In a yr of exuberance and dread, songs got here from each which technique to consolation, to amuse, to hang-out, to tantalize. Right here, in descending order of greatness, are the 30 better of the yr.
1. Chappell Roan, “Good Luck, Babe!”The achievement of Roan’s breakout smash — a stand-alone single so buoyant that it lifted her 2023 debut to the higher reaches of the charts — is its emotional specificity: Someway modern and jagged on the identical time, “Good Luck, Babe!” is a music through which a lady will get a lover to think about what she’s abandoning in a breakup by asking her to think about waking up just a few years therefore and realizing that she might have had all this — and now as an alternative she’s simply anyone’s … spouse. “You know I hate to say ‘I told you so,’” Roan sings, her voice rippling with the unwelcome disgrace of her personal ache, “You know I hate to say — but I told you so.” What a scene. — Mikael Wooden
2. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”Will the Recording Academy truly give the Grammy for file or music of the yr to a single that accuses Drake of being a pedophile? How might it not? No music slapped tougher or dominated tradition extra completely in 2024. It’s a haters’ ballet — a 4½-minute neutron bomb of vengeance that hollowed out Toronto and, fairly than sully his Pulitzer, paved Okay. Dot’s technique to the Tremendous Bowl and primed us for the extraordinary shock album “GNX.” Wop-wop-wop-wop-wop. —August Brown
3. Sabrina Carpenter, “Please Please Please”A brand new discovery at each flip, every one funnier and extra heartbreaking than the final. — M.W.
4. Charli XCX that includes Lorde, “Girl, So Confusing”Think about the precise Jolene leaping on a remix with Dolly Parton. — A.B.
5. Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby”[Makes stank face] — M.W.
6. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”A wealthy textual content on America’s cultural and racial realignments — and a assure that Shaboozey won’t ever pay for a shot once more. — A.B.
7. Kali Uchis and Peso Pluma, “Igual Que Un Ángel”The yr’s most luxurious disco-funk jam. — M.W.
8. Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph, “High Road”The yr’s tenderest butt-rock ballad. — M.W.
9. Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather”By which Eilish makes use of her imagined dying to seek out life in excessive notes she’s by no means hit. — M.W.
10. Taylor Swift, “But Daddy I Love Him”Greatest pregnancy-announcement troll in a pop music since “Papa Don’t Preach.” — A.B.
11. Gracie Abrams, “That’s So True”“I could go and read your mind / Think about your dumb face all the time.” — M.W.
12. Megan Moroney, “Third Time’s the Charm”Yet one more beautiful, gritty, brilliantly written late-summer Moroney banger. — A.B.
13. Tinashe, “Nasty”Does Feeld even mean you can submit a bio if it doesn’t quote this music? — A.B.
14. Zach Bryan, “Pink Skies”Fast — savor this stark and transferring dying ballad earlier than Bryan absolutely enters his villain arc. — A.B.
15. Tyla, “Truth or Dare”Arduous to prime “Water,” however Tyla’s cup runneth over. — A.B.
16. SZA, “Saturn”Top off on protecting crystals at Home of Instinct as a result of the vibes are going to be horrible subsequent yr. — A.B.
17. Girl Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile”Suppose Bruno ever wakes up and tries to not write a success? — M.W.
18. Sade, “Young Lion”If you’re a mother or father, you’ll cry. — M.W.
19. Mk.gee, “Rockman”A stained-glass homage to Ric Ocasek, dropped right into a thousand shimmering items. — A.B.
20. Submit Malone that includes Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”Making a multitude by no means sounded so clear. — M.W.
21. Kim Gordon, “Bye Bye”Sonic Youth’s noise doyenne doing Patti Smith-style spoken phrase over too-wrecked-for-Playboi-Carti entice beats? What a world. — A.B.
22. Tems, “Love Me JeJe”An invite for R&B and Afrobeats followers to dive deep into Nigeria’s radiant music historical past. — A.B.
23. Beyoncé, “16 Carriages”A street music as lonely as they arrive. — M.W.
24. SML, “Industry”Like P-Funk falling down a flight of stairs. — A.B.
25. Ryuichi Sakamoto, “For Jóhann”A haunting piano ballad of devotion and friendship from one late composer to a different. — A.B.
26. Dua Lipa, “These Walls”Killer bass line, beautiful slide guitar — and a glamazon pop star decided to not allow you to in. — M.W.
27. Burial, “Dreamfear”“I am the lord of ecstasy” — hell yeah. — A.B.
28. Ethel Cain, “Punish”“American Teenager” was an all-timer, however is it dangerous to say that it’s good to have Cain again and sounding completely depressing? — A.B.
29. Well being that includes Lauren Mayberry, “Ashamed”The Chvrches frontwoman cleverly turns this goth breakup lament inside out (and roasts Well being’s personal singer within the course of). — A.B.
30. Ella Langley, “Nicotine”By no means doubt a rustic act’s capability to promote an dependancy metaphor. — M.W.