All Songs Considered (NPR)

Episode: Our No. 1 Songs: 2024

Hosts: Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson
Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This special anniversary episode marks the end of the podcast’s multi-part retrospective, as the hosts look back at their number one picks from each year since All Songs Considered began. Today, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson focus on 2024, reflecting on songs that defined the year both personally and in the wider music world. Expect passionate debate, moving stories, and a loving tribute to the power of music to inspire, break hearts, and connect us across time.

Key Discussion Points & Song Highlights

Reflecting on 25 Years of Picks

• Robin and Stephen mark the occasion of All Songs Considered's 25th anniversary.
• Robin sets the stage by saying, “Not just to the end of the year 2025, but to the end of our look back at the past 25 years of All Songs Considered.” (00:22)

Stephen’s First Pick: "Highlands" by Middle Kids

Timestamps: 01:11–03:04

• Stephen introduces “Highlands” by Middle Kids as his top pick, betting Robin doesn’t remember it. (“I bet you don’t know this song.” — Stephen, 01:11)
• Lyrics sample: “Take a look around. The town you grew up in is tired and fading... out in the open, wherever you are. We're just getting started. Out of the dark into the Highlands." (01:48)
• Stephen expresses a sense of injustice:

  “The fact that this song has not been widely embraced by the entire world as one of the greatest, most inspirational songs in the history of the universe is beyond me.” (02:48)

Robin’s First Pick: "Modesto" by Pedro the Lion

Timestamps: 03:35–06:43

• Robin selects "Modesto," highlighting its narrative about pursuing art, surviving disappointment, and discovering unexpected victories in adulthood.

  “By the end, I think life is beautiful and I want more. … It’s really a simple story… but really, the song is about chasing dreams, youthful idealism, and how you hold on to those dreams as you get older.” (04:28)

• Stephen praises lead singer David Bazan’s “crushing” and emotionally raw storytelling, a talent rooted in the 1990s but still vital today. (05:12)
• Moving lyric:

  “Make all the messes you can manage to make and move back to Seattle, be the drummer in the band...” (05:37)

Big Pop Hits of 2024 & Ubiquity Fatigue

Timestamps: 08:55–09:20

• Stephen nods to the “huge pop bangers” of the year like “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Brat” by Charli XCX.

  “Some of which are so ubiquitous that I’m not going to punish people by playing them... upon the 490 octillionth listen have started to wear on me a little bit.” (08:57)

• Robin and Stephen specifically call out the Charli XCX/Lorde remix, “Girl, So Confusing,” noting its creativity and cultural resonance (09:19).

"Girl, So Confusing (Remix)" by Charli XCX featuring Lorde

Timestamps: 09:26–10:09

• Lyrics highlight the complexity of female friendships and fame:

  “It’s so confusing sometimes to be a girl... How do you feel me enough, how do you feel me in a...” (09:26)

• Stephen regards it as "a real revelation in 2024 and so crucial to anyone... interested in experiencing empathy for pop stars..."

Deeply Felt Songs: "Plane Trees" by Omar Apollo ft. Mustafa

Timestamps: 10:48–12:54

• Stephen’s emotional favorite is “Plane Trees” from Omar Apollo’s album “God.”

  “This song for me is just like… it’s a feelings bomb in the best way and just—God, the way their voices come together. So beautiful.” (12:54)

• The refrain “Our presence made the ground glow” captures the warmth and ache of memory and connection amidst loss.
• Robin agrees:

  “Yeah, this. I actually only have a couple of songs of his from this record and this is one of them." (11:33)

Literary Songwriting: "Petco" by Cassandra Jenkins

Timestamps: 13:44–14:43

• Robin brings up “Petco” by Cassandra Jenkins for its attention to the smallest yet most profound details of daily life.

  “You talk about an artist who can capture every complicated feeling or idea in the tiniest detail. Yeah. Like walking through a Petco.” (14:24)

• Stephen relates personally, referencing his frequent trips to Petco and musings on caretaking.

Additional 2024 Standouts

• "Patterns" by Laura Marling

  • Robin: “Really, really beautiful.” (16:21)

• "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chapel Roan

  • Stephen: “We talked about Chapel Roan when we talked about 2023, but certainly that song, man, what a piece of songwriting.“ (16:24)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On emotive songwriting:
  “Talk about songs that just wreck me. Songs that make me cry every time—You and I have bonded over our shared love of this song, to the point where I was almost a little hesitant to bring it...”
  — Stephen, referencing Matty Diaz’s “God Person” (03:12)

• On nostalgia for recent releases:
  “I know this stuff hasn’t really been out that long and it seems kind of silly to get terribly nostalgic for it—but I thought for sure you were gonna go with this...”
  — Robin (13:31)

• Show’s closing tongue-in-cheek finality:
  “There will be no years. There will be no more years.”
  — Stephen (17:38)
  “No more years, no more music. But thanks so much, Stephen, as always.”
  — Robin (17:40)

Segment Timestamps

• 00:22 — Kicking off the 2024 picks discussion
• 01:11 — Stephen introduces "Highlands" by Middle Kids
• 03:35 — Robin introduces "Modesto" by Pedro the Lion
• 08:55 — Biggest pop bangers: "Espresso," "Brat," "Girl, So Confusing"
• 10:48 — "Plane Trees" by Omar Apollo ft. Mustafa
• 13:44 — "Petco" by Cassandra Jenkins
• 15:17 — "Patterns" by Laura Marling
• 16:24 — "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chapel Roan
• 17:38 — Bittersweet show close ("No more years, no more music...")

Tone

Casual, passionate, and deeply warm. The hosts joke, reminisce, and share genuine emotion over the music that has meant the most to them and their listeners over the past quarter century—capturing both music discovery and heartfelt nostalgia in their signature NPR style.

Takeaway

If you missed 2024 in music, this episode delivers a crash course—not on the most streamed hits, but on the tracks and artists that moved and changed the lives of music lovers, critics, and, now, future listeners.