The Best Australian & New Zealand Songs of 21st Century So Far

Presenting our best Australian and New Zealand songs of the 21st century so far, featuring Lorde, Kylie, Powderfinger, Stan Walker, and more

Presenting the best Australian and New Zealand songs of the 21st century so far.

Our editorial team spent the past few months locked in debate, listening to as much music from across our two countries as possible.

“Curating a list of 300 from the past 25 years has been a wonderfully nostalgic and challenging feat for the team, and that is a testament to the incredible music Australian and New Zealand artists have produced this century,” says our Editor-in-Chief Neil Griffiths.

“From music royalty, to genre favourites, to the best up-and-coming talent, there’s something in this list for every Australia and New Zealand music fan.”

There were only a few rules, so as to keep the list as flexible as possible. We capped the number of songs per artist at three, in the interests of fairness; Kylie, Tame Impala, and The Beths, to name just a few, could have filled up the top 300 on their own. Artists had to be born in Australia and New Zealand, or based in either country for at least five years

The most important thing we kept in mind was the following: entry was not subject to popularity or airplay, but rather musical brilliance and originality.

This is not a countdown of the biggest commercial hits of the century; far from it. There are lots of chart-topping singles, of course, but there are just as many indie and underground songs that we think sound as good as anything from the mainstream.

It’s important to note, for any keyboard warriors currently cracking their fingers in anticipation, that we know our list isn’t definitive: like comparing Maradona with Messi, Jordan with LeBron, working out if a streaming behemoth from 2021 is better or worse than a radio mainstay from 2002 is near-impossible.

But we think our top 300 does an excellent job of representing the incredible diversity of Australian and New Zealand music since the turn of the century.

You can trace, for example, the development of electronic music on these shores, from the early Modular acts to modern superstars like Dom Dolla and Alison Wonderland. You can compare the strengths of Aussie and Aotearoa hip-hop, from the old masters to new stars.

Some of our most seminal record labels are represented — think Milk!, Chapter, Dawn Raid — as are the genres and movements that defined the past few decades — think the pub-rock resurgence, the increased domination of drum and bass, and the underrated and maligned ‘dolewave’.

What we hope you get out of our list, more than anything, is a renewed love of music discovery — that’s what putting it together did for us. We hope you find a song by your new favourite artist and then support them the next time they play a show in your town; we hope you remember just how good that old band your family used to play constantly on car journeys actually are. In this era of stan culture and algorithmic playlists, breaking out of our bubbles and listening to new songs has never been more important.

In other words, have fun! Read on, turn up the music, and explore to your heart’s content. —Conor Lochrie

Blurbs written by Neil Griffiths, Conor Lochrie, James Jennings, Jade Kennedy, Lauren McNamara, Alec Jones, Andrew Mast