The next list doesn't chart pop music in the traditional sense, but rather artists who don't shy away from pop sensibilities, whether through song structure, melodic hooks or knowing nods to pop's history. 

Three records that embraced pop's emotional directness while operating in stranger territories stood out in particular: Bonnie Banane & Joseph Schiano di Lombo's L'Orguasme, Penelope Trappes' A Requiem, and Himera's Now I Know What Dreams Are Made Of, three albums that are as seductive as they are genre-blurring, feeling both classic and alien at the same time.

The remaining seven, Maiya Blaney, ouri, Sudan Archives, Sega Bodega, feeo, Giant Claw, and Colin Self, operate across vastly different sonic terrain but share a willingness to let melody and structure guide without compromising their experimental edge.