With the calendar year coming to a close and Apple Music Replay or Spotify Wrapped highlights popping up all around, there is no better time to reflect on all of the excellent music of 2024 than now. Read on for the Daily Bruin’s unranked, alphabetical list of 10 of the best songs of the year.
“APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars created an upbeat party song with “APT.,” perfect for listening to when hanging out with friends.
With carefree repetition, ROSÉ reveals her desire for love, singing “Red hearts, red hearts / That’s what I’m on, yeah / Come give me somethin’ I can feel.” Mars’ and ROSÉ’s voices blend to perfection from the second verse onward, forming a surprising yet welcome collaboration. While the song has many repetitive lyrics, it remains fresh and fun due to the duo’s strong execution and fast tempo.
Listeners are bound to lose plenty of sleep listening to this song, and tonight is the time to go crazy when singing “APT.”
– Amy Wong
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish’s stunning vocals are light as a feather in her heartwarming song “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.”
Breezy and deeply emotional, the track from the album “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” explores a connection so strong that Eilish proclaims her undying love for an anonymous muse. Soft guitar plucks are integrated beautifully into the chorus. While the song itself feels light, Eilish’s lyrics are powerful without feeling too heavy, especially when she sings “I want you to stay / ‘Til I’m in the grave / ‘Til I rot away, dead and buried / ‘Til I’m in the casket you carry.”
In any other song, such lyrics could lead to a pessimistic tone, yet Eilish delicately sings as she depicts a love that lasts forever.
– Amy Wong
“CHIHIRO” by Billie Eilish
Amid several hit singles on her latest album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,” Eilish has opened the door to a raw, hypnotic soundscape with her ethereal track, “CHIHIRO.”
Inspired by the 2001 Studio Ghibli animated film “Spirited Away,” the 22-year-old singer-songwriter blends elements of techno-house and R&B to create an echoing tale of loss and heartbreak. “CHIHIRO” successfully juxtaposes the raunchy, quick tempo of its predecessor, “LUNCH,” by overlaying Eilish’s gossamery falsetto atop a swaying, trancelike melody. In true Eilish fashion, the song peaks with its overwhelmingly emotional bridge, in which she begs for resolution within a haunting relationship, shouting, “I don’t know why I called / I don’t know you at all.”
Eilish pairs a lyrically reflective journey with resonances of freeing ascension, making “CHIHIRO” a phenomenal song that listeners are bound to play on repeat.
– Eleanor Meyers
[Related: Second Take: Despite overlooks, nominations for 2025 Grammy Awards capture vital music projects]
“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter captures the energy of summer in her hit single “Espresso.”
The lead single from Carpenter’s album “Short n’ Sweet” encompasses the joy and lightheartedness of the season with its witty lyricism and upbeat tempo. “Espresso” is reminiscent of 1980s disco records, and its simple yet compelling synth-pop production makes for an addictive listen. With lyrics like “Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know / That’s that me espresso” and “Walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya,” “Espresso” champions self-confidence as Carpenter playfully acknowledges how her admirer is infatuated with her.
Like its name implies, “Espresso” is full of energy, fun and infectious optimism.
– Sydney Gaw
“Girl, so confusing featuring lorde” by Charli xcx and Lorde
Charli xcx’s “BRAT” took the world by storm, but “Girl, so confusing featuring lorde” is what made the Internet go crazy.
The song is the epitome of the “BRAT” sound, with its bumping bass and synth-pop beat over which Charli xcx and Lorde work out their heavy feelings drenched in Auto-Tune. The pair engage in the most honest, genuine dialogue of the year as they reveal their inner thoughts to each other and the world. Charli xcx explains “I don’t know if you like me,” while Lorde discusses that “I never thought for a second / My voice was in your head.”
“Girl, so confusing featuring lorde” is vulnerable and complex, reminding us that an honest conversation can help heal any rocky relationship – perhaps even through a remix.
– Vishnu Potharaju
“Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” is addictively catchy while encapsulating the complex struggles of queer relationships.
“Good Luck, Babe!” was Roan’s breakout song, exemplifying both her distinctive artistic style and creative spirit. With its references to compulsory heterosexuality, “Good Luck, Babe!” became a queer anthem for pop listeners. The lyrics “You can kiss a hundred boys in bars / Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling” are perhaps the emotional climax of the song, capturing the cognitive dissonance that some queer individuals face pursuing relationships in a heteronormative society. The track fuses synth-pop and baroque pop to highlight Roan’s vocal range and artful lyricism, cementing her ingenuity as a musical artist capable of producing songs that are equal parts poignant and energetic.
“You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling” of how good “Good Luck, Babe!” is.
– Sydney Gaw
“Highway Queen” by Mt. Joy
In search of the perfect windows-down, summer-sunshine song? Look no further: Mt. Joy has released a true folksy love anthem.
Led with a full-force guitar opening and buoyant beat to follow, “Highway Queen” features frontman Matt Quinn’s endearingly crunchy vocal fry as he sings about appreciating a loved one for who they are, flaws and all. The song encapsulates the honeymoon-phase sensation felt when enjoying the company of someone new, using vivid imagery and upbeat lyrics like, “No, I ain’t scared of your demons / That’s just what makes you the real thing.” Mt. Joy produced similar themes of lighthearted sincerity in its track “Evergreen,” and the band has triumphed once again at capturing the butterflies of embarking on a new relationship.
Mt. Joy’s heavenly harmonizing and rejuvenating instrumentals proves “Highway Queen” to be a joyous celebration of love and connection.
– Eleanor Meyers
[Related: Album review: ‘COWBOY CARTER’ redefines genre through inventive renditions, collaborations]
“II HANDS II HEAVEN” by Beyoncé
With a deep cut on the back half of her seminal album “COWBOY CARTER,” Beyoncé casually released not just one of the best songs of the year but of her entire career.
The depth and wonder of “II HANDS II HEAVEN” might not be immediately apparent, but the understated track’s undulating production, dulcet vocals and revelatory lyrics make it a show stopper. Thematically resembling past Beyoncé masterpieces such as “XO” and “All Night,” the song presents monogamous love in a more stirring way than the 32-time Grammy winner ever has before. Most powerfully, the vulnerability and openness of simple lyrics like “Don’t judge me, baby (Ha) / You would never judge me, baby” ring with moving tenderness and devotion.
The heartfelt message and rousing emotion of “II HANDS II HEAVEN” make it a heavenly song worth cherishing for years to come.
– Reid Sperisen
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar has cemented his spot in rap history with the diss track of the year.
Amid one of the most contentious rap battles in recent memory, Lamar dropped “Not Like Us” in May in a series of singles about Drake and his identity as a rapper. Lamar criticizes everything about Drake, confronting countless controversies in lyrics lined with double entendres. Lamar repeats on end that “they not like us, they not like us,” reinforcing that Drake is not a true rapper. The nail in the coffin was served with the song’s music video, which was shot in Compton, California, and brought the city together to celebrate Lamar’s assertion of what rap truly is.
What started as unsuspecting drama soon became a cultural phenomenon with “Not Like Us,” affirming Lamar’s true hip hop prowess.
– Vishnu Potharaju
“Temporarily Single” by Chlöe
Chlöe might sing about being “Temporarily Single,” but her instincts for creating addictive R&B-flavored bops have never been better.
The singer-songwriter’s August album “Trouble In Paradise” failed to make an appearance on the charts, but it would be an egregious mistake to count out her artistry when songs like “Temporarily Single” exemplify that her song craft is in top form. Under different circumstances, the hypnotic track deserved the same viral success Tinashe’s playful “Nasty” experienced this summer. In just over three minutes, Chlöe makes a flirtatious fling become a euphoric romance as she lilts over the scintillating Afrobeats-infused production and seductively glides through lyrics like, “The way that we movin’ is reckless, baby / But you love me way better than he can.”
By capturing a rush of passion with such verve and sensuality, “Temporarily Single” will remain perennially blissful.
– Reid Sperisen
Comments are closed.