Patch’s Top 10 ‘ICYMI’ Songs by Ontario Artists in 2024

18 December 2024 / by Met Radio

Here at Met Radio, we’re celebrating the year 2024 with a series of lists rounding up our favourites of the year! We’ve invited station volunteers and staff to share their top ten of anything that encapsulates their year in pop culture (or otherwise). New lists to surprise and delight will be dropping on the Met Radio website every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this December!

 

I’m Patch, a musicologist, artist manager, post-secondary educator, and volunteer reviewer. With an overabundance of musical talent in this province, so many songs get buried in the shuffle. Here’s a sampling of under-recognized ear gems from artists repping the richness of Ontari-ari-ari-o.

 

  • GYST” by J3M feat. James Baley – true to his name, another disco-flavoured anthem from sparkling party-bringer and not-so-hidden gem of Toronto’s indie pop scene 

 

  • If There is a God” by Adaline – with mystical, vintage-sounding production of stellar, thought-provoking songs, the entire “Hymnal” album deserves to be on repeat

 

  • Running on empty” by Alanna Sterling – from her dreamy, ivory-toned album, a deeper diaristic cut with sparse instrumentation but overflowing with lythe vocals

 

  • Numb” by Elizabeth Royall – 90s alternative rock is reborn in contemporary wrapping through Ottawa’s winner of SOCAN Foundation’s Young Canadian Songwriters Awards

 

  • A Little Bit Off – The Aftermath” by Theo Tams – an alluring lament, one of many 2024 bops from this silky-smooth idol, included in the aptly-named “Reinvention” collection

 

  • FOMOTION” by Akeem Oh – boppy beach vibes and romantic philosophizing from O-town’s indie pop hipster

 

  • Let It All Out” by Akil Elijah – death-dropping in from TO’s ballroom scene, this banger serves cutting rap verses and peacock bravado over slick electro-forward beats

 

  • CHÉRI” by Izzy Rose – a bilingual R&B singer warming up the capital with her latest

 

  • Bad for You” by Baby O – “scrappy rock’n’roll” that–despite the title–is hearty and nutritious for the ears

 

  • Dirt” by Elyse Saunders – more goodness and grit coming from the Peterborough powerhouse and Country Music Association of Ontario’s 2023 Female Artist of the Year