Despite all the corona-craziness going on outside our homes, many musicians delivered wicked tunes that put some three-to-four-minute pauses to our shut-in misery. Sure, it is not ideal to listen to The Weekend or Dua Lipa’s bangers while sweeping the kitchen in our pyjamas. But we might get to hear them live real soon, should vaccine logistics work as fast as Violent Sun’s rhythm.

It is not that the year did not start well. Jessie Ware’s disco bliss on Tito’s train made me want my long-awaited and finally cancelled trip to the Balkans even more (I managed a short trip to Croatia, at least). But that’s what 2020 essentially was, a series of postponed plans that gave way to a surreal combination of confusion and improvisation. It was cool to see some musicians jump into projects during confinement. Mostly, if they turned out as good as Charlie XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now, a record that brings nuance and elegance to bubblegum bass.

In the absence of festivals and concert tickets, we are left with streaming and social media to know what trended in music. If it were not for their Tik Tok success, how would we know that a classy R&B sister duo of twentysomethings with a slight touch of electronica is rousing passions in so many homes? Sure, having Beyonce’s blessing helped, but Chloe x Halle’s proposition was not an easy sell to music executives, who apparently kept telling them that their music was “too complex for the average ears”. Millions of Tik Tok users do not agree and I am certain that there is a special place in hell for music executives who underrate talents like Chloe x Halle.