We compiled the accolades given to DEF artists at the end of the decade.
ROBYN.
NME – 10 Artists Who Defined The Decade: The 2010s
#1 Robyn
Rolling Stone – The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s
#1 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
“Then came “Dancing on My Own,” the killer single that elevated her to something approaching voice-of-a-generation status among America’s burned-out youth.”
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s
#8 Robyn – Body Talk
Robyn’s strength and empathy inspired a new generation of pop artists, from Carly Rae Jepsen to Perfume Genius, and the escapism her music offers is just as generous: Every song on Body Talk is an invitation to transform your own pain into triumph.
#71 Robyn – Honey
“So for her first album in eight years, Robyn skipped floor-filling pop anthems in favor of the tender electro-pop therapy we didn’t know we needed, meeting real-life heartbreak and loss first with mourning, then with acceptance and celebration.”
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s
#3 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
At its core, the song is an exploration of contradictions: between the mechanized backbeat and Robyn’s all-too-human vocals; between a dancefloor’s collective catharsis and the isolation of being trapped inside your own skin; between the despair of the heart and the resilience of the body.
#45 Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend
The klaxon call of the chorus makes “Call Your Girlfriend” a dance-pop triumph, one of many Robyn songs to arc toward euphoric release.
#135 Robyn – Honey
“Honey” is one of Robyn’s filthier tunes—a 3 a.m. booty call set to a pulsing house beat.
Stereogum – The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s
#20 Robyn – Body Talk
Stereogum – The 200 Best Songs Of The 2010s
#1 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
#38 Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend
VICE – The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s
#22 Robyn – Body Talk
TIME – The 10 Best Songs of the 2010s
#2 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
NME – The Best Albums of The Decade: The 2010s
#28 Robyn – Body Talk
NME – The Best Songs Of The Decade: The 2010s
#1 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
#83 Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend
Crack Magazine – THE TOP 100 SONGS OF THE DECADE
#13 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Consequence of Sound – Top 100 Albums of the 2010s
#07 Robyn – Body Talk
Consequence of Sound – Top 100 Songs of the 2010s
#1 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Paste Magazine – The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s
#18 Robyn – Body Talk
Paste Magazine – The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s
#2 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Entertainment Weekly – The best pop hooks of the 2010s
#1 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Elle – The 52 Best Songs That Defined The 2010s
#4 Robyn – Dancing On My Own
#3 Robyn – Body Talk
M83.
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s
#134 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
“These songs are steeped in a kind of magical realism stemming from the intensity of adolescent emotions, full of heart-on-sleeve choruses, slap-bass funk, vintage synth swells, and a desire for home or love or something just out of reach.”
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s
#20 M83 – Midnight City
With “Midnight City,” a whole new generation of teenagers were handed a testament to the life-affirming power of synthesizers.
Stereogum – The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s
#62 M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
Stereogum – The 200 Best Songs Of The 2010s
#20 M83 – Midnight City
VICE – The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s
#98 M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
Consequence of Sound – Top 100 Albums of the 2010s
#28 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Consequence of Sound – Top 100 Songs of the 2010s
#5 M83 – Midnight City
Paste Magazine – The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s
#88 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Paste Magazine – The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s
#28 M83 – Midnight City
FEVER RAY.
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s
#66 Fever Ray – Plunge
Every emotion is huge and earnest; the songs about lust have a near-apocalyptic urgency. The love songs have a frantic glee and the kink is as much about sentiment as sex. The political songs are personal (and delivered the iconic lyric “this country makes it hard to fuck!”).
Crack Magazine – THE TOP 100 SONGS OF THE DECADE
#50 Fever Ray – To The Moon and Back
THE KNIFE.
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s
#46 The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
The shadowy electro provocateurs were reborn as an animalistic, post-apocalyptic industrial act making an ungodly clang from (presumably) short-circuiting synths and burnt-out oil drums bashed by human bones.
Pitchfork – The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s
#46 The Knife – Full of Fire
“Full of Fire,” the first single from 2013’s Shaking the Habitual, is a nasty patchwork of sawtooth synths, hissed vocals, and guttural drum patterns, perennially teetering on the brink of manic collapse.
Stereogum – The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s
#53 The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
Stereogum – The 200 Best Songs Of The 2010s
#120 The Knife – Full of Fire