10. “The blue” — Gracie Abrams
Everyone’s favorite nepo baby released her debut album Good Riddance in February this year, and I was an instant fan. The track that stood out to me on my very first listen was “The blue,” a song about finding love unexpectedly and being surprised by the depth of new feelings for someone. The song’s chorus — “You came out of the blue like that / You came out of the blue like that / I never could’ve seen you coming / I think you’re everything I’ve wanted” — inspires such a feeling of hope and excitement about experiencing such an unanticipated happiness. However, it’s been ten months, and I’m still waiting for the part where I actually get to relate to this song.
9. “House Song” — Searows
What is this song about exactly? You’d never guess, but it’s about a house. It’s a very melancholy song about a house. I think. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t tell you exactly what all the lyrics mean; I just think it’s a really beautiful song. It’s one of the songs on my go-to playlist for relaxing or falling asleep. You absolutely must listen to it, but be prepared for a wash of serenity and gloom like you’ve never felt before.
8. “The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift)” — The National
Who are The National? They could be any five old white men on the street. You can find any group of people who matches that criteria, and I’ll believe you that it’s The National. But wow, did they release some good music this year. Obviously, the song that spurred me to listen to their album First Two Pages of Frankenstein was the one featuring Taylor Swift (as well as another one that features Phoebe Bridgers). I ended up becoming obsessed with the whole album, but “The Alcott” still stands out to me as a particularly lovely ballad. The contrasting vocals of Taylor and what’s-his-face (I know it’s Aaron Dessner, I just don’t know what his face looks like) are just perfection.
7. “First Time” — Hozier
I was only a very casual Hozier listener before he released his new album Unreal Unearth in August. I listened to the album the week it was released, thought “that’s alright,” didn’t think of it again for a few weeks, and then heard someone say you needed to listen to the album multiple times to fully absorb it. So I decided to listen again, and before I knew it, Hozier had catapulted to my #2 artist on this year’s Spotify Wrapped. I am now his absolute biggest fan. Honestly, I could’ve made this whole list just songs from Unreal Unearth — it’s an absolutely genius album based on the descent through the circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno. In particular, the third track “First Time” is one of my favorites because it describes the beginning and end of a relationship as part of a cycle of constant death and rebirth. Hozier described the song as exploring the concept of Limbo, but my environmental scientist brain appreciates it in a slightly different way. When Hozier sings, “To share the space with simple living things / Infinitely suffering, but fighting off / Like all creation / The absence of itself,” I honestly can’t think of a simpler, more poetic description of the beauty and sheer pointlessness of evolution. Recently I almost quoted it in a paper on paleoanthropology before realizing I did not know how to cite it.
6. “Once Upon A Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens)” — The National
As I said earlier, I only decided to listen to First Two Pages of Frankenstein because of the Taylor and Phoebe features, but instead of skipping straight to their songs, I ended up listening to the album from the beginning — and that’s how I was stopped dead in my tracks by this song, the opening track of the album. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t explain the profound impact “This is the closest we’ve ever been / And I have no idea what’s happening” has on me. Believe me, if I ever figure out how to pronounce Sufjan Stevens’s name, it’s over for everyone. I’ll be bringing this song up in every conversation.
5. “Not Strong Enough” — boygenius
I struggle to pick a favorite off of boygenius’s album the record, with “Anti-Curse” and “Emily I’m Sorry” being close contenders. Still, at the end of the day, I’m going to be basic and choose the most popular song, because it’s popular for a reason. Something about the way Lucy Dacus sings, “There’s something in the static / I think I’ve been having revelations / Coming to in the front seat, nearly empty” literally rewired my brain forever. I was incredibly lucky to get to see this song and others live at the boygenius concert in New Haven in September.
4. “Your Needs, My Needs” — Noah Kahan
It goes without saying that Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is the greatest album of the decade to be created by a human man (Hozier, being an immortal mythical forest being, is in his own category). I thought it couldn’t get any better than the OG album, which was released in October 2022, but then there was a deluxe? With six all-new songs and an extended version of “The View Between Villages”? Not to mention, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) released in June, the day after “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers finally returned to Spotify (I don’t know how I survived five months in that song’s absence; it’s not a new song from this year, but I had to mention it). The night of my high school graduation, I stayed up past midnight so I could listen to the new Noah Kahan tracks as soon as possible. Starting with “Your Needs, My Needs.” And this song — THIS SONG. Where do I begin? It’s a religious experience. It’s like three different songs within one song, the way it starts out as a soft lament, gradually gets louder, and crescendos into the passionate, almost-screamed bridge. The lyrics are so poetic. I’ll never get over “You’ll always be a flower on my skin / And the pain that I am in.” The emotional journey is literally insane. I absolutely need to experience this song live (hopefully next summer — stay tuned!).
3. “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” — Taylor Swift
The story starts when it was hot and it was summer, and I was gathered with friends to listen to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) the moment it was released. We listened to the album in order from the beginning, which I believe is the proper method for a first listen to Taylor’s re-recorded albums — any disappointment over alteration of the original songs comes first, then the exhilaration of all-new vault tracks you’ve never heard before. I’m glad we agreed to take this route, because some of the OG Speak Now tracks took a beating, if I’m being honest. “Dear John” and “Haunted” re-recorded just don’t hit the same, and don’t get me started on the “Better Than Revenge” lyric change. But the vault tracks more than made up for what we lost. Hearing “I Can See You” for the first time was actually transformative. Never in my life had I imagined a Speak Now track that sounded like a crossover with reputation. Do you remember where you were when you heard the first “I can see you up against the wall with me”? My jaw wasn’t even on the floor, it was fully subterranean. Don’t get me wrong, I love the song “Innocent,” but this song is far from innocent and I love it a lot more. I must have played it twenty times within the first twenty-four hours of its release. And then the music video premiere with Taylor Lautner?? A literal cultural reset. I remain shocked that it didn’t make my Spotify Wrapped, because I swear it’s half of all the music I listened to this year.
2. “Abstract (Psychopomp)” — Hozier
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne woke up and chose VIOLENCE with this one. I can’t listen to it unless I’m ready for an extreme emotional reaction, because this song literally sends me on a whole internal journey. It’s the most perfect track on the most perfect album. The song is about returning constantly to one experience that feels like a defining moment in the speaker’s life: in the car on a dark, rainy night with the person he loves — they accidentally hit an animal in the road — she instantly pulls over and tries to save the wounded creature, but it dies anyway — and the speaker’s realization that he is just as helpless, that he will always love her and he will never forget the beauty and horror of this moment. I could rave about every lyric, but nothing quite gets me like “The moment I knew / I’d no choice but to love you.” All I’m going to say is, he was literally evil for writing this. I demand compensation for the damage that’s been done.
1. “Call Your Mom (with Lizzy McAlpine)” — Noah Kahan
The original, solo version of “Call Your Mom” was another deluxe track on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), and it already would have claimed the top spot on this list. The song pleads with a loved one who struggles with depression and has attempted suicide, insists that they must find a reason to keep living. The chorus absolutely shattered me the first time I heard it: “Don’t let this darkness fool you / All lights turned off can be turned on / I’ll drive, I’ll drive all night / I’ll call your mom.” The speaker then harkens back to his own battles: “Oh, dear, don’t be discouraged / I’ve been exactly where you are.” Many of Noah Kahan’s songs draw upon his and others’ struggles with mental illness, but none feel as bare and powerful as this one. Seriously, a song released on the date 6/9 with “Your Mom” in the title has no right to be making me sob like this. And then, in September, he did the impossible and made the song even better: he released a collab version with Lizzy McAlpine. Her voice adds a whole new dimension to the song, and I literally don’t know how to express how insane it is. This is the best song of the year. I won’t be accepting arguments at this time.