Top 40 Singles of 2006 - #10-1

01) The Delays - Valentine
Amazingly the best pop song of the year didn’t come from Girls Aloud or Sugababes but from a long-haired indie band. Valentine is just an astounding single, packed full of choruses, a squelching bassline reminscent of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love and an astonshing falsetto vocal from lead singer Greg Gilbert. It was a ballsy move that didn’t quite pay off chart-wise but has ended up in many end of year lists and has become almost ubiquitous on trailers for TV shows. This really should have been huge.

02) Captain – Broke
The second entry for Captain in this chart, and it so very nearly took the top spot. I really don’t get the comparisons with Deacon Blue other than they both have male and female vocalists - their uplifting harmonies have more in common with The Magic Numbers than anyone else. But unlike The Magic Numbers, they’re never twee or too derivative. Rik Flynn’s vocals combined perfectly with keyboardist Clare Szembek’s on this gloriously uplifting pop song.

03) CSS – Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
Probably the most immediate single of the year, I first caught this on MTV2 while channel-hopping and was immediately hooked thanks to its fusion of disco, pop, glam-rock and cutesy vocals from Lovefoxx. This was a single that defied pigeon-holing and was just a joy to listen to.

04) Lorraine – I Feel It
Another single which undeservedly underperformed, I Feel It took the dark brooding vocals of Depeche Mode, the melodic piano-led rock of Keane and the synth pop of the Pet Shop Boys to create a majestic dreamy pop song with a mammoth chorus which promises much for next year's album.

05) Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy – Faster Kill Pussycat
Brittany Murphy can now be added to the short list of US actors who’ve managed to not embarrass themselves on record. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a challenging song to sing but she acquits herself well on this juggernaut of a dance record, which just like every dance record these days, seems to take its hook from Deep Dish’s Flashdance.

06) Plan B – Mama
Now for the most foul-mouthed song on the list. The Streets meets Eminem is how Ben Drew has been labelled. It’s a lazy description but it’s true. His tales of sex, drugs, violence are definitely from a British perspective but they’re also delivered with a snarling angry vocal. This may have been a tale about his mum’s crackhead boyfriend but was probably one of the softer moments on the excellent Who Needs Actions album thanks to the R&B chorus and deft use of a Hall & Oates sample.

07) Nelly Furtado – Maneater
The track that kickstarted her career again after the lacklustre performance of the Folklore album. There are so many small but great things about the record, whether it’s the open/close hi-hats, the yelping after each line in the verses, Nelly’s almost monotonous delivery, everything about it just fits together so well to make the quirkiest and best R&B record of the year.

08) All American Rejects – Move Along
I usually hate the type of US college rock bands that obligatory appear on stuff like the American Pie soundtracks. The All American Rejects are an exception. Move Along was a frenetically-paced rock single with about three stadium chant choruses which stayed just on the right side of emo and also came with a brilliantly edited video.

09) Goldfrapp – Fly Me Away

Goldfrapp had left me completely cold up until “Number One” last year. Since then, each single has been superior, culminating in the peak of this dreamy synth-pop, complete with discordant Casio keyboard solo, which is the closest thing they’ve done to a ballad.

10) Skye – Love Show
Just one of the loveliest songs of the year - this Dido-esque tale of unspoken love was proof that her split from Morcheeba did both parties the world of good. Unfortunately due to her record company faffing about, this got pushed back several times until both it and the album got completely lost.