Welcome to part one of ‘The Bubble Wrapped’! With this term coming to a close, and 2025 quickly approaching, it is only apt to review the best songs and albums released this year – especially after the long-awaited release of Spotify Wrapped last week.
2024 has been a great year for music; we’ve seen the rise of new stars, highly anticipated releases and there’s been hit after hit. Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Billboard have all recently put out their coveted Top 100 lists, giving rundowns of the songs that have earnt their places amongst the best of the year. For Billboard, the top spot went to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ – ‘a diss track for the ages’ – with Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe’ taking home second place, and Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ third. Similarly, ‘Good Luck, Babe’, containing the year’s ‘most iconic bridge’, and ‘Not Like Us’ were in Rolling Stone’s top two, respectively, and Pitchfork’s top three. As well as this, it’s undeniable the impact Charli’s brat singles, such as ‘360’ and ‘girl so confusing’, Ariana Grande’s ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ have had this year. Even though these songs didn’t make it into my list of favourites, they’ve had a huge part to play in this year’s musical scene.
With that being said, I’m going to be reviewing my top songs of this year. Admittedly, these are not all entirely loyal to my ranking on Spotify – most of the top spots were taken over by one or two artists, after having their albums stuck on replay, and my decision to play repetitive, trance-inducing music over exam season definitely corrupted my stats a little bit. As a result, instead of proclaiming these are my top, most-played tracks of 2024, I suppose it is more accurate to say these are my favourite, best-loved songs of the year – released this year, limited to one track per artist.
So, without further ado, here is my ranking:
10 – ‘Touching Toes’ by Olivia Dean
This recent release sees Dean’s vocals float over beautiful guitar and ruminates on love and connection.
9 – ‘Glory of the Snow’ by Clairo
It’s whimsical, calming woodwind and soft-spoken lyrics encapsulate Clairo’s brilliance at crafting warm, tender tracks.
8 – ‘No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire’ by Dora Jar
Jar’s distinctive vocals and sound come to the fore in this song, and builds throughout to a cathartic bridge.
7 – ‘S P E Y S I D E’ by Bon Iver
This song feels like something of a return to For Emma, Forever Ago; Vernon’s ‘rich voice’ is accompanied by acoustic guitar and viola, and through this manages to ‘conjure a specific, powerful kind of wistfulness’ – ‘deeply felt’ in its evocations.
6 – ‘Birds of a Feather’ by Billie Eilish
Perhaps the most popular entry on this list, ‘Birds of a Feather’ is captivating in its balance between poignant lyrics and its light production.
5 – ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ by Taylor Swift
There certainly is a lot to choose from when it comes to the music Swift has released this year; her album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology has 31 tracks, and all demonstrate her strengths as a songwriter. However, ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ stands out as my favourite on the album. Outside of the noise of who the song is about, following the intense fascination with Swift’s love life, it includes incredibly evocative imagery, is full of emotion and has the classic Taylor bridge.
4- ‘Little Wing’ by Etta Marcus
Etta Marcus, a singer and songwriter from South London, is one of my favourite artists. Only having released two EP’s, written with Matt Maltese, Marcus released her first mini-album project this year titled The Death of Summer & Other Promises. ‘Little Wing’ muses on growing up, with the lyrics ‘travelling acres/ feeling my feathers/ stretching out my little wing’ pervading the song, but is filled with light and optimism – perfect for summer!
3 – ‘I Guess’ by Lizzy McAlpine
McAlpine’s intimately raw vocals, alongside the wonderful range of instrumentation produced by the six-man band she worked with to produce her third studio album Older, makes this track one of my favourites on the album and of the year!
2 – ‘Parties’ by Tom Odell
Best known for ‘Another Love’ and ‘Black Friday’ (also released this year), ‘Parties’ is the ninth track on his new album released in January. Known for his orchestral instrumentation, which is a motif explored throughout the album, Odell in this track weaves an intimate soundscape with carefully crafted melodies, moments of quiet, and emotive vocals.
1 – ‘Me Before You’ by Bleachers
Jack Antonoff is best known for his work as a songwriter and producer, and across his career has collaborated with a myriad of big names in the industry: Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Clairo and Kendrick Lamar – just to name a few! But in 2013 he started his own band, Bleachers, and since their formation they have released four studio albums. The fourth, their self-titled album Bleachers, came out in March of this year.
The last single of the album’s rollout, ‘Me Before You’, perfectly embodies what’s at the heart of Bleachers’ sound; the song’s a ‘nod to the soulful rock and roll of the 1980s’ and has beautifully delicate but rich ‘isolated vocals’, ‘romantic saxophone’ and guitar. There isn’t any other song to take the top spot for me; I absolutely adore it and if you haven’t listened to Bleachers please do!
Make sure to tune back in next week to read Myrtle Watts’ take on the best albums of 2024!
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