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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: hip hop
Ya’ll remember when Schoolboy Q put out an album? This is Schoolboy Q’s first good record in almost a decade. It’s got everything you want with a noticeable increase in production quality. There’s songs on there that bang, some that are great to just vibe to, a few with a heavy focus on wordplay, and everything in between. It’s under an hour long, and most of the tracks are bite-sized and don’t overstay their welcome, give it a spin.
standout tracks: THank god 4 me, Back n Love, Germany ’86

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: indie rock
This reminded me indie rock can be cool and also good. The duo has unleashed a exceptionally tight show of talent and ability in their debut record that reminds me of the early 2000s where Kings of Leon wasn’t yet a pop band. Coming out of the bustling Chicago indie rock scene, this mesmerizing record will leave you itching for more singalong choruses or riffs to rattle in your head.
standout tracks: Get Numb to It!, If I Am, Where We’ve Been

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: pop country
We are 11 years removed from the top of the Country/Rap mashup pinnacle. Is this album “good?” Probably not. Is it undeniably fun one of my favorites of the year? Yep. This is that drunk in a field, 1:30am garage party, karaoke with strangers, faking accents with friends music. The crowd at a Shaboozey concert has to be the weirdest group of people ever as he’s spent close to a decade making country-adjacent trap music and now has better pop country songs than most of the industry (and this cloud rap track that I burned out on when I worked at Li***ty Mu***l). If you wrote off a decade of bro-country as unlistenable (it is), you might want to give this album a chance as it melds country, pop, and hip hop in a way that isn’t horribly cringe or spoofing “Old Town Road.” All this being said, I’m not letting Shaboozey beat the culture vulture allegations yet or off the hook for how hilarious Tipsy is. There’s going to be some absolutely certified dogs**t released in this type of genre very soon, enjoy it now!
standout tracks: Horses & Hellcats, East of the Massanutten, Drink Dont Need No Mix ft. BigXthaPlug

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alt-country
There’s a lot of people and artists you could compare MJ Lenderman to. I won’t, but I will salute his service in the country shoegaze band, Wednesday, and still somehow finding time to make one of my favorite “sittin’ outside and enjoying the weather” albums in a minute. Grimy, smooth listenin’ afternoon tunes get sung by a guy that could talk you into watching Viva La Bam on Christmas. I really can’t recommend this record enough if you’re 27 – 33.
standout tracks: Wristwatch, On My Knees, Bark at the Moon

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: indie pop
Thank you from the bottom of my heart Generation Z! After countless years of awful or boring indie-pop/rock albums, almost monday put out one of my favorite earworm collections in a while. It’s so funny the first song is a 3-way harmonic intro, but I promise you that is NOT what this album is: it’s a compilation of coming of age songs and “oo oooooo”s played over surf rock, indie riffs, and the most indie poptimist noises you’ve heard in a while. This is 2014-revival and we can only hope it’s a small sample of what’s to come.
standout tracks: tidal wave, you look so good, is it too late

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: chamber pop/folk
If you want to be consumed by a record, here you go. This is your chance to get fully engrossed in the entire work of a career artist. Lives Outgrown’s instrumentals could have been made at any point in history, but Beth Gibbons’ lyrics could only be delivered now after all of her lived experience. Existence is hard, really really hard sometimes. Beth Gibbons reminds us that self reflection is on us, and even in our darkest chapters we’re still capable of it.
standout tracks: you really have to listen to this entire record and dedicate the time

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alt-pop
One of the most interesting pop groups signed to the interesting American label put out a really interesting record. Who’s shocked? Magdalena Bay is what happens when you distill niche trends like vocaloid artists into petri dishes and then just combine it all. Imaginal Disc isn’t quite hyperpop, but it is. It isn’t quite bedroom pop, but it is. It isn’t quite disco rock… but it is? Imaginal Disc is like, listening to 53 minutes of inside jokes and blockbuster callbacks, but by the end of it you’re also in on the joke and know every single punchline. This record sounds like Vroom Vroom x Art Angels, and you just gotta follow each and every detour away from the sounds Imaginal Disc is so clearly influenced by.
standout tracks: Image, Cry for Me, Tunnel Vision

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alt-country
Waxahatchee is… very good. She’s already put out 2 albums I adore, and this makes it 3. I love how close the vocals sound and feel, how the instrumentals sound like they’re being played in the same room, and how the lyrics sound like something someone would say to a lifelong friend. This is the sound I think of when I think of “americana” and Tiger’s Blood just so happens to be one of my new favorite albums in that sound.
standout tracks: Right Back to It, Crowbar, Tiger’s Blood

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: indie rock
Expect the lads from Ireland to be EVERYWHERE (somehow not Coachella) in the coming year, largely off the success of this fantastic little romp. Romance feels separated from reality, with melodies floating and jarring through air while the band completely embraces their own disassociation. This isn’t their actualization, this is confidently saying “we know we can do better” – and the most exciting piece is knowing Fontaines D.C.’s potential is not yet realized. Grian Chattan & the mates are capable of something on the level of AM, it’s up to them to realize that and it’s up to us to give them that chance – Romance is both a place and a taste of their potential.
standout tracks: Romance, Starburster, Death Kink, Favourite, Bug

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: classic rock revival
Listen, if you like classic rock whatsoever give this a spin. Sheer Mag’s been around for a while now, and they decided it’s time to make some earworms that’ll make everyone at the party wiggle and hum along. Playing Favorites has the guitar riffs to impress your annoying cousin, the room-filling vocals to win over your annoying uncle, and the smooth listening to make everyone at the function smile for the duration of the song. This was 2024’s quintissential grillin’, drinkin’, throwin’ ball album.
standout tracks: Playing Favorites, Tea on the Kettle, Moonstruck

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alternative
The most interesting and promising debut in the indie/alt space from 2024 contains outstanding layering, captivating instrumentals, brutally honest and in-your-face lyricism. This Could Be Texas is dripping in Britishness, yet the full composition is so incredibly unique and refreshing for your standard guitar-drums-bass record. If this is a sample of what they’re capable of, English Teacher has such supreme ambition and it’ll be an extremely exciting journey. This record is not an easy listen, but it’s worth every single second of effort you give to it.
standout tracks: It’s laid out like a classic album, so tracks 1/2/7/8/9/13 are your easier listens, and everything else is not. I heavily recommend doing the whole record.

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: experimental hip hop
Maybe Peggy’s most complete and holistic project yet. Almost all of the words spilled over this project relate to 2 things: controversial lyrics and Peggy’s use of AI. I do not care about either, and if you do I request you grow up. He *literally* tells you he’d be Dillon Brooks as the first bar on the entire project. You will not know what comes next every 30 seconds, and the 4-song run from don’t rely on other men to JIHAD JOE is one of my favorite stretches from the year. The production on this project is simply incredible, and this album is effectively BRAT for the most problematic men you’ll ever meet.
standout tracks: dont rely on other men, Exmilitary, either on or off the drugs

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alternative
If you’re telling yourself “wow I wish there was a blues rock influenced album with in your face spoken word lyricism” then… why were you telling yourself that but also here? This album’s greatest theme is “holy hell you’ve been beaten with a lead pipe, and you got back up only to get hit by another lead pipe? Get up again.” — it’s truly a triumphant record packaged with extremely captivating vocals, and like… post-punk instrumentals? I cannot recommend this enough – it’ll be one of your most unique listening experiences of the year.
standout tracks: Listen to the whole album, please.

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: hardcore
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yup. 10 songs. 27 minutes. Buckle your seat belt, pull down your lap bar, raise your hands, enjoy the ride. We’ve got it all: grueling riffs, brutal breakdowns, effortless vocals, seamless transitions. The blistering wall of noise cannot be ran through, yet it’s never suffocating or restricts your desire for more. My favorite tidbit of this record is Slaughterhouse 2, which is the sequel to a Motionless in White song ft. Knocked Loose’s lead singer, Brian Garris. Slaughterhouse 1 contains the lyrics “In the land of the free, you’re a slave to your wealth. you f***ing fascist, die, you f***ing pig, this is the consequence of opulence” – just in case you run into anyone that thinks hardcore music isn’t political.
standout tracks: Don’t Reach for Me, Suffocate, Blinding Faith

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alternative singer songwriter
Nick Cave is over 40 years into his career, has numerous established classics, was 66 when he wrote this, and has experienced more trauma than anyone should have to. From the very first note, you will understand the type of album you’re about to experience: Wild God is the darkest, saddest, and most masterfully assembled record I heard in 2024. Melodies will arise out of no where, and disappear as though they never were there to begin with. It’s that starkness, knowing you can latch onto immediate beauty only for it to be gripped away without warning that makes Wild God so intricate. There is a palpable struggle between physical grief and finding flickers of happiness existing on every song. I cannot emphasize enough this record is gripping and grieving with death on every corner, and if you are grieving (or a reformed Catholic) this album will stab you in your heart and leave the knife. It’s up to you to decide if knowing you can feel the knife gives you any pleasure at all.

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: DANCE! LET’S DANCE BABY!!!! GET ON THE DANCE FLOOR ALREADY!!!!!! PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY AND DANCE!!!!!!!!!!
I. LOVE. THIS. ALBUM. 3AM (LA LA LA) is 90’s British rave culture distilled down into a 47 minute thriller where you will not stop bopping the entire time. Nostalgic beats and melodies are so tastefully layered and the song structuring makes the trip down memory lane sound refreshing. 3AM somehow straddles the incredibly thin line of “this is intentionally terrible” and “this is what I’d put on at 4:15am in someone else’s kitchen” – a feat so many of your favs could never pull of. This one’s for you: fellow 8-bar loop enjoyers, my female vocal fans, 3:30am night caps.
standout tracks: Who Knows What You’ll Find, I Can’t Lose You, So What, Breakbeat, SICKO, Real Move Touch, Far Out, Janet, WRONG IDEA, 3AM (LA LA LA)

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Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: pop
BRAT is a triumph. This is a career service award and the culmination of an artist’s progression. We have perfected every microtrend of the last 5 years, and gave it to the one and only pop artist that would do anything with it. We didn’t deserve this record from Charli, but we luckily got it.

Her career starts over a decade ago – notably as the “Boom Clap” girl or the one screaming over Icona Pop’s famous “I Love It.” Her 2nd album has mostly been lost to time, but 2014’s Sucker was simply a taste of what Charli would be capable of: forward thinking electro pop that was impossible to ignore. Her very next project, Vroom Vroom EP was so forward thinking the masses didn’t care but every culturally-tuned person I’ve ever met knows every word to “Trophy.” Vroom Vroom also ushered in a potential era of experimentation in pop music, much in part to the extremely progressive production from SOPHIE.

Charli’s next era saw that experimentation go to new heights. How far can you actually push pop music? When “Shape of You” is the biggest song in the world, do people even care? Seriously, look at these charts. Dark stuff. 2017’s Pop 2 did not care. The features on this record are a who’s who of forward thinking institutional artists of the late 2010s and early 2020s: Caroline Polachek, Dorian Electra, Kim Petras, Carly Rae Jepsen, and many many more. It’s still one of my favorite pop albums. Charli took the attitude of 2014’s “Break the Rules” and combined it with the over the top production choices of Vroom Vroom to build this new era.

Immediately after Pop 2 saw the idea of “pop” music explode, Charli XCX’s 2019 release, the sound of a new decade of pop, the debut of a post-pop, Charli. Turn the autotune to 11, make the bass rattle, go out and party with your friends. Sound familiar? If you meet someone who’s first interaction with Charli is BRAT, I recommend you pop on “Click” – one of the most insane produced songs in the history of popular music coated in bubblegum and head-in-the-clouds vocals. This blistering assault of out-of-this-world production was combined with existential rawness on 2020’s classic How I’m Feeling Now. The party was over, it was time to feel the hangover after the club got locked up. It was at this turn where Charli was almost seen as a key pusher of the “hyperpop” genre, a noise coined at the turn of the decade for this bombastic style with extremely dramatic autotune.

We saw a short explosion of this sound after Pop 2: 100gecs, underscores, Dorian Electra, Lady Gaga’s Dawn of Chromatica, shygirl, and so so so many more. It’s not an understatement to say hyperpop was the most exciting underground movement in music when the clocks struck 2020. It was a new decade full of new sounds, and immense talent was flush due in part to Charli’s influence. All of this built unreasonable expectations for her 2022 record: Crash. None her releases, except maybe the first few singles of her career, would be considered mainstream. It was almost a rejection of what was, yet Crash was exactly the sounds the masses were digesting. It’s the closest thing Charli’s come to a full sell out record, and while I can’t find them anywhere, she tweeted about how she needed to make it sell so well so she could go back to making those extremely wild and experimental sounds.

Well, most artists don’t come back from that, and I absolutely didn’t think she would. You made your pop record that charted #1 everywhere, made your money, what else is there? The lifespan for a pop artist is typically 5 years before they’re already old news. She’s already this cult favorite in the LGBT+ community, and exactly famous enough to sub-headline mid-level music festivals. That’s it. That’s how your career ends in the public eye.

Brat is a triumph. It is an embrace of the insanity and freedom found in hyperpop, a rejection yet also an embrace of 5th wave feminism, it’s the vulnerability of dancing to your own beat in the club yet rejecting looking cool, it’s the high of the night out and the destruction of your day after with life-crippling hangxiety. I, to this day, cannot believe how she managed to put “I Think About It All the Time” – a ballad about maybe aging out of motherhood – on the same record as “Talk Talk”, how “So I” – a ballad about grieving SOPHIE’s late passing – on the same record as “Von Dutch.” Every single one of these songs is so insanely multi-layered in texture, detail, intentional lyricism, and beauty you cannot help but be blown away. If you want, you can just party all night, smoke your cigarettes, drink your vodka soda, and spend too long in single-stall bathrooms listening to this record. OR you can meet Charli where she is: realizing that the grief, aging, and anguish you experience in life still makes it worth living, and being vulnerable with yourself will make you experience happiness, joy, and parties in ways you previously could only dream of.

There is not, nor will there ever be another Charli xcx. This is her lifetime achievement award. All of those days scraping by signing family-friendly tunes, taking extreme risks, living life in the public eye, making frienemies with her peers, and pushing the norm of what’s acceptable has led us here. So damnit, you better party all night, smoke your cigarettes, dance to Hudson Mohawke, drink your vodka soda, jump if AG made it, and befriend strangers in the bathroom.
standout tracks: 360, Club Classics, Sympathy is a Knife, I might say something stupid, Talk Talk, Von dutch, everything is romantic, Rewind, So I, Girl so confusing, B2b, Mean Girls, I think about it all the time, 365

Apple Music // Spotify // Genre: alternative singer songwriter
This is the most raw, haunting, and naked album I have heard in years. Bright Future encapsulates songwriting where every word will latch onto your psyche; the lyrics will generate emotional ranges you didn’t know you were capable of having. A performance like this allows Adrianne Lenker to rival Lana for being the greatest songwriter this generation, between her solo work and the near flawless discog in Big Thief. This album will age as gracefully as Blue, Nebraska, or Grace. Adrianne Lenker and a guitar is all it takes, it’s genuinely that good and will only age better throughout this coming decade.
standout tracks: whichever songs you relate to the most 🙂