Conor Oberst
Since I discovered Bright Eyes about three years ago, Conor Oberst has been my go to songwriter for escapism. As much as music is a huge part of my life, I find it much easier to get lost in a book and find myself in a whole new world than I do with music, but not with Oberst. Particularly in his work with Bright eyes, he writes excruciatingly intimately about often named characters, and it's impossible not to immerse yourself in the beautiful little world he builds record by record. Although it might be a bit of an obvious choice, the track 'Lua' from the album 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' is a great showcase of Oberst's writing style. A typically Bright Eyes simple folk arrangement backdrops his gorgeous narration of a bit of a nothing-story, that he manages to make sound endlessly enchanting. "I know you've got a heavy heart, I can feel it when we kiss" he croons before adding "so many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it". He goes on to offer "I've got a flask inside my pocket we can share it on the train, if you promise to stay conscious I will try and so the same". There's something so encapsulating about the way that Conor Oberst sees the world. 'The First Day Of My Life' from the same record is equally as youthful and touching, the line "Yours is the first face that I saw, swear I was blind before I met you" stands out as well as "Now I don't care I could go anyway with you, and I'd probably be happy". That record really is the perfect autumn/winter record, and it's great to fall asleep to. The encapsulatingly intimate way that Oberst writes is pretty much continuous throughout the Bright Eyes discography, so I couldn't recommend listening to them enough.
Annie Clarke/St Vincent
Where on earth would we be without Annie Clarke? Guitar goddess, one of few innovative talents that may very well go on to headline major festivals, genius. One thing I do feel like she does't get enough plaudits for, however, is her lyrical class. From the way she ingenuously observes the life of a failing artist on 'Actor Out Of Work' to the frantic assault on the mundane of 'Birth In Reverse', Clarke's diversity when it comes to writing great songs is overwhelming. Excitingly her latest track, the mellow synthesized ballad, 'Teenage Talk', has seen her step away from the post-David Bowie surrealism that she's now a complete master of and move towards a more Conor Oberst-like intimacy that hasn't really been apparent in any of her abrasive guitar-driven output. "Katie kept the list of times, now that she had really done it" she begins, with the name making the track feel instantly more personal. She goes on to add "You know I never loved you more than when we were hiding from those sirens". The song just feels so human and brittle, which is a complete contrast to anything on her last record, maybe that's why it's so arresting. Maybe we'll see more of a nostalgic St Vincent record next time around, or maybe she'll stay five million years ahead of us, either way the thought of her writing new material is very exciting.Kanye West
It's so easy to see Kanye West as that rapper that wrote some (fucking great, by the way) pop songs in 2005 and now thinks he's the greatest of all time. Whilst it's true that Kanye records can feature some pretty obvious songwriting at times, I honestly believe that that's just because he knows how to write a killer single. When he wants to be, he's one of the most vital and relevant lyricists in the world. I might be biased because it's my favourite record of his but HOW can anybody listen to 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and deny his capability. 'Gorgeous' is a great example: "Is hip hop just a euphemism for a new religion?/ The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing" . There's fewer things in music more frustrating than people that think Catfish & The Bottlemen are gods gift and that Kanye West doesnt deserve to headline Glastonbury. The man is an absolute icon, strip away all the celebrity culture and controversy surrounding him and you're left with one of the few rappers on the world stage that have a lot to say and can articulate it faultlessly.Thom Yorke
The fact that Thom Yorke has been forgiven for Pablo Honey by most Radiohead fans is testament to how great his work with the band has been since. With Thom there's a lot more emphasis on the way his vocal delivery helps his writing than with the other people I've spoke about, but he's still an incredible songwriter regardless. For me, he's at his untouchable best on 'Hail To The Thief' and 'In Rainbows' but that's not to say that there aren't splashes of sheer songwriting genius on some of the band's more widely celebrated moments too. The opening stanza of 'No Surprises', for example: "A heart that's full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal". On the two records I mentioned I just think Thom got the balance of abstract and crushingly raw lyricism perfect, somehow. From the eerie coming of age poetry of 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' to the endlessly philosophical 'Bloom'. I mean, "Don't blow your mind with why", that's SUCH a great lyric and you sorta get the impression that he didn't even think twice about it. By my reckoning Thom has written seven albums worth of great records, and the fact that tracks as emotive as 'True Love Waits' and 'The Daily Mail' can be without a place on any Radiohead LP says a lot about the standard of writing that he's maintained over the years.
Wayne Coyne
Similarly to Thom Yorke, the thing that makes me care so much for Wayne Coyne's songwriting is the way in which he seamlessly ties together the absurd (and in his case heavily psychedelic) and the chokingly human. I think anybody that listens to The Flaming Lips does so largely because they have an intense relationship with the way Coyne writes songs. 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' is maybe one of the most consistently great records in terms of lyrics I've ever heard. Every.single.track is incredible. 'Fight Test' has always been a personal favourite of mine, mainly because Coyne's knack of writing a deeply personal song yet somehow linking it back to the bands psychedelic imagery and making it seem natural comes through particularly well. 'Do You Realize?' is the obvious tear-jerker, and is sorta Jeff Mangum-esque in the way it just seems to make the world seem so, so simple and beautiful. 'Feeling Yourself Disintegrate' is another example of the classic 'Lips combination of brittle human emotion and otherworldly soundscapes, if you ever get the chance to see this track live you absolutely need to take it.
Other honorable mentions: Jeff Buckley, Mark Linkous, Patti Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Elliott Smith, Tom Verlaine...
By Marty Hill
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