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GLASS ANIMALS
take out #1 in
triple j’s
2020 Hottest 100 with
‘Heat Waves’
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2020 Hottest 100 winner Glass Animals_illustration by triple j’s Katherine Brickman
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Glass Animals pledged to get a map of Australia tattooed on their collective butts if they could make it all the way to #1. Well, time to fire up the ink boys, because ‘Heat Waves’ just took out the top spot in 2020’s Hottest 100!
That’s right, the hottest song in the strangest year of our lives came from Glass Animals. The woozy ‘Heat Waves’ refined the genre-twisting psych-pop sound that’s been the British band’s signature since first cracking the Hottest 100 with ‘Gooey’ in 2014. Its cycling guitar, sticky sonic trickery, and hip-hop inspired beats made it easy on the ear, but it’s a deceptively tragic reflection on doomed romance.
triple j’s Music Director Nick Findlay says of the song “From the ethereal opening bars, ‘Heat Waves’ perfectly encapsulates the collective mood of the past 12 months. Dave Bayley’s song about loss, longing and realising that it’s ok to be defeated by something, is a highly relatable and prophetic earworm delivering everything we love about Glass Animals – bubbling hooks, woozy guitars and infectious vocals over a mix of indie and left-field hip hop percussion. Congratulations to Glass Animals for taking out #1 in the 2020 Hottest 100 with ‘Heat Waves’.
On hearing ‘Heat Waves’ had been crowned #1, Glass Animals exclaimed “Oh my god this is incredible. It’s so late here, I’ve been staying tuned and following it. I’m gonna call my mum and tell her about this tattoo. Thank you to everyone who voted. Thank you, Australia. Congratulations to everyone on the list. It was a tough year to release music and I think everyone who managed to do it last year… bloody well done. It was a tricky business.”
Want more Hottest 100? After sifting through epic amounts of song data, here’s what our top music nerds can share with you about the trends in music over the last 12 months:
– Glass Animals are the first British band to top the poll since Mumford & Sons #1 with ‘Little Lion Man’ (2009)
– Flume makes his 6th appearance in the Top 10 of an annual Hottest 100, with songs at #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #8
– Girls to the front! 7 women feature in the Top 10, including Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion, G Flip, Billie Eilish, Peppa from Spacey Jane, Jen from Ball Park Music and Cesira from The Jungle Giants
– Cardi B also makes Hottest 100 history as the first female rapper to feature in the Top 10, and the highest-ranking woman of colour following Thelma Plum at #9 last year with ‘Better In Blak’
– 6 songs appear from Indigenous artists – the most in Hottest 100 history – including 2 from The Kid LAROI and one each from Thelma Plum, Sycco, Beddy Rays and Birdz, who debuts Badtjala language in the countdown
– 11 acts made up nearly a third of the countdown: Lime Cordiale charted five times; Spacey Jane, Juice WRLD, and G Flip appeared four times; Glass Animals, Tame Impala, Billie Eilish, Ocean Alley andJoji appeared three times
– Lime Cordiale’s feat of placing 5 songs in the countdown is only equalled by Billie Eilish (2019) and Violent Soho (2016), and just shy of Wolfmother’s record-holding 6 songs in 2005
– Back-To-Back: Lime Cordiale doubled up at #25 and #26, followed by Mac Miller at #23 and #24, while Juice WRLD landed at both #39 & #40
– Mashd N Kutcher’s ‘Get On The Beers’ feat. Dan Andrews marks the first time a Victorian Premier has made the Hottest 100, but it’s not the first time a politician has been sampled. Pauline Pantsdownsampled Pauline Hanson in both 1997 with ‘Backdoor Man’ and again in 1998 with ‘I Don’t Like It’
That’s just a small sample – we’ve got HEAPS more stats for you to dissect, as well as a deep dive on Glass Animals winning song ‘Heat Waves’, including the story of how an internet subculture of horny Minecrafters became fixated with the song.
Then on Sun 24 Jan we’ll play you the songs that just missed out, the Hottest 200 (#200-101), followed by the Hottest 100 of 2000 on Double J on Mon 25 Jan, and the Hottest 100 videos on rage on Fri 29 Jan.
Wanna do something good? It’s not too late to donate to triple j’s Hottest 100 charity partner Lifeline or buy a Hottest 100 x Lifeline t-shirt and you might save a life.
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2020 Hottest 100 stats infographic
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KEY HOTTEST 100 DATES
10am local time Sun 24 Jan: Hottest 200 countdown on triple j
12pm local time Mon 25 Jan: Hottest 100 of 2000 on Double J
11pm local time Fri 29 Jan: Hottest 100 videos on rage
On demand: Hottest 100 playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube
Pre-order now: Hottest 100 vol 28 CD
#Hottest100
CLICK ON THE PIC TO SEE THE NEWS
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