Below are my top 50 songs of the year, plus a bonus track that’s among the year’s best, but not really available anywhere. Check out the Spotify playlist here.
Blur – “The Narcissist”
boygenius – “Not Strong Enough”
Brother Marshall and the Choir of Fire – “All the Gold in California”
Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves – “I Remember Everything”
Bully – “Days Move Slow”
Kelly Clarkson – “mine/me”
Cliffs + Caves feat. David Ramirez – “Mint Gum”
Lauren Daigle – “Waiting”
De La Soul – “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’”
Ingrid De Souza – “You Can Be Mean”
Madi Diaz feat. Kacey Musgraves – “Don’t Do Me Good”
Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For?”
Everything but the Girl – “Nothing Left to Lose”
Explosions in the Sky – “Ten Billion People”
Margaret Glaspy – “Act Natural”
Kyle Gordon – “Ugliest Girl on the Beach”
Glen Hansard – “The Feast of St. John”
Brittany Howard – “Red Flags”
Jungle – “Candle Flame”
Noah Kahan – “Stick Season”
The Killers – “Your Side of Town”
Julie Klausner – “Silence”
MJ Lenderman – “Rudolph”
Lil Yachty – “drive ME crazy!”
M83 – “Oceans Niagara”
Steve Martin – “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?”
Marvelous 3 – “If We’re on Fire (Let It Burn)”
Lizzy McAlpine – “A Little Bit of Everything”
Mereba – “Space and Time”
Brian Metolius – “Here to Jake, Gone Tomorrow”
Midwife – “Miss America”
Nicki Minaj – “Last Time I Saw You”
MUNA – “One That Got Away”
Nation of Language – “Sole Obsession”
NewJeans – “Super Shy”
Angel Olsen – “Nothing’s Free”
Genesis Owusu – “Leaving the Light”
Caroline Polachek – “Welcome to My Island”
Olivia Rodrigo – “All-American Bitch”
Romy – “Weightless”
Slowdive – “Skin in the Game”
The Smile – “Wall of Eyes”
Sufjan Stevens – “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
Tedashii feat. Trip Lee and Lecrae – “Texas Pete”
Thee Sacred Souls – “Running Away”
Tiffany Topol – “Teenage Feeling”
Joshua Ray Walker – “Christmas in Dallas”
Jessie Ware – “Hello Love”
Waveform – “Lonely”
Wednesday – “Quarry”
Bonus Track: Ken Pomeroy – “Cicadas”