After the turbulence of the two years that preceded it, 2022 was a year marked by return: of something like normality, for many of us, but also of some of the biggest artists on the planet—often with music that seemed designed to soundtrack brighter, better times. Among them was Harry Styles, whose “As It Was” became one of the year’s most irresistible (and frankly inescapable) hits. We were also treated to much-welcome comebacks from some of today’s biggest bands, including Fontaines D.C., The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys, who all returned with albums that thrillingly expanded on their sound. And almost exactly two years after the release of Sam Smith’s third album Love Goes, the singer-songwriter unleashed “Unholy” alongside Kim Petras—a late entry that became one of 2022’s most gargantuan pop moments. Elsewhere, Charli XCX sealed her pop-queen status with a series of thrilling link-ups. Perhaps most notably, she thrilled the internet by teaming up with Rina Sawayama on “Beg for You”, which retooled September’s 2006 hit “Cry for You”. Charli wasn’t the only one to find inspiration in sampling: Many of the UK’s biggest rappers turned to hits of the past to achieve chart domination in the present (think Central Cee’s Eve and Gwen Stefani-borrowing “Doja”). What remained unchanged over the last 12 months, however, was the continued rise of African artists and their influence across the world, including Asake, Oxlade and Burna Boy, with the Nigerian superstar’s “Last Last” becoming one of the summer’s most defining hits. And as the nation got back to the important business of going out out, UK dance music continued to reassert itself, turbocharged by LF SYSTEM’s buoyant “Afraid to Feel”—which spent an astonishing eight weeks at No. 1—and Eliza Rose’s “B.O.T.A.”, which made her the first female DJ to top UK charts in more than two decades. Here, in a playlist that’s been pored over by Apple Music’s team of editors, explore more hits that defined 2022.