Written by: Rita Ora, Nolan Lambroza, Ali Tamposi, Alessandro Lindblad, Nicholas Gale, Andrew Wotman and Brian Lee
Produced by: Alesso, Watt and Sir Nolan
Album: Phoenix
UK release: October 2017
UK chart peak: 2

After YEARS of legal difficulties kept her in the musical wilderness, Rita Ora made a solid return with Your Song; but it was Anywhere that really (and I mean REALLY) put her back at the very front of British pop.

Songs that swap a proper chorus for a cop-out ~breakdown have become THE DEVIL in recent years, but there are exceptions, and Anywhere is one of them. Seven credited writers and the chorus is just glitchy vocal effects and the occasional “Oh!”? You bet! Anywhere serves wistful lyrics in the verses and pre-chorus, then gives you the exact payoff you need: a big, balls-to-the-wall slab of surreal perfection.

I made Touch by Little Mix my No1 song of 2017 in the year-end rankings I did at the time (with thanks to the 0 people on whom that list made a lasting impression), and let’s not lie – that tune is fucking enormous – but, given a chance to re-do, I think I’d nudge this almighty, career-redefining gem up to No1 instead.

The Top 10 of this 100 Songs of the Decade project will be the only part ranked into an actual order; but if I were to do it to the whole 100, Anywhere would be very comfortably in the Top 20. What. A. Song.

• I’ll be writing about my favourite 100 pop songs of the decade; one a day for the last 100 days of 2019. They’re in no particular order, except the Top 10 – which will (obviously) come in late December.
• See the full list so far here.
• You can follow the rolling, daily-updated playlist below, or here.