Few songs in 2024 resonated quite like Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”, a warm, weightless, pan-genre pop tune that felt right for any mood or circumstance this year. It’s Eilish’s most airy and accessible music to date, but just as importantly, it represented real growth: It’s the sound of the (now two-time) Apple Music Artist of the Year purely herself, pushing her voice and putting herself out there like never before. “It’s the highest I’ve ever belted in my life,” she told Apple Music Radio’s Zane Lowe of the song’s soaring finish. “I was alone in the dark, thinking, ‘You know what? I’m going to try something.’ And I literally just kept going higher and higher. This is a girl who could not belt until I was literally 18. I couldn’t physically do it. So I’m so proud of that. I remember coming home and being like, ‘Mom! Listen!’”