The Contenders, Vol. 10: The songs we can't stop playing this week

This week's update to our running list of the year's best songs swings wildly from frenetic guitar rock to quiet reflections. It's a mix full of "the hurries and the worries," as Alkaline Trio puts it, wistful reflections on lost youth from Lake Street Dive, a sprawling double album from Cindy Lee and more.

NPR Music editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen joins host Robin Hilton as they consider the ways music can amplify feelings we didn't even know we had, push us in surprising directions and leave us in a state of wonder.

Featured artists and songs:

1. Alkaline Trio: "Teenage Heart," from Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs
2. Lake Street Dive: "Twenty-Five," from Good Together
3. Les Savy Fav: "Void Moon," from OUI, LSF
4. La Luz: "Poppies," from News of the Universe
5. Cindy Lee: "Wild Rose," from Diamond Jubilee
6. Four Tet: "Loved" from Three