HONORABLE MENTIONS!
Animal Collective – “Prester John”
Cherry Glazer – “Big Bang”
cupcakKe – “Huhhhhh”
Bartees Strange – “Weights”
Kanye West – “Off The Grid”
Kim Petras – “Future Starts Now”
Lil Ugly Mane – “VPN”
Madi Diaz – “Nervous”
SPELLLING – “Boys at School”
Trippie Redd – “Miss the Rage” (ft. Playboi Carti)
30
Remi Wolf
“Liquor Store”
29
Weezer
“All My Favorite Songs”
28
pinkpantheress
“just for me”
27
Erika de Casier
“Someone to Chill With”
26
Quadeca
“Sisyphus”
I didn’t think I’d ever have a Quadeca song on my songs of the year list, but he really went for it with “Sisyphus”. The hook is infectious as heck and the production is all over the place in a way I really like. The climax of this song is especially really great.
25
Lil Nas X
“THATS WHAT I WANT”
I caught some slack for including “Old Town Road” on my list a few years back, but I’m still fully on board with Lil Nas X’s whole thing. He comes off as super positive and genuine to me. This song is such an ear worm.
24
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA
“Buckingham”
New vocalist, same WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA making weird, off-the-wall stuff that I’m super into.
23
Squid
“Narrator”
22
Caroline Polachek
“Bunny Is A Rider”
21
Tyler, The Creator
“CORSO”
20
Cassandra Jenkins
“Hard Drive”
“I’ll count to three and tap your shoulder
We’re gonna put your heart back together”
The most therapeutic song I heard all year.
19
Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen
“Like I Used To”
18
James Blake
“Life Is Not The Same”
17
Yola
“Dancing Away In Tears”
16
Indigo De Souza
“Hold U”
One of the warmest songs I heard all year. Her description for it describes it better than I ever could: “I wanted to write about a really simple kind of love that isn’t necessarily romantic, but that is just about holding space for other people to fully express themselves and to feel celebrated. Just simply seeing someone in their humanity and loving them … Community is the purest kind of magic and can heal so much trauma and pain. We all just want to feel truly held by the people around us!”
15
Olivia Rodrigo
“good 4 u”
14
Chlöe
“Have Mercy”
13
Charli XCX
“Good Ones”
It wouldn’t be a Caleb list if it didn’t include a Charli XCX song. (But seriously, this song is great. It’s interesting seeing her drop the PC Music/hyperpop style and re-try a more “mainstream” style, but she’s doing it in a way that works super well and I’ve had this song on repeat since it came ooooooouuuuUUUuuuuuUUUUuuUUuuut).
12
Magdalena Bay
“You Lose!”
11
Jazmine Sullivan
“Pick Up Your Feelings”
10
FKA twigs
“Tears in the Club” (ft. The Weeknd)
A super late addition to this year’s list as it just came out on December 16th. Maybe FKA twigs’ most straightforward song yet, but done so in a way that is still so uniquely her. The sampling of Arca’s “Phantasy” here is one of my favorite samples this year.
09
Shygirl
“Cleo”
I can’t lie and say I didn’t absolutely freak out the first time the strings dissipate and it turns into one of the absolute most danceable songs of the year (and then continued to freak out when the strings resurface and became layered into the dance track). Shygirl seriously never misses.
08
Kacy Hill
“Easy Going”
Chorus of the year? Probably. This is a song I’ll no doubt come back to a lot going forward. I like it a lot.
07
Little Simz
“Introvert”
Probably the most confident, bold album opener this year. Completely sets the tone for the album, and is full of some of the strongest bars imaginable. The second verse in particular is among the best moments from any song this year.
Man, it’s like they can’t sleep till our spirit is crushed
How much fighting must we do? We’ve been fearless enough
All we seen is broken homes here and poverty
Corrupt government officials, lies, and atrocities
How they talking on what’s threatening the economy?
Knocking down communities to re-up on properties
I’m directly affected, it does more than just bother me
Look beyond the surface, don’t just see what you wanna see
My speech ain’t involuntary
Projecting intentions straight from my lungs
I’m a Black woman and I’m a proud one
We walk in blind faith not knowing the outcome
But as long as we’re unified, then we’ve already won
06
JPEGMAFIA
“REBOUND!” (ft. DATPIFFMAFIA)
There’s a moment about a minute into this song when the horns that had been part of the beat until that moment disappear and the entire vibe and beat change for DATPIFFMAFIA’s guest verse. It’s a good guest spot, but when this song hits its high point for me is when, after that verse, when Peggy and the horns abruptly come back into the song alongside the new bass-heavy twist on the original beat. The energy Peggy brings on this track is incredible and his production, even with this being among his more straightforward beats, continues to be unbeatable.
05
Japanese Breakfast
“Posing In Bondage”
A song that has on numerous times completely destroyed me when listening to it too late at night. Japanese Breakfast has described this as “a song about two people who want so badly to connect but are never quite able to do so.” The sense of loneliness and longing is so strong, but there’s also a hopefulness that starts to bleed through when you get to the outro of the song. I don’t know. I love this song. The melody is stunning.
04
Billie Eilish
“Happier Than Ever”
I’m such a sucker for petty breakup songs. The switch-up/climax is maybe the most satisfying music moment of the year to me. It’s impossible for me to not sing “YOU MADE ME HATE THIS CITY” along with her. Every single time. My favorite Billie Eilish song so far and it’s not close.
(It goes without saying this is referring to the full version of this song)
03
Tinashe
“Bouncin”
Tinashe somehow outdid “2 On” which was one of my very favorite songs of the 2010s. This song’s vibe is unmatched. Almost certainly the song I listened to most this year. I could listen to this song every single day and never get sick of it.
02
Violet Cold
“We Met During The Revolution”
I don’t really know how to properly articulate how “We Met During The Revolution” makes me feel. It instantly became one of my favorite metal songs ever when I first heard it earlier this year and has been in constant rotation since then. There’s something about how the recording starts as if the song had already been going, and how it immediately drops you onto some sort of unexpected dancefloor. I love that Emin’s screaming vocals only appear near the end of the song, and how the pitched-down vocals play off so well alongside them. It takes everything I love about shoegaze and post-rock and metal and combines them into one of the most uplifting, fresh things I listened to all year.
01
DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
“Being Alone”
Occasionally you come across a song that just fully connects with you and feels impactful in a way other songs may not. Maybe it comes out at the exact right time in your life, or maybe it does a particular thing that just tugs at your emotions in a certain way. “Being Alone” is one of those rare songs for me that checks all of those boxes. There’s a real genuineness behind DJ Sabrina’s take on the bittersweet nature of being alone. It comes off as judgment-free and understanding and just lets you disappear into one of the most euphoric, heartfelt dance tracks I have ever heard. It takes some time to get going, but once it goes it really goes. I think she made something really special with this one.