The best songs of 2024 … that you haven’t heard

From singing about a smoke break to an unusual tribute to John Grant, Guardian writers pick the greatest songs of the year with the smallest of followings

“Strumming in opposition to the towers” is how the Bhutan-born, US-based guitarist Tashi Dorji describes his abstract, improvised music. His song and album titles are equally poetic evocations of resistance and decay – his new album is called We Will Be Wherever the Fires Are Lit and contains songs such as Meet Me Under the Ruins and Flowers for the Unsung – and the brusque, clanging strums of his acoustic guitar resound with turmoil and determination. The album opens with Begin From Here, his strings sounding rusted, his attack frenzied. But, gradually, a bass motif emerges from the static – cool-headed and clear of purpose. Laura Snapes

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Three continents, six countries, seven cities and endless inspiration.
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