The Baltimore cult fave pushes his crazy beat mutations further toward celebratory laptop pop. "Show me the sky, tell me I’m home," he murmurs, as a dense fog of hand claps, synths and guitars helps make this a blurry beaut.

Listen to "True Thrush":

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.