The Best Songs of February 2024

February has come and gone, and it gave us an extra day in the process. So far this year, we’ve covered more than 130 tracks in our weekly Best New Songs column. You can catch up on our picks for January here. Last month gave us some monumental work, including another emotional single from Adrianne Lenker, a label-signing celebration from Ekko Astral, a fierce stroke of empowerment from Mdou Moctar and a kinetic return from Jessica Pratt. Narrowing this list to just 15 entries was a nearly impossible feat, but we got it done and, without further ado, here are the best songs of February 2024.

Adrianne Lenker: “Fool”

“Fool,” the third single from Bright Future is a beacon, as Adrianne Lenker delivers to us an aching pastoral of a life continuously moving. The song is nuanced and full of warmth, as Lenker names her people and beckons a world energized by open communication. “We could watch a show, we could watch a garden grow,” she sings. “We could grow old, you could come in from the cold.” But the word at hand is love and all of its vibrancies and complexities, and Lenker opens herself up to us all on “Fool.” —Matt Mitchell

Armand Hammer ft. Benjamin Booker: “Doves”

On the heels of their powerful last album We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, which we named one of the 50 best albums of 2023, Armand Hammer—billy woods and Elucid—have returned in 2024 with “Doves,” an epic, heart-fluttering, nine-minute song with New Orleans soul singer and shredder Benjamin Booker. Booker co-produced the track with Kenny Segal, and the instrumental features no percussion, no guitar and hardly any rapping. Instead, Booker gospelizes for a few minutes over a muted piano melody, glitchy background intoning and swarming, atmospheric static. As the crunchy distortion begins to build and Booker’s vocals fade, woods and Elucid come in with verses of their own, addressing the listener like it’s a spoken-word jam. “Doves” is particularly beautiful but equally haunted and touched with grief. On streaming services, it’s been included as the final track on We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, adding even more height to an already skyscraping rap record. —MM

Babehoven: “Birdseye”

The latest single from New York duo Babehoven also marks the impending release of their next studio album, Water’s Here in You. “Birdseye” is distinctive in its folky reflection on forgiveness and humanity, both elements delivered on a platter of shimmery, angelic acoustic instrumentation. Maya Bon’s vocals flutter delicately through pitch, flirting with a falsetto and illuminating the song’s own reckoning with the mystery of life and connection and the tokens of gratitude we extend towards those we love. “With hands outstretched, I forgive you,” Bon sings. “I wish there were something I could give you.” “Birdseye” is a cardinal direction colored by care and intent. It’s not just one of Babehoven’s best, it’s one of the best moments of 2024 yet, period. —MM

Dent May ft. Jordana: “Coasting on Fumes”

Dent May announced his first album in four years, What’s for Breakfast?, by dropping the first single, “Coasting on Fumes.” The track features fellow indie-pop artist Jordana and finds the two musicians contemplating burnout over the western twang of May’s guitar. “Coasting on Fumes” arose after the two longtime online acquaintances met up in New York and wrote the track in one day. “Heading nowhere fast / Dangerously low on gas / Am I going to make it last the drive,” May sings, the automotive metaphor standing in for a fear that the daily grind might swallow you whole. May and Jordana’s voices seamlessly ebb and flow throughout the track, following the lazy daze of muddling your way through another tough day of trying to stay afloat. —Olivia Abercrombie

Ekko Astral: “baethoven”

To celebrate signing with Topshelf Records, DC punks Ekko Astral released the first track of their upcoming debut—“baethoven.” Their self-described “mascara mosh pit” music is on full display, opening with the ringing of guitar feedback into a barrage of wobbly guitars, punchy beats and piercing shouts. The single—fittingly released on Valentine’s—is about the harsh realities of love and how pristine fairytale romances aren’t necessarily achievable in our doomed world. “ICYMI, the earth’s coming down / And I’m throwing a fit at the luncheon / But I ain’t calling it quits here for nothing,” vocalist Jael Holzman sings, in a declaration that even though everything is going to shit, they won’t give up on finding love even if it isn’t perfect. —OA

Jessica Pratt: “Life Is”

After five years of silence, Jessica Pratt has returned with a ‘60s psych-folk dream in “Life Is.” The track is the first from her upcoming album, Here In The Pitch—adding in the newfound rhythmic section mostly absent from Pratt’s past works, which see her sticking mostly to her guitar. “Life Is” is the perfect combination of Pratt’s crooning-folk, a gesture we’ve all come to love, and this new, richer percussionist edge that sucks you right into a specific decade of hippie music. “Cause I can feel my luck has turned it all around / And when you’ve fallen out, get both feet on the ground / The curses you keep won’t follow you now,” Pratt sings about finding yourself in a place in life you never thought you would. Although she has said that the sonically bold “Life Is” is a red herring regarding what to expect with the rest of the upcoming album, she knows how to come out of the shadows with a statement. —OA

Liam Kazar: “Next Time Around”

Chicago singer-songwriter and session dynamo Liam Kazar returned last month with “Next Time Around,” his first slice of new music since his 2021 debut album, Due North. Kazar is best at capturing an era of familiarity in his mellow ‘70s rock-inspired tracks, and “Next Time Around” fits right into that niche. The simple instrument arrangement evokes the energy of an old-school band casually jamming together in the hazy smoke of a local club. “Next Time Around” feels like an intimate exchange between him and the memory of his lover, who he refers to as a “ghost inside these walls.” The warmth in Kazar’s voice—and the sultry, moody guitar arpeggios running in tandem with him—gives a hopeful spin to the hopelessness of a fading relationship. It’s the perfect balance of that liminal space between the initial growing distance and the certain doom of a romance gone for good. —OA

Mdou Moctar: “Funeral for Justice”

Mdou Moctar has released the title-track from their upcoming album, Funeral For Justice—the follow-up to the group’s 2021 LP Afrique Victime. Comprised of Mdou Moctar, Ahmoudou Madassane, Mikey Coltun and Souleymane Ibrahim, the Nigerian rock band is known for their complex and spirited songwriting and performances—and Moctar’s melodic and fluid vocal performance seamlessly glides across the track with certain lyrical phrases accented by singing in unison with the background vocalists. The instrumentation on “Funeral For Justice” is laced with hard-hitting and intricate guitar riffs that continuously swirl and ripple along the tight and frantic percussion, showcasing the band’s spirit and virtuosic execution. —Grace Ann Natanawan

Moor Mother ft. Alya Al-Sultani: “ALL THE MONEY”

Experimental musician Moor Mother’s latest single, featuring Alya Al Sultani, ruminates on the lasting detrimental effects of British colonialism. Urgent whispers and quavering background vocals wallow in a haunting falsetto, creating an expansive atmosphere saturated with palpable pain and anger. Sparse piano notes and percussion structure the abstract vocals, forming a rhythmic canvas for the abstract layered vocals and spoken-word-esque performance. “Where they get all the money?” echoes throughout the track, as a constant reminder to the audience of the empire’s wealth accrued from exploitation. Moor Mother asks, “Who helped build the country? / Who’s getting deported? / Who’s without citizenship?” “ALL THE MONEY” is a gripping and potent creation that sharply criticizes domineering institutions. —GN

Nourished by Time: “Hand On Me”

After putting out one of the best debut albums of 2023, Nourished By Time—the project of Marcus Brown—recently inked a deal with XL and will drop an EP called Catching Chickens next month. Lead single “Hand On Me” builds on the R&B-influenced synth-pop of Brown’s previous work. There’s a sugar-sweet amount of exuberance that is unmissable, as Brown’s vocals flicker with soul as his instrumentals flutter with dashing precision and collaged vibrancy. “A miracle’s a miracle to me,” Brown sings. “I’m always in a memory and I think I might be crazy.” Yet again, Nourished By Time continues to deliver transcendent awakenings. “Hand On Me” is a catchy Atlantis of surreal and melodic genius. Put this song on in a club, in your car, in the bed, wherever—the glow knows no ceiling. —MM

The Lostines: “Full Moon Night”

The lead single from the Lostines’ forthcoming debut album, “Full Moon Night” is a dainty lullaby that transforms into a dreamboat orchestra of strings from Casey McAllister and Peter and Thomas Bowling, across five minutes of esoteric country touchstones reconfigured into contemporary vibrancy. Camille Wind Weatherford wrote the track at the genesis of the pandemic and, through fantastical longing, attempts to make sense of a newfound mirage of acute loneliness. “Full moon like tonight, make me feel young again,” she sings. “Like I could do anything.” The Lostines nurture every listener into a place where every note and every harmony ring familiar. “Full Moon Night” is cosmic, cohesive and full of fortune, color and wall-to-wall folk bliss, like a sock-hop in the swamps. The Lostines are storytellers, doling out vignettes about lost and longtime relationships, wandering above and below sea-level and watching cross-country nights be set aglow by stars. —MM

The Ophelias: “Black Ribbon”

The first track from their forthcoming EP Ribbon, Cincinnati royalty The Ophelias are queer, trans and full of joy on “Black Ribbon.” The song, which pairs Andrea Gutmann Fuentes’ chilling violin with a grieving, sluggish chord progression from Spencer Peppet—both of which build upwards into this chunky, synthy, full-band explosion of noise, while Peppet vocalizes through the chaos in the eye of the storm, examining the genesis of a new queer relationship. “Some kind of desire that I cannot categorize,” she sings. “You’re a Springsteen song, dark sky in overdrive into the warm night.” The song flourishes when it sets the in-betweens ablaze, and it’s emotional from every angle. Few songs cater to my tastes so distinctly—Ohio representation, Springsteen mentioned, queer as a three-dollar bill—but “Black Ribbon” is in a league of its own. —MM

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: “Your Worst Song is Your Greatest Hit”

The second single from their upcoming LP Unwishing Well, “Your Worst Song is Your Greatest Hit” is yet another darling tune from San Francisco band The Reds, Pinks & Purples. The brainchild of Glenn Donaldson—known for being not just prolific, but marvelously consistent—sings this time around, as “Your Worst Song is Your Greatest Hit” navigates hues of cerebral post-pop and indie dreamhouse within a Magnetic Fields-style country of sadcore. Donaldson muses in a synthy, post-punk haze, lamenting industry marketability. “The costume never fit, I know it’s shameful to admit,” he sings. “Your worst song is your greatest hit. Why is it always the worst song? One chance, that’s all you get.” It’s intimate, zeroed in on misinformed celebrity and catalog deep cuts—everything you could ever need in a Reds, Pinks & Purples track. —MM

Waxahatchee: “Bored”

After shooting the lights out with Tigers Blood lead single “Right Back to It,” Waxahatchee has chosen to get even louder on “Bored.” Katie Crutchfield pairs her biting vocals with country-rock screamer and sends a couple of fuck yous into the world. “I Lay out all the basic science,” she sings. “I try to make it fit, it’s mystifying. I can get along, my spine’s a rotted two-by-four. Barely hanging on, my benevolence just hits the floor. I get bored!” Tigers Blood, through just two songs, has already teased a massive upgrade from the already masterful Saint Cloud—and “Bored” is a catalyst in that. With a backing band featuring MJ Lenderman and Spencer Tweedy, Crutchfield clearly has no hesitations about whether or not she has the tools and access to map out some of the best alt-country of the decade—and my money’s on her doing just that and then some. —MM

ZORA: “hush”

“hush,” which was released this week as a five-song EP of different versions of itself (including “edit,” “sped up,” “slowed” and “instrumental”), is the latest from Minneapolis musician ZORA. Coming on the heels of her December 2023 single “Fastlane,” “hush” is delightfully catchy and meditates on a toxic love story—as ZORA gets candid about a man who doesn’t want to get caught with her in public. “I know we shouldn’t probably take this no further,” she sings. “But you beat the pussy up like no other.” Collaging an ‘80s R&B sample, 808s and hi-hats, “hush” has charting energy while maintaining a resounding sense of underground glamour. ZORA can produce the hell out of a pop-rap song, filling out its shape with timeless soul and glitchy hooks. —MM