Awguri Ira! Malta’s Queen Of Pop Has Just Turned 38 And We’ve Picked A Top Track For Every Year She Has Graced This Earth
Ira Losco’s career may only be 21 years old this year but the queen of Malta’s pop scene just turned 38 today and to celebrate we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and look at 38 of her best tracks.
We’ve got features, collaborations, singles, remixes, you name it; Ira sang it, we’ve got it.
We’ve done extensive research (read as: we’ve spent all morning listening to the kween) and out of 52 singles spanning 10 albums (yes, we included her compilations and remixes) these are our favourite 38.
A track list for her berdej, iii how nice.
1. Butterfly ft. John IQ
Those violin strums are giving us all the noughties R&B vibes. Destiny’s Child who?
2. Basketball (Technically a Tiara track, but Ira was the front woman)
Where is that electric honky tonk coming from? Yeah-ee-yeaaaaah, scrub me down.
3. Shine
A feel-good anthem about shining bright, because no one wants to shine dull.
4. Waking Up To The Light
This time around, Ira wanted us to glow. Because shining was so 2000.
5. Oh My God ft. Shyli
Shyli steals the show on this track, but Ira’s ode to not knowing what she has done is still a bop.
6. One In A Million
The supreme successor to Miley/Hannah’s own similarly titled record, infinitely better. Ira’s addicted to a dysfunctional unit, we’re addicted to Ira.
7. Me Luv U Long Time
Does that opening cue for the track sound like the opening to any Kim Petras track? Ira did it first, y’all.
8. Accident Prone
This title track from her sophomore album sounds a lot like what would happen if a punk-pop band like Puffy AmiYumi mastered Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and added a 2003 Avril Lavigne vocoder to the their mic lines.
9. Walk on Water (Micimago Bootleg)
Why is this not still played on repeat in Gianpula?
10. Shouldn’t Have To Bother
Ira Losco tries her luck at leaping into the London-ska sound and tbh we ain’t bovvered.
11. Driving One Of Your Cars
Not just driving your car, she’s driving one of many apparently. We totally feel like the creators of the Sims should have picked up on Ira’s early music for their in-game radio stations.
12. We’ll Ride The Wind
All Ira needs to better this track is a magic carpet below her feet. What can we do with this love that we have for Ira? Continue to showcase more of her best tracks.
13. Bad Habits
Easily one of Ira’s more adventurous music videos and tracks, there definitely is something wicked in the air tonight and it might just be us blasting this song from the rooftops.
14. Say Hey
Hey, Ira! What’s good?
15. I’m In Love Again
Natalie Imbruglia paved the way for Ira to take the throne.
16. Colors (Jason Derulo ft. Ira Losco)
Her majesty made it internationally with this one. Also, issa bop and a half that bangs in the clubs.
17. Fortune Teller
Emo Ira was a great era. Try saying that as many time as you can.
18. The World Is Ours
Another anthem brought to you by Coca-Cola, it’s a bop of inclusivity that sought to rid the world of racism.
19. Love Me Or Hate Me (DJ Ruby & U-Bahn remix)
The soundtrack to noughties afterparties you’d only have been invited to if you were a regular in Coconut Grove.
20. Top Of The World (GARABATTO ft. Ira Losco)
Spanish-based EDM producer GARABATTO featured Ira’s vocals on his 2018 release and it is any Maltese fuckboys’ go-to when they want to prove to their klikka that they know enough about Ira to get in their good books.
21. Lovesong (Tenishia Remix)
Tenishia and Ira teamed up to cover The Cure’s classic for one night only in the old Tattingers Club. Good times, huh?
22. What’s the Matter with Your Cabrio? (DJ Ruby ft. Ira Losco)
DJ Ruby mashed up his own track Cabrio (also the name of a Whirlpool dishwasher line) with Ira’s track What’s The Matter With You? and gave us a banging remix to hype anyone still living in 2010 up during predrinks.
23. Dominoes (Fr. Rob Galea ft. Ira Losco)
There’s a million more people with a broken heart knowing that Father Rob Galea has sworn himself away to celibacy but thank you Ira for bringing him into our lives.
24. What I’d Give
Ira popping pills and swigging vodka from the bottle? I’m here for it.
25. Love Me or Hate Me
From her stripped album, Unmasked, this track got a mention already but that was a remix and we make the rules so shut up.
26. Winter Day
Ira smoking in Camden and buying gowns that definitely didn’t make it through to the wardrobe team of the album cover shoot. Also one of the two original tracks we got from her third album.
27. Lonely in the Dark (Red Electrick ft. Ira Losco)
Two Maltese legends in one track? Yes, yes and even more: yes. More melancholy than most of the tracks so far but still a beautiful arrangement.
28. The Way It’s Meant to Be
More contemporary than anything else, still one of the best tracks from Fire.
29. High
Ira gifted us with some really great tracks on her double album No Sinner No Saint and this is one song we wouldn’t mind sinning along to.
30. Fejn Staħbejtli
Where was she hiding, did we ever find out?
31. l-Aħħar Bidwi f’Wied il-Għasel/Xemx (MESC 2014 with Gianluca Bezzina)
Look at that dress. Look at that entire performance. Two songs for the price of one. We greedy and she giveth.
32. Let Her Go (MESC 2014, again with Gianluca Bezzina)
We’re only including this one because we couldn’t find any footage of Ira’s Let It Go from way back when and we wanted to bring attention to the fact that Ira did Elsa before Frozen was a thing and that gets her points in our book.
33. Tema ’79
This was the moment that Mary Spiteri stood down and Ira stepped into the shoes of Malta’s biggest name in music.
34. Chameleon (Invincible)
The pre-cursor to Michela’s ESC2019 track, Ira is Bart Simpson in that South Park episode where the world goes mad because The Simpsons have already done everything the writers wanted to do for Cartman and the gang (who are played by Michela and her army of clones).
35. Walk on Water
Arguably Ira’s best ESC attempt since 7th Wonder.
36. 7th Wonder
Arguably Ira’s best track ever.
37. The Person I Am ft. David Leguess
Emo Ira came back to us for a short while in 2013 and we can only assume it was from the tailwind of Fall Out Boy’s resurgence towards the end of 2012.
38. Hey Now ft. Luellen
The biggest song of Q4 last year, Owen was joined on stage by mentor Ira for his final performance of X Factor Malta’s inaugural season and shit hit the fan when a studio release was announced shortly after.
