With the thrill of New Year’s resolutions behind us and a long winter ahead, it can be hard to keep going with workout goals.

While the streaming-age unbundling of albums broke down the idea of what a single could be even further, the year’s best songs all shook things up in their own right. Club-ready tracks from Beyoncé, ...

The Korean pop outsider Effie and the Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese top our critics’ lists this year. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica Musicians know how to make music, and they ...