Seventy-one tracks that asked big questions, found new kinship between genres and helped us see the good in Ken.Jon Pareles | Jon Caramanica | Lindsay ZoladzJon ParelesFumbling Toward EcstasyThe album may be imperiled; people have been saying so for decades, even though the form has resisted extinction. Meanwhile, songs flourish, whether or not theyâre destined for albums, and are ever more flexible. Some maintain the pop conventions of verse-chorus-verse; others distill themselves down to TikTok-ready hooks or sprawl across digital time frames. Here are 30 of my favorite songs from 2023 â less a ranking than a playlist, a tribute to creative abundance.1. Allison Russell, âEve Was BlackâThe tune could be a toe-tapping Appalachian hoedown. But the titleâs blunt, irrefutable statement carries Allison Russell toward harsh thoughts about racism, slavery, exploitation, lynching and sin â and then to an unexpected coda.2. Peter Gabriel, âRoad to Joy (Bright-Side Mix)âLike many Peter Gabriel songs, this one has a scenario. The narrator is waking from a coma into an overload of sensory experiences, getting âback in the worldâ; the music is a funk carnival that keeps adding euphoric layers.3. 100 gecs, âDumbest Girl AliveâNo band walks Spinal Tapâs âfine line between clever and stupidâ like the duo 100 gecs. âDumbest Girl Aliveâ has a primal stomp for a beat, an up-and-down guitar riff that whimsically hops around instruments, and filtered hyperpop vocals with 21st-century lines like âput emojis on my graveâ â just the thing for an utterly knowing, utterly meta bash.4. Sampha, âSuspendedâSamphaâs âLahaiâ was brighter and more expansive than his previous LPs.Ayesha Kazim for The New York TimesSampha gathers ideas from R&B, classical Minimalism, twitchy hyperpop and more around the androgynous melancholy of his voice. He conjures a rapturous infatuation and the need it leaves behind in âSuspended,â three minutes of vertigo from his album âLahai.â5. The Rolling Stones featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, âSweet Sounds of HeavenâThe peak of the Rolling Stonesâ resurgent album âHackney Diamondsâ is an all-star concoction that sounds like a raw studio jam. Mick Jagger extols the glories of music and the song climbs to a big, gospelly finish, with Jagger and Lady Gaga goading each other to belt more. When it winds up, they catch their breath but they donât want to quit â and the song builds even higher.6. Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera, âFrĂĄgilâTwo Mexican American groups â from Washington state and Texas â unite for âFrĂĄgil,â a cumbia complaint about a heartless partner. While the men in Grupo Frontera sound mildly apologetic, Yahritza Martinez sings as if her heart might burst at any moment.7. Baby Rose, âStop the BleedingâWith her low, tremulous, gripping voice, Baby Rose sings about love as self-sabotage, trying to break free while an orchestra underlines her despair.8. Shakira, âBZRP Music Sessions #53âIn one of Shakiraâs canny 2023 collaborations â others were with Karol G and the regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida â she enlisted the hitmaking Argentine electro producer Bizarrap to take revenge on her ex, with pointed wordplay and an airborne hook denouncing âguys like you.â9. Killer Mike featuring Future, AndrĂ© 3000 and Eryn Allen Kane, âScientists & EngineersâIn a track that roves from electro to guitar ballad to bursts of gospel, Killer Mike convenes fellow Atlanta rappers â the prolific Future and the elusive AndrĂ© 3000 â to address art, ambition, luxury, tenacity and paying dues, culminating in a marathon verse from Killer Mike himself.10. Brittany Howard, âWhat NowâChoppy, distorted, splintered hard funk pulses around Brittany Howard as she sorts through all the conflicting impulses of a breakup: taking blame and lashing out, feeling regret and relief, wanting to stay and knowing she needs to go.11. Jorja Smith, âTry MeâJorja Smith used vocal nuance instead of volume to stir things up on her second studio album.Jose Sena Goulao/EPA, via ShutterstockA wounded, defensive Jorja Smith confronts someone who had put her down, in a track that evolves from pinging, percussive defiance to orchestral contemplation.12. Caroline Polachek, âDangâOne percussive syllable â âdangâ â inspires an entire brittle production apparatus around Caroline Polachekâs deadpan voice. She sings about irreversible events, like shipwrecks and spilled milk, amid plinks, clangs, crashes, swooping strings and sampled screams, nonchalant amid the non sequiturs.13. aespa, âBetter ThingsâCowbells, handclaps and piano chords drive âBetter Things,â a K-pop kiss-off with ingeniously cascading vocal harmonies and absolutely no regrets.14. Janelle MonĂĄe featuring Doechii, âPhenomenalâJanelle MonĂĄeâs 2023 album, âThe Age of Pleasure,â exults in carnality while segueing through R&B, jazz and Caribbean styles. âPhenomenalâ is a raunchy acclamation of lust and self-love, rapped and sung over springy, changeable Latin jazz grooves.15. Noname, âNamesakeâNoname reels off brisk, matter-of-fact rhymes over a jazzy bass line as she strives to reconcile her personal comfort with all the worldâs problems. She worries about complacency, complicity and hypocrisy; she doesnât spare herself.16. Irreversible Entanglements, âRoot BranchâIrreversible Entanglements is a fiercely riffing jazz band fronted by the low-voiced spoken-word poet Moor Mother. âWe can be free â letâs fly,â she intones over the six-beat vamp of âRoot Branch,â demanding something basic and essential.17. Jaimie Branch, âTake Over the WorldâThe trumpeter and bandleader Jaimie Branch sets up a pummeling beat behind an environmental battle chant in âTake Over the World,â veers into a swirl of psychedelia, then whoops it up even harder.18. Dolly Parton, âWorld on FireâDolly Parton, of all people, delivers a full-fledged power ballad and stadium stomp to consider the dire state of the world. She counsels love, healing and kindness, but at the end sheâs still wondering: âWhatcha gonna do when it all burns down?â19. Kylie Minogue, âPadam PadamâKylie Minogueâs âPadam Padamâ had a moment â during Pride celebrations and beyond â in 2023.Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesFor Kylie Minogue, âPadam Padamâ is the sound of a heartbeat during a mutual flirtation at a club. The beat â a TikTok favorite â is a cheerful club thump, and a hint of Bollywood perks up the melody for three minutes of computerized bliss20. LâRain, âI Killed Your DogâLâRain â the songwriter and performer Taja Cheek â ponders vengeful, destructive impulses in a near-lullaby that wanders through a chromatic chord progression, building ambivalence into the harmonies.21. Jamila Woods featuring duendita, âTiny GardenâJamila Woods sings about love as an accumulation of small connections and growing trust, a work in progress: âItâs not butterflies or fireworks.â The arc of the music, from isolated percussion and keyboards to multilayered, gospel-tinged vocals, radiates optimism.22. Olivia Dean featuring Leon Bridges, âThe Hardest PartâWith vintage soul chords and modern electronic subtleties, the English songwriter Olivia Dean and her American duet partner, Leon Bridges, sing about growing apart and moving on, grappling with second thoughts.23. Nkosazana Daughter, Master KG and Lowsheen featuring Murumba, âRing Ring RingâIn an amapiano track full of echoey, lonely spaces, the South African singer Nkosazana Daughter and guests lament the uncertainty and sorrow of an unanswered phone call.24. Margo Price, âLydiaâMargo Price turned her lens outward to characters other than herself on her album âStrays.âSara Messinger for The New York TimesIn this unblinking character study, a woman named Lydia, with âan ex-husband and a midlife crisis,â smokes a cigarette outside a clinic, thinking back through a life of hard luck and rough decisions and trying to decide whether to end her pregnancy. Margo Price sets the story to simple guitar chords and an understated string arrangement, pondering the choices.25. Mitski, âBug Like an AngelâA squashed bug on the bottom of a cocktail glass leads Mitski to fragmentary epiphanies about addiction, trust and sex, with a choir bursting in to affirm each cryptic insight.26. Margaret Glaspy, âMemoriesâOver a waltz of simple guitar chords, Margaret Glaspy blurts out unvarnished grief in a torn voice, bereft yet struggling to go on.27. The Smile, âBending HecticâA guitar meditation melts into an ecstatic death wish during the eight minutes of âBending Hectic.â Thom Yorke sings about driving along a curvy Italian mountain road with a sheer drop, and âletting go of the wheelâ; Jonny Greenwoodâs string arrangement envisions the plunge, and then electric guitars careen to a finish.28. Lankum, âGo Dig My GraveâThe Irish band Lankum connects the fatalistic, death-haunted side of Celtic tradition to something like black metal in this nine-minute dirge about dying for love. Itâs an inexorable crescendo from a solo a cappella vocal to a tolling, clanging drone topped by a howling fiddle, haunted and bleak.29. Caroline Rose, âLove/Lover/FriendâIn a flurry of plucked and orchestral strings, Caroline Rose affirms her love by ruling out other possibilities, then basks in wordless choral ecstasy.30. AndrĂ© 3000, âThat Night in Hawaii When I Turned Into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldnât Control ⊠Sh„t Was WildâIn a 10-minute instrumental for muffled drums, percussion and prowling parallel flute lines, AndrĂ© 3000 maintains an aura of calm vigilance, contemplative but still on edge.Jon CaramanicaAnything GoesIt was a year in which the best pop music truly made it up as it went along. Off-the-cuff collaborations? Sure. Songs by fictional characters? Why not. A guy filmed singing in a field by a West Virginia public radio outlet? Absolutely. Microscene classics that clock in at 75 seconds and might be forgotten tomorrow? Always. (In the interest of avoiding redundancy, Iâve only included songs that arenât on albums that made my best of the year list.)1. Central Cee & Dave, âSprinterâThis British rap tag team is about improbable wealth, bounteous opportunities, living so fast that whatâs slipping by is almost as good as what you manage to grab hold of. As celebrations go, this is a controlled, pensive one â a relaxed ramble for the moments when the moneyâs so new, it sparkles.2. Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), âWorld Class Sinner/Iâm a FreakâA paean to emotional vacancy sung with emotional vacancy from a television show rife with emotional vacancy ends up ⊠positively glistening. A cause for surrender.3. Oliver Anthony Music, âRich Men North of RichmondâA great song, sure. More than that, though, a sense of great exasperation. The quick and strong embrace of this song suggests an ocean of frustration that pop music leaves largely untapped and unvoiced, and a grass-roots resistance that it has almost no hope of replicating.4. Mustafa, âName of GodâFew artists conjure a richness of sorrow the way the Canadian folk singer Mustafa does. Here, his singing is beautiful and a little distant, as if flinching ever so slightly from a pain that will never be anything but raw.5. PinkPantheress featuring Ice Spice, âBoyâs a Liar Pt. 2âPinkPantheress took her songs from her bedroom to bigger stages after a viral hit.Adama Jalloh for The New York TimesA glimpse at how pop might â should? â sound in the coming few years. Two stars of the internet of 12 to 24 months ago who found themselves at the vanguards of their respective scenes come together for a collaboration in which neither has to concede an inch.6. Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson, âSave MeâWhat makes Jelly Roll so effective is the way the intensity of his howl only amplifies the potency of his scars. Itâs perhaps most pointed on this duet with Lainey Wilson, whose crisp and clear tone initially seems like an antidote, but is quickly revealed as equally bruised.7. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi, âJohnny DangâAn effortless blend of Texas rap generations, fusing the tongue-twisting with the slow-rolling.8. Cody Johnson, âThe PainterâWhen someone is effusive, it might not mean as much when they gush. But when a stoic drops his guard, it can feel seismic.9. Ken (Ryan Gosling), âIâm Just KenâWhen this stridently sad song from the âBarbieâ movie hits its apogee, itâs channeling Dashboard Confessional, Meat Loaf, the Phantom (of the Opera) and maybe even Scott Stapp. Slash plays guitar, salting the melodrama hard.10. Gunna, âFukumeanâThe Atlanta rapper Gunna quickly returned to work after accepting a plea deal in a wide-sweeping ongoing case.Craig Barritt/Getty Images For GunnaA year ago, Gunna accepted a plea deal that untethered him from the RICO trial that has ensnared his mentor, Young Thug. Relatively quickly, he returned to his familiar slippery garble with a hit so ubiquitous it felt like a memory of how things once were.11. YoungBoy Never Broke Again, âDirty ThugâThe best of another slew of lonely anthems from the most important and least publicly visible hip-hop star of the past few years.12. Kylie Minogue, âPadam PadamâA cool blast of not-quite-exuberance, this club-pop anthem is a continuation of Kylie Minogueâs sometime-diva legacy, a relentless queer anthem, a cheeky flirtation and a thump that just wonât quit.13. Doja Cat, âAgora HillsâIt has been 11 and a half years since Kitty Pryde released âOkay Cupid,â plenty of time for a re-embrace.14. Chino Pacas, âEl Gordo Trae el MandoâA meaty, beatifically meandering boast by one of the rising stars of corridos tumbados.15. Lil Uzi Vert, âJust Wanna RockâGrandfathered in from late 2022, this song broke TikTok, broke dancing, broke the Grammys and maybe even broke hip-hop.And 10 More:Corpse, âDisdainâMiley Cyrus, âUsed to be YoungâEmilia, âGTA.mp3âevvls, âBelikeme?âJack Harlow, âLovin on MeâSam Hunt, âWalmartâByron Messia, âTalibansâMilitarie Gun, âVery HighâNettspend, âShine N PeaceâOdetari, âGood Loyal ThotsâLindsay ZoladzBeautiful DisastersSo many of my favorite tracks of the year flipped scripts, turned tables and reimagined weaknesses as strengths. By no means a complete list of the songs I enjoyed the past 12 months, these are 20 I couldnât stop listening to â most of them reminders of musicâs ability to turn mess into meaning, anxiety into energy and heartache into a great song.1. Olivia Rodrigo, âVampireâOlivia Rodrigo confronts a new class of villain on âVampire,â the incisive first single that heralded her second album, âGuts,â but she also proves she has learned new ways to slay. âVampireâ is wrenching and formally restless, at first masquerading as a piano ballad, only to ramp up into a miniature rock opera complete with a showstopping high note worthy of a tragic heroine. But donât cry for Rodrigo â she doesnât need protection. Her words, her observations and her stylistic flair all have plenty of bite.2. PinkPantheress featuring Ice Spice, âBoy’s a Liar Pt. 2âIn a previous millennium, two of popâs main young girlies joined forces to each assert that âThe Boy Is Mine,â but PinkPantheress (b. 2001) and Ice Spice (b. 2000) were not alive when that song was released. On their bubbly and utterly infectious collaboration, they sidestep any hint of rivalry and turn against the guy, deciding heâs not worth the drama. âWhatâs the point of crying?â they shrug blithely. âIt was never even love.â3. Lana Del Rey, âA&WâThe yearâs best song about telling an ex-boyfriendâs mom that her son is a disaster (runner-up: Rodrigoâs âGet Him Back!â), the sprawling, portentous seven-minute âA&Wâ is an unfiltered look into Lana Del Reyâs stream of consciousness: misremembered movie titles, sexually frank admissions, inside jokes about Californian geography (âI say I live in Rosemead, really, Iâm at the Ramadaâ) and all manner of other oddly juxtaposed American flotsam. âMaybe,â she reasons with a weary sigh, arriving at some self-knowledge, âIâm just kinda like this.â4. boygenius, âNot Strong EnoughâEveryoneâs favorite musical besties â Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus â riff on pop clichĂ©s and gender roles in this highlight from their breakout year, succinctly summing up their individual songwriting personalities and demonstrating the magic that happens when they combine their powers.5. Romy, âEnjoy Your LifeâRomy Madley Croft was the final member of the xx to release a solo album.Charlotte Hadden for The New York TimesThe xxâs Romy Madley Croft finds a solution for anxiety and self-doubt on this thumping, compassionate club banger: What if she looked at her life through the eyes of a benevolent mother? A luminous sample from the synth pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland â âmy mother says to me, enjoy your lifeâ â guides the way.6. Mitski, âMy Love Mine All MineâTikTokâs reluctant darling Mitski has released her share of songs that sound destined for pop crossover â last yearâs sleek, synthy âLaurel Hellâ was full of them â but, unexpectedly, she became a fixture on this yearâs Hot 100 for the first time ever with this slow, moony ballad that sounds unlike anything else on the charts. Oblique, poetic and sumptuously sung, itâs a welcome moment of Zen.7. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, âI Remember EverythingâAn old-fashioned he-said/she-said country duet cut through with a chill of bleak finality. Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves are both at their emotive best on this bruised-hearted crossover hit.8. Doja Cat, âAgora HillsâAn arsenic-laced confection that shows off Doja Catâs multiple personalities â a romantic and an ironist, an angel and a devil, a singer fluent in dreamy hooks and a rapper with razor-sharp teeth.9. Jess Williamson, âHunterâThe indie singer-songwriter Jess Williamson chronicles both the promise and fatigue of looking for love in this bittersweet, poetically rendered reflection, her twangy voice brimming with a weary hope.10. Olivia Rodrigo, âBad Idea, Right?âOlivia Rodrigo sings about mistakes in serious and humorous ways on her second album, âGuts.âChantal Anderson for The New York TimesWith the possession of a driverâs license comes the ability to drive to an exâs house in the middle of the night for an ill-advised hookup. Thatâs the trade-off. At least such circumstances gave us one of Rodrigoâs spunkiest, funniest and most irresistible singles yet.11. Palehound, âIndependence DayâEl Kempner has a keen eye for tragicomic detail on this ramshackle rocker about regret, denial and long-simmering incompatibility that results in a July 4 breakup. âIâm living life like writing my first draft,â they sing. Arenât we all.12. Water From Your Eyes, âBarleyâAll year I have been describing this zany, looping song from the Brooklyn art-rockers Water From Your Eyes as âwhat it would sound like if Sonic Youth had made an appearance on âSesame Street,ââ and Iâm not going to stop now.13. Noname, âNamesakeâThe Chicago rapper Noname says the quiet part loud â and oh so dexterously â on this refreshingly honest track, an incisive examination of pop-cultural ethics unafraid to name names, including (in addition to BeyoncĂ©, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar) her own.14. Wednesday, âChosen to DeserveâIn her cracked wail, the Southern rock band Wednesdayâs Karly Hartzman â âthe girl that youâve chosen to deserveâ â paints an achingly vivid portrait of suburban boredom and young adult malaise, finding just the right surface details to express something deep: âI was out late, sneaking into the neighborhood pool,â she sings. âThen I woke up early and taught at the Sunday school.â15. Mandy, Indiana, âPinking ShearsâComment dit-on âhypnotic, endlessly loopable industrial bangerâ?16. Jenn Champion, âJessicaâThereâs no right or wrong way to grieve, Jenn Champion reminds us on this icy, arresting piano ballad, as she rages against a friendâs overdose in lacerating detail.17. Jamila Woods featuring duendita, âTiny GardenâJamila Woodsâs album âWater Made Usâ achieves the musicianâs greatest synthesis yet between her voices as a poet and as a songwriter.Bennett Raglin/Getty Images For Slow FactoryA warm, wise ode to incremental progress and tiny, beautiful things from R&Bâs resident poet laureate.18. Yo La Tengo, âFalloutâStill knitting aural autumn sweaters, after all these years.19. Sufjan Stevens, âSo You Are TiredâWhat state is he on now? Alaska? Disrepair? Grace? Regardless, this song is a quiet doozy that watches a long-term love unravel in slow motion like a spool of ribbon underwater.20. Drake featuring Sexyy Red and SZA, âRich Baby DaddyâExhibit Z that Drake is at his best not when he tsk-tsks grown women, but when he risks being outshone by inviting them on the track. More