“Boom Clap” by Charli XCX

Charli XCX has one of the finest voices in modern pop music, and this is the first time we’ve gotten hear her use it on a decent song. It’s interesting that the darker, more brooding style of Indie Pop (Lorde, Sia, Tove Lo) has had significant mainstream success, while the Indie Pop that just sounds like a more artful version of actual mainstream pop music has had little success outside of this one song (as witness the fact that Betty Who’s wonderful “Somebody Loves You”, for all the buzz it was getting, somehow went nowhere on the charts). With an instantly distinctive beat and one of the catchiest choruses in modern pop, this would be one of the most charming songs of the year even without Charli XCX’s stunning vocal performance.