From Uptown Funk to downtown Sax: the 12 best pop songs of the year

JANUARY
While Uptown Funk trailed on from the previous Christmas season, lingering on dancefloors the way Lynx lingers in PE changing rooms, our ears pricked up for French artist Petite Meller and Baby Love. A 'do do do' breathy female vocal hook that all goes off for the chorus, and a killer video to boot. In short? An instant kitchen disco.

FEBRUARY
Rihanna started a long year of trailing her new album by collaborating with Kanye and Paul McCartney for the early-hours of a house party vibe of Four Five Seconds. Rih's exasperated and gentle vocal promptly slotted into our fave songs that talk about days of the week ("we got three more days til Friday"). See also: Craig David's 7 Days.

MARCH
Nick Jonas proved to the be Jonas with the most-est with Jealous. Nick manages to be both cocky and apologetic at the same time, and all while riding a motorbike in the super-slick video. Add in a sick remix with Tinashe and it's enough to make us all swoon.

APRIL
Carly Rae Jepsen saw in spring with the fizzy, giddy I Really Really Like You. Though her excellent album Emotion showcased a more grown-up pop bent, I Really Really Like You was basically perfect in every way – shimmering, excitable, wonderful pop gold.

MAY
Speaking of fizzy, giddy pop, let's all say HIYA to Little Mix. Black Magic is like pop music simmered down (in a cauldron, let's continue this metaphor) to its purest elements: a gang of friends, a love interest, and a call and answer bridge section. Wonderful witchcraft.

JUNE
June brought us two tales of intense relationships – Selena Gomez made a slinky comeback with Good For You, singing to an offscreen love interest about how she's got a hold on them, by way of explaining how she's going to dress for them. Meanwhile, The Weeknd peered through the other end of the lens, singing about how a lover made him feel electric. Mash-up, anyone?

JULY
One Direction released their first single since Zayn's departure, and it talked a big game. What better way to say "goodbye" than "we're not missing you?" Opening with the lines "I got fire for a heart/ I'm not scared of the dark/ you've never seen it look so easy", Drag Me Down echoes The Police in parts, and is stadium-ready from the start.

AUGUST
The Bieber renaissance came in the latter half of 2015, spearheaded by the insanely catchy What Do You Mean? Follow-up single Sorry only made things better, meaning that Purpose was genuinely one of the best albums of the year. We are 100 per cent here for this Bieber era.

SEPTEMBER
As the autumn leaves fell, and we foraged for our heavy jackets in the wardrobe, we leaned towards Scotland for inspiration. And it came in the form of our faves, Chvrches. Clearest Blue is about turning your chin to the wind, and never backing down. It's about charting your own course, and leaving the past behind you. "Will you keep it half-away?", singer Lauren asks, knowing full well the answer already.

OCTOBER
It was a big year for 5 Seconds of Summer, as they morphed from cheeky chappies into a stadium-filling, power-punk-playing group. Hey Everybody showed that even though they've gone big time, there's still no formula. There's sonic texture aplenty (check out the oh oh ohs over the bass line) and a video that is truly good fun.

NOVEMBER
Though Grimes released a demo of Realiti at the start of the year, it's this Art Angels refit that your ears should seek out. Fully fleshed out, with a clearer vocal line, the wistful lyrics of the chorus sound less transcendental, and more poignant than before.

DECEMBER
The wheel turned full circle last week, when Fleur East released the video for her Uptown Funk-inspired track Sax. There's a call and answer section, a James Brown shout out and a joyous sax hook – and Fleur's enough of a pop star to make the homage her own. We can't wait to see what she does next.