We find ourselves tasked with defending what our purpose is in a society that increasingly values machines, unadulterated praise, and PR speak over personalized opinions, ambivalence, and substantive discussion. Casual cultural consumers often view critics as haters who look to tear down carefully constructed art for clout’s sake.
We can’t, though, think of a more vital purpose for our ever-embattled profession than a list like this. With songs, more so than albums or most other media, there are simply way too many to choose from—which is one reason why even a half-discerning listener might throw up their arms and give over control of the aux to the algorithm.
Not so fast. Lend your ears to the extremely varied tunes we’ve assembled here after months of sifting through countless mediocrities and misfires, only to land on the most unique and arresting pieces of songcraft we could scare up. To give you a taste of that versatility, there are only three artists with multiple songs here. The two more established of the three are a pair of female pop stars, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish, who defined the year and are represented by three songs apiece (including one together).
Explore and you’ll find party anthems, multiple diss tracks (spoiler: none from the 6 God), honest reckonings with life’s myriad disappointments and hardships, and even a little late-period Marshall Mathers. Another thing we often hear, even from other critics, is how hard—virtually impossible—whittling down a list like this can be. So, if nothing else, you can relish in our bravery. Charles Lyons-Burt
50. Addison Rae, “Aquamarine”
In terms of the skeptical reception that surrounds her—and, okay, maybe some of the breathy vocals too—Addison Rae might be Gen Z’s answer to Lana Del Rey. We fall in the camp that’s fairly confident that if you look past the it’s-giving-industry-plant vibes of her multi-domain ambush on pop culture, the singer’s musical appeal is quite evident. The innuendo-laced “Aquamarine” seems at first like just a really solid house-pop song—that is, until it shifts into high gear two-thirds of the way through, its bassline undulating along with Rae’s falsetto vocalese. Lyons-Burt
49. St. Vincent, “Big Time Nothing”
St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming is defined by its industrial soundscapes, offering a decidedly modern take on Nine Inch Nails’s digital-meets-analog approach. “Big Time Nothing” adds funk to the equation, layering in disco guitars, a fashionable ingredient that sounds fresh within the track’s cavernous atmosphere. The song exhilaratingly culminates in a strange piecemeal guitar solo akin to something David Byrne might’ve come up with for one of his Brian Eno sessions. It has the feel of a song disassembling itself in real time, without ever letting up the groove. Nick Seip
48. Aurora, “Starvation”
“We are decorated bones/And my soul is starving,” Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora sings on “Starvation,” a standout track from her fifth studio album, What Happened to the Heart? Inspired by Berlin’s underground rave scene, the track mixes the organic and the synthetic, juxtaposing kinetic tribal rhythms with a euphoric techno beat and pitched-down vocals to conjure dehumanization in our A.I.-driven brave new world. Cinquemani
47. NLE Choppa and Whetan featuring Carey Washington, “Slut Me Out 3”
Outrageously freaky sex raps can easily cross the line. “Slut Me Out 3” commits to the bit hard enough to get gross, but it playfully shows that NLE Choppa counts himself among the “sluts” he raps about. Amid all the dirty talk, NLE doesn’t stint on hooks (the chorus works in a plug for his mixtape Slut Szn) or inventive production, with a disco-inspired beat that could’ve been the background music from a roller rink-themed ’70s porno. Erickson
46. This Is Lorelei, “Where’s Your Love Now”
“Where’s Your Love Now” is at once warmly uplifting and also bitterly spiteful. The track belongs to one of the most satisfying narrative conceits: the self-improvement journey. Singer-songwriter Nate Amos’s unshackling from addiction is paralleled on “Where’s Your Love Now” with a refusal to return to a past romantic entanglement. “I’m hеalthier now/And I’m doing just fine/Long after our time is over,” he drolly sings, either to his past lover or his habits, and it’s one of the most moving declarations put to music all year. His growth is soundtracked by the click-clacking of what sounds like a child’s wind-up lullaby toy, cautiously ebullient acoustic guitar, and the ascendant swell of organ. Lyons-Burt
45. Dehd, “Alien”
Countless garage and punk bands have attempted to rewrite the Kinks classic “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” but few have made alienation sound as comforting as Dehd’s Emily Kempf. “I’m from another world/I’m not a normal girl,” she sings over a low acoustic/electric simmer, sounding perfectly comfortable in her skin even as she yearns to one day find that one special person on her otherworldly wavelength. She and guitarist Jason Balla’s overlapping yelps on the chorus turn “Alien” into not only the most resonant but also the catchiest garage-rock song of the year. Winograd
44. Father John Misty, “Screamland”
For all the flamboyance and giddy irony on display throughout Mahashmashana, Father John Misty remains plagued by his darkest thoughts. On the dry, quavering verses of “Screamland,” he ponders the futility of humanity’s various methods of escaping the bleakness of reality: religion, drugs, even plain old optimism. His entreaties to “Stay young, get numb, keep dreaming” over staticky blasts of noise—sculpted, in part, by Low’s Alan Sparhawk on guitar—are blackly sarcastic to an almost unfathomable degree. Winograd
43. XG, “Woke Up”
K-pop group XG has likened themselves to a wolf pack, and “Woke Up” proves to be the perfect calling card. The track expertly combines all seven members’ different flows and tones, each exuding a brash confidence as they take on their haters with skilled wordplay, such as “Right away, ride the wave, ride away/’Cause we had the right of way.” While the beat is a simple loop of 808s and handclaps complemented by a Japanese flute, it lays the groundwork for a truly great posse cut. Erickson
42. Eminem, “Brand New Dance”
Eminem’s “Brand New Dance” fully delivers on his promise to “hit you with a funky dope rhythm.” With a bulky bassline reminiscent of his early work with the Bass Brothers and a ravenous run of ridiculous rhymes (“grand mal seizure” and “grandma, tease her”), this devilish delight feels years removed from Em’s miserabilist modern-day stylings—though it might be because the track, one of his catchiest and kookiest provocations yet, had been sitting on the shelf for almost two decades before finally seeing the light of day. Call its stalled release a despicable victory. Paul Attard
41. Caroline Polachek, “Spring Is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth”
Beautiful and strange, “Spring Is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth” feels so perfectly Polachekian that it’s easy to forget that it’s a cover. Originally an ’80s cult favorite from Irish electronic pioneer Roger Doyle, the track was too alien and ahead of its time to break through at the time. With production from A.G. Cook, Caroline Polachek’s version translates the song into a bigger, modern sound while remaining true to the original. And while pop music has finally caught up to Doyle, the song’s innocent optimism remains radical in its forward-thinking—because, really, optimism always is. Seip
40. 2hollis, “Crush”
The back-and-forth between adoration and ambivalence—the “will she?” or “won’t she?” tension sparked by the unanswered question, “I got a crush on you, do you crush on me too?”—becomes the volatile emotional crux of 2hollis’s “Crush,” where intrusive thoughts of being outright rejected seem to bring about what sounds like the end of the world, complete with chopped shrieks and heavily clipped feedback. It’s a tad melodramatic, but 2hollis sees it as simply being honest: “I’m so embarrassed, but I gotta tell the truth.” Attard
39. Addison Rae, “Diet Pepsi”
On her breakthrough single, former TikToker Addison Rae accomplishes what marketing execs the world over have hitherto only dreamed of: rhyming “sexy” with “Diet Pepsi” without it sounding totally cringe. And even if her lyrics about “Losing all my innocence in the backseat” don’t reinvent the cherry-popping song wheel, the rippling synth and keening melody perfectly capture the strange, fuzzy euphoria of young lust. Winograd
38. The Cure, “And Nothing Is Forever”
Robert Smith has always been preoccupied with decay, transience, and mortality; now well into his retirement years, he has a newfound perspective that only the long, hard passage of time can shape. “And Nothing Is Forever,” a standout from the Cure’s recent Songs of a Lost World, builds upon the skeletal framework of “Lovesong” and imbues it with an even deeper sense of gothic romanticism. A line from that song, “however far away,” no longer signals just material distance between lovers but a metaphysical one as well. Much, the song tells us, is beautiful, and much will, eventually and inevitably, fade into oblivion. Attard
37. Remi Wolf, “Cinderella”
Remi Wolf’s “Cinderella” veers between celebratory (often-borderline nonsensical) declarations and wounded confessionals, all while being packaged in a delectable alt-pop veneer. One moment, Wolf pines, “Is there something wrong with the way that I’m designed?” Then, in the next, she’s dancing away her woes: “Low tide, moon’s so bright/Moving my hips from left to right.” Wolf is here to remind us that sometimes pop music’s role isn’t to offer a solution to our woes, but to give us a very danceable reprieve. Williams
36. MJ Lenderman, “She’s Leaving You”
The vitality and enthusiasm that comes through in MJ Lenderman’s guitar work throughout Manning Fireworks is undeniable. His playing isn’t particularly flashy or technical—it’s all in the feel. A portrait of a man who claims that he’s only been spending time in Vegas because he likes the lights (unsurprisingly, his wife doesn’t seem to buy it), “She’s Leaving You” utilizes one of the most common chord sequences in rock history, but Lenderman’s use of dynamics alone grants it a unique emotional tenor. Winograd
35. Yeat, “ILUV”
As 2093 ably proves, Yeat’s deadpan humor, oddball enunciations, and infectious energy remain the most compelling aspects of the rapper’s music. These are all on display on the surreal “ILUV,” which samples Crystal Castles’s intoxicating “Fleece.” Yeat stammers out the tail end of his verse—“I know you need to cry, so here’s a-, uh, uh, here’s a shoulder/I heard you tryna die, so here’s a-, uh, huh, here’s a boulder”—with little discernible care in his voice. More impressively, each stutter hits in tandem with the track’s lurching beat. Attard
34. Megan Thee Stallion, “Hiss”
Before Kendrick Lamar declared war on Drake, “Hiss” delivered a truly savage dis of the Canadian singer-rapper. With hard piano and drums that hit as ferociously as her lyrics, Megan sums up Drake’s posturing with “cosplay gangsters, fake-ass accents,” carefully pausing between each word to let her contempt sink in. Erickson
33. Benefits featuring Zera Tønin, “Land of the Tyrants”
A protest song that feels more like poetry than preaching, “Land of the Tyrants” brings the electronic punk duo’s sound closer to pop as singer Kingsley Hall rages against “desert island dickheads who don’t give a damn about you or me.” Much more subtle and accessible than Benefits’s noisy 2022 debut album, it’s no less angry or intense. Erickson
32. Jamie xx featuring Robyn, “Life”
Jamie xx channeling Basement Jaxx might not have been on anyone’s 2024 bingo card, yet “Life” transcends that reductive premise: an unapologetically jubilant, irresistibly funky, and tension-building showstopper brimming with tongue-in-cheek charm (catch Robyn’s cackle after “You’re giving me strong torso”) that culminates in an exhilarating barrage of retro-sounding drum fills and an arcade blaster sound effect that practically begs you to start moving again. Attard
31. Dua Lipa, “Training Season”
With its syncopated guitar licks and infectious disco-pop hook, Dua Lipa’s “Training Season” isn’t, at first blush, a radical departure from the singer’s recent hits “Break My Heart” or “Dance the Night.” But the track, produced by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, is filled with neo-psychedelic Easter eggs, like those otherworldly organ flourishes, and ABBA-esque keyboards and harmonies that render it completely out of time. Cinquemani
30. Sheer Mag, “Moonstruck”
Sheer Mag recontextualizes its decades-old influences by filtering its hooky songwriting through a layer of sonic grime. When lead guitarist Kyle Seely drops the hammer on the chorus of “Moonstruck,” with a distorted shuffle that shadows Tina Halladay’s stuttered vocal hook, the effect is sweeping—and one of the most electrifying rock moments of the year. Winograd
29. Hannah Frances, “Keeper of the Shepherd”
Every element of “Keeper of the Shepherd” is designed to entice and hypnotize. Hannah Frances, an inventive instrumentalist, sets a propulsive, outlaw country-tinged guitar riff galloping under her rich, sailing vocals. All the while, she examines her complicated relationship with self-sufficiency and selflessness: “I cannot live without me/I cannot love you without me.” Mason
28. Charli XCX, “Club Classics”
Charli XCX’s Brat is, in part, inspired by the Ministry of Sound-influenced “club classics” of the mid-2000s that the singer refers to on the euphoric, hard-hitting track of the same name. The beats and vocals throughout the song are sliced and diced into a dizzying array of warbling bass, synth washes, and sound effects as Charli namedrops Sophie, A.G. Cook, George Daniel (who produced the track), and, of course, herself. And yes, that’s an organ—or at least a simulated one—because, when done right, clubbing can be a religious experience. Cinquemani
27. Ariana Grande, “Yes, And?”
Co-written and co-produced by Ariana Grande and hitmakers Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, “Yes, And?” is an expletive-laden, deliciously retro house track that urges listeners to find their light and brush off negativity. The singer’s delivery is just nimble and tossed-off enough—even when she’s overtly clapping back at her critics during a spoken bridge—to make it all seem easy. Alexa Camp
26. Jessica Pratt, “The Last Year”
Jessica Pratt’s hypnagogic pop evokes the sounds of a bygone era. “The Last Year” offers a rich, nostalgic sonic palette for Pratt’s reflections, but the lyrics—which alternate between the apocalyptic (“The chapter’s at an end, and I’ll be holding tight”) and the soothing (“I think it’s gonna be fine…And the storyline goes forever”) speak to anxieties that feel particularly prescient. Williams
25. Soccer Mommy, “Driver”
Soccer Mommy’s music has been in a state of constant transformation over the last few years. With “Driver,” she strips back her formula to that which first made her a cult favorite: guitar-driven indie-rock, dominated by lovesick sentiments and earworm melodies that draw as much from indie icons like Liz Phair as they do from pop juggernauts like Taylor Swift. Williams
24. Cassandra Jenkins, “Only One”
“Only One” finds Cassandra Jenkins facing another repetitive day in a static, mechanistic world and going through the usual motions like a “stick figure Sisyphus,” her circumstances compounded by seemingly recent heartbreak. Yet while its lyrics convey strife, the song’s cool, confident strut and sleek melodicism are blissful and soothing. With a unique pop alchemy, carefully balancing world-weariness and euphoria, “Only One” is Jenkins’s own “Dancing in the Dark.” And it perfectly exemplifies My Light, My Destroyer’s thesis that beauty can be found anywhere if you’re willing to look for it. Winograd
23. Maxo Kream, “Bang the Bus”
Violence seems to have numbed Houston rapper Maxo Kream. His delivery is despondent throughout his fourth studio album, Personification, which is marked by memories of trauma and violence. The forward-thinking “Bang the Bus,” however, is a welcome contrast to much of the rest of the album, with Maxo ditching the gang memories for some light seduction. The MC accesses his softer side thanks in part to Evilgiane, whose cloud-rap production makes it feel like Maxo’s feet never touch the ground. Lyons-Burt
22. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”
“I Had Some Help” is a blessed reset for Post Malone’s career and a fist-pump-inducing, hootenanny-summoning barn stormer. On it, the rapper-cum-country-rocker and Morgan Wallen, who wisely skipped over the fake-rapper part of his career, play heels quite convincingly. Together, they revel in the relief of sharing the blame with ex-partners who surely must be responsible for at least half of the “mess” that was made, right? Echoes of pedal steel and the twinkle of fiddle christen this mechanically engineered megahit, which comes with the full force of Nashville’s most scrupulous craftsmen behind it. It’s shined and polished within an inch of its life, and yet it still feels loose, rollicking, and lit. Lyons-Burt
21. Sabrina Carpenter, “Please Please Please”
At the time of its release, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” felt like an unusual follow-up to “Espresso,” the more straightforward disco-pop summer song that served as the lead single from the singer’s sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet. With its strange, uncanny retro vibe, “Please Please Please” blends country, disco, and yacht rock—genres that, together, capture the eclectic musical landscape of 2024. Seip
20. Billie Eilish, “Chihiro”
Titled after the protagonist of Miyazaki Hayao’s 2001 animated fantasy Spirited Away, “Chihiro” sees Billie Eilish and brother Finneas reimagining their earlier experiments into a cerebral and euphoric beast of a deep cut. Eilish has long explored the idea of consciousness, and here she questions whether she has volition in love, crying out, “I don’t know why I called/I don’t know you at all.” Underscoring her doubt, colossal synth loops nearly drown out her voice, and whether she’s being overtaken by loss or infatuation is up to interpretation. Mason
19. Future and Metro Boomin featuring Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, “Type Shit”
Most of the fanfare surrounding We Don’t Trust You has been around Kendrick Lamar’s guest spot on “Like That.” But while it’s fun and predictably well-performed, Playboi Carti emerges as the star guest from his one minute of airtime on “Type Shit.” The Atlanta rapper is typically delirious and mush-mouthed, bending the track to his eccentric pacing and possessed delivery. Lyons-Burt
18. Jack White, “That’s How I’m Feeling”
Jack White’s “That’s How I’m Feeling” is such a satisfying rave-up that one wonders why White or any of the garage-rock revivalists ever decided to do anything other than bash out a few chords and go “Oh/Oh yeah.” Winograd
17. Underscores, “My Guy (Corporate Shuffle)”
April Harper Grey’s music makes being a miscreant sound like a blast, and on “My Guy,” her antiheroine revels in upending the lives of her suburban neighbors. Over a shuffle beat, dance-punk guitars, and a plethora of adlibs and sound effects that deepen the lurid lore of her story, Grey sneers at neglectful parents and overzealous estheticians until the sound of a booing crowd emerges. At that moment, she drops a delicious truth bomb on those who ostracize her: “Have I told you ’bout my theory yet? It proves we might be more alike than you think.” Mason
16. Vampire Weekend, “Mary Boone”
A stately ode to an elite New York art dealer is such a prototypically Vampire Weekend idea that it’s practically meme-worthy. Like much of the band’s post-Modern Vampires of the City work, “Mary Boone” is also rife with compositional and thematic complexity. Ezra Koenig nostalgically imagines Boone as a lodestar for New Yorkers aspiring to climb the economic and cultural ladder, hinting that following her path isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: “We always wanted money, now the money’s not the same.” In classic VW fashion, these contradictory feelings are echoed by leftfield musical choices, in this case pairing swirling classical piano and choir with a sample from Soul II Soul’s “Back to Life” that few other bands could pull off. Winograd
15. FKA twigs, “Eusexua”
FKA twigs’s “Eusexua” is a minimalist techno song inspired by twigs’s time living in Prague. The singer’s angelic soprano is couched in softly throbbing computer beats and undulating synths as she struggles to express a feeling “words cannot describe,” one so intense that it can apparently warp time. The song’s oblique lyrics affirm the limitations of language: “King sized, I’m vertical sunrised,” twigs sings, elongating each syllable. A flurry of beats gradually builds until, in the final minute, the track reaches a frenzied pitch that resembles something like ecstasy. Cinquemani
14. JPEGMafia, “Don’t Rely on Other Men”
JPEGMafia employs a five-word sample of spoken dialogue by Brian Cox on Succession—“I hear you went down”—like a drum, matching it to the track’s hard, metronomic smack. The album version of “Don’t Rely on Other Men” starts out stripped down yet abrasive, then rolls out heavy metal guitar leads, strings, and a guest verse from Baltimore rapper Freaky. Dripping in pain and anxiety, hinting at an obsessive spiral of negative thoughts, JPEGMafia’s “Don’t Rely on Other Men” perfectly summed up this brutally tense year in less than three minutes. Erickson
13. Christopher Owens, “Do You Need a Friend”
While its repeated refrain of “If you really wanna know/I’m barely making it through the days” will, rightfully, attract the most attention due to its raw, unflinching honesty, Christopher Owens’s devastating “Do You Need a Friend” holds even more brutal kernels of truth about the modern condition: the necessity of “letting go of your sorrow” because “crying only feels good for a while,” and the painful realization that “you’re gonna have to smile/If you want to love again.” The song’s backing gospel vocals may feel excessive at times, though the intense distortion that surges halfway through is anything but, perfectly embodying the crushing weight of desolation. It’s the feel-bad power ballad of the year. Attard
12. Allie X, “Off with Her Tits”
While the title of Allie X’s “Off with Her Tits” may evoke the image of the Queen of Hearts devising a new and creative form of punishment, the ’80s-inspired synth-pop banger is, in fact, about a double mastectomy—the feeling of rejecting one’s own body in a culture that objectifies it. “My body is a prison/But how can I escape?” Allie X asks, her delivery building over the course of the song from a husky whisper to a wail. “Off with Her Tits” isn’t only a display of the singer’s serious pop chops as sole writer and producer, it also conjures solidarity among listeners who’ve been alienated from their bodies, whether due to dysmorphia, dysphoria, disease, or disrespect. Mason
11. Charli XCX featuring Billie Eilish, “Guess”
A standout bonus track from Charli XCX’s cheekily titled Brat and It’s the Same but There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not, “Guess” (which was co-written by Charli and 100 gecs’s Dylan Brady) echoes Billie Eilish’s own tongue-in-cheek ode to oral sex, “Lunch.” So it only made sense to draft the SoCal pop star for the remix of the frenetic hyperpop song. “You wanna guess the color of my underwear/You wanna know what I got going on down there,” Charli teases before Eilish gets in on the not-so-subtle innuendo: “Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it.” Cinquemani
10. Chappell Roan, “Good Luck, Babe!”
In a golden year for pop, few stars rose faster than Chappell Roan. An ode to a former lover who can’t admit to herself that she likes girls, “Good Luck, Babe!” is simultaneously hyper-specific and widely relevant. Such is the mission of pop music: to give you something you can relate to. In a song packed with hooks from verse to chorus, though, it’s the bridge that elevates “Good Luck, Babe!” into something truly extraordinary, as Roan drops the song’s thinly veiled well-wishing for the honest unapologetic truth: “I told you so.” Seip
9. Beyoncé, “Ameriican Requiem”
Inspired at least partially by the ugly fallout from her appearance alongside the Chicks at the CMAs in 2016, “Ameriican Requiem”—the thesis statement of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter— interpolates the melody from Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” demanding that the audience acknowledge what’s been going down for decades: “The grandbaby of a moonshine man, Gadsden, Alabama…If that ain’t country/Tell me what is.” Like the album itself, it dares the country music establishment to look itself in the eye. Jonathan Keefe
8. Willi Carlisle, “Higher Lonesome”
This country-spanning bluegrass epic springs to life with a rousing harmonica call and never lets up, packing its four minutes with enough anecdotes and mentions of American cities to fill a travelogue. Willi Carlisle’s lyrics, peppered with internal rhyme, deftly interlace accounts of personal loss and reflections on love, ambition, and self-destruction—in short, what it means to be human. Like many other great poets, Carlisle looks at the mundane and sees the divine. Mason
7. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
Back in 2017, long before his simmering cold war with Drake exploded into the rap beef of the millennium, Kendrick Lamar warned that if he ever were to go to battle, he’d “make it look sexy.” With “Not Like Us,” Kendrick made good on that promise—delivering a masterclass in how to defeat your opponent in every way imaginable. While few doubted Lamar would best Drake lyrically, the surprise came in beating him on his own turf: the charts. “Not Like Us” isn’t just a brutal diss track, it’s a smash hit brimming with quotable lines—the kind you can’t help but sing along to, no matter how dark and disturbing they are. Seip
6. Charli XCX featuring Lorde, “Girl, So Confusing”
Lorde famously sent her verse for the remix of “Girl, So Confusing,” a meditation on a strained relationship with a peer in the music industry, to Charli XCX via text. To which Charli replied, “Fucking hell.” Speaking to body dysmorphia, disordered eating, sexism, and the politics of female friendship, Lorde added new emotional weight to what was already one of the most impeccably written pop songs of the year. Williams
5. Tinashe, “Nasty”
With its exquisitely modulated synths and multi-tracked vocals, “Nasty” is a slinky little bop that finds Tinashe begging for someone to meet her apparently devious needs in sharply written, meme-worthy come-ons: “It feels like heaven when it hurts so bad,” “Pillow talkin’ got my throat raspy,” and, of course, “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” Lyons-Burt
4. Magdalena Bay, “Image”
Magdalena Bay’s second studio album, Imaginal Disk offers a confluence of ideas that allows for strange detours through a sonic hall of mirrors. With its pulsating bassline, laser-beam synths, and 4/4 kick drum, the standout single “Image” is a loungey disco bop that feels like it was beamed in from a luxury space cruise liner. Seip
3. Waxahatchee featuring MJ Lenderman, “Right Back to It”
Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield has spent a lot of time thinking about memories, the passing of time, and being centered in the current moment. On 2020’s “Ruby Falls,” she sang, “When the picture fades/The years will make us calm.” This year’s “Right Back to It” begins: “Photograph of us/In the spotlight, on a hot night/I was drifting in and out.” Across the remainder of the warm, inviting song—a banjo and guitar-led duet with MJ Lenderman—Crutchfield meditates on her uneasy, unsettled disposition and how enduring connection can right most wrongs. Williams
2. Adrianne Lenker, “Sadness as a Gift”
Adrianne Lenker’s “Sadness as a Gift” feels like it’s existed forever, filling you with an aching, almost comforting sense of melancholy. “The seasons go so fast, thinking that this one was gonna last,” she laments. The song’s ability to evoke such a vivid atmosphere and feeling with such a small number of tools—just vocals, guitar, piano, and violin—demonstrates what makes Lenker such a skilled songwriter and musician. “You can hear the music inside my mind,” she sings, and it comes through crystal clear. Seip
1. Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather”
Many artists have sung lyrics like “I’ll love you ‘til the day that I die,” but far fewer have opened a love song describing their own funeral. It’s these contradictions—romanticism versus morbidity, sentimentality versus sarcasm—that keep Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” the sleeper hit from Hit Me Hard and Soft, grounded. But it’s the singer’s unbridled performance that makes the song truly soar. The novel sunshine cast across her signature sound ushers in a renewed version of the alt-pop star, freshly out of her teens and out as a young queer woman. “Birds of a Feather” isn’t just Eilish at her most romantic, but also at her most liberated and self-assured. Mason
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