Best Songs Of 2024: 20 Great Tracks That Define The Year

19: Billie Eilish: Lunch

“I’ve been in love with girls for my whole life, but I just didn’t understand,” Billie Eilish told Rolling Stone magazine in April 2024. “I was never planning on talking about my sexuality ever, in a million years.” Though she concedes that she thought her sexual orientation was obvious, it was only with the release of her LGBTQ+ anthem Lunch that the alt-pop singer-songwriter seemed to officially come out of the closet. With lyrics that flirtatiously pine for forbidden fruit (“It’s a craving, not a crush”), the song rides a vibey pop groove and playfully evokes physical longing for a love interest with such colour and sass that it positively glows. Peaking at No.2 in the UK and No.5 in the US, Lunch successfully brought into the pop charts a serving of lustful swagger that is as appetising as it is irresistible.

18: The Black Keys: Beautiful People (Stay High)

Scoring Ohio-based garage-rockers The Black Keys their seventh No.1 on the US Alternative Airplay chart, Beautiful People (Stay High) sees the duo team up with former Gorillaz producer Dan The Automator and the genre-spanning songwriter Beck. “No matter who we work with, it never feels like we’re sacrificing who we are,” Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach told NME. “It only feels like it adds some special flavour.” As the bluesy lead single from their 12th studio album, Ohio Players, Beautiful People (Stay High) is one of many funk-based collaborations recorded by The Black Keys during highly fruitful sessions in Nashville, proving that the group continue to creatively straddle the lines between primal roots-rock and experimental genre fusion. If the alt-rap swagger of Beautiful People (Stay High) is anything to go by, The Black Keys remain as adventurous as ever.

17: Wallows: Calling After Me

It’s always a pleasant surprise when an indie-pop group makes good, but you can’t shake a stick at Wallows’ pedigree. Not only are the Los Angeles trio blessed with Dylan Minette (the main star of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why) among their ranks, but their third album, Model, is co-produced by Grammy Award-winning supremo John Congleton (St Vincent, Erykah Badu, Sharon Van Etten).

The album’s second single, Calling After Me, is one of Wallows’ most sparkling offerings, chugging along with Strokes-y energy and sprightly guitar hooks that can light up any indie disco. “We like that Calling After Me is pretty fun and light on its feet for a Wallows song,” the band has said. “We’re excited for people to hear it and play it live this summer.” Casting its glow like a warm ray of sunshine, Calling After Me is one of the best songs of 2024 to remind us why indie music still deserves its spot on the festival circuit.

16: Sabrina Carpenter: Espresso

A true breakout hits among the best songs of 2024, Espresso was always destined to become a nu-disco summer smash. Comparing herself to a shot of espresso for how she keeps her boyfriend awake at night, Sabrina Carpenter celebrates the honeymoon phase of her relationship with playful, witty lyrics (“My honey bee, come and get this pollen”) set to Nile Rodgers-esque funk guitar.

“This was one of those times in my life where I just thought I was the shit in the moment,” Carpenter told Apple Music. “And I think you don’t always feel that way, so you kind of have to capture those moments that you do because that’s how you find those little [gems].” Peaking at No.3 in the US and No.1 in the UK, Espresso deservedly gave Carpenter her breakthrough moment, and it’s still coursing through our veins like a shot of caffeine at dawn.

15: Green Day: Dilemma

Easily one of the best Green Day songs, Dilemma – the third single released from the group’s 14th studio album, Saviors – is a reminder that you should never underestimate the elder statesmen of the pop-punk generation. “Dilemma was one of those songs that was kind of easy to write because it was so personal to me,” Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has said. “We’ve seen so many of our peers struggle with addiction and mental illness. This song is all about the pain that comes from those experiences.” Peaking at No.4 on the US Rock Airplay chart, Dilemma is a passionate power-pop explosion among the best songs of 2024, offering ample glimpses of Green Day’s Dookie-era heyday and proving that Armstrong’s subject matter is still capable of prescribing an antidote to our 21st-century woes.

14: Beyoncé: Texas Hold ’Em

Strap on your spurs and saddle up for the rodeo, everyone – Queen Bey has gone country! Much to everyone’s delight, Texas Hold ’Em – the genre-swapping lead single from Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter – traded the disco-house vibes of Renaissance for a banjo-plucking hoedown frenzy. Debuting at the top of the US Hot Country Songs chart, the track even saw Beyoncé become the first Black woman in Billboard history to score a No.1 country hit – a truly historic moment that instantly makes Texas Hold ’Em a dead cert among the best songs of 2024. “I feel like she’s always been genre-less,” country singer-songwriter Maren Morris told E! News when speaking of the song’s success, “but I think the leaning into country elements and sort of reclaiming country music back to Black people because they created the genre is such a statement.”

13: Charli XCX: Von Dutch

Nodding to an early-2000s fashion brand in its title, Von Dutch, by Charli XCX, is an electro-pop banger that harks back to the high-octane attitude she brought to Icona Pop’s 2012 hit, I Love It. Peaking at No.26 in the UK, there’s certainly enough about the track to make it an of-the-moment classic, notably its hissing synths and turbo-charged tempo. Like tracing the fizzling fuse of the hyperpop explosion, Von Dutch stands out as one of the best songs of 2024 for reminding us of the wealth of riches Charli has been scattering before us over the past ten years.

12: Hozier: Too Sweet

Becoming the first Irish artist to top the US Hot 100 since Sinead O’Connor released her cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, Hozier topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in April 2024, after Too Sweet became a viral hit on TikTok. “I wasn’t always as savvy [on social media],” Hozier admitted to Radio X, “but stuff like this really wakes you up to what it can do for a song.”

Too Sweet’s upbeat pop-soul groove makes it easy to miss the poetic depths of Hozier’s lyrics, which find the singer-songwriter continuing to explore the darker themes that often underpin his work. Seemingly directed to an ex-lover, the song is not all sweetness and light; in fact, “sweet” is not intended as a compliment but as a veiled insult, with Hozier owning up to his corrupting influence with an almost bitter relish (“I’d rather take my whiskey neat/My coffee black and my bed at three/You’re too sweet for me”). As proof that intellectual subject matter can, indeed, become a hit, Too Sweet’s success is everyone’s gain.

11: Noah Kahan And Sam Fender: Homesick

Peaking at No.5 in the UK in February 2024, Homesick is a hugely thought-provoking duet written by Vermont-based singer-songwriter Noah Kahan and boosted with a verse supplied by Newcastle-born indie-rocker Sam Fender. “I loved the idea of the song being a transatlantic call-and-response between two young kids desperate to escape their hometowns,” Fender explained to People magazine. “Chatting with [Noah] about things in both of our pasts made me realise how universal Homesick is. We’ve all been that kid.” With all the weight of a blue-collar Bruce Springsteen anthem, the folk-pop howl of longing at the heart of Homesick’s chorus makes it an intensely relatable entry in our list of the best songs of 2024, fully capturing the restless yearning experienced by many seeking to break free from their roots.

10: Twenty One Pilots: Overcompensate

With their highly ambitious fusion of alt-rap and electro-pop, Twenty One Pilots seem to bleed eclecticism, fearlessly dabbling in concept-driven narrative ideas as well as branching out into other genres such as electronica and reggae. It’s no surprise, then, that Overcompensate – the lead single from their sixth studio album, Clancy – barges its way onto this list of the best songs of 2024, with its heady mix of crunchy, swaggering breakbeats and hyper-verbose lyrics about squaring up to danger (“I said I fly by the dangerous bend symbol/Mm, don’t hesitate to maybe overcompensate”). “It’s a certain sign, it’s like a zigzag sign that basically says, ‘Hey, up ahead,’ slow down,” frontman Tyler Joseph told BBC Radio 1’s Clara Amfo. “It’s kind of cheesy, I guess, but a bit of an analogy in certain seasons of my life where I would just completely ignore those sorts of signs.” With Clancy set to be a sequel to the duo’s 2018 album, Trench, Overcompensate is clearly a powerful and compelling prologue to a much bigger story.

9: Chappell Roan: Good Luck, Babe!

Peaking at No.26 in the US and blasting into the UK Top 20, Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! is an inherently catchy pop anthem co-written with Olivia Rodrigo’s go-to producer, Dan Nigro, and Justin Tranter. In an age where singalong choruses are sorely lacking, Good Luck, Babe! is a breath of fresh air among the best songs of 2024, bringing with it lyrics that speak to LGBTQ+ communities.

“I needed to write a song about a common situationship within queer relationships – where someone is struggling with coming to terms with themselves,” Roan has said of her tale of a closeted lesbian unwilling to follow her heart. “It’s a song about wishing well to someone who is avoidant of their true feelings.” Not since Lady Gaga has a titanic pop star burst onto the music scene with such visionary fervour, and it’s clear Good Luck, Babe! is just the tip of the iceberg for Roan.

8: Megan Thee Stallion: Hiss

Rattling off a series of venomous rhymes on her diss track Hiss, US rapper Megan Thee Stallion landed herself a US No.1 in February. “When a snake feels like you been playin’ and doing a whole bunch of swayin’,” Megan told The Breakfast Club, “it’s basically telling you to back off.” Lashing out at everyone from her ex-boyfriend Tory Lanez – who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence for shooting Megan in the foot – and superstar rapper Drake, as well as throwing in a few apparent barbs at Nicki Minaj, Hiss could well be the most hard-hitting score-settler since The Notorious B.I.G.’s Who Shot Ya. Coiling around a trap-influenced beat, Hiss has all the visceral impact of hardcore hip-hop, turning Megan’s beefs into a remarkable clapback to her rivals that will probably have them nursing their wounds for years to come.

7: Vampire Weekend: Classical

Like the elder statesmen of indie-pop they truly are, Vampire Weekend dabble in a carnival-esque fusion of upright bass and jazz-tinged playfulness on Classical, topping it all off with lyrics squarely directed at millennial disaffection. “In times of war, the educated class knew what to do,” singer Ezra Koenig sings. “In times of peace, their pupils couldn’t meet your baby blues.” The song’s true highlight, however, is its instrumental breakdown, full of squalling saxophones and chaotic keys that capture the blowout of cross-generational wisdom. Easily one of the best songs of 2024, and a standout track from the band’s fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, Classical is an engagingly frenetic yet pleasingly experimental triumph.

6: Djo: End Of Beginning

Though it was originally recorded back in 2022, for Djo’s debut album, Decide, End Of Beginning began to go viral on TikTok in early 2024 courtesy of its airy neo-psychedelic vibes and catchy dream-pop chorus. The song’s unexpected spike in popularity led to it being re-released as a single in April, going on to peak at No.11 in the US and No.4 in the UK.

The work of Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, its relatable lyrics are seemingly inspired by homesickness during the COVID-19 pandemic (“You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man”), and the whole has an indie-pop charm that more than earns itself a place among the best songs of 2024. “I love songs that are really specific,” Keery told Rolling Stone. “In the specificity, people can see themselves in the song. People substitute [my experience] for their own version in their own lives.”

5: Dua Lipa: Training Season

Released in February 2024, a few months ahead of her much-anticipated third album, Radical Optimism, Training Season confidently brought Dua Lipa back into the UK Top 5. Joyfully mixing euphoric dance-pop grooves with a sprinkling of 80s pop magic, the song sees the TikTok-anointed “Queen Of Nu-Disco” give any would-be love interest a fiery dressing-down. “While it is obviously about that feeling when you are just absolutely done telling people… men specifically in this case, how to date you right,” Lipa told Forbes, “it is also about my training season being over and me growing with every experience.” A relentlessly upbeat floor-filler, Training Season easily enters the knockout stages among the best songs of 2024, reminding us why Dua Lipa is one of the most exciting pop acts of her generation.

4: Michael Marcagi: Scared To Start

Emerging from the wilds of Cincinnati, Ohio, indie-folk singer-songwriter Michael Marcagi has put himself on the map with his debut single, Scared To Start. Inspired by listening to Mumford And Sons and The Lumineers in his dad’s car as a child, Marcagi has created one of the best songs of 2024, but has revealed that he was taken aback by Scared To Start’s viral TikTok success.

“It’s a weird full-circle moment to be like, ‘I can’t believe that out of all of the artists that are putting music out, they’re choosing to play my song,’” Marcagi told Billboard. “It’s really, really wild.” Peaking at No.9 in the UK, Scared To Start is, indeed, the perfect start for a new artist with a very promising future.

3: Tommy Richman: Million Dollar Baby

Setting the virtual world alight with body-popping swag, Tommy Richman’s Memphis rap/R&B fusion banger Million Dollar Baby sounds like Bee Gees attempting Doomshop phonk. Calling millions of TikTok dancers to action, the song’s hard-hitting 808s and ultra-smooth vocals racked up more than 9.5 million views on TikTok in under a week prior to its official release, after which it travelled all the way No.3 in the UK and No.2 in the US. Highly likely to be remembered for years to come as one of the best songs of 2024, Million Dollar Baby has been nothing short of a phenomenal success. Unlike many TikTok viral hits, this one sounds like a million bucks, and it puts the “rich” in Tommy Richman’s name.

2: Kendrick Lamar: Not Like Us

Instantly going down as one of the biggest beefs in hip-hop history, the flurry of diss tracks exchanged between Kendrick Lamar and Drake across the spring of 2024 spawned plenty of contenders among the best songs of the year. Whether you jive with K-Dot’s Meet the Grahams or genuflect before the 6 God’s Family Matters, it’s arguably Lamar’s Not Like Us that put a full-stop on the fall-out, peaking at No.1 in the US and becoming the hottest party-rap anthem of the year. With the Compton rapper calling out the Hotline Bling smoothie’s posturing (“Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired?”), it makes for surprising hit material. But judging by the response it has received, the listening public have cast their votes.

1: Benson Boone: Beautiful Things

After making his name as a contestant on American Idol and establishing a loyal following on TikTok, singer-songwriter Benson Boone lets his folk-pop sensibility unfurl into a muted electric guitar groove on Beautiful Things, before diving into a pop-punk-indebted thrash that perfectly showcases his spirited vocal range. “This song just shows a new side of me that people haven’t seen,” Boone said in an interview with Variety magazine, “and I am just stoked that it’s resonating with people because obviously that’s all an artist can dream of.” Peaking at No.2 in the US and No.1 in the UK, the song has quickly become one of this year’s biggest success stories, amassing more than 390 million Spotify streams and enlivening the charts with a fresh burst of energy that more than deserves the top spot on this list of the best songs of 2024.

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