Favorite Albums of 2024

I’ve never been a big fan of prog rock, that is until I heard this album and instantly felt the driving energy behind each song and the intricacies and interweaving nature of the genre. The band’s instrumentation plays so well with the many of the songs’ syncopated rhythms which makes both a coarse and a fine tooth listen to be equally as fruitful. Seeing glass beach perform this album live was such a special experience to be immersed in this forward moving energetic music.

Debut albums are no different than a first impression. It is the musician/band’s moment to show the sound, the craft, and the style they have honed - like for at least a year before the album is recorded and released. The Last Dinner Party showcases their powerful baroque pop style, their inherent glam, and their sly lyrical expression on gender. This album is truly packed with hits and bangers and songs that transcend genre into bops and anthems.

Following up her debut solo album, Brittany Howard returns with an existential reflection of herself and blanketed in the surreal dreamlike essence so well captured on the album’s cover photo. Howard’s lyric and vocal delivery is supported by some of the smoothest, funkiest, and jazzy instrumentals. Drummer Nate Smith brings his a-game to this album (and tour - yes I got to see this performed live as well this year) to deliver the foundational bedrock to make this album shine both recorded and on stage. Every song on this album, whether it brought club bangers, psychedelic rock, or jazz worked so well on their own and cohesively that it made this album the first I chose to put on this year’s list.

Joel Ross makes jazz vibraphones hot and sexy. I don't think I need to say more but I will anyway. On this album Ross is joined by Immanuel Wilkins on saxophone, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, Jeremy Dutton on drums, and Jeremy Corren on Piano. This band brings energy and a togetherness to original songs and three covers - two Coltrane songs and one Monk song. Ross’ vibraphone resonates in ways only someone who’s instrument is an extension of themselves can sound. If you’re in the mood for cool and attention-keeping Jazz this is the album for you.

IDLES is a band that has crafted and honed their sound over the course of four albums prior to this year. Each one was more refined, more heavy hitting, and more unique to themselves. And here they are with their fifth album, TANGK, where they manage to not only continue to build on what they already had been developing for years, but expand it to new territories. Songs like Roy and Dancer bring new colors to the already vibrant rainbow of the band’s sound.

Also on releasing their fifth album this year was Faye Webster. I have to admit I only stumbled upon her music a few months before this album was released but I was hooked and excited nonetheless for Underdressed at the Symphony. Webster brings her late-fall-afternoon-esq easy sound to this album while not sounding like she’s beating a dead horse of previous albums. Her lyrics continue to explore love and self in a deeply reflective way without being condescending or overly complex.

Continuing to dive deeper into last year’s new found interest in spoken word and poetry music, Moor Mother’s album from this year, The Great Bailout, was at the top of my list of anticipated releases. Each of Moor Mother’s albums revolve around a strong central theme, and on this album each song works to examine and understand the United Kingdom’s role in global slavery. Specifically this album looks at the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 where slave owners were compensated for their “loss” but not for those that were enslaved and their loss - turning the act’s narrative in current society on its head by exposing who really benefited at the end of the day. Songs are haunting, raw, and lay bare all that is to be heard from Moor Mother’s heart and mind. I highly recommend this album if you’re into music that deviates from most music and if you’re in a place to absorb and listen to some dark and heavy topics.

This collaborative album accomplishes a feat that can be lost in many other albums like this - showcasing all and not losing any of the magic that either side has when their solo. The Messthetics consists of guitar, bass, and drums to create some great jazz fusion music. Then to add James Brandon Lewis’ funky, soulful, and jazz chops on top of it all, the result is a bold upbeat experimentation in free and fusion jazz.

It should be no surprise at all that one of this year's most vulnerable albums is by Adrianne Lenker. Within her uniquely hyper-imagery lyrics undertones of hope and yearning are interwoven with the bare instrumentals. Recorded all to tape there is an intimacy created in being able to hear her pull back further from the mic and then get closer again. Because of this, the listener is treated with the next closest thing to being in the studio as it was recorded.

Where do I start when talking about this album… I can and will say this album has a lot of press around it. In an effort to show the roots and origins of the country music genre, Beyonce exposed a lot of cultural ignorance on the history of this genre that can also be applied to many other facets of life. Stemming from 2016 CMA performance with The Chicks and the backlash she received then, she knew the boxes she would be opening with this album. But she also opened doors, windows, and opportunities with this album. Beyonce gave a platform to Linda Martell, showcased Shaboozey, and collaborated with amazing talents and greats like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. This album is packed from end to end with bops and bangers at every turn.

One of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, and one that I have listened to on repeat multiple times, you probably haven’t heard of and it can’t be found on streaming or in stores to purchase. Diamond Jubilee was released for free on youtube and digital download could be bought directly. This over two hour album combines elements of psychedelic rock, lofi, and with singer/songwriter acoustic-esq delivery. Each song on this album is like tuning your car radio to a hidden frequency and hearing songs from another dimension. This album, all 32 of the songs, seem to revolve around the loss of a relationship yet the album does not give off the vibes of a breakup album or a sad mourning, instead it exists in an ethereal space between melancholy and summer-ease. I await excitedly for my copy of this record to be delivered next year.

Vampire Weekend returns after five years with the same energy fans have gravitated towards but with a more stripped back production. While the songs aren’t stripped back or held back at all, a minimal instrumentation on most of the songs helps to show how the band is moving and growing with time. While this isn’t one of the band’s best albums, it is fresh and shows a lot of thought, care, and experimentation while still packing memorable songs I have had on repeat multiple days this year.

With the release of Don’t Forget Me, Maggie Rogers has completed one of the best hat tricks music has seen in a while. Each song on this album feels so authentic and personal to her yet also so relatable and personal to listeners - what more could anyone ask of a singer/songwriter. And to see her live during the arena leg of her tour, you could tell that this album was made with consideration not only for its listening experience but also its performing experience. And that is a skill and forethought that a lot of musicians of similar status and caliber to Rogers don’t usually have. This is truly one of the best indie pop albums of the year.

Sometimes you hear an EP and by the end of it wish it was an LP with double the amount of songs - This album is one of those. Baby Rose’s nostalgic soulful vocal delivery transcends on its own. But pair it with the groovy lofi jazz sound of BADBADNOTGOOD and you have a recipe that yields one of the most sublime sounds of the year.

On her fifth studio album, Lucy Rose creates a vibrant yet soft atmosphere of reflective and optimistic outlooks. Like a nice autumn afternoon light coming through a stained glass window, the songs on this album all find beautiful intimacy in the mundanity while also not hiding how special they are. Every song on this album is able to capture the magic this albums creates. I think this album is really amazing and deserves to be listened to by anyone willing to listen to the uplisting bliss that is captured in this album.

I can’t remember which interview I heard St. Vincent say this, but I recall her saying this is one of the most authentic albums she's made to her real self and not any of the characters she chooses to put on. This is a sentiment I can largely agree with from the listener’s perspective, it really feels deep and personal in a way that her previous albums don't. I love this album both recorded and performed live. The energy she brings to the songs, whether hard hitting and fast paced or downtempo rock ballads, creates an excitement and beauty in the chaos.

I chose to put this album on my top list for the year because it contains one of the best duets of the year. On the song All in Good Time, Fiona Apple joins Iron & Wine for just a symphonic delivery of a beautiful melancholic remembrance of a relationship past. The rest of the album delivers similarly and can pull its own weight too. This album offers a bit more up beat and a slightly uplifting delivery of melancholic lyrics similar to that of their previous releases.

THypnotic and spacious, nostalgic and ethereal, eerie and atmospheric - these are all possible combinations of words to describe Here in the Pitch, Pratt’s fourth album. Every song features her warm and matured voice - as if Nico had a long lost musical daughter. The lyrics on this album are top tier store telling layered a silk scarf on top of the softest and smoothest mattress of instrumentals. I highly recommend listening to this album and letting it seduce you into its time-freezing sound.

When this album was first released, a dear friend of mine described this album as “zesty jazz” and I couldn’t agree more. With over a decade into her music career since Whip My Hair, Willow really seems to have found a deeply authentic to her sound. Bringing in influences and sounds from so many genres and eras. I feel like her songwriting has really developed and progressed so well in the past few years and she's really explored the possibilities of her sound. This is an album I’ve come back to time and time again and makes me so excited for what possibly could be in store in the future.

Charlotte Day Wilson has really worked on what seems like a soft and gentle rise for about a decade now. And here in 2024 with the release of Cyan Blue she creates a space within the R&B genre that is somber, empathetic in tone, and highly reflective in sustenance. This album’s thirteen songs are like seeing your reflection in a glass-like still lake just as the fog starts to clear. Really good for when you’re arising from the depths after a loss or major change in one's life. It cradles you and in a mothering way helps get you back on steady ground.

Rapsody has carved out a space for herself within the rap game as one of the best lyricists and beat rappers. On the song Asteroids, She raps “Underappreciated, but I’m still the most respected… If I had a dick, I’d be in the greatest debates” as if she has a chip on her shoulder but really she wears it as a point of pride on this album. The gender barrier in music has always been an issue and its magnified in the rap genre. Yet Rapsody stands on her own mountain preaching her thoughts and music while also uplifting and showcasing other women in the rap and R&B genres - seen by the multitudes of features from female rappers and musicians throughout this album and mentioning and connecting herself with the greats that paved the way for her.

Easily one of the biggest albums of the year, BRAT shifted culture in ways we still have yet to fully comprehend. From one of the craziest produced live arena tours to political campaigns co-oping the aesthetic, this album pushed past Charli’s usual fan base into mainstream culture. And all the while of transcending the space she had already carved out for herself, she never changed herself, her sound, her ability to reach. Not much more to say about this album mainly because so much has already been said about it, but I will add that Sweat tour with Troye Sivan was cataclysmic to witness.

Julius Rodriguez’s fusion and free style swirls so well with the inclusion of electric synthesizers and beat machines. On many of the songs he is performing both of those, piano, synth, clarinet, guitar, and bass. The talent and ability to bring all of these sounds together so well, while also bringing in other instrumentalists, is one that should not be overlooked. All of this comes together to result in such a big sound with good production and mixing. A great fun jazz album if I’ve ever heard one.

Hiatus Kaiyote’s 2021 album Mood Valiant was one of my favorites that year. The beautifully vibrant instrumentals and stark vocals captured my attention and the lyrics and melodies only drew me in further. It pleased me so much to hear Love Heart Cheat Code continue with what I liked so much about their previous album while also seeming to push themselves. In songs like Love Heart Cheat Code and Cinnamon Temple you can hear some new experimentations for their sound with a heavier emphasis on heavier guitar and bass sounds.

Leave it to Omar Apollo to create one of the grooviest and funkiest breakup and re-finding one’s self album. This album feels truly considered from the order of the songs to each and every collaborator. Listen to this album when sitting next to a fire while in clothes as warm and fuzzy as Apollo is wearing in the album cover.

When I saw Clairo collaborated on this album with Leon Michels I knew I was in for a treat. Her soft comforting voice pairs so well with Michels’ soft nostalgic groovy instrumentals and production. There are many reasons this album is popping up towards the top of many year-end album lists, I’ll probably agree with them. The reason Charm has appeared on my end of year list is because I am a sucker for a work of art that knows exactly what it wants to be and then goes on and does just that.

If Clairo released a lofi nostalgia funky album this year, Remi Wolf released the hifi version of the same vibe. This album is full of the current leaders in this vibe; Kenny Beats, Knox Fortune, Leon Michel, Porches, Benny Sings, Jared Solomon. I really like this album and wanted to include it in my top albums because you can hear the fun Wolf has making this album. She brings her youthful energy to an album full of seriously good songs and production.

Johnny Blue Skies, better known as Sturgill Simpson, released an album full of songs that could be straight out of the southern country rock scene in the 60s and 70s. His voice is as great as ever if not even better suited to this sound and energy. There is an easy flowing feeling to every song on this album while still having songs of deep sustenance themes about life, growth, change, and all the growing pains that come along with it all.

I first learned of Cassandra Jenkins when I saw her open for Bonny Light Horseman in December 2022. Her performance was striking in how open she was and how her music was able to translate so beautifully to a live sound. Through the use of metaphors about space, and a very easy going folk sound Jenkins is able to paint vibrant and detailed pictures of emotions and reflections. This album is great for walking to, mediating to, and setting the vibe for personal self reflection.

Speaking of Folk, Jake Xerxes Fussell covers underappreciated folk and american songs from a few decades ago to over a century old. With his more contemporary sound and production he makes these songs feel so pertinent to today’s life. When I got to see him perform this album in the fall, I was blown away by his voice’s presence and how well it was supported by just his guitar and an acoustic bass. This album is warm, comforting, and forward looking even in a time where we seem to be without direction.

Mid Spiral is the 80 minute album from the jazz group BADBADNOTGOOD. Originally released as three separate EPs, together they form a very interesting culmination of sounds, colors, and inspirations. The first called Chaos brings flavors of a more mainstream jazz band sound. On Order notes of Spanish Jazz and Samba are presented on a fun and not-so-neat plate. Lastly, on Growth is jazz mixed with soul music inspired grooves. Overall I think this is a great album from the group and is an easy album to return to for good jazzy fun.

You may be asking yourself “Why are there three release dates listed?”. Great question. No Name was originally released at Third Man record stores unlabeled and unmarked, given to customers at checkout without an explanation. Within a week or so rumors started to go around as to the true nature of this album. The album was officially released in physical formats on July 27 and then finally digitally on August 2. Nothing like some tricks and attempts for Jack White to try and stimulate interest for physical music formats.

Now on to the album. This is probably one of Jack’s best solo records in quite some time. The hard and punk rock sound that is the essence of this album is reminiscent of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. This is one of the best rock albums of the year and deserves every rock fan’s ears.

Being a fan of JPEGMAFIA for so long has been like riding a historic wooden roller coaster. There are a lot of great moments with some not so smooth turns and bumps. This album though is the feeling of pure excitement and euphoria from riding said rollercoaster. This is JPEG’s best overall album yet. It is as close to quintessential as it gets. Everything fans like about JPEG (lyrics, flows, production, and experimentation to name a few) are all on full display and firing on all cylinders. Without a shred of doubt, this is one of the best rap and alt-hip hop albums of the year.

I can without a doubt say that this is my favorite pop album of the year. And I mean pop is the sense of banger after banger of a song, catchy yet meaningful, songs that make you want to dance. This album brings in so many pop subgenres that can be seen in many of my previous years favorite albums. But to bring them all together into one singular sound is truly astonishing and awe-inspiring to me. I can not recommend this album enough - it is worth multiple listens if not as a part of everyone’s constant rotation.

I challenge you to lay down on a comfortable surface and stare at the ceiling or sky and listen to this album. The meditative qualities of the intricate softly layered instrumentals and electronics culminates in a beautiful ebb and flow like rolling hills in the countryside. This album will hold you and surround you much like the figure on the album cover.

Nilüfer Yanya’s 2022 album Painless was one of my favorites. It was the first time I had heard of her music and was quickly pulled in to her sound and aesthetic. On My Method Actor, Yanya continues to use lush instrumentals to support and uplift her vocal and poetic lyrics which she continues to improve on. On this album she adds some harder and grungier sounding instrumentals on songs like Like I Say (I runaway) and Method Actor. I’ve really enjoyed listening to this album time and time again as it continues to show new facets of itself with each play.

Joan As Police Woman is one of those musicians where when you discover their music you need to do a deep dive and hear all that they’ve put out in the world. I did this about six years ago and have been an avid listener since. All of that to say I think this is one of the best encompassing albums of who Joan As Police Woman is as a musician and artist. Every song on this album is great and representative of her sound over time as well as the future of her sound. I really love this album and wish it had gotten more attention when it was released. So here is me asking for it to get attention by including it in my end of year list.

Rahim Redcar, formerly Christine and the Queens, made their new identity musician debut with HOPECORE, a 50 minute album comprising of seven songs. Rehim brings this incredible sense of french house music to this album with his already toned lyrical chops. This is a great album in my opinion. And the 20 minute song OPERA - I UNDERSTAND is worth every second to listen to what is truly an operatic spilling of pleading, sorrow, and confession.

Two songs, three parts each, 43 minutes - one of my favorite metal albums of the year. This album is such an incredible combination of heavy metal and prog rock. The synths are so beautifully presented, especially on the second part of each song. At times it feels like Pink Floyd could have made this metal album, or Blood Incantation made a Pink Floyd album. However you dice it, this album is killer.

Fresh out of a surprise announcement from Geordie that black midi, the band he fronted for eight years, will go on an indefinite hiatus, he released the first single from his solo album debut and released the album just weeks after that. The sadness for the loss of black midi was felt by fans, including myself, and while this album does exist within the sound the black midi was known for, it still isn’t the same. All of that being said, this is an incredible album that really stands apart from a majority of music released this year. This album takes on a concept of desperate, disgusting, or incel-like men Geordie met at bars and clubs. It's truly something that stands alone among music released this year.

cumgirl8’s debut album urges you to turn off noise canceling so you can take in all the incredible synthy noise forward feminist post-punk. Across ten songs the band paints a perfect picture of who they are, what their sound is, and where they will go. It's really hard to explain this album as fitting into one genre or subgenre because of its ability to pull in so many influences all interwoven with a constant sense of absurdist smirking smut.

Slipping Away is comedian Tim Heidecker’s most serious album yet. While at times the lyrics can be humorous, it is not for humor’s sake, instead of a nice and well throughout out story being told. Heidecker cultivates a warm and nostalgic folksy sound throughout the album to help really drive home the story telling on each song. This album is an easy listen, it will brighten your day, and it will be nothing but pleasant on the ears and heart.

In 2020, I said of Laura Marling’s music that “The messages and meanings in each song show a deep and passionate feeling for one another, one that the human condition strives for”, This still rings true today in her new album Patterns in Repeat. Her previous album was about an imagined future child, and now in 2024 her music has progressed to that of having a child. There is something so deeply comforting and calming, so at peace and content with the world that this album and her singing seem to embody so well.

In her solo album debut, MUNA singer and lyricist Katie Gavin finds herself on the road of so many great women acoustic singer/songwriters like that of Ani DiFranco, Karen O, Angel Olsen, and the likes. I might be slightly biased after having just seen her perform this album in concert just a few days before writing this - but this is really one of the warmest, comforting, and introspective albums of the year.

CHROMAKOPIA is Tyler, The Creator’s either studio solo album and it shows off his continued growth in music writing, rapping, production, and continues pushing his boundaries. In this album’s concept, Tyler takes on the persona of the celebrity who ends up unexpectedly becoming a father. He really dives well into the weight of the moral and ethical questions in that situation, the sudden abrupt change in a life in that situation, and the pressures by others to have a child. And diving in these topics on some of the hardest and heaviest sounding instrumentals of his career yet.

I must admit, I don’t listen to enough The Cure and Robert Smith. I didn't even listen to this album when it was first released. Instead I find myself listening to it in early december as I am starting to put together this list. The immediate visceral reaction I had to this album was enough to know that this is an incredible album, one I’ve listened to multiple times throughout the past couple of weeks, one I will continue to listen to well in to next year, and is driving me to do a deep dive on The Cure in the new year.

To get on about this album itself and why it had me stopped in my tracks… I love the gritty essence that finds itself in every corner of this album. I love the undertones of anger and confusion and needing to find answers to the questions we face by the world today. I love the way Robert Smith’s vocal delivery lends itself to expressing these feelings and thoughts. And don’t get me started on the whaling and droning instrumentals that in most cases would probably feel too much, but on this album they work to uplift the messages and emotions so well.

Poppy continues to push further and further into the metal genre while never losing her pop-lyrical sensibilities - Negative Spaces exemplifies her aesthetic, talent, and unwavering focus on her music. This album really pulls together metal, pop, and synth aesthetics to make its own space and stand out from any of those genres on their own. This is my other favorite metal album of the year alongside Blood Incantation’s.

Who else in popular culture and in hip hop could have made this big and calculated of a meteoric return than Kendrick Lamar himself. After a summer of chart topping with a diss track against Drake, Kendrick surprise dropped this album GNX. After his 2022 album Mr. Moral & The Big Steppers I was curious as to where he could take his sound since there seemed to have been a multi-album progress of a sound he had been cultivating. However, with the surprise of the album also came the surprise of some new sounds. Much harder hitting, grungier, and at times stripped back instrumentals and vocals result in a very serious sounding and firm standing Kendrick that is refreshing. Also SZA’s features on this album are some of my favorite vocal deliveries of hers since her 2022 album, SOS. And yes every song on this album stands out to me.

A Compilation album is still an album. There is no album I’ve ever been more proud of to include in my end of year favorite album list. The 46 songs on this album, with a runtime just shy of four hours, celebrities the lives and music contributions of trans folks. There are beautiful sweeping covers of songs by trans folks, covers performed by trans people, original songs in celebration of trans individuals, and original songs by trans people. The musicians throughout this album make for one of the most expensive and eclectic conglomerations of talent, queerness, and transness in one singular project. Truly this is such a comprehensive display of music in the story telling of the trans experience it's hard to really funnel it down into a few sentences. I will leave this blurb and this year’s favorite albums with this statement: There is nothing more powerful than to feel seen, heard, and respected in the media we consume.