End of Month List: February 2022

February 2022 was a powerful month, featuring six tracks to get a 9+ rating. Admittedly, all were flat 9s, and I'd lower Measure the Dawn's score a little with time, but this was still much stronger than the rather weak January, and a track I did not review (in the top 5) deserves a 9+ score too.

It was not a perfect month for music, however. Eurovision 2022 has been utterly underwhelming, though that is understandable due to the current circumstance in northern and eastern Europe, where most of the great Eurovision tracks often come from. K-Pop too stood as a mixed bag throughout the month, with some fantastic tracks supporting an otherwise weak month.

It was a month dominated by female vocalists. Even among bands, those with female vocalists highly outperformed most competition. Japanese math rock band JYOCHO were at their absolute best this month, with a fantastic album with many instant gems. Unfortunately, the peak track of the album, All the Same, was released a few months before and is thus ineligible for the countdown. That did not stop JYOCHO from taking a spot or two in my top five. I would also like to draw attention to Pan Daijing's Tissues. As a 50+ minute piece, I counted it as an album rather than a song, but it remains solid nonetheless. Special mention to Chiquita, Billions, INVU, the Elden Ring theme, and Futakito, which nearly made my top five for songs. Overall, this was a consistent month that will likely age well.