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Best Songs Of 2019 (So Far): Amber Mark To Karen O

Chelsea Beck for NPR

Best Songs Of 2019 (So Far)

June 26, 2019 • There's no one sound to a year, but public radio writers across the country do set their ears to the most essential music. We asked them: What is your favorite song of 2019 so far?

Playlists

Hand-picked songs curated by the NPR Music staff

Playlist: Trixie Mattel's Pink Drink Makeover For Pride Month

Drag queen and songwriter Trixie Mattel's roséwave playlist includes songs by Dusty Springfield, The Zombies and a handful of musical drag queens. Cyriel Jacobs/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Cyriel Jacobs/Courtesy of the artist

Trixie Mattel's Pink Drink Makeover

For Pride Month, the drag queen and songwriter presents the antidote to a mundane makeover: a roséwave playlist.

Alt.Latino Playlist: Cuban Rap, Soulful Shoegaze And A Transformation From The Ravine

Mateo Kingman (left) and Gustavo Santaolalla in the video for "Último Aliento." Courtesy of the Artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the Artist

Alt.Latino

Orishas returns with a piano ballad for existentialist insomniacs, Chicago's Divino Niño offers a dream-pop ballad and Mateo Kingman teams up with Gustavo Santaolalla.

Viking's Choice: Appalachian Juggalo Blues, Psychedelic Black Metal, More

Frank Hurricane sings the "full spectrum of juggalo" on the extremely charming "Susquehanna River Blues." Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Viking's Choice

Frank Hurricane pens an ode to lonely juggalos everywhere, Skáphe + Wormlust collapses a black hole with black metal and Lea Bertucci takes her sax to a grain elevator.

Chong the Nomad. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

A weekly playlist of songs heard on the popular NPR music discovery podcast, now featuring artists discovered in Seattle.

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Editors' picks

Essential stories and videos from npr music

Betty Who performs a Tiny Desk Concert on May 29, 2019 (Shuran Huang/NPR). Shuran Huang/NPR hide caption

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Shuran Huang/NPR

Betty Who: Tiny Desk Concert

Betty Who brings Roséwave, sun's-out pop to the Tiny Desk with all the usual studio production stripped away.

Why The Seattle Music Scene Is A Glimpse At The Future

Clockwise from upper left: Versing, Actionesse, Chong The Nomad, Seattle's Space Needle, doNormaal All photos courtesy of the artists except Seattle's Space Needle: Joel Rogers for Corbis Documentary / Getty Image Plus hide caption

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All photos courtesy of the artists except Seattle's Space Needle: Joel Rogers for Corbis Documentary / Getty Image Plus

Why The Seattle Music Scene Is A Glimpse At The Future

On this week's All Songs Considered we explore the city that gave us the noise of Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana and the introspection of Fleet Foxes and Death Cab For Cutie.

'You Don't Own Me,' A Feminist Anthem With Civil Rights Roots, Is All About Empathy

Lesley Gore and producer Quincy Jones at work in the studio. The two collaborated on "You Don't Own Me" and a handful of other 1960s hits. Donaldson Collection/Getty Images hide caption

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Donaldson Collection/Getty Images