Happy New Year!

Once again, as always, there were a ton of great songs released last year. Narrowing it down to the 21 best is a bit ridiculous, but it’s a digestible chunk of music to summarize the year.

My absolute favorite song of the year was also the most surprising: the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Pray to Jesus” blew my mind the first time I heard it and continues to blow we away with each listen. The fact that the Oak Ridge Boys of “Elvira” fame (1981) are not only still together but still sounding this good and recording material of this quality doesn’t make any sense. Or maybe it does! Everything was crazy in 2018.

In addition to “Pray to Jesus” we’ve compiled twenty more great songs from 2018 sequenced for maximum listening pleasure. Please enjoy!

21 Best Songs of 2018 on Spotify

21 Best Songs of 2018 on Apple Music

Here’s the list in text form in case any of the content owners decide to pull their songs from streaming services. (It happens more often than you might realize.)

1. The Oak Ridge Boys – “Pray to Jesus” (February 23)
2. Frankie Cosmos – “Being Alive” (February 16)
3. The Beths – “Future Me Hates Me” (June 8)
4. Superchunk – “Erasure” (May 2)
5. The Regrettes – “Red Light” (September 7)
6. Courtney Barnett – “Nameless, Faceless” (February 26)
7. Laura Jane Grace – “Apocalypse Now (& Later)” (November 27)
8. Father John Misty – “Date Night” (July 31)
9. Laura Veirs – “Everybody Needs You” (February 8)
10. Lucy Dacus – “Addictions” (January 23)
11. The Lower Leisure Class – “7 x 7” (November 8)
12. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “Blueberry Jam” (July 19)
13. Soccer Mommy – “Cool” (April 2)
14. Kurt Vile – “Loading Zones” (August 27)
15. Ruby Boots – “Believe in Heaven” (May 9)
16. Automne – “Soeurs de Coeur” (March 12)
17. Johnny Marr and Maxine Peake – “The Priest” (January 3)
18. Felines – “Too Tight” (December 10)
19. King Tuff – “Psycho Star” (February 21)
20. Janelle Monae – “Make Me Feel” (March 2)
21. Cardi B – “I Like It” (July 4)

Honorable mention:

• Juliana Hatfield – “Lost Ship” (December 18; not available on streaming services yet)