I intentionally avoided a lot of new music this year. I checked out and enjoyed some albums by the likes of Silk Sonic and Lil Ugly Mane, but my focus was mostly on great music from the past. So for the first time in a long time, I won’t be doing a top 10 albums. Instead, I’ll add 10 more songs to my best tracks of the year playlist, which you can listen to on Spotify.
Adele – “Love Is a Game”
Arooj Aftab – “Mohabbat”
Julien Baker – “Bloodshot”
Courtney Barnett – “Rae Street”
Leon Bridges and Keite Young – “Like a Ship”
Big Thief – “Little Things”
BTS – “Butter”
Caribou – “You Can Do It”
Charli XCX feat. Christine and the Queens – “New Shapes”
Clairo – “Wade”
Lucy Dacus – “Thumbs”
Deafheaven – “Great Mass of Color”
Gang of Youths – “The Angel of 8th Ave.”
Idles – “The Beachland Ballroom”
Illuminati Hotties feat. Buck Meek – “UVVP”
Sarah Jaffe – “Frances McDormand, Catherine O’Hara”
Japanese Breakfast – “Be Sweet”
Cassandra Jenkins – “Hard Drive”
Khruangbin and Leon Bridges – “B-Side”
Lecrae feat. 1K Phew – “Wildin”
Little Simz – “Protect My Energy”
Lizzo feat. Cardi B – “Rumors”
Robert A.A. Lowe – “The Sweet”
Magdalena Bay – “You Lose!”
John Mayer – “Last Train Home”
Cristin Milioti – “715 Creeks”
Mitski – “Working for the Knife”
Mdou Moctar – “Afrique Victime”
Mr Jukes and Barney Artist – “Vibrate”
Kacey Musgraves – “Easier Said”
Noname – “Rainforest”
Arlo Parks – “Eugene”
Caroline Polachek – “Bunny Is a Rider”
Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band – “Holy Scroller”
Joe Pug – “Crescent Bridge”
Purple Disco Machine feat. Moss Kena and the Knocks – “Fireworks”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Déjà Vu”
Royal Blood – “Typhoons”
RXKNephew – “American tterroristt”
serpentwithfeet – “Bless the Telephone”
Silk Sonic – “Leave the Door Open”
Snail Mail – “Valentine”
Sparks – “So May We Start”
Spoon – “The Hardest Cut”
St. Vincent – “The Nowhere Inn”
Tinashe feat. Wax Motif – “Undo (Back to My Heart)”
Turnstile – “New Heart Design”
FKA twigs feat. Headie One and Fred again.. – “Don’t Judge Me”
Tyler, the Creator – “Wilshire”
Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen – “Like I Used To”
Vandoliers – “Every Saturday Night”
Vanilla & Pepper – “Seven Seas”
The War on Drugs feat. Lucius – “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”
Kamasi Washington – “My Friend of Misery”
The Weather Station – “Tried to Tell You”
Kanye West – “Come to Life”
Tierra Whack – “Dolly”
Willow feat. Travis Barker – “Transparent Soul”
Remi Wolf – “Grumpy Old Man”
Yuno – “Somebody”