What a horrific week it’s been in America – and around the world, quite frankly – as our delusional, ignorant psychopath of a president precipitated a global financial meltdown with his pointless and insane tariffs, not to mention all his other illegal and incompetent actions. Be that as it may, at least we have lots of great music to drown our sorrows in, and my latest Top 30 is so good that every song belongs in the top five.

The darkly beautiful “Imposter Syndrome” by English alt-rock band Fake Empire dethrones Teddy Swims as it takes over the top spot this week. I loved it at first listen, and it continues to strongly resonate with me every time I hear it. I love the lush, haunting synths and The Cure-esque jangly guitars set to an enthralling beat and accompanied by arresting vocals. It’s the perfect song for sitting back with headphones and letting yourself be enveloped by its gorgeous soundscapes. To my mind, the lyrics seem to be about living lives that are inauthentic and controlled by other sociopolitical and cultural forces, leaving us acting like sheep, unable to be our true selves or even know who we really are: “Imposter syndrome. You’re sinking like a stone. How can you live when your life is not your own? Our lives are not our own.” Based in the south of England, Fake Empire consists of Simon Brookes, Les Black and Becky Bellinger, who together have been putting out music since 2017, all in the form of singles which now number 20 in total.

The beautiful anthem “People Watching” by English singer-songwriter Sam Fender moves up a notch to #3 this week. Included on his third studio album People Watching, which dropped February 21st, Fender wrote the song as a tribute to his friend and mentor Annie Orwin, who passed away last November. Describing her as being like a surrogate mother to him, he drew inspiration from his walks to and from the care home where she was a patient. He remained by her side at the end, sleeping on a chair next to her bed. He explained on his social media: “It’s kind of ironic because she was the one that gave me the confidence to go on stage, and always used to be like ‘why haven’t you mentioned my name in your acceptance speech’. But now an entire song (and album) connects to her. I hope that wherever she is now she’s looking down saying ‘about time kid’“. Fender co-produced the song and album in Los Angeles with Markus Dravs and Adam Granduciel of the American rock band the War on Drugs.

“Same Old Song” by Denver-based alterntive folk band The Lumineers finally enters the top 10 at #8, as well as “Time Waited” by American rock band My Morning Jacket at #9 and “Who’s a Fraud?” by English band Still Traffico, at #10. Debuting this week are songs by two long-time favorite acts of mine, the first of which is the beautiful “Laredo” by Texas-based singer-songwriter Leon Bridges. It’s the second single from his latest album Leon, which was released last October, and follows “Peaceful Place” which spent four weeks at #1 on my chart last fall. The second debut is “Barbarian” by L.A.-based alt-rock band AWOLNATION, from their sixth album The Phantom Five, which dropped last October. The song follows their previous single “Panoramic View” which spent 21 weeks on my chart last summer & fall, 12 of them in the top 10, and peaked at #3.

1. IMPOSTER SYNDROME – Fake Empire (3)
2. BAD DREAMS – Teddy Swims (1)
3. PEOPLE WATCHING – Sam Fender (4)
4. SO COLD – Balu Brigada (2)
5. TAKE THIS HEART – Brian Lambert (5)
6. RUSHMERE – Mumford & Sons (6)
7. METAVERSE – Cage the Elephant (8)
8. SAME OLD SONG – The Lumineers (11)
9. TIME WAITED – My Morning Jacket (14)
10. WHO’S A FRAUD? – Still Traffico (12)
11. WITHOUT A DOUBT – Charm School (13)
12. YOU’RE MY DRUG – Talk in Waves (7)
13. STRAIGHT TO THE GROUND – Unquiet Nights (15)
14. WALLS – Frank Joshua (16)
15. LUTHER – Kendrick Lamar & SZA (17)
16. THE NIGHT BEFORE – The Black Keys (18)
17. THE LINE – Twenty One Pilots (9)
18. BAD LARRY – Cloakroom (19)
19. MORTAL WOUND – The Veils (20)
20. SAILOR SONG – Gigi Perez (10)
21. THE TURNAROUND – DelCobras (22)
22. IT’S AMAZING TO BE YOUNG – Fontaines D.C. (25)
23. THE FAITHFUL HEART – Wons Phreely + The Horses (21)
24. AFTER ALL – Darksoft (23)
25. SNAKESKIN – NAVE (27)
26. POOR SAD INDIE EVERYTHING – Icarus Phoenix (28)
27. ANKLES – Lucy Dacus (29)
28. ARCHBISHOP HAROLD HOLMES – Jack White (30)
29. LAREDO – Leon Bridges (N)
30. BARBARIAN – AWOLNATION (N)