The Top 10 Australian Songs of 2024

And so we close the book on another fabulously compelling year in Australian music. And a what a book it’s been – action, drama, romance, laughs, it’s had it all.

We got landmark late-career albums from Nick Cave, Grinspoon, Sarah Blasko and newly inducted ARIA Hall of Famer Missy Higgins, as well as killer albums from some of Australia’s brightest current stars, like Amyl and the Sniffers, King Stingray and Sycco. And there were more great Australian song than stars in the sky – I’m no astronomer, but I feel confident that this is true.

Here are the absolute best Australian songs of 2024 (and some honourable mentions):

10. ‘1800-PAINLESS’ by Teenage Joans and Between You & Me

Well, they’ve done it again. For the fourth year in a row, Teenage Joans have made it into my Top 10 Australian Songs of the Year. This time around, they’ve teamed up with Between You & Me for a blistering pop-punk heartbreaker that goes hard from start to finish.

9. ‘STUCK’ by LEE. (feat Tommy Gunn)

The follow up to Sydney rapper LEE.’s Unearthed High winner, ‘UP’, ‘STUCK’ is a confident victory lap that balances gratitude with some well-earned swagger. Lush, melodic and catchy, LEE. meditates on his newfound success with a maturity that massively belies his age.

8. ‘I Just Wanna Be Alone’ by RAAVE TAPES

I heard RAAVE TAPES for the first time this year at the Lakes Festival in Central Coast NSW, and I was immediately struck by how fun and talented they were, and how wildly diverse their music was. It seemed like they threw everything at the wall and everything stuck. ‘I Just Want To Be Alone’ is their purest pop song, and introversion has never felt so euphoric.

7. ‘Exceptional’ by South Summit

The vocal performance of the year – it’s not at all showy, but it’s compelling and assured as Zaya Reuben subtly flexes his range and imbues the song with an undeniable and entrancing pull. ‘Exceptional’ is a dreamy swirl of surf rock at its most romantic.

6. ‘Untangling’ by Angie McMahon

This song belongs in a movie – in the climactic scene of an intimate character study, the kind of indie film that’s just prestige enough to be nominated for Best Picture, but not quite popular enough to win. The depth and soul of McMahon’s voice is our guide as the song’s knotty mess of emotion, pain, healing and hope slowly unravels and frees.

5. ‘Southerly’ by King Stingray

King Stingray are a beacon of light. Their second album, For The Dreams, picks up where their debut left off – their Yolgnu surf rock is a celebration of life, of connection to country, of music and storytelling and good vibes. ‘Southerly’ is a particular highlight. It’s a beautiful, nostalgic and joyful, carried by a huge, uplifting chorus that chimes, “I don’t want to be anywhere else right now.”

4. ‘We’re A Pair Of Diamonds’ by Ruel and DMA’s

A musical team up as unexpected as it was it was tremendous. ‘We’re A Pair Of Diamonds’ perfectly mixes the indie rock of DMA’s with the alt-pop of Ruel. It’s intimate and anthemic, mournful and life-affirming, a genuinely stunning elegy to loss and acceptance, grief and gratitude. Each line hits like a sledgehammer and soothes like a warm hug.

3. ‘Joy’ by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

“We’ve all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy,” Cave bellows on ‘Joy’. Nick Cave has endured a lifetime of sorrow in the last decade, but on his eighteenth studio album, Wild God, he emerges from the shadows of grief with a renewed sense of life and vitality. ‘Joy’ is Cave at his most rapturous, replete with ornate imagery and baroque poetry.

2. ‘Lately’ by RÜFÜS DU SOL

RÜFÜS DU SOL have an argument as the greatest and most important electronic artist in Australian music history. Across five albums they have never taken a step backwards, constantly innovating and elevating their sound to craft spellbinding dance music. ‘Lately’ is euphoric - profoundly moving lyrics over a propulsive soundscape of absurdly heady beats.

1. ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ by Amyl and The Sniffers

There is simply no one in Australian music right now as adept at delivering a massive ‘fuck you’ than Amy Taylor. They’re creative, defiant, punchy, and catchy as hell – she is a ‘fuck you’ merchant like no other.

‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ was the lead single of Amyl & The Sniffers’ outstanding third album Cartoon Darkness, and it’s the perfect introduction to the record’s sardonic derision and in-your-face mockery, as well as the pop-punk meets pub-rock infusion of their music. The rumbling bass is the perfect platform as Amy spits dismissive vitriol at an unnamed asshole, simmering anger giving way to conversational indifference. A new peak for the Sniffers, and the best song of the year.

And a few honourable mentions: ‘Is It Ever Gonna Make Sense’ by Budjerah, ‘Check Mate’ by The Buoys, ‘Level’ by Fool Nelson, ‘KILL[H]ER’ by Stand Atlantic, ‘Freckles’ by Thelma Plum