’s three minutes and 17 seconds of pure and breathless rock brilliance.
Leona Graham – ‘Rope’ by Foo Fighters (2011)
The lead single from Foo Fighters’ 2011 tour-de-force ‘Wasting Light’, the angular chords and constantly shifting rhythms in the verses on ‘Rope’ are clearly influenced by Dave Grohl’s beloved Rush, however once you get to THAT searing chorus of “Give me some rope I'm coming loose, I'm hanging on you!!!”, it’s trademark Foos brilliance. If you’ve never seen Foo Fighters perform ‘Rope’ live, we implore you to do so!
Claire Sturgess – ‘The Suburbs’ by Arcade Fire (2010)
The opening song, lead single and title track from Arcade Fire’s 2010 concept album ‘The Suburbs’, The Sturge’s favourite song of the decade, ‘The Suburbs’, is a musical foray into Win and William Butler's upbringing in the suburbs of The Woodlands in Texas. Belying the almost jovial piano lines, aurally lovely strings and luscious harmonies, lyrically ‘The Suburbs’ has a dark underbelly thanks to lines like “The kids want to be so hard / But in my dreams, we're still screaming / And running through the yard / And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall.” Nostalgia this definitely ain’t!
Ross Buchanan – ‘Arabella’ by Arctic Monkeys (2013)
Explaining why he picked ‘Arabella’, Ross said: “AM was one of the albums of the 2010s. The lyrics are second to none and that solo at the end... a madness.” Arctic Monkeys at their almost untouchable best, everything about is ‘Arabella’ is epic, from the infectious bass grooves to the almost Black Sabbath-esque crunching riffs to Alex Turner’s idiosyncratic nonchalant vocals. An absolute tour-de-force.
Dan Noble – ‘Walk’ by Foo Fighters (2011)
Explaining why he picked the epic, fist-clenching Foos anthem ‘Walk’ as his song of the decade, Dan said: “The album ‘Wasting Light’ was a really important one for the band. Going back to the roots on working on tape and recording in Dave Grohl’s garage really made it sound like it could have been an early Foos record at times. It propelled them into even more “rock stardom” right at the beginning of the 10s.” Extra kudos for the Falling Down inspired video too!
Danielle Perry – ‘Video Games’ by Lana Del Rey (2011)
Recently awarded the prestigious Song of the Decade Gong at The Q Awards and also the Best Contemporary Song honour at the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards, Lana Del Rey’s breakthrough anthem is a baroque pop masterpiece. From the opening gorgeous strings, it’s beautiful, enchanting and packed with wistful lyrics about unrequited love. The nostalgic video, which could be lifted directly from the 1960s Los Angeles, only added to the song’s beguiling charm too.
Glenn Moore – ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by Arctic Monkeys (2013)
The third Arctic Monkeys song to be picked by our esteemed presenters is the phenomenal ‘Do I Wanna Know?’. Picking up where 2012 single ‘R U Mine?’ left off, the incredible song kicks off with a hypnotic and scuzzy stoner rock riff that instantly draws you in before the song only grows in majesty and brilliance. The track became Arctic Monkeys’ biggest single on both sides of the Atlantic selling 1.2 million copies in the UK and over a million units in the US, and to-date, the accompanying music video has been watched over 928million times on YouTube. Impressive stuff.
Jay Lawrence – ‘The Man’ by The Killers (2017)
The lead single from The Killers’ 2017 album ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ saw Brandon Flowers and co. delve into strutting funk and disco realms with great aplomb. A genre-straddling song that wears its many influences on its sleeves – from new wave to pop and funk - ‘The Man’ uses a sample of Kool & the Gang 1975 tune ‘Spirit of the Boogie’ to brilliant effect. Experiment, slightly daft and gloriously bombastic, it’s the sound of The Killers at their most inspired.