These are some of my favorite songs of 2024, presented in no particular order:
APT., Rosé and Bruno Mars: The title is a play on a Korean drinking game. It’s pure champagne: bubbly, sweet, a great party song.
HOT TO GO, Chappell Roan: My introduction to Chappell Roan was catching her Coachella set via YouTube, which I did largely out of curiosity; her name had floated past me in various feeds. I like this tune for the sexy sass and built-in dance moves.
Groin and Nuts, RM: In 2022 I wrote about RM’s Indigo, which he had billed as an archive of his 20s. It was supposed to be the landmark before he, like the rest of BTS, enlisted for mandatory military service. It’s classy, adult pop; it feels serious and reflective. Right Person, Wrong Place, which he released this year, is the actual last record before he enlistment. It’s messy and vibrant, part cackle of laughter and part howl of rage. Indigo felt a little like touring an art gallery; Right Person, Wrong Place feels like opening the door to the artists private studio and getting a good look at the beautiful chaos inside.
Groin and Nuts (so named, according to RM, because that’s where the emotions behind them comes from) are next to each other on the tracklist, and are standouts from a tremendous record.
Birds of a Feather, Billie Eilish: I had Hit Me Hard and Soft on in the background a lot, listening to it all the way through as a full story, as Eilish intended. The whole record is strong, but Birds of a Feather is a personal favorite: a little sweet, a little alarmingly obsessive, and 100% banger.
But Daddy I Love Him, Taylor Swift: Om initial release, I found The Tortured Poets Department overwhelming. So much music! All at once! But I kept hacking away at it, getting a little further down the tracklist with each listen. Several months later, I have listened to most of it, but am still coming back most often to But Daddy I Love Him. Like Right Person, Wrong Place, it’s half cackle of laughter and half howl of rage. It also has deep roots in the country tradition Taylor Swift grew up in but has now left behind – it’s other side of Trisha Yearwood’s She’s in Love With The Boy (1991) and the first person POV remix of Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Goin’ Down (Till the Sun Comes Up) (1993), and so many more.
Texas Hold ‘Em, Beyoncé – A catchy dance battle challenge, and an instant line dance classic.
Super Tuna, Jin: Jin is the eldest member of BTS and the first in (and now out) of military service. This is a very silly song about a fish, initially released as a joke that now has an extended dance remix on Happy, Jin’s post-enlistment solo record. It deserves to be played at midnight on dancefloors everywhere.
Running Wild, Jin: This one is also from Happy. It’s pure frothy pop, meant to be cranked out of a convertible while driving to the beach. I like the video, too, because really, if the world is ending, why NOT go on a road trip with your dog?
Chk Chk Boom, Stray Kids: This song is part of a soundtrack from a movie I didn’t watch (sorry, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman) and was absolutely inescapable for a while, at least for me. Which was fine, because I like the mixing of languages and musical genres they have going on here.
All, Snow Patrol – Snow Patrol pulls off roughly one soaring anthemic banger per record and All is the winner in that category for The Forest is the Path. This is what you listen to with the volume turned down after after a day out (possibly after you have floored it through the fences shrieking SCREW YOU DAD) while your partner (in crime or otherwise) falls asleep against the window. Don’t ask me why I’m like this either.
Who, Jimin – This one is from Muse. I went with the dance practice version because while the official MV is entertaining (flying cars! various things on fire!), part of the joy of Jimin is watching him dance, and here you can do that with no distractions.
Too Sweet, Hozier: A song for night owls in love, a little unwillingly, with morning people.
Leave a Reply