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Staff Picks: 20 Pop Songs From 2024 That Deserved to Be Smashes

The best pop songs of 2024 that should have been smashes, including songs by JADE, Conan Gray and more.

Allie X has spent a decade as a pop provocateur, and “Off With Her Tits,” from her Girl With No Face project, is one of her most effective three-minute bangers to date: a send-up of anxieties surrounding gender dysmorphia, the single could feasibly help struggling listeners feel more understood, but it also works as a head-knocking synth pile-up, kicking into high gear during the second verse. The Chvrches leader’s debut solo project Vicious Creature succeeds whenever Mayberry shows off more of her personality, and the single “Crocodile Tears” stands tall as its highlight, with the singer-songwriter eviscerating a dude who’s trying to tangle her up: “Maybe I’m a villain, but I find it kind of thrilling when you cry,” she seethes, before adding one more “…cry” for good measure. After 2022’s Glitch Princess and last year’s Softscars, Yeule didn’t release a new album in 2024… but their single “Eko” hopefully foreshadows future greatness, as a more straightforward pop track that clarifies the smudges of their synth-heavy production, shoves their voice into the foreground, and gathers steam before evaporating, a hint at what’s ahead that still stands on its own.

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