A song is the introduction, the entry point, the primer for what an artist has to offer. This selection honours songs by musicians that set wider culture alight this year but also tracks by new or established songwriters who channeled their passions, interiority and existential angst into their work. Taken as a whole, this genre-blurring list holds up a mirror to a fragmented digital landscape and the catharsis we searched for in minutes of auditory magic.
The CLASH team – staff and contributors – deliberated and combed through hundreds of tracks before selecting 50 favourite songs: the gilded centerpieces on a larger project, impactful standalone cuts and a few rewarding deep cuts thrown in for good measure.
Along the way we were won over by next-gen Afrobeats and Amapiano songbirds, scathing rap tracks that endured beyond the initial shockwaves, songs by revived rockers and progressive RnB luminaries, and of course that redemptive reunion between two pop iconoclasts.
As always, we’ve limited the selections to one song per artist. Here are the 50 best songs of 2024.
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50. GloRilla – TGIF
49. SZA – Saturn
48. Confidence Man – I Can’t Lose You
47. Tems – Ready
46. Arya Starr, Seyi Vibez – Bad Vibes
45. Nia Archives – Crowded Roomz
44. Burial – Dreamfear
43. Rema – Benin Boys
42. Billie Eilish – Birds Of A Feather
41. Denzel Curry, A$AP Ferg, TiaCorine – Hot One
40. TYLA – Truth or Dare
39. Mustafa – Name of God
38. Tinashe – Nasty
37. Doechii – NISSAN ALTIMA
36. Scowl – Special
35. Lancey Foux, Fimiguerrero – Spanish Guitar
34. Sampha, Little Simz – Satellite Business 2.0
33. Bashy – Sweet Boys Turned Sour
32. Fcukers – Homie Don’t Shake
31. The Dare – Perfume
30. Still House Plants – M M M
29. Normani, Starrah – Big Boy
28. Nourished By Time – Hell Of A Ride
27. The Cure – Alone
26. TSHA, Rose Gray – Girls
25. FKA Twigs – Eusexua
24. Megan Thee Stallion – Hiss
23. Jawnino, Kibo, James Massiah – Westfield
22. Nick Leon, Erika de Casier – Bikini
21. English Teacher – RnB
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20. Magdalena Bay – Image
Los Angeles alt-pop duo Magdelena Bay were definitely one of 2024s most intriguing success stories. ‘Image’ – the second preview to ‘Imaginal Disk’ – lifted us from earth and into the galaxy in impressive fashion, further whetting our appetites after disco-pop lead single ‘Death & Romance’. Here, Magdalena Bay tapped into the strange world of extraterrestrial abduction and existentialism that defined their second studio effort by fusing multiple genres: synth-pop, funk, psych-rock.
The production is deliberately rich and over the top, creating an otherworldly aesthetic. Mica Tenenbaum’s vocals are diaphanous (those “But oh my God, 21 more minutes, oh so hot” chorus vocals stunningly seduce), and Matthew Lewin’s sparkling synths and funky bass tones tingle the senses. As an exciting slice of future-pop magic, ‘Image’ sounded like little else we’d heard this year. Matthew McLister
19. Halima – Awaken
Tri-continental artist Halima delivered a devastating paean to a lost love on the opening notes of her excellent EP, ‘EXU’. Subverting misnomers about the mythology surrounding a Yoruba deity, often depicted as a trickster or chaos merchant, the Brooklyn-based singer leaned into her post-breakup traumas and tensions before arriving at a place of stasis. Singing of a bond between ex-lovers as infinite, enduring beyond this physical realm, ‘Awaken’ manages to sway the body with its humid, silky Alté-inspired drum programming while simultaneously devastating you. Shahzaib Hussain
18. Amyl & The Sniffers – U Should Not Be Doing That
Plucked from the Aussie punk act’s third studio album – an anarchic force that has earned its stripes over the final leg of the year – ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ bites back at the naysayers. Penning some of her most animated, commanding verses, frontwoman Amy Taylor ramps up her delivery with rambunctious sass and tongue-in-cheek zingers. Cutting into the band’s straight-forward pub rock grooves, the track places its best foot forward on stage; a brash, self-asserted performance piece that makes you want to get up, quit your job and be whisked away on The Sniffers’ tour bus. Ana Lamond
17. High Vis – Mind’s A Lie
High Vis get that punk and electronic music are separated by the narrowest of margins. After all, it’s not called slam-dancing for nothing. The rapidly-rising band’s brilliant latest album ‘Guided Tour’ features ‘Mind’s A Lie’; a spell-binding track that sees High Vis blend these two polarities with intuitive elegance. Built around a soulful vocal sample and an engrossing structure, this banger weaves a whole history of dance music (there’s hints of everything from late-eighties house to UK garage) into the band’s signature punk/brit rock hybrid. An emotionally resonant and genuinely unique album highlight, ‘Mind’s A Lie’ opens myriad new avenues for future genre experimentation by its creators. Tom Morgan
16. Tyler, the Creator – Noid
CLASH stumbled across an early picture of Odd Future the other day, and was struck by their unnerving youth, and the colossal shifts in perception of their work. At one point, Tyler, the Creator was a gifted troll, someone whose prickish insults could unnerve even the most stoic soul. Now, however, he’s a gifted world-builder, someone whose skills have helped to reframe pop culture while retaining the passion for confrontation that marked his early work.
‘Noid’ is a formidable example of Tyler’s skills, and his ascension as an auteur. A song that is both arresting and disorientating – “things feel out of order” – it thrives on an atmosphere of dissolution, the heady arrangement pinned to a sample from Zam-rock pioneers Ngozi Family. Things come full circle in the video, with Tyler’s masked St Chroma persona helping to unpick his past, revisiting unhealed trauma in the process. A meta work that reveals as much as it disguises, ‘Noid’ frames Tyler, the Creator as a cultural conduit in the vein of Bowie. Robin Murray
15. Lex Amor, BXKS – A7X
My pick for UK rap collaboration of the year belongs to street soul poet Lex Amor and Luton rhymester BXKS. Over a smoldering jazz chords and triple-time kick drum beat courtesy of under-the-radar producer Oliver Palfreyman, Lex and BXKS trade extended lyrical passages that drip with a refined, elastic coolness: the kind that’s innate, preordained and can’t so easily be cloned. When much of mainstream UK rap feels incidental and underdone, ‘A7X’ reminds us there are indie mavericks who studied from the past greats and are therefore the reliable torchbearers of rap’s future. Shahzaib Hussain
14. Jamie xx ft. Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, Panda Bear – Dafodil
A hallucinogenic deep cut taken from Jamie xx’s long-awaited sophomore album, ‘Dafodil’ pieces together the fragments of after-hours club energy. A concoction of bumbling grooves, roll-over basslines and slurring exchanges, ‘Dafodil’ snaps into momentum with its soulful samples and percussive elements.
Over its three-minute play-out, the track fuses together the alternate universes of John Glacier, Kelsey Lu and Panda Bear, steering its listeners between collaborators as if they were popping into different club rooms. Putting forward a quirky, immersive excerpt from ‘In Waves’, Jamie xx continues to refine his ear for experimentation. Ana Lamond
13. Louis Culture ft. Tora-i, Richie – Babe
Recalling the Rap-RnB composite anthems of the preceding decade, South London’s Louis Culture keeps things local and London-centric, roping in singers Tora-i and Richie on a slinky, subdued ode to disaffected love: when one party is finally in, and the other tempted but ultimately ambivalent.
Self-produced, ‘Babe’ is Louis Culture assuming form after a series of character-building projects, a torrent that builds and threatens to overflow but never quite does. Coupled with a video that magnifies the raw, achromatic vibe of the song, we’re braced for what a galvanized Louis Culture will unleash in 2025. Shahzaib Hussain
12. Sabrina Carpenter – Please, Please, Please
Sabrina Carpenter stands tall in a very crowded year for pop music, largely competing against herself with each new release. With her summer hit ‘Please, Please, Please’, she traded the infectiously catchy hooks and quick pace of her breakout ‘Espresso’ for a steadier, sensual pop classic. The result is an escapist masterpiece with Carpenter labouring rich and breathy vocals over retro-synth distortions and soft rock beats. Carpenter meets the airy softness of the production with her signature quirks, breaking a pattern of pleading through soft honeyed vocals with a jolting chorus that has audiences yelling “motherfcker” back in unison. Sabrina Soormally
11. Adrianne Lenker – Sadness As A Gift
The essence of Adrianne Lenker’s music is an almost unbearable commitment to emotional honesty. A highlight on this year’s ‘Bright Future’ – a record, truth be told, littered with astonishing peaks – ‘Sadness As A Gift’ seems to encapsulate the curious magic within her work, the unrelenting beauty and the searing pain.
A song of parting that overhauls one of pop’s oldest tropes from a personal vantage point, it’s about the pleasure of loss, the agony of loss, and how art can somehow balance the two. As much as the quiet assertion “you could write me someday, and I bet you will” charms, you’re left to think that these two spirits will never again be fully enmeshed. A song laden with regret and an understated despair, ‘Sadness As A Gift’ re-asserts the old truth that grief is the price we pay for love. And somehow, we have to keep moving forwards, in spite of it all. Robin Murray
10. Pa Salieu – Belly
Pa Saleu’s return is perhaps UK rap’s key 2024 narrative. Sent to jail in 2022, his return was worth celebrating, but sceptics wondered if Pa’s pen could keep up with advancements since going away.
As it happens, he’s once again led from the front, never once putting a foot wrong. ‘Belly’ was his comeback, his moment of return, and it was laden with joy, and fuelled by relief. Tapping into the sunnier aspects of his afro-swing roots, ‘Belly’ was an instant anthem: “I’ve been gone for a while / But I still make it back to you…” A maverick spirit returning to UK rap’s top tier, Pa Salieu is back where he belongs. Robin Murray
9. Mk.gee – How Many Miles
Balladic yet characteristically discordant, the slow-groove ‘How Many Miles’ is the Mk.gee number we’re venerating in this Best Songs listicle. Very little is communicated bar a few lines about the distance Mk.gee has travelled from a hometown that could have easily stifled his flight path. What could have been mournful is made revelatory through luminous production; the isolated synth stabs at the beginning, the disembodied vocals throughout that take the form of ghostly apparitions and the effervescent guitar licks that rise and fall like tides. ‘How Many Miles’ is a moonlit tribute to destiny and a score to those all-pervading late-night feels. Shahzaib Hussain
8. Joy Orbison – flight fm
Made in transit between festivals, Joy Orbison’s ‘flight fm’ reaps the rewards of an unconventional club banger. Throbbing into place, ‘flight fm’ launches its garage-esque kick drum, a steady 140bpm pulse opens up the arena before launching its full-tank bassline. Gritty and propulsive, each spin flips the rave on its head, a statement record that grants no entry to wall-hugging chin-strokers. As the Croydon producer celebrates yet another mammoth year of headline slots and original productions, he side-eyes at the snobs of electronic music, returning with a communal banger meant to be unabashedly enjoyed by the crowds. Ana Lamond
7. JADE – Angel of My Dreams
JADE boldly stepped into the limelight with her debut single ‘Angel Of My Dreams’. Rather than repurpose the sounds of her girl-group past, JADE shattered any illusions in order to launch her career. Production-wise, the song takes many unnerving twists and turns, leaving the listener frantically trying to keep up. The bass injection in the background acts as a thread in a song that combines Clubland classics with balladic hooks.
On ‘Angel…’, JADE successfully managed to incorporate the different strains of pop and dance music, painting a vivid, unflinching picture of her journey in the industry so far. What makes this debut stand out is the allusions to pop music through the years. It may feel like many songs in one, but that’s just a reflection of the many lives JADE has lived. Jack Shephard
6. Beyoncé – Bodyguard
For the pop-starved Bey fans, the Grammy-nominated ‘Bodyguard’ felt like a miracle; a dreamy, enamoured, Fleetwood Mac-leaning creation we never thought we’d hear from the Houstonian. But then we’re reminded, this is Beyoncé, in the second act of her unmoored trilogy of works that position her as a genre cleaver; cutting, bending, gluing samples and sounds at whim.
Produced by progressive soul overlord Raphael Saadiq, whose kinetic guitar and bass work enlivens ‘Bodyguard’ beyond cookie cutter country-pop, it’s Beyoncé’s delivery of lovestruck, borderline neurotic, lines that makes the song truly sing. From a sultry purr when she’s faintly territorial to the acrobatic bellows at the climax when the rest of the world is threatening everything they’ve cultivated, ‘Bodyguard’ is one of the most striking, universal love songs Beyoncé has ever made. Shahzaib Hussain
5. Clairo – Juna
On ‘Juna’, the centrepiece of her album ‘Charm’, Clairo trades lo-fi bedroom pop introspection for the ultra-nostalgic, sexy intimacy of D’Angelo, filtering it through a lens of unapologetic femininity. Embodying retro warmth while avoiding cliches, ‘Juna’ traverses space and time like a serene journey through the cosmos, navigating the assimilation of soul, psychedelic pop, and jazz via ‘70s conversation pits. Claire Cottrill’s quiet composure elicits French Yé-yé’s breathy bent, her voice gliding over an immaculate synthesis of twinkling keys, groovy synth distortion and heart-stopping brass, culminating in a finale featuring one of the best instrumental breakdowns of the past decade. Hayley Scott
4. Chappell Roan – Good Luck Babe!
“The song was a bitch to write,” Chappel Roan confessed earlier this year about her supernova, ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ Big in every sense of the word, the track is theatrical in production with soaring vocals and achingly bitter lyrics as Chappell takes on compulsory heterosexuality with rage, passion and pity.
With acerbic lines like, “And when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night / With your head in your hands, you’re nothing more than his wife”, ‘Good Luck Babe!’ evokes camp, melodramatic and gaudy ‘80s pop tropes. A dedicated synthesizer amps up the intensity under Roan’s hypnotic vocals as she trades the whimsy of ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ for grandiose fervour. Sabrina Soormally
3. Fontaines D.C. – Starburster
Fontaines D.C. have approached 2024 like a high-wire act, delicately traversing an ominous landscape without ever once putting a foot wrong. It’s been a year of undeniable highs – their astonishing album ‘Romance’, a road-block Glastonbury set, and a sold-out tour of the UK and Ireland. Perhaps the defining song of this gladiatorial run has been ‘Starburster’ – a full-throat gallop that blends post-punk spikiness, 90s style production shimmer, and a colossal vocal from Grian Chatten. The sound of a band breaking through to the next level, and claiming it as their own. Robin Murray
2. Kendrick Lamar – reincarnated
The standout track on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’, ‘reincarnated’ serves as an intricate exploration of hip-hop’s evolution: the artists who embodied its spirit, the generational trauma embedded within every note and pen stroke and ultimately Kendrick’s knowledge of self. A cathartic journey on wax and an exploration of the paradoxes that manifest themselves within us all, the listener is invited to join K-Dot coming to terms with his own fallibilities.
‘reincarnated’ perhaps serves as K-Dot’s own scientific self-analysis of the man in the mirror; an exploration of the soul that is staring back at him. This is Kendrick taking his own quantum leaps. Mimi Itseli
1. Charli xcx, Lorde – Girl, so confusing
In a year of polarising fragmentation Charli xcx has been one of the few figures to reach any form of universality. The ubiquitous green branding of her ‘BRAT’ album stamped its way across every social media platform going, while its multiple iterations and remixes provided near continual updates for fans.
Amid the hype and the online fandom, one moment felt particularly touching. On the original record, ‘girl so confusing’ is a tale of meeting a fellow artist and feeling brushed away – colliding egos, conflicting aims, and the disappointment that a lack of cohesion can bring. Within weeks, however, the song had been flipped on its head – the lyric was revealed as being prompted by an experience with Lorde, who then jumped on a new version of the song.
An act of musical catharsis, it spoke eloquently of the way women in music are pitted against one another, and how building a shield to navigate an often-hostile patriarchal industry is both a survival method, and a block against communication. An enthralling piece of musical theatre, the ‘girl so confusing’ arc provided a moment of heart-felt resolution in a landscape marked by isolation and conflict. Robin Murray
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