Guardian writers fish out their favourite lesser-known tracks of the year from an emotional ballad to mellow rap
![The best songs of 2021 … that you haven’t heard](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/27d5e19013df8346104dc547f2a683e8d8e2d31c/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=734fa3f6a1096893f089143560ac2fa0)
Leslie Winer’s mesmerising face – strong jaw, stern lips, graceful cheekbones – made her a muse to Jean-Paul Gaultier, a star of Dior and Valentino ads and a cover girl for
Vogue, though girlish she wasn’t: her tough androgyny and power dressing was the perfect expression of an uncaring yet increasingly permissive 1980s. “I was a reluctant model for five junkie years,” she later said, “I’m also a former nasty alcoholic and former Tampax user, each for more than five years and with considerably more enthusiasm.” That career discarded, her next act was astonishing:
music that delved into industrial, dub and – influentially – trip-hop, Winer issuing drawled monologues over the top with Gobi-arid humour.