Buck Meek
Adrianne Lenker
“Sadness As a Gift”
Just as Ian & Sylvia’s “Four Strong Winds” defined the heartache of romantic restlessness for a generation, so Lenker — to many, the most gifted of her own cohort of singer-songwriters — offers a breakup ballad ideal for a generation redefining the way ties bind: “You could write me someday, and I think you will.” — Ann Powers
More Like This
Lera Nurgalieva
Aigul Akhmetshina
“The Nightingale”
The rising 28-year-old mezzo-soprano from the Republic of Bashkortostan is wowing the opera world with her gutsy, smoky-voiced portrayal of Bizet’s Carmen. She includes excerpts on her album, which closes with a traditional song from her homeland that shows off the singer’s vocal agility, patrician phrasing and voluptuous burgundy tone. — Tom Huizenga
More Like This
Jonathan Weiner
Alkaline Trio
“Teenage Heart”
Emo has rarely aged in straight lines, its branches always curling back toward the thrills and terrors of adolescence. Still, “Teenage Heart” is a rare thing: a song of youth that regards it not with yearning but empathy, the hearts of its grown authors aching with the knowledge that, at least in this moment, the kids aren’t all right. — Daoud Tyler-Ameen
More Like This
Javiera Gajardo
Ana Tijoux
“Millonaria”
Ana Tijoux counts her blessings once, twice, three times. Over simple piano chords, she revels in her riches. There’s no Gucci or Versace; but she has good friends, hugs from her family, abundant laughter. One of Latin America’s most politically-driven rappers, Tijoux reminds us that in larger collective struggles, it’s not just okay — but necessary — to slow down and find joy where we can. — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Ariana Grande
“we can’t be friends (wait for your love)”
Did we need a media-subtweeting Robyn knock-off from an upper-echelon pop diva (and movie witch) and a pair of Swedish songwriter/producers (one of whom worked with the actual Robyn when she was a teenager) in 2024? Nope, not really. But Grande dials up the warmth here, and Max Martin and ILYA stay in the “obvious” lane of the imitation-as-flattery superhighway and, as it turns out, I’d happily take one of these every year, for approximately forever. — Jacob Ganz
More Like This
Shreya Dev Dube
Arooj Aftab
“Raat Ki Rani”
Arooj Aftab’s Night Reign pushes her jazzy, hypnotic sound in a few surprising directions. But “Raat Ki Rani” is a pure crowd-pleaser, as the Pakistani-American singer sets her atmospheric, decidedly Sade-esque yearning against sumptuous harps and a portentous piano line. — Stephen Thompson
More Like This
Conrad Pack
Astrid Sonne
“Do You Wanna”
Guided by tick-tock percussion, anxious strings and gloomy piano, the experimental Danish composer masterfully stretches a simple question — “Do you wanna have a baby?” — into the only question, pushing it to places of both depth and tossed-off ambivalence with a featherlight touch. — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Sylvain Chausse
Baby Rose with BADBADNOTGOOD
“One Last Dance”
I adore how wistful this record feels, evoking that last sweet breath of a dying relationship. Part of an inspired collaborative EP project, this track is full of emotion, but hauntingly spare: A lone flute floats across the track like a whisper, perfectly counterbalancing Baby Rose’s singular vocals. — Ayana Contreras, KUVO
More Like This
Marco Borggreve
Barbara Hannigan
“Jumalattaret (Live)”
You’ve likely never heard singing as crazy (good!) as what the Canadian soprano unleashes in this 25-minute song cycle by John Zorn. Based on Finnish folk tales, Zorn’s labyrinthine score proved unsingable for Hannigan at first. Listening, your head spins in doubt at her daredevil feats of vocalizing — stratospheric in register, with squeaks, twisted trills and roller coaster roulades. That she pulls this off live, without the safety net of a studio, is nothing short of astounding. — Tom Huizenga
More Like This
BigXThaPlug
“Change Me”
This emergent Dallas star is clearly set on staying consistent, through adversity and triumph alike. A focus of his recent music is adjusting to fame — or, rather, navigating the adjustments of those around him to his newfound status. Nowhere is that more prevalent, and potent, than on this song, a 10-toes-down dispatch from his current life that refuses to disregard the lessons learned in his old one. Accordingly, its charged bars are brimming with personality, defiantly resolute in the face of resentment. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Billie Eilish
“Birds of a Feather”
This fixture at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 might sound sweet and simple at first, but Eilish’s biggest hit since “Bad Guy” is aggressively adoring and borderline creepy. Poignant lyricism hides amid the dark humor and her clever cadence makes for one of the singer’s most memorable vocal performances. — Alisa Ali, WFUV
More Like This
Muriel Knudson
Blondshell feat. Bully
“Docket”
Best of the Best — A much-needed double-strength dose of sex and guilt and rock and roll. This tale of betrayal from the POV of the betrayer has a fist-pumping, howl-along chorus built on an epically crunchy guitar riff that hits just as satisfyingly the 100th time you hear it. No contest: the rock song of 2024. — Jacob Ganz
More Like This
Erinn Springer
Bon Iver
“S P E Y S I D E”
After a couple albums of futuristic soundscapes jam-packed with collaborators, Bon Iver clears the decks and stands alone, as if he was back in that mythic cabin writing songs for Emma. This is Justin Vernon laid bare, full of regret and clinging to hope: “But maybe you can still make a man from me.” — Justin Barney, WNXP
More Like This
Swanson Studio
Brijean
“Workin’ On It”
Brijean Murphy is all of us on this song: She can’t promise she’ll make life better. But she’ll try to try. Emotionally detached, dazed and struggling with apathy, she staggers and fumbles her way through an unremarkable day, noting with a shrug, “I guess I’m workin’ on it.” — Robin Hilton
More Like This
Bobbi Rich
Brittany Howard
“Prove It To You”
A highlight from Howard’s album and tour this year, “Prove It To You” is a bass-heavy, house-influenced dance-floor jam. She pulls up grooves with the propelling force of bangers like Cher’s “Believe” and Björk’s “Big Time Sensuality,” while her vocals sweep over the beats with sultry conviction. — Bruce Warren, WXPN
More Like This
Cash Cobain & Bay Swag
“Fisherrr”
Best of the Best — The beat is not from YouTube: Its architect, the Bronx rapper-producer who took over drill in New York (and beyond) in 2024, became the primary plug bringing a fresh, soft-focused sound to the boisterous subgenre. “Fisherrr” remains Cobain’s crowning achievement. As the production shifts beneath he and his tag-team partner from Queens, they trade off bars, their melodic raps fixed in place as the world sputters around them, remaking the street aesthetic of the city in their own image. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Chappell Roan
“Good Luck Babe!”
Best of the Best — Has anyone who’s nonchalantly muttered, “It’s fine, it’s cool,” ever actually felt fine or cool? Chappell Roan, this year’s biggest breakout pop star, is anything but low key. “Good Luck, Babe!” is an ambitious synth-driven queer pop ballad that showcases Roan’s vocal abilities, which, as anyone who’s attempted to belt this song at karaoke can attest, are truly impressive. — Elle Mannion
More Like This
Ryan Vestil
Charley Crockett
“Ain’t Done Losing Yet”
Troubadour Charley Crockett’s mission is to bring “real” back in fashion. He walks with grit and grace as he mines the age-old themes of Country and Western. From his $10 Cowboy album, “Ain’t Done Losing Yet” sets the scene in an interstate casino and, with an overheard phrase, bemoans love lost. — Jessie Scott, WMOT
More Like This
Harley Weir
Charli xcx
“Apple”
Brat Summer captured the attention of music fans, the mainstream media, even the presidential campaign trail. A big part of that was the “Apple” dance trend on TikTok, which synced carefree choreography with lyrics about Charli’s scary experience in toxic relationships. The song is having a second life on Top 40 radio now, further cementing Charli’s status as an icon. — David Safar, The Current
More Like This
Charli xcx & Lorde
“Girl, so confusing featuring lorde”
Best of the Best — Writing and dodging diss tracks are just part of the job for any pop star, but Charli xcx flipped the script when she invited Lorde, the subject of “Girl, so confusing,” onto its remix. With Lorde’s strikingly vulnerable verse, the track transforms into a complex commentary on how the industry pits women against each other. — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Tyler Shields
Chief Keef
“123”
At the ripe old age of *checks notes* 29, this drill forebear has grown from mercurial “mumble rap” pacesetter to seen-it-all veteran, his influence on rap evident but not always acknowledged. Never one to shy away from a challenge, he affirms his own legacy on “1,2,3,” a soulful, self-produced cut from a sequel to a landscape-shifting mixtape. In typical Keef fashion, the song is a misdirection, embodying all the things his detractors swear he can’t be, as he rattles off all the things he deserves credit for. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Lucas Creighton
Clairo
“Sexy to Someone”
For decades, feminist theorists have grappled with the ways women are conditioned to become objects of desire. Wrapped in the warm embrace of a slide guitar and the inevitable high of getting checked out by a cute stranger, Clairo dares to ask the question: What’s so wrong with wanting to be wanted? — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Damaris Bojor feat. Juan Cirerol
“Volar”
Damaris Bojor is the missing link between regional Mexican music and North American folk music. Any one of the six singles she released this year, which I awaited with bated breath, could be on this list — such is the power of her creative vision. — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Caroline Bittencourt
Danish String Quartet
“Once a Shoemaker”
Hipsters of the string quartet realm who play Beethoven as well as anyone, the Danes (well, one of them is Norwegian) have a penchant for vintage Scandinavian folk songs — real or imagined. DSQ violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen composed his own gently loping tune that offers equal measures of wistful melody and danceable lilt. The soft vocalizing is an inspired touch. — Tom Huizenga
More Like This
Luis Alejandro Marquez "Vomba"
Danny Ocean
“por la pequeña Venecia”
What sounds like an electronic club banger, upon closer inspection, is a grief-stricken chronicle of mass migration. “Tenía siete estrellas y me quitastes ocho,” he sings, referencing the stars on the Venezuelan flag, and addressing the country’s government head-on. In a year of highly-contested elections, deadly protests and more instability in his home country, Ocean’s music encapsulates the love, pain and uncertainty of a disillusioned diaspora, still holding out hope that brighter days lie ahead. — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Daymé Arocena feat. Vicente García
“A Fuego Lento”
Cuban vocalist Daymé Arocena may have started her career in the jazz world, but her commanding voice can’t be restricted by genre. “A Fuego Lento” finds her exploring the nuances and richness of her voice in a languid duet with Dominican vocalist Vicente García. — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Dear Silas
“Mood”
If Dear Silas hasn’t taken over your timeline, the algorithm is not rigged in your favor. The only thing matching this independent artist’s viral hustle is his inner monologue of positive affirmations. Couple that with his triplet flows, dripping in Mississippi diction over laid-back, Cadillac beats and you have yourself a mood-enhancing pill the FDA wouldn’t dare regulate. — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
Deerlady
“Masterpieces”
Magdalena Abrego’s guitar solo at the climax of this beautiful and brooding indie rock song gurgles with molten life over crackling shoegaze riffs. And in the midst of all of that crunchy catharsis lies Mali Obomsawin’s meditation on the monuments that we build upon the graves of those we’ve chosen to forget. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Doechii
“DENIAL IS A RIVER”
TDE’s next rap phenom is dealing with a lot these days. As Doechii’s star rises, her brain aches from the rapid elevation. Defining her sound, peddling puffy TikTok raps, playing tug of war with her label and, to top it all off, discovering her ex was on the DL?! To process it all, her inner voice takes over for a “tough love” session. Channeling Slick Rick’s zany, plot-twist storytelling style, this comical read of the rawest realizations reminds us to tell ourselves to have several seats. — Sidney Madden
More Like This
John Lee
Ekko Astral
“head empty blues”
“Is it Bon Iver or Bon Eye-ver? I don’t care,” may be one of the funniest lyrics of the year, as sung by Ekko Astral’s immensely charismatic lead singer, Jael Holzman. Swerving between paranoid anecdotes and pop cultural ephemera, the punk band’s cathartically irreverent existential dread meets the moment beautifully. — Hazel Cills
More Like This
El Cousteau feat. Earl Sweatshirt
“Words2LiveBy”
All praise due to the talented DMV native El Cousteau, a riveting new voice in rap who delivers a slippery, sputtering performance possessed by a huffing smugness. That said, the words worth living by are those of the enlightened savant Earl Sweatshirt, whose flow seems to emulate the wobbly proficiency of the drunken master in martial arts flicks. His dazed verse is filled with an informal wisdom, capped by a powerful summation of the collective 2024 vibe: “I’m not OK, but I’m gon’ be alright.” — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Sirui
Elmiene
“Crystal Tears”
What happens when today’s most promising young crooner teams up with the era-defining producer D’Mile? You get effortless R&B. Over a lush bed of warm, soulful guitar topped by twinkling glockenspiel, Elmiene’s signature smooth falsetto yearns in uncertainty for a love lost: “This love it goes on / I hear in your tone / I might be alone.” — Ashley Pointer
More Like This
Mark Pillai
Emily D’Angelo
“Freezing”
Best of the Best — Opening the Metropolitan Opera season this fall has given the Canadian mezzo-soprano the top shelf visibility she deserves. Her sophomore album may surprise traditionalists, though, as it’s packed with pop songs and folk ballads, performed idiomatically with a chestnut-colored voice of uncommon beauty. The title track is a Philip Glass and Suzanne Vega collaboration where D’Angelo’s lustrous instrument soars above an astringent arrangement that succumbs to a sizzling electric guitar. — Tom Huizenga
More Like This
Erika de Casier
“Lucky”
Best of the Best — That spiral staircase of piano notes, built from the forgotten 2000s pop-soul concoction “Can’t Let Go” and strung with strobing club lights, never tells you quite where it’s headed. “Lucky” is certainly a love song, but whether its delirious air is meant for swooning in the present tense or mourning a love lost is left for us to decide. — Daoud Tyler-Ameen
More Like This
YOUT
Ezra Collective feat. Yazmin Lacey
“God Gave Me Feet For Dancing”
This jazz-pop crossover from the Mercury Award-winning British jazz crew creeps with cool. It’s a delicate dance at first with twinkling piano and Yazmin Lacey’s seductively sauntering vocals, but the track quickly pulls you closer. You’ll want to stay in the warm groove of this song all night. — Alisa Ali, WFUV
More Like This
Rosie Clements
Font
“Hey Kekulé”
A weird, nervy slab of art funk typical of the Austin band’s impressive debut, Strange Burden. Thom Waddill applies warbly vocals to a tale of the 1800s chemist and his snake-like polymers. Not necessarily the kind of thing you want stuck in your head, but there it is, nonetheless. — Jeff McCord, KUTX
More Like This
Theo Cottle
Fontaines D.C.
“Favourite”
The closing track on the Dublin act’s breakthrough album is veracious, yet reflective. The jangly guitars and chorus conjure joy and nostalgia, but there’s also a weathered struggle that feels like a hard-won accomplishment. This timeless track would fit as nicely on a ’90s mixtape as it would on a modern playlist. — Alisa Ali, WFUV
More Like This
Fuubutsushi
“New Flora”
Fuubutsushi is often compared to ambient, minimalist and jazz masters, but it’s more helpful to think of this music visually. Each instrument here can act as the main character — violin quivers, upper-keys cascades, lower-toned sax, two-dollar guitar chords, flammed drum strokes — but instead they pop out of textured corners with impressionistic verve. There is so much to see, and yet little makes sense alone. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Gabriela Ortiz
“Kauyumari”
Best of the Best — The Mexican composer is at her peak with a dazzling new album and a residency at Carnegie Hall. Kauyumari, a symphonic show-stopper, opens quietly, like a primordial world awakening, with a pair of offstage trumpets announcing a theme that will, over the course of seven minutes, undergo a variety of costume changes before joyously exploding. Star conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Ortiz’s ardent champion, leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic as if born to the music. — Tom Huizenga
More Like This
Justin Ford/Getty
GloRilla
“TGIF”
Best of the Best — “TGIF” might certify GloRilla as the hardest voice in hip-hop. It’s not just the thick Memphis drawl. Or how she lays it down so authoritatively. It’s the way GloRilla delivers her hot-girl anthem with a heavy emphasis on the one — meaning 1. the first beat of every measure, and 2. the woman who places her own self-fulfillment over everything. In Glo’s universe, Black girl jubilee is a weekly occurrence. Cause she “ain’t got no n****,” she’s quick to remind us. “And no n**** ain’t got me.” — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
Rachel Bennett
Great Grandpa
“Kid”
Great Grandpa’s first new song in five years is an unexpectedly symphonic stunner. Written in the wake of a pregnancy loss for band members Pat and Carrie Goodwin, “Kid” moves through many beautiful musical phases, from Imogen Heap-style vocal manipulation to an ever-grander cataclysm, but the song never gives short shrift to the human story — grief, loss, recovery, hope — at its core. — Stephen Thompson
More Like This
Grupo Frontera feat. Nicki Nicole
“DESQUITE”
A brilliant example of both Edgar Barrera’s Grammy-winning production and writing chops, and the infectious energy of Grupo Frontera. The Musica Mexicana stars dropped this cuarteto-inspired, early 2000s cumbia rebajada nod without even blinking. The future of the genre is brighter and more genre-indifferent than ever before with these guys at the helm. — Anamaria Sayre
More Like This
Belift Lab
ILLIT
“Magnetic”
You can always count on K-pop to transform the magnetic hold of a schoolgirl crush into a force of superhuman power. With a thumping bass beat that sounds like it’d be more at home in a SOPHIE track, ILLIT had one of the strongest debut singles of the year in the clubby “Magnetic.” — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Joshua Woods
Immanuel Wilkins feat. Cécile McLorin Salvant
“Dark Eyes Smile”
“In my best and worst times,” Cécile McLorin Salvant sings warmly, with ruminative composure, “My reflection will resemble you.” She’s recalling a lost family member, their memory etched in the features that meet her in the mirror. The lyrics, by June McDoom, beautifully suit the harmonic drift of Immanuel Wilkins’ song. — Nate Chinen, WRTI
More Like This
Kim Black
Iron & Wine feat. Fiona Apple
“All In Good Time”
Sam Beam didn’t hold back on his first full-length Iron & Wine album in seven years, securing a rare guest appearance by Fiona Apple on this stunning track. A call-and-response dance of hard-won lessons and humble yearning, the lush duet is a reminder that the nuances of life will eventually settle into place. — Desiré Moses, WNRN
More Like This
David James Swanson
Jack White
“That’s How I’m Feeling”
The guitar god appears to be feeling pretty good these days. His 2020s projects have been experimental and heady and occasionally difficult, but this song sounds like it was shot out of a cannon: fast, furious and having a ball the entire time. — Justin Barney, WNXP
More Like This
Renee Parkhurst
Jessica Pratt
“World on a String”
“I want to be the sunlight of the century,” Jessica Pratt sings on this timeless, textured acoustic track. It’s a lofty desire — but listeners, happily sedated by the trance Pratt’s hauntingly dreamy vocals put them under on this song, might just believe she is. — Elle Mannion
More Like This
Jessie Ware, Romy
“Lift You Up”
Two of the most ecstatic voices in U.K. club culture come together for a bear hug in the middle of the dancefloor. Ware’s apprehensive verses build steam over a beat from Stuart Price of Les Rythmes Digitales fame before giving way to a soaring refrain that is pure, unadulterated euphoria. — Otis Hart
More Like This
Lawrence Agyei
Jlin
“The Precision of Infinity”
This ecstatic closer to the Pulitzer Prize-nominated electronic artist’s rhythm-focused album, Akoma, feels like a true culmination, climactic and exultant. A piece ten years in the making, it is full of purposeful dynamic shifts amid continuous action, marks of her collaborator’s advice to be patient with herself. As the title suggests, the song contains a certain boundlessness, but it is moored in the present by a measured internal pulse. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Semi Song
Johnny Blue Skies
“Mint Tea”
He has his reasons for the pseudonym, but this backroom-of-the-barroom ballad is classic Sturgill Simpson — a love song whose allure is grounded in vulnerability, and in the easy-rolling music of a band totally in sync, its interactions blooming around the quiet presence of Sierra Hull’s mandolin. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Josh Renaut
Joy Orbison
“Flight FM”
Best of the Best — The drop that inspired countless SoundCloud edits. Joy Orbison has, once again, produced the dance track of the year, 15 years after his debut single “Hyph Mngo” changed the sound of club music. That sort of gap between titles simply isn’t supposed to happen in a genre that is constantly evolving. — Otis Hart
More Like This
Judas Priest
“The Serpent and the King”
If there was any doubt that Judas Priest came back with its best album in decades, I submit these opening moments as evidence. A relentlessly raging riff — with a little Lemmy tossed in — that hangs in uncertainty for just a few seconds, before the band locks in and never lets go. The riffs and solos spiral and evolve with a dizzying quickness as Rob Halford shreds in his upper register, reminding us why he’s still the Metal God. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Barry Brecheisen/Getty
Ka
“Bread Wine Body Blood”
It’s only right that Ka’s last will and testament includes an elegy for the state of hip-hop. Instead of an old head’s diatribe against rap’s most marketable vices — paper, pills, p****, pistols — it’s a 9/11 first-responder’s attempt to resuscitate a narcotized culture by revealing the twisted plot: “It’s a shared struggle that we all go through / Don’t be the weapon they use to harm you.” — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
Kacey Musgraves
“Deeper Well”
In this exceptionally vulnerable and confessional folk-pop gem, Musgraves blends her understated brand of country music with a poignant narrative about the choices involved in making life changes. True to the song’s title, repeated listens reveal deeper themes of resilience, self-discovery and a story that feels universally relatable. — David Safar, The Current
More Like This
Giorgio Viera/Getty
Karol G
“Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido”
Best of the Best — Before La Bichota even has a chance to turn on the flirt, her merengue-fueled ode to the Dominican Republic gets your hips moving. Between the pasos prohibidos, Karol’s cheeky pickup lines (“usted cerca me pone peligrosa!”) and the tiki bar-themed music video, it plays like the soundtrack to a sneaky summer fling, all year round. — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Kassie Krut
“Reckless”
Kim Gordon rapped a list of travel necessities with the utmost badassness this year; this feels like a natural extension and evolution of that underground trash-pop sound — industrial yet accessible, intense yet cool to the touch. In a post-apocalyptic playground, you can imagine kids chanting its playful hook: “If you ask me who I wanna be / I’mma spell it out so it’s plain to see / K-A-S-S-I-E K-R-U-T-T-T-T!” — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Alexa Viscius
Katie Gavin
“Aftertaste”
In MUNA, Katie Gavin has a larger-than-life quality; she’s an icon in the making. As a solo artist, she leans into more approachable vibes, conjuring the laid-back spirit of crowd-pleasers like Sheryl Crow while still maintaining her own distinct identity. “Aftertaste” checks every box imaginable: It’s a banger that never skimps on breeziness, with hooks for days on end. — Stephen Thompson
More Like This
Kehlani
“After Hours”
The infectious, eternal “Coolie Dance Riddim” strikes again: The dancehall staple, popularized stateside by Nina Sky in 2004 with “Move Ya Body,” is its own colossal force, and Kehlani makes it her own for this iridescent hit. The singer treats the riddim as an act of worldbuilding; its throbbing beat is the frame for a club adventure turned private rendezvous. In it, you can feel a vibrational nightlife, the rush of desire pushing everything else to the margins. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
pgLang
Kendrick Lamar
“Euphoria”
If “Not Like Us” was the coup de grâce, this song was the snare, a point-by-point anti-Drake dissertation that laid out all of the Toronto bon vivant’s soft targets and laid the groundwork for his deposal. Here, Kendrick ups the stakes from petty squabbling to head-hunting and queue-clearing, animosity and indignation fueling a vicious, carefully crafted takedown that will forever live as the turning point in a generational feud. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
pgLang
Kendrick Lamar
“Not Like Us”
Best of the Best — This is not a diss record. This is a hyphy anthem going dumb with extra Mustard. This is not a diss record. This is a treatise on the cultural appropriation of Black American negritude. This is not a diss record. This is a VH1 celebrity roast in which the guest of honor has been banned from TV. This is not a diss record. This is a For Us By Us slapper across the face of them that got by ill-gotten means. This is not a diss. — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
David Black
Khruangbin
“May Ninth”
The smooth groovin’ uber-popular trio from Texas has built a devoted audience with laidback songs like the sublime “May Ninth.” With a soothing tempo and simple lyrics, this hopeful vignette of a not-too-distant memory hints at a brighter future full of hope that’s really comforting right about now. — Suraya Mohamed
More Like This
Kim Gordon
“BYE BYE”
Best of the Best — Only Kim Gordon could just coolly rattle off her chic packing list (“hoodie, toothpaste, brush”) over a menacing trap beat originally made for rapper Playboi Carti — that kind of sounds like it’s playing out of the worst speakers in existence — for one of the best songs of the year. — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Brock Fetch
Knocked Loose feat. Poppy
“Suffocate”
Beware: This song will ruin your life. The main riff, guitar downtuned to A Standard, drags at a menacing pace, only to escalate to a series of discordant metallic hardcore cyclones. If that wasn’t enough to knock you over, vocalist Byrna Garris cedes scorched territory to the pop-metal oddity Poppy, who brings a monstrously eerie presence, especially a chilling scream of the title just before, of all things, a deliriously damaged dembow breakdown. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Maria Del Rio
La Doña feat. Tongo Eisen-Martin
“Corrales”
In her classically perfect blend of American sound and Mexican soul, singer La Doña sings of frustration and grief over the problems of her current home using the tools for expression provided by her ancestral one. In a seamless incorporation of cumbia and hip-hop stylings, the potential for sonic ingenuity derivative of a “ni de aqui, ni de alla” existence is on shining display. — Anamaria Sayre
More Like This
Eric Ryan Anderson
Lainey Wilson
“Hang Tight Honey”
Considering the routines that accompany life as a touring musician, it’s no surprise that so many songs involve missing loved ones while out playing shows. For recently minted country superstar Lainey Wilson, those alone-on-the-road feelings fuel a rowdy and infectious mix of the specific (her relationship with former NFL player Devlin “Duck” Hodges) and the universal (the sense that our work might be crowding out the people who matter most). — Stephen Thompson
More Like This
Tamsin Topolski
Laura Marling
“Patterns”
Best of the Best — Form wraps around content in this exquisite rondelay the way a bright needlework border defines the edges of an heirloom blanket. Marling’s airy finger-picking runs in graceful figures around her musings about how a woman’s life unfolds and folds in upon itself, only to grow richer for the repetition. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Jack Bool
Leon Bridges
“Peaceful Place”
With his Texan roots shining through, Grammy winner Leon Bridges conveys and provides a calmness and clarity that permeates with southern sounds: country, gospel and soul. Singing from a place of euphoria, he’s trying to bring as many along to explore, transform and enjoy the simple things life. — Kyle Smith, WYEP
More Like This
Karolina Wielocha
Little Simz
“SOS”
Little Simz’s series of interstitial Drop EPs have been a haven for the U.K. rapper’s experimental fare. On her seventh, she worked with British producer Jakwob, whose sparse, percussive groove on “SOS” sucks you in before Simz even makes an appearance. After 90 seconds, she finally does, for one hypnotic verse: “Got the keys in the east to the west / Got the keys in the north to the south.” — Jeff McCord, KUTX
More Like This
Cole Nielsen
Lizzie No
“Mourning Dove Waltz”
Nestled like an egg within the nest of the folk polymath’s brilliant album Halfsies, this gentle lamentation inspired by birds residing on her windowsill registers the loss in growth, mourns it and gently takes flight beyond it. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Andrea Ballesta
Mabe Fratti
“Kravitz”
The Guatemala-born, Mexico City-based experimentalist has a way of turning her beloved cello into one of the most metal instruments you’ve ever heard. On the opening track of her fourth album, she pairs a throbbing pulse with ominous horns for a deeply paranoid, layered song about feeling controlled. — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Muriel Margaret
Madi Diaz
“God Person”
This was the rare song that absolutely wrecked me this year. It’s partly about finding joy and purpose in life’s smallest moments — time with friends, gazing at the sky or the ocean. But it’s also about realizing that maybe those moments are precisely where “god” and the ultimate meaning of life exist. — Robin Hilton
More Like This
Mala Rodriguez
“Casi Nada”
Pioneering Spanish hip-hop artist Mala Rodriquez made her big comeback with … indifference? The deeply stirring, piano-laden single off her first album in four years leads with ballad-esque vocals that chillingly profess “Yo miraba toa’ esas llamas (I looked at all those flames) / Y lloraba y gritaba (And I cried and screamed) / Pero ahora no me importa (But now I don’t care) / No me importa casi nada (I don’t care about almost anything).” — Anamaria Sayre
More Like This
Millicent Hailes
Mannequin Pussy
“Loud Bark”
Marisa Dabice has got that dog in her. Over a slinky guitar riff that grows into its growl, she sings the phrase “loud bark, deep bite” as a mantra, a warning and a tease — first in a whisper, then as a command. A dangerously sexy song that demands adoration on her terms. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Moises Saman
Manu Chao
“Viva Tu”
Once the poster boy of multinational musical mash-ups back in the 1990s, Spanish musician Manu Chao still has a legion of fans who eagerly await his musical interpretation of world events. With an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder, he is a 21st century troubadour, capturing cultures and stories from around the world that he distills into song. — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Nelson Espinal
Mdou Moctar
“Funeral for Justice”
The incendiary guitarist from Niger stands up for victims of colonization across Africa on this timely excoriation of corrupt politicians. Why turn a blind eye, he asks, when your rights are trodden upon by G8 nations? Given the global trend toward autocratic rule, the question is bound to become even more relevant. — Otis Hart
More Like This
Noam Galai/Getty
Megan Thee Stallion
“Bigger In Texas”
Even when Megan Thee Stallion’s been dragged through the mud, she still comes out shiny as a “mouth full of diamonds and porcelain.” Meg’s big pimpin’ alter ego, Tina Snow, has returned to Houston for all she’s owed. To mark the homecoming, Tina gives her home state a new classic that’s equal parts sexy slink and sharp-tongued self-coronation. “If these bitches ain’t mad, I need to go harder / I can’t let ‘em think we the same.” — Sidney Madden
More Like This
Aisha Golliher
Melissa Carper
“Your Furniture’s Too Nice”
For the last few years, Arkansas songwriter Melissa Carper has developed into a sure-footed artist with a deft hand in composition, delivery and stage presence. “Your Furniture’s Too Nice” delivers a lilting jazzy vibe with a dead-on message that’s visual, funny and ever so relatable. — Jessie Scott, WMOT
More Like This
Justin Gordon
Merce Lemon
“Backyard Lover”
Pittsburgh-based Merce Lemon delivers a breakthrough single (and guitar solo) on the epic “Backyard Lover.” Inspired by the loss of a friend while in her teens, Lemon hints at grief and loss in this intense reflection that somehow reaches new heights with each listen. — Kyle Smith, WYEP
More Like This
Karly Hartzman
MJ Lenderman
“She’s Leaving You”
Best of the Best — Heartbreak and failed relationships of any kind stink — even the slacker indie-rock kind that MJ Lenderman sings about on “She’s Leaving You.” Leaning into his Neil Young-ian guitar rock with a gorgeous vocal assist from Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman (Lenderman’s actual ex), they sing: “It falls apart, we all got work to do. / It gets dark, we all got work to do.” The repetitive advice to himself is both crushingly pragmatic, yet optimistic. — Bruce Warren, WXPN
More Like This
Aria Herbst
Moses Sumney
“Gold Coast”
The sexiest song on this list begins with a sparse but driving rhythmic pattern and sensual breath-y vocals. Marbled synth sounds set a heat-shimmering vibe that’s both sentimental and carnal, as its hushed lyrics enchant: “Sunrise skin, color of clay / Bump all night and we sleep all day.” — Suraya Mohamed
More Like This
Justine Latour
Myriam Gendron
“Long Way Home”
Best of the Best — Myriam Gendron, a Montreal-based songwriter and interpreter, calls this her pop song. Her once-in-a-lifetime voice — an alto somewhere between flower petals and worn leather — lends itself to songs without a refrain, but here makes the most of its central theme: What it means to return after a metaphorical shipwreck, and hopefully the reprieve found waiting there: “Will you stay by my side?” — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Ivan Resnik
NATHY PELUSO
“APRENDER A AMAR”
This is Argentine-Spanish artist Nathy Peluso at her most brazen. Masterfully arranged, yet crashing production punctuates the intensity of her bars: “Even if you sweeten politics, it still tastes like cement / Everyone wants a revolution, but who takes a moment?” It’s equal parts insistent and surprising. — Anamaria Sayre
More Like This
Lauren Davis
Nourished by Time
“Hell of a Ride”
Breakup songs aren’t traditionally enrapturing affairs, but Marcus Brown doesn’t do things in the usual ways. Thus, he made a soaring, blissful ode to dissolution, a “better to have loved and lost” anthem stripped of all cliché that also reads as a valedictory for late-stage capitalism, its consumerist focus and lack of third spaces. Somewhere at the center of R&B and art-pop and post-punk lies Brown’s rousing voice, which is so compelling it can make even parting feel like a balmy, loving embrace. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Danika Lawrence
Nubya Garcia
“Clarity”
The London-based saxophonist and composer’s recent exploration of string orchestrations comes out lush and beautiful on “Clarity,” a standout from her ambitious project Odyssey. Garcia conveys a feeling of independence and fortitude that’s grounded on beats two and four, atop a celestial melodic line. — Suraya Mohamed
More Like This
Israel Ramos
NxWorries feat. Rae Khalil
“OutTheWay”
This record by Anderson .Paak and his long-time producer Knxwledge sports a gumbo-thick analog mix that could have been extracted from an old cassette mixtape. It weaves a tale of anticipation about the mysteries of new love. Armed with a palpable, slow-burning heat, it’s a track made for midnight lowrider cruises and twilight rendezvous. — Ayana Contreras, KUVO
More Like This
Odeal
“Soh-Soh”
Earlobe kisses, Soft Life promises, extra sauced-up sweet nothings. London-based Nigerian newcomer Odeal was so in his zone when he recorded his viral hit, he says the chorus doesn’t even translate to real words. This flirty offshoot of Igbo slang captures the unspoken electricity of eyes meeting and auras passing for the first time. And once that hypnosis and a wandering saxophone lock Odeal in, he’ll do anything to follow that feeling. — Sidney Madden
More Like This
Shervin Lainez
Odie Leigh
“Either Way”
“Do you wanna kiss me, wanna kiss me, wanna kiss me …” Invasive thoughts have rarely been rendered with such grace as in this spot-on expression of the feelings that can hijack an uncertain brain in a romance’s early days. As the song’s circular rhythms spin her sturdy voice into a tangle and the music builds and crashes, Leigh leans into her doubts, her desire: “I want, I want.” — Ann Powers
More Like This
Noel Brennan
Patricia Brennan Septet
“Five Suns”
A blast from the trio of horns announce the arrival of Mexican-born Patricia Brennan’s vibraphone. What follows is a cycle of fiery solos from her septet, building on each other, as they create a sonic world worthy of the creation myth the title evokes. — Mitra I. Arthur
More Like This
Ryan Russell
Pedro the Lion
“Modesto”
Best of the Best — Many, if not most, dreams in life never come true. But David Bazan’s profoundly affecting reflection on youth and the path that led him to pursue a life in music is a reminder that sometimes they do. It’s an ode, tearful and soaring, to the universal and uniquely human experience of hope. — Robin Hilton
More Like This
Erika Goldring/Getty
Rae Khalil
“Is It Worth It”
One of the biggest records of the year for The Drop here in Denver, Grammy-winner Khalil didn’t disappoint with this groovy two-step. A perfect introduction to her powerful project CRYBABY, the sound is rooted in soulful idioms without being overly nostalgic, injected with a freshness that feels future-leaning. — Ayana Contreras, KUVO
More Like This
RaiNao
“readysita”
Within the current cohort of women running Puerto Rico’s urbano scene, RaiNao pushes experimentation and theatrics to new heights. A bachata breakdown transforms into EDM; a poppers-fueled party mutates into an intimate revelation. For an artist grounded in seizing the moment, she sees every bar as an opportunity to reinvent herself. “There is no right time, there is RaiNao.” — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Robby Klein
The Red Clay Strays
“Ramblin’”
The most upbeat cut by this rising Americana group delivers a simple, yet purposeful message: Not all who wander are lost. “Don’t get me wrong, I love where I’m from … But a ramblin’ fever got a hold of me.” Raucous distorted guitar and a steady four-to-the-floor fuel this anthem, making it the perfect cross-country, road trippin’ tune. — Ashley Pointer
More Like This
Residente feat. Silvia Pérez Cruz and Penélope Cruz
“313”
Best of the Best — Almost a decade after the breakup of Calle 13, vocalist, composer and actor Residente (René Pérez Joglar) continues to be a powerful creative presence in Latin music. “313” is a tribute to the passing of a close friend that is also a rumination on time and “things we do not want to end.” — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Devyn Galindo
Reyna Tropical
“Cartagena”
A cleansing wave. A breath of fresh air. That’s what “Cartagena” feels like. She found refuge and freedom in her connection to nature, literally recording much of it, including this song, on the beach in Colombia. — Raina Douris, World Cafe
More Like This
Sabrina Carpenter
“Espresso”
Best of the Best — “Espresso” announces Sabrina Carpenter as uniquely prepared for the stardom that was awaiting her: It’s a three-minute fireworks display of sly humor, weapons-grade charisma and, as its video proves, crafty world-building. “Espresso” was the shot, “Please Please Please” was the chaser, and here we are, living in a landscape she’s been crafting for years. — Stephen Thompson
More Like This
Sophie Muller
Sade
“Young Lion”
When Sade sings, the world listens … or at least it should. Her voice is a calm in the storm even as another rages within. A tribute, love letter and apology to her trans son, this stunning highlight from the Red Hot Organization’s TRAИƧA compilation sees a moment for what it is: A chance to truly love someone for who they are and will be. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
AB + DM
Samara Joy
“Reincarnation of a Lovebird”
Best of the Best — Charles Mingus composed “Reincarnation of a Lovebird” in the late 1950s, four decades before Samara Joy was born. This recording of the song — featuring her lovelorn lyrics set to his discursive melody — neatly collapses that distance. It’s a bravura turn by one of jazz’s keen new torchbearers. — Nate Chinen, WRTI
More Like This
atibaphoto
Shabaka
“End of Innocence”
There’s something equal parts haunting and all-knowing about the opening notes from Shabaka Hutchings’ debut solo LP, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace. “End of Innocence” begins with a disturbing dissonance that supersedes any belief system or political affiliation you might swear by, before subsuming you into something much greater than self. Recorded in the same studio where Coltrane’s A Love Supreme was tracked, Shabaka’s quartet here — Jason Moran, piano; Nasheet Waits, drums; Carlos Niño, percussion — sounds divinely in tune with the now. — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
Daniel Prakopcyk
Shaboozey
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
2024 has been a pivotal year for this Virginia-bred country star, with the pop chart champion that is “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” helming that success. With its infectious hook encapsulating a rowdy energy made for celebrations and singalongs, the song delivers an anthem for nights you’ll (possibly) never forget. — Ashley Pointer
More Like This
Natalie Malchev
Sheila E. feat. Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar
“Bemba Colorá”
Best of the Best — Sheila E.’s first album featuring all Afro-Caribbean-influenced salsa is of course a no holds barred percussive explosion. Choosing a Celia Cruz cover for the lead off single is a statement of how she both respects the canon but also finds a place for her own musical and percussive vision. — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Bobbi Rich
Sierra Ferrell
“Dollar Bill Bar”
The Americana Music Association’s artist of the year struck gold on this swaggering, self-incriminating story of a song. Penned by Ferrell and Melody Walker, “Dollar Bill Bar” features vivid imagery and the type of narrative twist usually reserved for prestige TV and seasonal podcasts. — Otis Hart
More Like This
ShinKatan x Weirdcore
The Smile
“Don’t Get Me Started”
The Smile further distances itself from Radiohead with this skittering, slow-burn side-eye to the age of sanctimonious and duplicitous finger-pointing. The problem, Thom Yorke repeatedly insists, is that “you don’t get me.” But that overly persistent plea — and the shaky foundation it stands on — are really a reminder that (as noted in the TV adaptation of the dystopian Station Eleven), “to the monsters, we’re the monsters.” — Robin Hilton
More Like This
Still House Plants
“M M M”
The musicians in Britain’s post-punk scene are resisting nostalgia better than most of us these days. This London trio — Jess Hickie-Kallenbach, vocals; David Kennedy, drums; Finlay Clark, guitar — forgoes hooks, verses and choruses on “M M M,” yet still come out the other side with a bewitching earworm. — Otis Hart
More Like This
Chandan Khanna/Getty
Taylor Swift
“Clara Bow”
The defining pop star of the selfie age stands back and regards herself, seeing through the b.s. of her fame, implicating herself and everyone who’s fed the ego that, she knows, both fuels and poisons her. Chamber pop was made for such soliloquies, and Aaron Dessner’s mega-minimalist arrangement (15 violinists, five violists, four cellists, three double bassists!) forms the spotlight that makes this song such a show-stopper. Dazzling. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Adrienne Raquel
Tems
“Love Me JeJe”
Best of the Best — A standout from Tems’ debut album, Born in the Wild, “Love Me JeJe” reimagines the beloved Nigerian classic from Seyi Sodimu with a tender twist. Over bright rhythm guitar and an infectious groove, Tems relishes in a soft love: “If not you, then I don’t wanna know, I don’t want no story / Day and night, it’s unconditional, got mе living softly / Love me jeje, love me tender.” — Ashley Pointer
More Like This
Gustavo Oliveras
Thee Sacred Souls
“Lucid Girl”
Once upon a time, a woman was faced with difficult choices. Did this “Lucid Girl,” choose herself or a lover? Stagnation or change? Reminiscent of the golden sound of Motown, this ballad by Thee Sacred Souls celebrates women’s autonomy and empowerment. This band has Got a Story to Tell, and it only costs a couple heartstrings. — Nikki Birch
More Like This
Nathan Tucker
Thou
“I Feel Nothing When You Cry”
Spend enough time crafting completely perverse covers of classic hardcore and ‘90s grunge, and some of those hooks are bound to rub off. For a sludge metal band known for epic song lengths, here brevity is the sole of wit in the chaos of the pit. For four minutes, a barrage of blackened punk riffs feel like a blur, yet leave a fresh wound. — Lars Gotrich
More Like This
Jesse Grant/Getty
Tierra Whack
“Shower Song”
Best of the Best — Cleanliness is next to silliness in the gospel according to Tierra Whack. There came a point during the recording of her debut full-length, World Wide Whack, where she reached a new low. But it’s no secret what piping hot water and some good bathroom acoustics can do. “Shower Song” is a celebration in isolation, a bop meant to ward off the blues and proof that joy cometh, if not in the morning, then whenever you can revel in the sound of your own voice. — Rodney Carmichael
More Like This
Callum Walker
Tinashe
“Nasty”
After a decade of pumping out artful, critically adored but commercially underrated R&B, Tinashe scored her first big hit in nearly a decade with the addictive “Nasty,” a sweaty, bare-bones pop song that asks the most romantic question of the year: “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” — Hazel Cills
More Like This
Maggie Barger
Tiny Habits
“Wishes”
Best of the Best — The intimacy of close harmony singing has rarely served a song the way this young trio’s blend does in this heartfelt expression of the human tendency to feel unmoored within one’s own skin. Each member takes a verse, confessing sorrows with painful honesty; then, in the choruses, their voices gently connect, like fingers intertwining. This is what empathy sounds like. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Josh Belvedere
Tommy Richman
“MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
Best of the Best — Tommy Richman is a skilled producer-songwriter who’s been coming up for a while — but in this instant roller rink classic, he plays a different role to perfection. He’s that kid who’s always hanging around, nobody knows whether he has a job or much of a future, then one night he jumps up to do karaoke at the local dive and OMG, he’s a genius! The soundtrack to this baby’s breakthrough is a wash of stacked vocals from growl to falsetto, trap beats and synth parts washed so clean of context they could pay for a tropical island. Sometimes the burnouts win. — Ann Powers
More Like This
John Crawford
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Challengers: Match Point”
The soundtrack to the film of the year, by which I am referring to the 97-second cat chase POV video Corey Atad juiced with Reznor and Ross’s 200 proof shot of adrenaline and posted on Twitter in April. Its lesson: If you missed your coffee or need to make spreadsheet work feel high stakes or just wanna feel your heart beating in your eyeballs while you sit on the couch, put the Challengers music on it. — Jacob Ganz
More Like This
Troker
“El Novio (Versión Mariachi)”
This Guadalajara, Mexico-based jazz band always pushes the limits of the genre. This single does that and more as the group seamlessly mashes up its own jazz fusion sensibilities with mariachi, which history says was born in their hometown. It’s so well done you hardly notice the changes. — Felix Contreras
More Like This
Tyler ICU & DJ Maphorisa
“Manzi Nte”
The most exciting pop music on the planet right now is being made in South Africa. The reigning kings of amapiano follow up last year’s juggernaut “Mnike” with another tantric banger full of plummeting subs and trill whistles. Vocalist Masterpiece YVK assumes the role of whoever it was that made Tyla water. — Otis Hart
More Like This
Michael Schmelling
Vampire Weekend
“Classical”
From the intro’s calming guitar strums to saxophonist Henry Thomas’s manic solo, Ezra Koenig brings us a tune about how cruel historical events take shape and evolve into a state of being “classical.” The song has an adventurous musical spirit and the rhythm section speaks in a jazz-like language. — Bruce Warren, WXPN
More Like This
Vanisha Gould
“Demure”
The irrepressible jazz singer Vanisha Gould has some sardonic advice for women: “Hush. Don’t talk too much.” Delivered in a swinging, Bob Dorough-esque deadpan, it’s a clever indictment of the unsolicited advice that still proliferates, and sometimes self-perpetuates. Gould, very mindful, is having none of it. — Nate Chinen, WRTI
More Like This
Shaniqwa Jarvis
Vince Staples
“Étouffée”
Long the known unknown, the Long Beach rapper often makes hedging feel like a personal practice. Rarely has this smart-mouthed phantom been more transparent than he is on this song, which channels a newly revealed Nola family lineage into his particular brand of eerie SoCal blues. In mining this tension, he finds a balance he’s been seeking in his music — shadowy yet buoyant, hooky yet narrative driven, as direct as it is calculating. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Molly Matalon
Waxahatchee feat. MJ Lenderman
“Right Back To It”
Best of the Best — One of the most irresistible tracks of 2024. Katie Crutchfield’s low-key masterwork depicts an anxious mind struggling to accept a partner’s unconditional love. Along with Spencer Tweedy’s patient percussion and Phil Cook’s mesmerizing banjo as a foundation, MJ Lenderman’s steadying harmony gently navigates Crutchfield from uncertainty toward the beauty that can be found in familiarity. — Desiré Moses, WNRN
More Like This
Salomé Gomis-Trezise
WILLOW
“run!”
The scion of the Smith family dynasty has spent many years trying to shirk her celebrity birthright, opting instead, in her search for self, to pursue a heady mysticism. That journey has included a sustained, earnest descent into rock and a continued sharpening of her songcraft. Those parallel paths lead here: a surging race around the feedback loop of self-sabotage. Traveling rapidly along her growth curve leads her closer than ever to the font of potential she yearns to tap into. — Sheldon Pearce
More Like This
Natalie Rhea
Wyatt Flores
“Half Life”
Wyatt Flores is growing up in public, letting the Oklahoma red dirt stick to his Vans as he reinvents the troubadour role for Gen Z. A young man’s elegy for his misspent teenage years, this soaring ballad looks toward home and family without underestimating the allure of the horizon. — Ann Powers
More Like This
Kevin Estrada
X
“The Way It Is”
A paean to fallen friends hits harder as one of the great chapters of American music comes to a close. Smoke and Fiction will be the Los Angeles quartet’s final album. Decades of visceral, uncompromising music mark a career where they’ve controlled every aspect but one: Time. That’s just the way it is. — Jeff McCord, KUTX
More Like This
Yannis and the Yaw feat. Tony Allen
“Walk Through Fire”
For his debut EP as Yannis & The Yaw, Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis culled material from his 2016 recording session with dearly departed Afrobeat icon Tony Allen. Although the virtuosic drummer left us in 2020, his spirit is the backbone of the project. Fused with a crunchy guitar riff, a clap-along through-line and Philippakis’ assured snarl, “Walk Through Fire” buzzes with a palpable energy that makes the title lyric feel achievable. — Desiré Moses, WNRN
More Like This
Young Miko
“Tamagotchi”
If Young Miko’s signature bucket hats, crop tops and baggy pants make her resemble a character from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, “Tamagotchi” is the song to match. Pop-punk guitars crash into a playful reggaeton beat as urbano’s alt princess poetically pleads for nudes; her raspy voice makes a compelling case, complete with a cutesy video game outro to seal the deal. — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
More Like This
Yuja Wang
“Danzon No. 2 (Marquez)”
The redoubtable, restless virtuoso pianist proves that precision, effervescence and a well-crafted transcription can make you forget any amount of stylish orchestration in this beloved, originally symphonic, gem by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. It caps a live concert performance wherein Wang spans centuries and myriad styles with her signature élan. — Tom Huizenga