The first part of this chapter surveys existing models of texture in popular music, identifies the rhythmic characteristics of the different layers, and offers sample analyses drawn from Anglophone popular music from the mid- to late twentieth century that demonstrate various rhythmic functions. The second part describes typical textural and rhythmic characteristics of formal sections, again illustrated with sample analyses. Within phrases and formal sections, the rhythmic layers of the texture can help to create stability, momentum, tension, or ambiguity. Between song sections, rhythmic and metric shifts mark the formal boundaries of phrases, sections, and section groupings (such as verse–prechorus–chorus), and help to articulate larger trajectories of increasing and decreasing intensity throughout the song.