The Soundtrack of Us: Decoding the Magic of Apple Music Year in Review

There is a distinct kind of intimacy in looking back at a year through your headphones. Long after calendar pages have turned and seasonal trends have faded, our music libraries remain faithful, unjudgmental witnesses to our lives. They hold the frantic indie-rock tracks that fueled late-night work crunches, the melancholic indie-pop albums that carried us through rainy afternoons, and the guilty-pleasure throwback anthems blasted during messy kitchen cleanups.