What can I say about this year in music? I would typically toss off some sentiment about how it’s been pretty good overall, maybe even better than expected. It comes from a place of honest belief, because there’s just so much music released in any given year you can always find something new to love. If you can’t, then you’re probably just not looking hard enough. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve been disappointed with a majority of releases in a given year. Even when the bigger names or zeitgeisty artists fail to deliver, a smaller artist or band is right there to pick up the slack. So yes, 2024 was another strong one for music.

Singles in particular stood out to me this year more than albums as a whole, even though you’ll see plenty of crossover between the “Best Songs” and “Best Albums” lists. But think about it for a minute. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was an inspiration that flourished from his diss track battle with Drake and wasn’t on the album he’d release near the end of the year. Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” was a one-off single that wasn’t on her album from last year with all the other hits. Addison Rae finally gave us a song worth listening to more than once with “Diet Pepsi”, and Disclosure’s “She’s Gone, Dance On” also isn’t connected to an album, though both tracks will probably appear on as-yet-unannounced 2025 albums. There are plenty more examples, from SZA to Panda Bear to ANOHNI and the Johnsons who gave us some very worthwhile singles this year. They all appear on the Top 100 Songs of 2024 list, which you can find below.

The “rules” of this list are simple. To qualify, a song must have been released at some point in the calendar year of 2024, so album advance singles released in fall 2023 are not eligible. Lastly, no lead artist may be included more than once, though featured guests do not count toward this total. The idea is to spread the love around and ideally introduce you to songs you might not have heard otherwise. It gives a leg up to those smaller names like Brennan Wedl, Still House Plants, Fake Fruit, Sea Lemon, and Night Tapes. Plus there’s plenty of local Chicago love with songs from Friko, Brigitte Calls Me Baby, Hannah Frances, Finom, Dehd, and Beach Bunny. You can hear this list of songs via the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post. I’ll be posting a YouTube version of this playlist as well in the next few days. Of note, the song from Cindy Lee listed below is unavailable on Spotify at the moment, which is why that playlist isn’t complete. I’ll add it back should Cindy Lee allow Spotify to stream it again. Please enjoy, listen on shuffle if you’re so inclined, and share your personal favorite songs with me on social media!

100. Suki Waterhouse – Supersad
99. Dehd – Mood Ring
98. Georgia Gets By – Madeline
97. Beach Bunny – Vertigo
96. Fake Fruit – Mucho Mistrust
95. Cash Cobain & Bay Swag – Fisherrr
94. Finom – Cyclops
93. Revival Season – Barry White
92. Wisp – Luna
91. ANOHNI and the Johnsons – Breaking
90. Dean Blunt – DOWNER (ft. Panda Bear & Vegyn)
89. Sea Lemon – Crystals (ft. Benjamin Gibbard)
88. Hannah Frances – Keeper of the Shepherd
87. Brigitte Calls Me Baby – We Were Never Alive
86. GloRilla – TGIF
85. Khruangbin – Pon Pon
84. Dummy – Blue Dada
83. Dogs on Shady Lane – Knife (Lady)
82. Burial – Dreamfear
81. salute – saving flowers (ft. Rina Sawayama)
80. Empress Of – Lorelei
79. Big Sean – Precision
78. Beth Gibbons – Floating on a Moment
77. SZA – Saturn
76. Panda Bear – Defense (ft. Cindy Lee)
75. Mustafa – SNL
74. Being Dead – Van Goes
73. Goat Girl – ride around
72. Ducks Ltd. – Hollowed Out
71. Rachel Chinouriri – It Is What It Is
70. Jane Penny – Wear You Out
69. JPEGMAFIA – either on or off the drugs
68. Father John Misty – I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All
67. julie – clairbourne practice
66. claire rousay – head
65. A$AP Rocky – HIGHJACK (ft. Jessica Pratt)
64. Disclosure – She’s Gone, Dance On
63. Been Stellar – Pumpkin
62. Brittany Howard – Red Flags
61. Nia Archives – Cards on the Table
60. Night Tapes – loner
59. Mount Kimbie – Empty and Silent (ft. King Krule)
58. Tems – Love Me JeJe
57. Friko – Get Numb to It!
56. ScHoolboy Q – Yeern 101
55. Bon Iver – S P E Y S I D E
54. The Marias – Run Your Mouth
53. Fcukers – Bon Bon
52. Addison Rae – Diet Pepsi
51. Bnny – Good Stuff
50. Tyler, the Creator – Take Your Mask Off (ft. Daniel Caesar & Latoiya Williams)
49. SPRINTS – Heavy
48. Los Campesinos! – 0898 HEARTACHE
47. Brennan Wedl – Kudzu
46. Nick León & Erika de Casier – Bikini
45. Artemas – i like the way you kiss me
44. Chief Keef – Treat Myself
43. Faye Webster – Lego Ring (ft. Lil Yachty)
42. St. Vincent – Flea
41. Jamie xx – Baddy On The Floor (ft. Honey Dijon)
40. Fievel Is Glauque – As Above So Below
39. JADE – Angel of My Dreams
38. Lola Young – Wish You Were Dead
37. Remi Wolf – Cinderella
36. Astrid Sonne – Do you wanna
35. FKA twigs – Eusexua
34. Mk.gee – Alesis
33. Mach-Hommy – #RICHAXXHAITIAN (ft. Kaytranada & 03 Greedo)
32. Tyla – Jump
31. Geordie Greep – Holy, Holy
30. Jane Remover – Magic I Want U
29. Kim Gordon – I’m A Man
28. Still House Plants – M M M
27. skaiwater – rain
26. Kassie Krut – Reckless
25. The Smile – Friend of a Friend
24. Peel Dream Magazine – Lie in the Gutter
23. Nilufer Yanya – Like I Say (I runaway)
22. Beyonce – YA YA
21. Adrianne Lenker – Sadness as a Gift
20. Vampire Weekend – Classical
19. Tommy Richman – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
18. Jessica Pratt – Life Is
17. Cindy Lee – Lockstepp
16. This Is Lorelei – I’m All Fucked Up
15. The Cure – Alone
14. Billie Eilish – BIRDS OF A FEATHER
13. Magdalena Bay – Image
12. Doechii – NISSAN ALTIMA
11. MJ Lenderman – She’s Leaving You
10. Clairo – Sexy to Someone
9. Tinashe – Nasty
8. Mannequin Pussy – Loud Bark
7. Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
6. Nourished By Time – Hand On Me
5. Charli xcx – Girl, so confusing featuring Lorde
4. Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
3. Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
2. Waxahatchee – Right Back To It (ft. MJ Lenderman)
1. Fontaines D.C. – Starburster