Most Underrated Songs of the 2010s
The most underrated songs of the 2010s are mostly album tracks from records that succeeded on the back of something else (a lead single that overshadowed a better song, or an album that arrived at the wrong moment). Each entry here was passed over rather than unknown.
"Underrated" is a slippery word, so the bar used here is specific: a track that is clearly the best or second-best thing on its album, and is not the one anybody names.
- 01
Frank Ocean - Seigfried
2016
Blonde is celebrated and this is the track nobody names. The spoken-word final section is the most exposed thing he has recorded.
- 02
Vampire Weekend - Hannah Hunt
2013
Three and a half minutes of restraint and then a vocal break that justifies the entire wait. Never a single, easily the album's peak.
- 03
Carly Rae Jepsen - Your Type
2015
E•MO•TION is now a critical favourite and the conversation is all "Run Away with Me". This is the sadder and better-constructed song.
- 04
Kendrick Lamar - Momma
2015
Overshadowed by "Alright" and "King Kunta". The three-part beat structure is the most ambitious thing on To Pimp a Butterfly.
- 05
Blood Orange - Chamakay
2013
Dev Hynes wrote hits for other people all decade while his own best work went largely unheard. This is the clearest example.
- 06
Grimes - Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U)
2012
Visions is remembered for "Oblivion". This closing track is more interesting and almost never mentioned.
- 07
The National - Pink Rabbits
2013
The best lyric Matt Berninger has written, on an album whose singles took all the attention.
- 08
Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
2014
In Colour is remembered for "Loud Places" and "Gosh". This is the most quietly beautiful thing on it.
- 09
Solange - Junie
2016
A Seat at the Table produced "Cranes in the Sky" and everything else got filed behind it. This is the funkiest track she has made.
- 10
Perfume Genius - Wreath
2017
No Shape is regarded as his best record and the discussion is all "Slip Away". This is the more euphoric song.
- 11
Mitski - Two Slow Dancers
2018
The closing track on Be the Cowboy, overshadowed by "Nobody". Quietly the most devastating thing she has written.
- 12
Sufjan Stevens - Death with Dignity
2015
The opening track of Carrie & Lowell, and people talk about the album rather than the songs. This one sets everything up.
- 13
Danny Brown - Rolling Stone
2013
Danny Brown is known for chaos; this is him quiet and frightened, with Purity Ring behind him. Nothing else in his catalogue sounds like it.
- 14
Rihanna - Higher
2016
Two minutes long, sung deliberately ragged, and it is the best vocal performance on ANTI. Never got close to being a single.
- 15
Arctic Monkeys - No. 1 Party Anthem
2013
AM sold on "Do I Wanna Know?" and "R U Mine?". This is the album's actual songwriting high point and the one nobody plays.
Settle it properly
Lists are one person's opinion. Put the same question to your friends instead. Everyone submits their answer to
"Most Underrated Track of the 2010s"
and the room votes blind on whose pick was best. Free, no account, about four minutes.
Start the BattleWhat "underrated" should mean
The word gets used for two different things. Sometimes it means genuinely unknown, a record nobody heard. More often it means passed over: heard by plenty of people, praised by none of them.
This list is the second kind, and deliberately so. Genuinely obscure recommendations are unfalsifiable and not much use. A track from an album you already own that you have never thought about is a more interesting claim, because you can go and check it in thirty seconds.
It also makes for better arguments, which is the actual point of a list like this.
Why album tracks get buried
Streaming changed how albums are consumed. Playlist placement concentrates listening on two or three tracks and the rest of a record accumulates a fraction of the plays, regardless of quality.
Lead singles are also chosen for radio suitability rather than for being the best song. "Do I Wanna Know?" is a better single than "No. 1 Party Anthem" and a worse song, and that gap is where most of this list lives.
The practical upshot: the best track on an album you like is more often than not one you have skipped. Track four and the closer are usually where to look.
Questions
What does underrated mean in music?
Usually one of two things: genuinely unknown, or heard but overlooked. The more useful sense is the second, an album track from a record people know, which is clearly among its best songs but never gets named.
Why do good songs get overlooked?
Lead singles are picked for radio and playlist suitability rather than quality, and streaming concentrates listening on the two or three tracks that get playlisted. The rest of an album accumulates a fraction of the plays regardless of how good it is.
How do you find underrated songs?
Go back to albums you already like and play the tracks you skip, usually track four onward and the closer. Following producers and session musicians rather than artists also surfaces work that never got promoted.
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