We’ve already been over the best albums that 2024 has offered so far; now, we’re here to highlight some of the best songs and singles of the year, whether they showed up on some of those albums or not. A.V. Club staffers weighed in and took stock of their favorites of the year, from trending pop to non-mainstream hipster stuff and everything in between. Let us know what we missed in the comments!
Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine didn’t make as big of a splash as her previous albums, but it’s got some of the year’s most sublime pop songs on it. The breakup songs are good, but Grande has always excelled at sexy relationship songs. “Supernatural” is one of those, a straightforward ode to love’s allure. The premise is familiar, but Grande’s powerhouse voice, the sultry production, and the simple, tight lyricism make it a worthy entry into her already iconic catalog of hits. An additional version with a feature with her longtime friend and collaborator Troye Sivan adds an extra bit of zest to an already delicious track. [Mary Kate Carr]
A lot of Beyoncé albums feature a funky, erotic fantasia in the middle. Her 2013 self-titled album has “Rocket”; 2022’s Renaissance has the one-two punch of “Plastic Off The Sofa” and especially “Virgo’s Groove.” Cowboy Carter still manages to give all three tracks a run for their money with the galaxy-sized “II Hands II Heaven,” a highlight of the album and one of the most harmonically rich songs in Beyoncé’s entire discography. She conveys romantic devotion like few others as the track ditches traditional pop structure. A whole choir of Beyoncé sings “Baby, I’ve been waiting my whole life for you and I,” but what comes after feels almost too personal for us normals to hear. “So let’s lose us in these sheets,” she coos, “and when I get up to walk, I wanna feel weak.” Enough said. [Drew Gillis]
Billie Eilish packs a strong punch with only 10 songs in Hit Me Hard And Soft. They’re all phenomenal but the breezy, soft, romantic “Birds Of A Feather” especially sticks with you. On the surface, it’s a simple song about wanting to cling to the love of your life for eternity. But she spins the proverb “birds of a feather flock together” to make it about an all-consuming, and specifically queer, relationship.Not even couples using it in the background of their relentless social media reels will make you tire of it—that’s how you know your work is priceless. [Saloni Gajjar]
In their very first meeting with A24 for I Saw The TV Glow, director Jane Schoenbrun declared that they wanted to “make the best soundtrack ever” for their film. “I really wanted to give it the space, energy and love that it deserved on its own terms,” Schoenbrun told Paste. Well now that soundtrack is out, and their originally stated goal doesn’t seem so lofty anymore. The album, released in conjunction with the film this past May, is a small melancholy miracle, alternating between blind rage and punch-you-in-the-gut nostalgia every few beats. While all of its original songs—sourced from artists like Sloppy Jane, Phoebe Bridgers, King Woman, Jay Som, and more—are worthy listens in their own right, Caroline Polachek’s “Starburned And Unkissed” is a particular standout. At once delicate and explosive, the track feels like a yearning late-night drive captured on stereo. [Emma Keates]
Chappell Roan was already an A.V. Club favorite after her phenomenal 2023 debut, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, but “Good Luck, Babe!” represents an incredible leveling up. The vocals that were already impressive on her debut are even bigger and bolder. Her lyrics are even more precise and brimming with righteous anger. The retro production somehow perfectly suits her uniquely Gen Z sensibility. This single is a huge smash, and if it’s anything to go by, her follow-up album is going to send her to the stratosphere. When we look back on this moment—“Good Luck Babe” rising on the charts, festival crowds flocking to her stage—we’re going to remember it as the moment Roan ascended to the ranks of generational star. [Mary Kate Carr]
It’s not just the airport-themed music video—Charli XCX’s “Von Dutch” truly sounds like liftoff. Introducing her especially club-ready BRAT era, the track is a snarling middle finger, the kind of tease that actually pulls you closer and leaves you hungry for more instead of alienating the audience. Bonus points go to the song’s A.G. Cook-assisted remix, featuring vocals and an ad-libbed scream from erstwhile TikTok queen and aspiring pop girl Addison Rae—yes, it may be winking, but there is no doubt that they are just living that life, Von Dutch, cult classic, etc. [Drew Gillis]
Each delivering some of the best hip hop of the year so far, Chief Keef and Tierra Whack join forces for “Banded Up,” and it sounds massive. Keef provides the song with a ton of gravitas, growling and yelping through his verses, but it’s the deployment of Whack’s signature patter, previously flexed on collaborations like Lil Yatchy’s “T.D.” and Beyoncé’s “My Power” that really captures the ear. With both of them having such a great year, “Banded Up” is more than a joint slay—it’s a victory lap. [Drew Gillis]
The ghostly detours of Cindy Lee’s double LP, Diamond Jubilee, converge multiple times across 32 sprawling tracks. But five songs in, much of the fuzz and haunted melodies fall away for the sparse “All I Want Is You.” Lee’s soul-infused ballad pumps the brakes on the album’s propulsive opening tracks, finding singer-songwriter Patrick Fiegel’s dreamy pop defiantly pushing the emotion of the song to the fore. “All I Want Is You” conjures waylaid images of borders and buses as it fills the singer with an inner strength that musters quickly and disappears. Like so much of Diamond Jubilee, all that’s left is the feeling of something lost long ago—and the hope that it can be regained. [Matt Schimkowitz]
Listening to David Nance & Mowed Sound’s “Tumbleweed” is like sipping an ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day. The shuffling rhythms and sultry harmonies shared between Nance and Pearl Lovejoy-Boyd evoke the dusty Americana of Gram Parsons, applying weary romanticism on a traveling cluster of debris. As Nance and Lovejoy-Boyd sing about following the mass out of town, they paint a picture without many specifics, a broad ballad that could be about a tumbleweed or a romantic fling. Regardless, its hypnotic, circular progression will be blowing around in your head all day. You’ll want to leave this town with “Tumbleweed,” too. [Matt Schimkowitz]
It may not be a World Cup summer, but Zach Witness and Doechii’s beat and chorus for “Alter Ego” would sound right at home spilling out of packed stadium walls. Doechii cements her reputation on the track as one of the most creative and theatrical rappers working right now, using different parts of her voice for outrageous, braggadocious verses and absolutely manic hooks on the chorus. The City Girls’ JT, meanwhile, comes through with her signature bite. It’s early, but this two-person team-up may just be the party of the entire year. [Drew Gillis]
Ten years ago, if you would have told me that Dr. Dog would end up recording my most-listened to new song of 2024 (so far), I simply wouldn’t have believed you. But here we are. This band meant so much to me in the mid-aughts, but for some reason or another, I didn’t keep up with them once they hit a new decade. So imagine my surprise when a friend from those halcyon days texted me this single, from the group’s forthcoming self-titled LP (out July 19), and I couldn’t get enough of it. “Still Can’t Believe” is warm, lo-fi, slow, and very live sounding, as if you’re in the room with them, with Scott McMicken’s older-and-wiser vocals (“All that I was / All that I am / I finally understand”) complementing the vintage organ, guitar, and horns just perfectly. [Tim Lowery]
Indie crooner Faye Webster and “Bubblegum Trap” pioneer Lil Yachty might seem like unlikely collaborators, but the Atlanta natives have actually been friends since middle school. It feels extra fitting, then, that their first official collaboration would be about something as youthful and silly as really coveting a piece of toy jewelry. “I think I hit a point in songwriting during this record where I was just like, man, I said a lot,” Webster wrote of the song in the album’s notes. “The record feels like a mouthful to me, but I don’t always have to be deep. I can just sit down and sing about this ring made of crystal Lego that I really want.” The track itself mirrors this sense of whimsy as the two artists’ styles click together in surprising and unexpected ways, like their own little Lego pieces. The music video, which sees the old friends playing Guitar Hero in someone’s living room, is also a delight. [Emma Keates]
“Ogallala,” the closing track to Hurray For The Riff Raff’s latest album The Past Is Still Alive, is breathtaking. Subtly towing the line between southern rock and old-school FM country, band leader Alynda Segarra’s lyrics are the most poignant mourning of Americana imagery since perhaps Lana Del Rey’s “The Greatest,” conveying the devastation that comes simply from opening your eyes and candidly looking around. “I used to think I was born in the wrong generation,” Segarra sings, “but now I know I made it right on time/to watch the world burn.” Oof. [Drew Gillis]
Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well is brimming with lush orchestrations and ethereal melodies, but mid-album track “Jade Green” is a particular standout. Musgraves has always known how to use her voice as an instrument, but she taps into something particularly special here, her singular tone interweaving with the gradually layering instrumentation flowing beneath and around her. If the larger project of Deeper Well was to evoke the tranquility and reverence of solitude in nature, as the album’s aesthetics seem to suggest, then “Jade Green” is the sonic equivalent of watching a babbling brook grow into a roaring river. [Emma Keates]
The Kendrick-Drake beef was over before it started. At first, it was frankly a little disappointing to see Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize winner, lowering himself to feud with Drake. But without wading into all that, “Not Like Us” transcended the beef to become, dare we say, the summer jump off? With clever lyrics delivered with freewheeling confidence, Lamar tears into Drake, accusing the Certified Lover Boy of being a “certified pedophile,” a “Colonizer,” and a “fan.” These are serious accusations, but we’ll be damned if “Tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A-Minor” isn’t some hilarious Sweet Chin Music. Dropped over Mustard’s infectious beat, Lamar made an undisputed mic drop that people will be bumping all summer. [Matt Schimkowitz]
“Young Drunk Driver” is almost embarrassingly catchy—almost, because the craft and awareness on display in Kirin J Callinan’s track deserves only admiration for worming its way into your brain so effectively. The track sees Callinan playing the role of clairvoyant, warning and pleading for someone to leave their keys with him before they leave the party. His voice is beyond theatrical—it’s near-operatic as he imparts his prophecy. The production crashes and crackles, delivering flickers of Owl City and Rhythm Nation-era Janet Jackson; a musical mashup that, hopefully, prevents a vehicular one. [Drew Gillis]
Long Island’s Lemon Twigs don’t just wear their influences on their sleeves—they’re practically all over their nudie suits. Across five LPs, including 2024’s A Dream Is All We Know, their goal of writing the best Raspberries song ever has never been more within reach, and “If You And I Are Not Wise” represents perhaps the closest they’ve come. Leaning on the playful and evocative pop they learned from Paul McCartney and Todd Rundgren records, brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario craft pure pop perfection, complete with soaring melodies and lush harmonies. Today, it’s just a breath of fresh air, a reminder that people still write songs, not just parts. [Matt Schimkowitz]
Mdou Moctar might be singing in the Tamasheq spoken across several Saharan nations including his native Niger, but the pleas come through as urgently as his blistering guitar licks and Souleymane Ibrahim’s pounding drums. “Funeral For Justice” sees him call out the region’s historic colonizers and current leaders in equal measure: “Dear African leaders, hear my burning question / Why does your ear only heed France and America? / They misled you into giving up your lands / They watch with delight, your fraternal feud / They possess the power to help out but chose not to.” [Josh Jackson]
“Relatable” is one of the most overused compliments in criticism these days, but no one embodies the sheer coolness of correctly tapping into the zeitgeist quite like Olivia Rodrigo. The ascendant Gen Z star continues on her streak of unimpeachable pop punk anthems with “obsessed,” a criminally catchy ode to stalking your partner’s ex on social media, written in collaboration with producer Dan Nigro and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. Sung with ramping intensity, Rodrigo delivers one of the best pre-chorus verses of her career as she admits to knowing the woman in question’s star sign and even her blood type. Yes, she may admittedly have some “issues,” but who among us can truly say they haven’t been tempted to do the same at least once. [Emma Keates]
Boyz Noise came into a lot of people’s ear canals this year via their take on the Challengers soundtrack, but their 3-track EP with bombastic rapper Rico Nasty is also a hell of a lot of fun. Stand-out track “Arintintin,” which opens the project, is a flirtatious flex by way of an aerobics class. The unrelenting bounce of the synth and the four-on-the-floor beat would still be at home in, say, a film about a tennis love triangle, but our emcee is not worried about anyone but herself: “Give me the bling bling, I cause a scene/My skirt is teeny, I make ‘em fiend.” In a year with no shortage of talk-your-shit anthems, “Arintintin” is a more than worthy addition to the conversation. [Drew Gillis]
Rosali’s fourth album, Bite Down, is a bit of a swerve for the folk singer. Though she’s known for her meditative, Aimee Mann-inspired jams, Bite Down’s “My Kind” defies expectations, proving that singer-songwriter Rosali Middleman is also capable of writing the best rock song of the year. Armed with a full band, the hard-rocking Mowed Sound, Rosali joins the band with ease as she cries, “I don’t want to live without you / How am I gonna live without you?” Mowed Sound gives Rosali a firm foundation to stomp with Tusk confidence as she wholeheartedly finds new strength in their camaraderie. We don’t know how they lived without each other—Middleman has never sounded so alive. [Matt Schimkowitz]
I don’t know exactly what a damaged tin-man determinedly attempting to drag himself up a hallway would sound like, but it has to be something to the backing instrumentals at the start of St. Vincent’s (very fittingly titled) single “Broken Man.” This fiery, off-kilter synth-rock track grows from deliberate clinks and clangs perforating Clark’s snarling “Who the hell do you think I am?” into an all-consuming chaotic uproar that swallows Clark’s voice, like a bonfire no longer controlled by the one who lit the match. Expertly produced solely by Clark—a first among her many St. Vincent records—the song lurches forward and stumbles back, calculated and precise in its jaggedness; at least, until it isn’t. As familiar as many of the song’s parts may be to long-time St. Vincent listeners, its sum feels like something new: “Broken Man” belies a new kind of forged-in-fire confidence from Annie Clark, and it’s invigorating. [Casey Epstein-Gross]
Everyone has thought about escaping to another planet—hopefully a better one—when their life is going to shit. Well, SZA takes that universal feeling and bottles it into the excellent “Saturn.” In it, she ruminates about the struggle of being good in a world that’s relentlessly horrible. It sounds nihilistic, sure, but her vocals give the sentiment a weird sort of positivity too. If the lead single of her upcoming album Lana is a sign, we’re in for another treat after SOS. [Saloni Gajjar]
With 31 whopping tracks, it’s easy to file some songs on Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department under forgettable or generic. Some are instant standouts. “But Daddy I Love Him” is the latter and a goddamn earworm. It’s a cheeky nod to Swift’s early chart-topper “Love Story,” with vocals and production harkening back to her country days. The lyrics are an exaggerated, smart, even venomous nod to the constant interference in her dating life, especially from her overzealous fans. It’s a catchy retort overall, but the bridge is spectacularly wordy and delicious. “I’m having his baby / no I’m not / but you should see your faces” is an all-timer line from Ms. Swift. [Saloni Gajjar]
Who knew Nate Amos from experimental art-rock band Water From Your Eyes needed an alter ego for his inner bubble-gum popper? Every single from his upcoming debut album Box For Buddy, Box For Star is a bop, but none more than “Dancing in the Club,” which features a perfect Bruce Hornsby-esque piano run in the middle of his frenetic electro-pop and self-deprecating, heavily processed vocals. A little blast of joy, it’s a good candidate for song of the summer. [Josh Jackson]