Our writers and editors chime in with their personal favorites from the past year.

Andrew Brandt

2015 was the year Josh Tillman came to everyone’s apartment, through headphones, laptop speakers and think pieces spurred on by blog-baiting gimmickry. I mean, for crying out loud, the man even made his way here — to a paragraph about my favorite songs of the year — and he’s not even on my list.

Thankfully, the New Year is here, which means we can all put this over-pretentious, convoluted and ultimately dull character behind us. Here are my 15 favorite songs from 2015; they’re all Father John Misty-less and wonderful.

15. Chromatics – “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around”
14. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Run Away with Me”
13. Royal Headache – “High”
12. Hop Along – “Waitress”
11. CHVRCHES – “Clearest Blue”
10. Speedy Ortiz – “Raising the Skate”
9. Titus Andronicus – “Dimed Out”
8. Jamie xx – “Gosh”
7. Dilly Dally – “Desire”
6. Kurt Vile – “Pretty Pimpin”
5. Beach Slang – “Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas”
4. Majical Cloudz – “Downtown”
3. Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”
2. Grimes – “Realiti”
1. Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”

Brandon Clementi

In tracking my progression from a young fan of radio pop (obsessing over Top 40 radio’s countdown lists even as a 12-year-old) into a snobby indie-toting Strokes fan-child, it’s easy to view my teenage rejection of pop as a key factor in my development into the person I was as a young, judgmental music fan. As an early teen I eschewed the hits of Usher and opted instead for Fall Out Boy, only to stop following them once they’d passed beyond the indie sphere into major-label territory. I misguidedly positioned my indie fandom in a way that opposed the enjoyment of pop music, at one point even making a mixed CD for friends entitled Good Music for People Who Love Bad Music. Groan!

If my increasingly swift post-collegiate fall back in love with pop music was an illustration of Pop Music as Acquired Taste, 2015 was my splash of hot coffee to the face. A truly remarkable Now That’s What I Call Music-sized clump of the songs that dominated Top 40 in 2015 were among my favorites of the year; it was a year in which it would be a simple task to construct a top 15 songs of the year list comprised only of Very Popular Songs. Those that entered my overall top 15 that don’t fall into the Top 40 mold were chiefly album highlights from very strong full-length releases, which means that in all fairness many of the songs in this list could pretty easily have been replaced by other tracks from their album.

Coincidentally, the three songs topping my list here construct a statement worth keeping close to the heart as we enter 2016: “Every morning there are mountains to climb / We gon’ be alright / I know there’s gonna be good times.”

15. Death Grips – “On GP”
14. Empress Of – “Standard”
13. Downtown Boys – “Monstro”
12. Julia Holter – “Sea Calls Me Home”
11. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Warm Blood”
10. Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
9. Majical Cloudz – “Silver Car Crash”
8. Nicolas Jaar – “Fight”
7. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Run Away with Me”
6. Joanna Newsom – “Sapokanikan”
5. Natalie Prass – “My Baby Don’t Understand Me”
4. The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”
3. Jamie xx feat. Young Thug and Popcaan – “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”
2. Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
1. Grimes – “REALiTi (Demo)”

Michael Frett

I have no idea how I’ll remember 2015 even a year from now. Music was in a weird place for me, frequently jumping from passion to background noise, from a hobby to a chore as I tried to keep up. Some of my favorite artists passed (the world’s already too quiet without you, Lemmy), and a sense of tragedy would rear its head in even the wildest rock shows that came in Paris’s wake.

But it was also a year of civil rights anthems and straight-edged rockers, where old genres felt as vital as ever, digital Picassos flourished and pop gleamed at its brightest. A year of highs and lows, 2015 wasn’t ground breaking as much as it was celebratory; music reveled in diversity, accessibility and was just downright fun.

15. Eagles of Death Metal – “I Love You All the Time”
14. Ghost Bath – “Golden Number”
13. Alabama Shakes – “Gimme All Your Love”
12. Eric Church – “Chattanooga Lucy”
11. Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
10. Glen Hansard – “Her Mercy”
9. Deerhunter – “Snakeskin”
8. Oneohtrix Point Never – “Sticky Drama”
7. Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”
6. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Run Away with Me”
5. Titus Andronicus – “Dimed Out”
4. Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker the Berry”
3. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment – “Sunday Candy”
2. Bruce Springsteen – “Meet Me in the City”
1. Rhianna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”

Rebecca Edwards

2015 has finally drawn to a close and all I can say is: good riddance and get outta here, you fickle friend. Choosing only 15 songs for this year was a difficult task. Just like the year it represents, this list has its highs and lows, its positives and negatives, and its various doses of pessimism and optimism. What all these song have in common: I can’t get them out of my head.

15. KLOË – “Grip”
14. Leon Bridges – “Lisa Sawyer”
13. Ryan Adams – “Style”
12. Will Joseph Cook – “Hearse”
11. Kacey Musgraves – “Somebody to Love”
10. Adele – “When We Were Young”
9. Rachel Platten – “Fight Song”
8. Alessia Cara – “Here”
7. Fetty Wap feat. Montana Buckz – “Show You”
6. Drake – “Hotline Bling”
5. LÉON – “Tired of Talking”
4. Noah Gundersen – “Show Me the Light”
3. Justin Bieber – “Love Yourself”
2. CHINAH – “Away From Me”
1. Julien Baker – “Brittle Boned”

Riley Beggin

In 2015, people took their frustration and did something about it. From the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to the mainstreamization of feminism to the legalization of same sex marriage, the sort of brave, societal ass-kicking that went down this year was momentous. My favorite songs of the year, either thematically or just in their feels, embody that.

With a glance at all of our lists, it’s easy to see that Kendrick was king this year. That was because he made an amazing album that spoke to the frustrations of so many people; I chose “King Kunta” to reign because it screams empowerment from every beat. “Raising the Skate” came in at a close second. I discovered it a couple months before discovering Jessica Hopper’s Twitter questions and a couple months after reading Meredith Graves’ Talkhouse piece, and it got me fired up. Also, it’s a great song and Sadie Dupuis is my idol. Here’s hoping 2016 kills it too.

15. Viet Cong – “Continental Shelf”
14. Downtown Boys – “Dancing in the Dark”
13. Diet Cig – “Harvard”
12. Drake – “Know Yourself”
11. Sufjan Stevens – “Should Have Known Better”
10. Dan Deacon – “When I Was Done Dying”
9. The Districts – “4th and Roebling”
8. Vince Staples – “Norf Norf”
7. Kurt Vile – “Pretty Pimpin”
6. Bully – “Brainfreeze”
5. Sleater-Kinney – “Bury Our Friends”
4. Miguel – “Coffee”
3. Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”
2. Speedy Ortiz – “Raising the Skate”
1. Kendrick Lamar – “King Kunta”

Ted Carlson

2015 marks the first year that I was employed full-time working an office job. This means that I worked approximately 2,000 hours (give or take) this past year in a cubicle the size of my bed. Add in another hour of commute time each day in a similarly sized car, and I’ve listened to a lot of music in 2015. Music can help me focus, or it can be a willful distraction. See if you can figure out which of these songs are which.

15. Vince Staples – “Norf Norf”
14. Thundercat feat. Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington – “Them Changes”
13. Julia Holter – “Feel You”
12. Floating Points – “Peroration Six”
11. Waxahatchee – “Air”
10. Jamie xx – “Gosh”
9. Destroyer – “Times Square”
8. Miguel – “Coffee”
7. Beach House – Elegy to the Void”
6. Death Grips – “The Powers That B”
5. Chromatics – “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around”
4. Kurt Vile – “Pretty Pimpin”
3. Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”
2. Tame Impala – “Let It Happen”
1. Kendrick Lamar – “Blacker the Berry”

Tom Whitcomb

2015 may have been the year Josh Tillman came to everyone’s apartment, as Andrew said above, but only because he was invited. The fact that a character as willfully ironic and contrived as Father John Misty has become as popular as he has is a testament to the artistic direction modern music is headed — hell, most of this year’s hip-hop albums were so concept heavy, they had to stretch to pick singles. But then again, what do I know? I didn’t like the Beach Slang album ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

15. Vince Staples –“Norf Norf”
14. Laura Stevenson – “Emily in Half”
13. FIDLAR – “West Coast”
12. A$AP Rocky – “Canal St.”
11. Tenement – “Crop Circle Nation”
10. Frank Turner – “The Opening Act of Spring”
9. Timeshares – “Heavy Hangs”
8. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment – “Sunday Candy”
7. Hop Along – “Buddy in the Parade”
6. Pusha T – “M.P.A.”
5. Courtney Barnett – “Dead Fox”
4. Deafheaven – “Gifts for the Earth”
3. Father John Misty – “The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.”
2. CHVRCHES – “Playing Dead”
1. Kendrick Lamar – “King Kunta”