My completely subjective, utterly mainstream and shamefully limited take on the best songs of the past year. All apologies to any great tracks that were ignored or forgotten.
1. “Run Away With Me” Carly Rae Jepsen
A lone synth saxophone emerges from the foggy night, beckoning you to a city block empty but for flickering streetlights and an unexpected question hanging in the air: Did that girl who sang “Call Me Maybe” just release the year’s best song…for the second time in four years? Why, yes, she did. And it came from one of the strongest pop albums of the decade, to boot—a heart-on-its-record-sleeve collection of glittery ’80s-inspired gems that could fully populate their own best-of list, from the arena-sized stomp of “I Really Like You” to the quiet storm of “All That.” Nothing tops this fizzy rush of an opener, charging with abandon into the tunnel-vision ecstasy that another person can bring, the rest of the world be damned. Yet there’s also a twinge of desperation to Jepsen’s pleas, all sinners and secrets, that hints at a darker scenario: the other woman, making a final, epic bid for the thing she can never have. It’s all enough to make you burst with joy or break down in tears—just like love. Oops, Carly Rae, you did it again!
2. “All Hands on Deck” Tinashe
What’s it going to take for America to stop sleeping on Tinashe? A genuine triple-threat who feels like the heir to Janet Jackson and Aaliyah we’ve been waiting for, she’s found only modest success on the R&B charts so far. And after nearly breaking out with last year’s hypnotizing “2 On,” this equally fantastic follow-up failed to even crack the Hot 100. That’s a shame, since it sounded like almost nothing else on the airwaves—the ominously tinkling warning shot of a fierce bad-girl-on-the-verge transformation we could actually believe. (Sorry, Taylor and Demi!) The stunning music video only affirmed that Tinashe is a unique pop visionary for her generation. With the herald of a pan flute, a star should have been born.
3. “Can’t Feel My Face” The Weeknd
Right from those gurgling opening synths—the modern equivalent of an orchestra tuning its instruments—this minor-key Michael Jackson homage is in ascension. Up through the eerily sparse first verse and then a passionate burst of falsetto, it is building, climbing, rising to a feeling just ahead. Yet precisely when it seems like we’re about to reach the payoff, the chorus drops out from under us, settling into an unexpectedly funky groove. It could easily be a disappointment, amplifying the emptiness of a promise never materialized. Instead it’s a brilliant subversion—not only of the spiraling delight the song repeatedly returns to, but also of pop music itself, in all its current EDM-biting, euphoria-chasing glory. Here, once again, we learn to find the ecstasy in serenity.
4. “Here” Alessia Cara
Finally, an anthem for the introverts, the misanthropes and everyone who’d rather blow off their Friday night invite to curl up at home with Netflix. Wielding her teenage malaise like a weapon, Cara paints a biting portrait of that miserable party we’ve all been to where the only option is to plot your escape. Witty character sketches and vividly relatable moments provide the brain and heart, while a luscious, weary Isaac Hayes sample stirs the soul. The great irony, of course, is that such perfectly packaged dissatisfaction could only become the party jam of the fall.
5. “Style” Taylor Swift
After the cheerleader pop of “Shake It Off” and the bubbly self-effacement of “Blank Space,” Swift took a turn for the elegant and mature on this third single from the colossal
1989. Arguably the only song from the album that might actually fit in the titular year of inspiration, its throbbing guitar line and quiet longing were just about the most sensual thing pop radio played all year that wasn’t from the
50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. (Listen to that second verse again and shiver at its dazzling intimacy.) It may have been overshadowed by her string of #1 hits, but hopefully it will continue to resonate years from now, a future classic that she can still be singing at 40.
6. “Drop That Kitty” Ty Dolla $ign ft. Charli XCX and Tinashe
Certainly one way to approach this barely-a-euphemism bop is with a wink—and never underestimate the vast pleasures that silliness can provide. But let that beat wash over you: the cascade of plinks, the snaps, the reverbing synths, the young ladies hollering at you like drill sergeants to drop it low. Did anything else this year make you want to pop your kitty more?
7. “River Lea” Adele
Not exactly a sequel to
21, yet not something entirely new either,
25 is an album full of solid tracks that never quite cohere into their own sense of identity. The freshest and most inspired among them is this brooding hymn, which reflects provocatively on that age-old question: How much are we the product—or, perhaps, victim—of our environment? Brimming with self-doubt and gospel fervor, it’s an organ-tinged triumph for both Adele and producer Danger Mouse. More collaborations, please!
8. “Girl” The Internet ft. Kaytranada
Sounding like a transmission from outer space—a babble of moony synths—this languid love song still burns with deeply human passion: Syd Tha Kyd pines, we swoon, a thousand couples add it to their hook-up playlists. And in a year that saw gay marriage finally legalized across the U.S., the track’s quiet, yet unabashed, queer identity nevertheless feels revolutionary.
9. “WTF (Where They From)” Missy Elliott ft. Pharrell Williams
We’ve been patiently awaiting new music from Elliott—since her show-stealing cameo at the Super Bowl in February, those promising 2012 buzz singles that reunited her with Timbaland, her last studio album more than a decade ago. Fortunately, this official comeback stands up to her richly treasured catalog; the twisty, hard-hitting banger with a sense of humor and its heart in the club is signature Missy. The only disappointment is giving up some of our precious time together for a guest verse that no one really needed.
10. “Coffee” Miguel
The clean edit of a song can be an awkward mess of beeps and blank spaces, but sometimes it inspires an artist into a creative fix that actually elevates the final product. So it is in this gorgeous bedroom jam, where explicit ****ing becomes the more suggestive image of coffee in the morning, a trade that heightens its romantic and sexual power. Miguel’s soulful croon and retro R&B remain as stirring as ever.
11. “Truffle Butter” Nicki Minaj ft. Drake and Lil Wayne
There have been countless collaborations now between Wayne, Drake and Nicki, but few, if any, match this thrilling blast of braggadocio rap, with the relentless energy of its no-holds-barred rhymes and bouncing beat.
12. “Flesh Without Blood” Grimes
It could be the pulsing theme song to a heartrending Japanese anime about a pop princess whose fans don’t want her to change.
13. “These Walls” Kendrick Lamar ft. Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat
Lamar dominated 2015 with his challenging reflections on black life in America. This fascinating juxtaposition of sex jam and revenge fantasy—where vaginal walls, prison walls and emotional walls all collide—is a standout.
14. “Hotline Bling” Drake
Drunken booty call meets the Buena Vista Social Club meets instant meme generator. The Internet wouldn’t have cared so much if it wasn’t insanely catchy.
15. “Good For You” Selena Gomez
Seduces with a smoky soundscape and mumbly come-hither allure. Lana Del Rey is so much more enjoyable when she takes a Valium.
16. “Worth It” Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink
In which an also-ran reality TV girl group finally proves its value to the slinky sounds of saxophone. If you sing it enough times, we will believe!
17. “Eventually” Tame Impala
It sucks to get dumped, but Tame Impala’s dreamy psychedelic pop will make it all better.
18. “Tennessee Whiskey” Chris Stapleton
Melding country with the blues, Stapleton beautifully honors the American roots tradition while making slide guitar sound sexy as hell.
19. “You Know You Like It” DJ Snake and AlunaGeorge
With a mad-scientist assist from DJ Snake, this dark and glitchy taunt morphed into something anarchic and terrifyingly good.
20. “No Sleeep” Janet Jackson
Still nasty after all these years, Ms. Jackson dialed back her bedroom moans to cooing pillow talk and delivered her best single since the
All For You era.
21. “Girl Crush” Little Big Town
Twirls suggestively around its sapphic subtext, like teenagers slow-dancing to its voluptuously aching harmonies and lovely guitar pluck.
22. “Lean On” Major Lazer and DJ Snake ft. MØ
It was the year that dance music took a breather and found its heart. This midtempo transnational party soars on the strength of MØ’s rousing nonsense.
23. “Trap Queen” Fetty Wap
Such a giddy tribute to his woman it was easy to ignore the fact that crack dens and strip clubs are not the usual trappings of great romance.
24. “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” Natalie Prass
Slowly building to a blowout orchestral finale, this torch song is a showstopper of evocative imagery and exquisite pain.
25. “Sorry” Justin Bieber
The Biebs has never sounded so anonymous, but that breezy island beat is peak Skrillex.
Honorable mentions: “
Post to Be” Omarion ft. Chris Brown and Jhené Aiko (
eight words: “But he gotta eat the booty like groceries”); “
Little Red Wagon” Miranda Lambert (
kicking ass and taking names with rock-and-roll swagger); “
Electric Love” Børns (
a glam explosion of pleasure and falsetto); “
Familiar” Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment (
that posse you wish you could be part of trades barbed verses about unimpressive groupies); “
Best Friends” Sophia Grace (
you’re my #1 feminist YouTube sensation!)