The Beaches. Their song, “Last Girls At The Party,” from the upcoming album No Hard Feelings, is one of the tracks we can’t stop listening to this week.

Meg Moon

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Meg Moon

The Beaches. Their song, “Last Girls At The Party,” from the upcoming album No Hard Feelings, is one of the tracks we can’t stop listening to this week.

Meg Moon

The latest additions to our running list of the year’s best songs pose some big questions this week: What do you do when life pulls the rug out from under you or when things don’t turn out the way you expected? How do you manage fear? And what really matters most at the end of it all?

We get a lot of possible answers in new music from singer Patrick Watson, the pop group The Beaches and even the twisted dance beats of Fever Ray. We’ve also got a sprawling (and gorgeous) reflection on young love from Ethel Cain, a glimmer of hope from singer Deb Talan and more.

NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson joins host Robin Hilton.

Featured artists and songs:

1. The Beaches: “Last Girls At The Party,” from No Hard Feelings
2. Patrick Watson: “Peter And The Wolf,” from Uh Oh
3. Deb Talan: “A Glimmer In The Grass,” from I Thought I Saw You
4. Fever Ray: “I’m Not Done (Therapy Session)” (single)
5. Ethel Cain: “Nettles,” from Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You

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Weekly reset: A day at the beach

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Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

Hear new songs from past episodes in the All Songs Considered playlists in Apple Music and Spotify.