If anyone tells you 2024 was anything less than an absolute win for new music, they clearly spent the year with their head stuck in a bin. While the world outside might have been doing its best impression of a dumpster fire, our headphones have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches. From bright-young-things becoming even brighter to established faves finding new gears, the last twelve months have delivered more golden moments than we can count.
That's where this list comes in. Over the next few days, we'll be celebrating the very best tracks 2024 had to offer – from chart-destroying anthems to underground gems that deserve their moment in the spotlight. So grab your party hat, pour yourself something fizzy, and join us as we count down the defining songs of 2024.
100. Wallows - Bad Dream
Some songs arrive like gentle ripples, others like tidal waves. Wallows' 'Bad Dream' somehow manages to be both – a warm and reassuringly tinged alt-rock revelation that sits at the heart of the trio's boldest evolution yet.
The track sees the band navigating the treacherous waters between indie intimacy and arena-ready ambition. At its core lies a narrative as complex as the instrumentation surrounding it – an exploration of watching someone dear spiral through their personal demons. There's a particular ache in Braeden Lemasters' delivery as he steps up to lead vocal duties that transforms universal experience into something deeply personal, each verse carrying the weight of sleepless nights and unanswered texts.
The production strikes a delicate balance between minimalist restraint and calculated chaos. Every element feels precisely placed yet somehow organic, like constellations that only reveal their patterns after patient observation. It's in these carefully crafted spaces between notes where Wallows truly shine, proving that evolution doesn't mean abandoning roots – it means helping them grow deeper.
'Bad Dream' stands as a testament to the band's refusal to stay in any prescribed lane. It's the sound of three musicians who've outgrown their bedroom recording sessions but retained every ounce of the intimacy that made those early tracks sparkle. They've crafted something that feels both ambitious and authentic – a dream that's all the more powerful for its comfy, bold reality. DAN HARRISON
99. Tate McRae - It's ok I'm ok
Tate McRae's 'It's Ok I'm Ok' arrives like a bolt of lightning – illuminating, electrifying, and impossible to ignore because is already burning your house