10 of the best instrumental test tracks to give your hi-fi a vocal-free workout

The four members of the band Mogwai (and two dogs) sitting on a sofa.

It’s fair to assume that human beings started singing long before the first musical instrument was invented, but there are plenty of brilliant songs that, for one reason or another, eschew vocals completely. 

While instrumentals were popular until the 1970s, pop music’s increasing reliance on vocal hooks means only one singer-free song has topped the UK charts since Mr Oizo’s Flat Beat in 1999 – the truly dreadful Animals by Martin Garrix back in 2013.