My Favourite Albums in 2024
In which I count down my Top 10 ... uh, 20 ... uh, 50 of the year.
When I set out to listen to an album a year, my target was 250 albums total - both new and old - listened and reviewed at a rate of one per weekday, Monday to Friday. In March, I decided to make that one new album a day, as in one album per day that had been released this year. I ended up reviewing 253 albums released in 2024, and 357 total. Yikes.
And yet, here I am, at the end of the year - my last post for 2024 - and I’m actually excited to be doing this again next year. I have already planned out the first few weeks. I’ve got more ideas on content for the page. I’ve got plans to expand my little Ephemeral empire. I hope you’ll stick around.
For now though, here are my Top 20 Favourite Albums Of 2024, which expanded from a Top 10 … and also includes the rest of a Top 50. Its really hard to pick a favourite, you know.
20: SONGS OF A LOST WORLD
The Cure
The group are happy to let the songs breathe, to just sit in a reverby drum-keys break for a few moments longer than modern pop music would dictate. That patience elevates a song like “And Nothing Is Forever”, while adding in Gallup’s bass kicks “A Fragile Thing” up a gear and makes it one of the highlights here … As I say, I reckon it’s their best since Disintegration.
19: TIGER IN THE RIVER
Skilaa
Tiger In The River launches with two highlights in "I Never Knew" and "Southern Gothic", a pair of tracks that are wildly different - one a neo-soul/funk track, the other a hiphop/soul track - and make a strong statement to open the album … while it shifts around, it holds together because it is distinctly them. A brilliant album and one I'll be listening to again. And again.
I bought Tiger In The River on vinyl earlier in the year and now my six year old loves Skilaa too, based purely on the cover image; she is obsessed with tigers.
18: DEEP SAGE
Gouge Away
While the group are tight as fuck, and clearly have a knack for the melodic, its Michelle’s vulnerable vocal that stands out; time and again the singer opens up on anxiety and pressure … with the screaming delivery adding a level of pain. This is another brilliant album for this year - 2024 has been an embarrassment of hard rock riches, and this is another highlight.
17: VITA
David Dallas
David Dallas has always had a knack for clever rhymes, his flow changing pace and dynamic as needed, and he is on full display here. Songs like "Bourdain" and "All Gas" … are as entertaining as they are well made. [Producer Nick] Maclaren is also in fine form here … Welcome back, David. Thanks for giving us the best Kiwi album of the year so far.
16: NO NAME
Jack White
strong record from the former White Stripes frontman, stripped back and more guitar-driven than his twin releases in 2022, and less reliant on blues riffage than usual. None of the songs have names so I can't point at any specifics you can search, but the second track on Side A [edit: “Bless Yourself”] sees him break loose, while the fourth track [edit: “It’s Rough On Rats (If You’re Asking”] has some of his best guitar work in a while.
This one sat outside the Top 20 as recently as three weeks ago, but increased listening ahead of Tuesday’s show made me reconsider its place. No Name is my favourite pure rock album of the year.
15: LEATHERMAN & THE MOJAVE GREEN
Troy Kingi & The Cactus Handshake
It’s a brilliant record. Maybe a little long, but it doesn’t feel like any of that time is wasted. If anything, it feels like it would be impossible to decide what to cut. My favourites here are “Hot Medicine” and “Momentary Lapse Of Deflation”, but there really isn’t a bad song on here. A wonderful record.
14: NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Yet it all ends with with the hopeful "Grey Rubble - Green Shoots", its title hinting at new growth, at hope of the end coming, its beautiful strings taking us to the end of the record. No Title is almost an hour long. It feels like a small amount of time to take to pop on some music and think about exactly what the hell is happening over in the Middle East. I recommend that you do.
I’ve gone back to this one frequently since release, chucking it on as background music while I work usually, and I hear something new every time. If I did this list again in a month, it would probably be even higher. Ceasefire now.
13: CHROMAKOPIA
Tyler, The Creator
Chromakopia only gets better from there: the production here is spectacular, and Tyler is at his best, jumping effortlessly between soul and funk and electronica and rock without missing a beat. There are too many highlights to mention but I do think "Thought I Was Dead" might be the best here (ScHoolboy Q and Santigold guest), while one of my favourite discoveries of the year, Lola Young, guests on "Like Him". Brilliant album.
12: THE DREAMS OF OUR MOTHERS’ MOTHERS
Mousey
Mousey has this knack for surprising at every turn, making compositional choices that seemingly only make sense to her; like the drums playing in the next room on "Home Alone" seems an odd choice, but it come to fruition when the buzzy strings and bass join them … musically, her best work to date. A truly phenomenal album.
This is the highest placed Kiwi album on my list - so I guess, by default, its my NZ Album of the Year.
11: HIT ME HARD & SOFT
Billie Eilish
Hit Me is a creative and enjoyable album that finds the singer - and brother/collaborator Finneas - pushing themselves toward something new. Opener "Skinny" finds Eilish at her introspective best, while follow-up "Lunch" is a brilliant "Bad Guy"-style pop track. It just keeps getting stronger from there; honestly, if you're a fan, I don't think there is a weak track here.
Another album that I’ve had on repeat since it came out, but it couldn’t crack the Top 10 for whatever reason. A wonderful album though.
10: GNX
Kendrick Lamar
How is the album? I mean, how do you think. Kendrick Lamar is widely regarded as the greatest rapper alive. And that was before he freed himself from his former record deal and started doing whatever he wanted. The result is Kendrick’s most accessible, most mainstream album to date, capitalising on the chart success of diss track “Not Like Us”.
I ummed and ahhed about putting Kendrick here because of how late in the year it was released. But, c’mon, its undeniable how good this record is.
09: MANNING FIREWORKS
MJ Lenderman
Witty lyricism evokes early 90s artists like Beck and Kurt Cobain, songs like “Rudolph” and “She’s Leaving You” drawing you in and holding your attention. Musically, the album alternates between this wonderful alt-country sound, and straight up indie rock; Lenderman is a good guitarist, but Manning Fireworks contains some of his best work to date, both in playing and in composing.
08: LIVES OUTGROWN
Beth Gibbons
Lives Outgrown has been a labour of love for about a decade, coming together in the past year or so. That love comes through in the music, every melody placed carefully, not a note out of place. Tracks like "Reaching Out" and highlight "Rewind" are works of art, dark and evocative and beautiful. The album also forces you to rethink Gibbons' role in the signature sound of Portishead - if you listen to this album, then back to the Portishead back catalogue, you suddenly hear a cacophony of Gibbons' influence in the music
07: TANGK
Idles
… the same mix of minor chords and off-kilter distorted guitars and the forceful vocal of Talbot. Yet it is underpinned by an optimism that hasn't always been apparent in their work … 'That gratitude cuts through my veins / I hold my hand up and I'm awake' Talbot sings on late album highlight "Gratitude", maybe my favourite song here. This is a wonderfully creative album from a group that always seemed on the cusp of something great.
Given how early in the year it came out, Tangk is one of the albums I’ve listened to most in 2024, and I never tire of it. In fact, its become an album that I play through without skipping any tracks. There isn’t a weak link here.
06: YOU WON’T GO BEFORE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO
Knocked Loose
this is a brutally heavy album and you won’t find any clean vocals here. But it’s also exceptionally clever … The album is full of these little moments, exquisitely mixed to ensure the sound isn’t muddy and nothing gets lost in the roiling guitars and vocals. A brilliant album. And dare I say it one of the best metalcore albums I’ve heard.
I’ll be honest, part of me loves this record more purely because of the ire their appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live drew last month.
05: FOXING
Foxing
"Cleaning" is a gorgeous soundscape of a song, the vocal soaring over synths, and "Barking" tones things down with a wonderfully catchy vocal over an almost pop-rock musical arrangement. Its no secret that post-rock is kind of my thing at the moment (well, one of my things) and this album absolutely delivers: the group are throwing everything they can at their songs, mastering the dynamics between loud and soft, confronting and comforting
04: BRAT
and: BRAT AND IT’S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUT ALSO STILL BRAT
Charli XCX
Charli sounds as good here as she ever has, certainly more accessible even as she takes calculated risks by trying new things, or revisiting old tricks. This is a phenomenal album.
Charli XCX has done something amazing: released two albums - one best-of-year great, one simply great - from the same base collection of songs. Incredible, really.
I’ve put both albums here because I genuinely believe that one is not better than the other; Charli XCX had the best year of any pop artist, I truly believe that.
03: THIS WASN’T MADE FOR YOU ANYWAY
Lola Young
Young comes off as a seasoned, confident artist comfortable in her own skin, making her own sounds … there are moments of funk bass on rocker "Wish You Were Dead", dance beats on "Big Brown Eyes", digital artefacts on highlight "Conceited" that betray the indie sensibility. Vocally, Young has a raspy delivery but the ability to scream with the best, conveying emotion and vulnerability (and ironic whimsy on closer "Intrusive Thoughts").
Another one that has been on high repeat since release. And I’m excited that the rest of the world seems to be catching on to the brilliance of Lola Young.
02: ROMANCE
Fontaines DC
Romance is a different beast entirely: they can still rock out hard when they need to, but their composition and arrangement skills have improved over the years to the point that they don't need to rock hard to create an electrifying song. The group draw on an eclectic range of influences for this one: a touch of nu-metal experimentation on early highlight "Starburster", something approaching Tom Waits on "In The Modern World", the bombastic rock of mid-90s Brit-pop on "Bug" … I've been playing this one on repeat for a week. One of the best of the year, by my reckoning.
I don’t know if I’ve stopped playing this one on repeat, to be honest. And the more I hear it, the more I like it. A truly unique album, and an evolutionary step for a band who are set for bigger and brighter things.
01: I GOT HEAVEN
Mannequin Pussy
I Got Heaven is relatively short, clocking in at a scant 30 minutes, but it feels jam-packed: this is an album full of ideas, dynamic at every turn, shifting from unhindered aggression to Sleater-Kinney-esque grunge balladry with ease. I Got Heaven is fresh but a throwback, its an instant classic.
It’s you and it’s been from the start. Or at least since February when I started thrashing the hell out of this one. I’ve probably listened to I Got Heaven a hundred times this year, and I still get hyped as soon as I hear the ‘de-dee-dee-dee-dedee’ of the opening title track. My favourite album of 2024.
… and rounding out the Top 50:
Elbow - Audio Vertigo
Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: NeX Gen
Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Désir
Mokotron - Waerea
Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
Big|Brave - A Chaos Of Flowers
Anna Coddington - Te Whakamiha
Opeth - The Last Will And Testmament
St Vincent - All Born Screaming
The Smile - Wall Of Eyes
Halsey - The Great Impersonator
Drug Church - Prude
Tami Neilson - Neilson Sings Nelson
Jerry Cantrell - In The Blood
Vince Staples - Dark Times
Earth Tongue - Great Haunting
Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal
Gillian Welch - Woodland
Mokomokai - Whakarehu
O. - WeirdOs
Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath
Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes
Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino
The Last Dinner Party - Prelude To Ecstacy
BERWYN - WHO AM I
The Mysterines - Afraid Of Tomorrows
The Smile - Cutouts
Laura Marling - Patterns In Repeat
Poppy - Negative Spaces
Yard Act - Where's My Utopia?
And there you have it folks, the best albums of the year according to yours truly.
I just want to quickly say thank you again for all your reading and liking and commenting and support this year. I’ve had a helluva lot of fun doing it and I’m looking forward to picking it up again in the new year. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’ll be back to work on Monday 13 January. See you then!
Meri kirihimete - have a great holiday season and stay safe.
Ngā mihi nui,
Chris
A great list Chris! It’s been a solid as year eh?