Young women blurring genres, global artists pushing boundaries and a rapper playing with a meme made the most exciting tracks of the year. By Jon Pareles and Jon Caramanica JON PARELES Going way, way ...

The artists behind the year’s best songs were teenage pop superstars who came out of nowhere (Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X), established names looking at life and music from the cusp of their thirties ...

Something no one saw coming in 2019? One of the most anticipated hip-hop releases marking the return of a rock legend to the top 40. Malone teamed up with his childhood idol (plus fellow rapper Scott) ...

Country and Americana songwriters reflected the grim mood of 2019 in a variety of ways, whether leaning completely into it, retreating to somewhere more fun, or finding ways to rise above. Kelsey ...

Honestly, everything by Baby Rose is completely underrated and should be on this list. Baby Rose has one of the most soulful voices I have ever heard. Her entire album To Myself is underrated, but I'm ...

“Lover” is reminiscent of Swift’s early songwriting after enjoying a decade full of massive pop hits. Appearing on her 2019 album of the same name, the song seems to take a step back, reflecting over ...

It’s conventional pop-music-history wisdom that the years at the start and end of a decade tend to be transitional, as the sound of the previous era is getting worn out but the next sensibility hasn’t ...

The art of covering a song might have reached its pop-culture saturation point this year, thanks to an abundance of special programming (Triple J's Like A Version, BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, Spotify ...

There's an endless number of ways to judge a great song. Is it something you can listen to over and over without getting tired of it? Is it something you can only listen to sparingly because it makes ...