Mitski’s “Be The Cowboy” is the second on NPR’s list of top 50 albums this year. YAY. She tells her stories through clear, vivid lyrics, a lot like St. Vincent, and every one is full of emotional acuity. Most people reduce that acuity “sadness,” though, and for that reason, you’re just as likely to have learned about Mitski through a meme as you might have by word of mouth. But it’s not surprising that now would be the time for the art of female sadness to reign. And Mitski wields it beautifully: not singing about her life per se, she uses her narratorship as the protagonist in the album’s fictive relationship stories, constructing an emotional scene in each one. And that’s how you build a pop song.

Per the above, you know what time it is: End-of-year roundup time, the season when every publication takes an official stance on the things you’ve roughly decided for yourself throughout the year. You can learn about the BEST TV SHOWS OF 2018, the BEST MOVIES, BEST BOOKS, BEST PODCASTS… and overall best in show? And in addition to subjective bests from each editorial bent, we also have cold, hard data, reliably from Spotify. There’s *your* listening year in review, and then everybody’s collective one, which told us that, once again, all the most-streamed artists of the year were all male. Does this make you sad? Go listen to Mitski! (rimshot)