The 50 best albums of 2024
A year is long and full of perils. 2024 was packed with them, many of which have plunged music ever deeper into its permacrisis. It all began way back in January when artificial intelligence reared its ugly head in a bold new way as Drake deepfake’d Tupac’s voice into a diss-track aimed at Kendrick Lamar—their beef becoming the petty and frivolous talking point of the winter months.
February gave rise to a discussion in the European Parliament about streaming royalty rates. The result was a curious one: Spotify announced that it would address the imbalance by decreeing that a song needed to achieve at least 1,000 plays annually before any payouts would be received. This triggered more of a sense of puzzlement than anything else.
March saw the first of many musical boycotts unfurl as artists pulled out of SXSW owing to its links to the military. The Great Escape would be the next target as backing from Barclays drew heat due to the bank’s ties to arms firms linked to Israel. All the while, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ramped up to new heights, eventually rounding out the year having grossed $2.2billion in ticket sales, making ‘grossed’ a keenly operative word in that sentence.
May saw an unexpected buck to the status quo as Cindy Lee became somewhat of a success with the album Diamond Jubilee—a record that refused to play ball with streaming services but still garnered plenty of attention all the same. However, any sort of revolution on this front seems anything but foregone, with recent data suggesting music streaming grew once again this year despite endless controversies.
June coloured the world Brat green, with the creditable but none too ground-breaking album, prompting the question of whether Charli xcx had just re-established music’s ability to create a buzz that transcends society in the water spigot of the modern age or simply edged culture closer to a meme-ified fad devoid of any substance beyond ‘engagement’—the reckoning on that front will arise based on whether buzz about Brat survives the years to come, but by our measure, the album was a solid 3.5 stars.
Meanwhile, Glastonbury kicked off the summer festival season with question marks over just how many times Coldplay can be wheeled out as headliners and allow Worthy Farm to cling to its cutting-edge cultural cache. Coachella didn’t fare much better either with Damon Albarn berating the lacklustre event that failed to even approach selling-out, at least on a ticketing front.
Another flash of hope came to the fore when the new Labour government confirmed that a levy would be applied to big concerts in support of grassroots venues—the celebrations were constrained by questions marks over whether it would be enough. Then, finally, Spotify Wrapped raised the same old questions, only this time with AI entering the mix as your listening habits edge ever closer to marketable data rather than cultural participation.
That makes it all the more remarkable that not only are we able to present 50 magnificent records by hardworking artists, but that the list of near-misses is even longer, prompting endless debates in Far Out’s forever independent headquarters. After all, celebrating culture in 2024 is no trivial matter. While awards in themselves might be arbitrary, the battle to democratise music into a fair meritocracy is more vital than ever—after all, music has a lot to say about this ailing world; it might even help fix it.
Far Out Magazine’s 50 best albums of 2024:
Release Date: March 8th | Producer: Justin Raisen and Sadpony | Label: Matador
There was a brief period when Kim Gordon’s ‘BYE BYE’, a single from her second solo album, The Collective, could be heard on a certain corner of TikTok, with users sharing their shock at discovering that it was recorded by a then-70-year-old woman. That’s the beauty of Gordon’s work, though: she has defied stereotypes and expectations ever since co-founding Sonic Youth, becoming a pioneering female musician in a landscape filled with men.
With decades of experience under her belt, Gordon crafted a record that blended her roots in noisy, abrasive rock with modern synthetic sounds and autotune. Not averse to evolving with the times, Gordon’s album, with standout tracks like ‘The Candy House’ and ‘I’m A Man’, proves that music is best made when there are absolutely no restrictions. While the record might not be for everyone, her experimentalism is undeniably impressive. It’s stark and utterly New Yorkian.
[Words by Aimee Ferrier]
Release Date: February 23rd | Producer: Various | Label: Strap Originals
After seemingly an age of waiting, Alex Sebley finally released the debut Pregoblin album, the aptly titled Pregoblin II. It’s an oscillating journey resoundingly demonstrating his broad scope as an artist, and hopefully, it’s the beginning of a long career. One of the greatest triumphs of the record is that it doesn’t rest on one musical style. While there are some slices of the pulsating pop that made Pregoblin such a celebrated act before the pandemic, Sebley gets back to what he does best.
Much of the album is 1970s-styled, character-based songs with a darkly comic twist. It’s surreal, visual, and often a laugh, creating an intriguing marriage with the shifting instrumentation. Adding to the party, Armand Schaubroeck, Sebley’s old bandmate Jessica Winter and Strap Originals label boss Peter Doherty all appear, helping Sebley show who he really is as an artist.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Release Date: October 18th | Producer: Christopher Owens | Label: True Panther
Christopher Owens has embraced his fair share of tragedy since Girls ended. The loss of bandmates, dashed hopes, drug problems and homelessness all beset the performer in a short span of time. However, music remained an outlet, perhaps not a professional one, but a glimmer of hope all the same. The same can be said for I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, his fourth solo album.
It is dark and mournful by nature, but whether it is the rapturous gospel backings that hark back to his earlier days or even the simple fact that he is making new music at all, it offers up a stirring indictment of the power of creativity. Within this force of spirit is a luscious sense of melody, put forth with tenderness and sincerity. Owens is a man post irony, and that makes for a stark listen given the magnitude of what he has to convey, but somehow, he conjures a sense of comfort despite everything.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: January 26th | Producer: Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel | Label: Real World
Keeping up with the exploits of saxophonist Sam Gendel is an insurmountable task. Given that he has been known to release up to seven albums a year at his most prolific, dipping into the occasional release is often the only option. For anyone fortunate enough to have chosen to lock in for his collaboration with Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento, they will have been treated to one of the most blissful half hours of minimalist jazz.
Keeping to the bare bones of just a 7-string acoustic guitar and soprano saxophone, The Room is a breezy stroll through the tradition of Brazilian classical music with Gendel’s sax soaring over the top of delicately plucked strings from Nascimento. Despite there being so few things to latch onto, there’s an intimate sense of beauty drifting through every composition on the record, and no song outstays its welcome. In fact, you’re often left wishing you could lose yourself in its splendour for longer.
[Words by Reuben Cross]
Release Date: March 22nd | Producer: Bill Ryder-Jones | Label: VLF
Sunseeker sees Stockton-born songwriter Becky Jones searching for positivity and optimism in darkness, emerging from the tragedy of losing her mother and grandmother in close proximity through the birth of her child. The record, adorned with these poignant reflections, channels her desire to focus on the lighter parts of life without compromising on authenticity.
Throughout the record, Jones executes her signature delicate style, with shimmering, endearing melodies leading the way into her newfound mindset and journey as a musical artist. It is undeniably a gorgeous affair, like a whimsical wander through nature with a heart full of emotion as the surroundings serve as accompaniment rather than unsolicited distraction. This appears throughout the record through natural and breezy rhythms, signifying moving forward towards an unknown destination, with Jones’ voice carrying delicious melodies like a guiding light. Even when the instrumental accompaniments differ in distinctive ways, the cadences reflect natural streams of consciousness, filled with enchanting tales of fleeting beauty.
[Words by Kelly Scanlon]
Release Date: September 13th | Producer: Hello Mary/Alex Farrar | Label: Frenchkiss Records
How often do we see bands make significant waves only to be swept up in the strength of the current? It’s not rare for bands to gain a good fanbase and start to get hyped up, only to fall flat when they begin releasing music. This hasn’t been the case for Hello Mary, who saw success with their debut self-titled record in 2023 but capitalised and refined it on their album Emita Ox in 2024.
Rock is well and truly alive and kicking, and this LP perfectly personifies that. You cannot escape the power that comes wrapped and ready with Emita Ox, as the band gives us great vocals, exciting guitar runs and riffs, and a cinematic atmosphere courtesy of the use of electronic music on the record. If you think that guitar music is dying a death, then you aren’t looking far enough. Do yourself a favour and listen to Hello Mary’s exception 2024 offering.
[Words by Dale Maplethorpe]
Release Date: October 4th | Producers: Orla Gartland, Tom Stafford + Peter Miles | Label: New Friends
On her second album, Orla Gartland will not be underestimated. In case you hadn’t been paying attention to her power in the realm of indie pop, either through her previous releases, her band FIZZ or even her early days as a YouTube sensation, Everybody Needs A Hero is an absolute triumph of talent that not only demands attention but grabs at it as Gartland’s songwriting, instrumentation, production and performance are all golden.
But they’re not just great; they’re bold, too. This isn’t a safe playing album as each song is energised by unique choices, whether it be an interesting phrasing of a feeling or a little detail in her production that makes you spark up. As a kind of concept album considering the difficulties of long-term relationships, each song feels like a perfect soundtrack for a certain neurosis or experience as the words, vocals, composition and production all work in tangent to deliver 12 tracks that feel like immersive experiences.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release Date: August 23rd | Producer: Zack Schwartz & Corey Wichlin | Label: Saddle Creek
Following up 2021’s sublime Entertainment, Death was always going to be a tricky prospect for Philadephian experimental rock trio Spirit of the Beehive to tackle, and the only way they were ever going to overcome this was by getting far stranger. With core members Zack Schwartz and Rivka Ravede having ended a long-term romantic relationship somewhere between the two records, You’ll Have to Lose Something captures all of the anguish and despair of a breakup, but not in the ways you might expect.
Given the obtuse and psychotic nature of the songs that snap between different styles at their whim, the fourth album from the band drags the listener into the void and leaves them to fend for themselves with no map. While this might sound like it could be a hellish and disjointed slog, the sheer amount of ideas that are hurled into both ears means that there’s something new to discover on every listen. When moments of beauty manage to seep through the cracks, they hit especially hard due to how impenetrable the rest of the album can be. If you like a challenging listen, then giving You’ll Have to Lose Something a spin is like playing blindfolded jenga – it’ll be a lot of fun, but don’t act surprised when everything topples over immediately.
[Words by Reuben Cross]
Release Date: March 1st | Producer: Remi Kabaka Jr | Label: Island Records
Leeds’ post-punk poster boys Yard Act have certainly come a long way from support slots at the Brudenell Social Club. Spring saw the band release Where’s My Utopia?, the long-awaited follow-up to their groundbreaking debut, The Overload. Building upon the musical universe that the band have managed to curate over the years, the album offers a deluge of self-referential social commentary and satirical takes on success in the music industry. Often, groups with the same independent spirit as Yard Act might lose themselves when faced with success and acclaim. Instead, the Leeds outfit use those experiences for songwriting inspiration.
From the self-deprecating anthem of ‘We Make Hits’ to the infectiously danceable ‘When the Laughter Stops’ – featuring the distinctive tones of Katy J Pearson – Where’s My Utopia? embraces a plethora of different themes without ever feeling sonically confused. The endearingly deadpan vocal delivery of James Smith seems equally adept at delivering crushingly existential tracks as bass-heavy disco-influenced anthems. It is difficult to think of another band in recent years who have managed to strike a balance between cynical post-punk misery and upbeat pop potential with such poise, skill and humour.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release Date: September 6th | Producer: Masayoshi Fujita | Label: Erased Tapes
Have you ever looked out of the window of an aeroplane, miles above the sky, and wondered what it would feel like to touch the clouds? To walk on the wind? Have you ever wondered what it sounds like all the way up there, out in the rarefied air? Or what a bird would make of our music, catching the top notes drifting away in the breeze? With the textures and tones that he conjures across his latest album, Migratory, Masayoshi Fujita transports you into the heavens and lets you float among the clouds, with all the coolness, space and lightness that comes with it.
A searching collection of expansive and atmospheric dreamscapes carefully constructed and crafted with swirls of synthesisers in support of Fujita’s trademark vibraphone and marimba and complemented by accents of Shō, this is an album of gentle beauty and rare tranquillity, serenity, and wonder; an album to daydream to and an album to fly with.
[Words by Matthew Ingate]
Release date: November 22nd | Producer: Josh Tillman and Drew Erickson | Label: Bella Union
The release of a record from Father John Misty is always going to be a big deal. Since the 2010s, Josh Tillman’s project has gathered a true cult of fans, all hooked into his messiah-like character that swaggers across his songs. Each release has seen that figure take on a slightly different style or simply put on a slightly different outfit, from the washed-up rock star look and feel of his early releases to the all-out big-band suit-and-tie flair of Chloe and the Next 20th Century. But on Mahashmashana, he’s every version of himself all at once.
It’s as if the artist gathered up each and every musical direction he’s ever taken and merged them all into one. The titular track is a true epic, combining his previous orchestral interests with a George Harrison-esque spiritual rock. ‘She Cleans Up’ has the wordy swagger of his first albums, while the commentary on ‘Mental Health’ would fit perfectly on Pure Comedy. Proving himself to be a singular artist as he seems to borrow from no one clear reference point other than his own creative mind, this record feels like an opus on his own artistry. For fans of the artist, it makes Mahashmashana a true feast.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release date: February 16th | Producer: Ali Chant | Label: So Young Records
For Lime Garden fans, the release of their debut album was not just one of the most hotly anticipated and long-awaited releases of 2024 but of the last few years. They’ve had people waiting for it since they were merely teenagers as the four friends have been playing together, gradually crafting their sound over the years. That process is heard across their discography as previous singles have seen them slowly grow towards the golden formula they’ve now nailed on One More Thing as their debut stands as the culmination of years of work and the best of the band so far.
The formula they’ve landed on is a perfect balance between anthemic earworm indie and experimental flair. ‘I Want To Be You’ is a song so infectious that it could have entire festival fields moving, evidenced by the growing crowds at their sets this summer. ‘Nepo (Baby)’ and ‘Pop Star’ keep feet grooving just the same as their social commentary gets a hooky instrumentation. But it’s the album’s more nuanced tracks like ‘Mother’ and ‘Pine’, or the glitchy sound of ‘Floor’ that really hint at greatness ahead.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release Date: May 24th | Producer: Maryam Qudos | Label: Sub Pop
Some albums perfectly epitomise the importance of music, and News of the Universe is one of them. It’s a comforting and confrontational approach to accepting a cancer diagnosis and coming to terms with the pitfalls that life is constantly throwing at us. The record is a brave undertaking, explicit in its theme while also being a fantastic piece of music to listen to.
While La Luz made a name for themselves previously with surf-rock influences playing a big part in their sound, this album sees them go in a slightly different direction. Yes, those surf-rock sounds are still present, but they’re somewhat more subdued as the band opts for something a bit more psychedelic. It’s equal parts shimmering and transportive, taking on a complicated subject matter and providing a musical backdrop that feels infused with hope instead of despair.
Emotions are often too complicated, to the point that any attempt to express them in art falls flat, but News of the Universe is the most perfect representation of love, loss and all things in between. Those emotions are wonderfully portrayed on one of the greatest albums of 2024.
[Words by Dale Maplethorpe]
Release date: September 20th | Producer: Nathan Jenkins | Label: Heavenly Recordings
It’s always inspiring to see an artist truly throw themselves into their career. In a world so obsessed with being nonchalant or effortless, evidence of someone really going for it is always beautiful to witness. That’s part of what feels so special about Someday, Now: Katy J Pearson’s third album, beyond the obvious fact that her voice is still more like a folky angel than a human being.
But from the minute ‘Those Goodbyes’ dropped, it was clear that Pearson was trying something new. While her other albums were packed with indie-folk greatness, there was always a level of subtlety that has been shrugged off now. Instead, the production is bigger and the finishing flair is shinier. The result is an album that pushes her artistry into new and exciting places as it pushes Pearson into the future as a musician making it clear that she won’t be resting on her laurels.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release Date: April 12th | Producer: Benjamin Chaval | Label: Glitterbeat
Strange, abrasive, and at times overwhelming, the experimental world of Avalanche Kaito returned in April for the first time since their 2022 debut. Born from a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Kaito Winse and Belgian noise duo Benjamin Chaval and Nico Gritto, Avalanche Kaito have succeeded in creating one of the most original records of 2024. A true musical assault on the senses, each and every track on the album offers a strange, chaotic inferno of sound that rarely gives the listener time to properly understand their surroundings.
Sometimes reflecting ideas of bustling streets, traffic jams, and voices, the trio construct these rich tapestries of sound using an unsuspectingly limited arsenal of instruments. The core of the band’s sound comes with Winse, and the influence of traditional griot from his homeland of Burkina Faso. However, these age-old griot traditions are buried under multiple layers of sound, compiled of electronic noise, whistles, chimes and occasionally vocals.
By all logic, noise rock, experimental composition, and griot should not be put together, but Avalanche Kaito manages to blend these styles into something that not only works but commands the listener to move to its ominous rhythm.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release Date: November 22nd | Producer: Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton / Inflo | Label: Polydor Records
Five years is a long time by anyone’s standard, and the world has moved far away from where it was in the seemingly halcyon days of 2019. That was how long ago it was that the North London legend, Michael Kiwanuka, released his masterpiece, Kiwanuka. However, time hasn’t affected the quality of his output, and when he returned with Small Changes in November, he rapidly assuaged any doubts. It’s a welcome next step in his story.
Enlisting co-producers Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton and Sault’s Inflo, Kiwanuka has followed up his chef-d’oeuvre with another delectable dish. Delving deep into the ‘Cosmic American’ music that inspired him, this otherworldly, dream-like collection of songs is more than enough to warm the cockles on a cold winter’s evening and have us dreaming of the days when the leaves return to the trees, and long, heady summer evenings abound.
Packaging a distinctly retro, analogue nature while also feeling completely modern—that is Kiwanuka to a tee. Whether he demonstrates his chops as a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, or the myriad of other treats in store, this is the sound of a maturing musician who’s fully aware of what makes his approach so convincing.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Date: May 17th | Producer: Shellac | Label: Touch and Go
Even 30 years after their debut At Action Park, post-hardcore trio Shellac revealed they’d lost none of their taut, abrasive post-punk attack and acerbic snarl. Wrapped in the inescapable film of frontman Steve Albini‘s untimely death ten days before its release, To All Trains harnessed their knack for dual wielding of razor-sharp precision and pummeling heft that manages to wrestle their own caustic hook from each of the record’s ten cuts.
As with every release Shellac unleash to the world, there’s a glorious sense of spitting and playing whatever the fuck Albini, Todd Trainer, and Bob Weston want on To All Trains, an authentic document of three guys gelling with natural chemistry and hammering songs from unreined pursuit of their idiosyncratic humour. Flexing their masterful brandish of tension-snapping arrangements and febrile breaks of austere terseness cuts like ‘WSOD’ or ‘Tattoos’ showcase their unrivalled, abrasive complexity without ever crumbling into convolution.
Unwittingly burdened with the eulogy tag, To All Trains leaves the station one last time exactly on Shellac’s terms, a fitting close to Albini’s legacy documenting unwavering punk belligerence and utmost vitality.
[Words by Tom Phelan]
Release date: October 25th | Producer: Dan Doherty | Label: Venn Records
Meryl Streek’s name might be a pun, but the Dubliner is one of the most serious musicians around right now. This Autumn, he built on the righteous vitriolic fury of his 2022 debut, 796, with Songs for the Deceased, a record which is somehow even more laser-focused and assertive than his last. Compiling what is essentially a group of files on moments in his own life and the history of Ireland where people have died due to no fault of their own offered him the prism, no matter how morbid, with which to produce another batch of songs that holds power to account.
Possessing one of the most fearsome deliveries you are likely to hear and fusing punk, goth, industrial and twists of electronic music, not only is Streek arguably the most virtuous artist of our era, but his sound is singular and compelling. In dark days when the rug is being pulled from under us, we need folk heroes such as him.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Release Date: April 5th | Producer: Vampire Weekend | Label: Columbia
Despite being around for the better part of two decades now, Vampire Weekend have been content with taking the slow-burn approach to every one of their albums, usually only making a record when they have something to say. When listening back to Only God Was Above Us, though, that period away only gives Ezra Koenig and the gang a lot more time to stir with their feelings and write something genuine.
Vampire Weekend’s latest brought everyone back to the kind of laid-back pop songs that the band were known for with a little bit more edge behind them. Whether that’s listening to the bounciness of ‘Capricorn’ or the sprawling runtime of ‘Hope’, Koenig isn’t only looking to build on his foundation but is still willing to find some pieces that have yet to be discovered with the group. While there’s no real answer as to where Vampire Weekend could go from here, Only God Was Above Us isn’t just an album that benefits from having great songs. It’s an album where you can feel the band actually managing to have fun while recording again.
[Words by Tim Coffman]
Release Date: March 1st | Producer: John Congleton | Label: Epitaph
If you like getting slapped in the face and given a warm embrace afterwards, then boy, is this the album for you. Mannequin Pussy have always revelled in balancing brash outbursts of noise with passages of dreamy power pop, and I Got Heaven sees the band adhere to these principles once again.
When Missy Dabice isn’t howling her lungs out atop a wash of punk noise, there’s still a sense of frustration bubbling beneath the surface of her softer songs that appears primed to burst into a primal fit of rage. The versatility shown across the ten tracks shows a staggering amount of growth has occurred since 2019’s Patience, but you also get the sense that the band aren’t done getting their message across yet and are only going to become more visceral as they progress as a band.
While I get the feeling at times that this record wants to repeatedly stamp on my head, I also know that it’s crying out to be noticed, validated and respected. With this in mind, you have two options – either worship Mannequin Pussy as you should or go fuck yourself.
[Words by Reuben Cross]
Release Date: June 6th | Producer: Sergio Maschetzko, David Granshaw, Nathan Jenkins | Label: Fiction
Orlando Weeks finally cut away the annoying albatross of The Maccabees with his LP Loja, just in time for him to reunite with them for a mammoth show in 2025. But while that reunion will please a whole host of indie kids who are now indie adults, Loja operates as perhaps his finest work with or without the group. Written as an ode to his new life in Lisbon, Weeks is in fine fettle as he seamlessly blends a range of different genres and styles to create a unique record brimming with artistic dexterity.
He flits between the darkest moments of life and rousing speeches capable of sending troops to war with smiles on their faces. A journey of sorts, Weeks’ audio guidance is powerfully created with the strong hand of a consummate illustrator sketching out the emotion expressed and intended with equal ease. ‘Dig’ might well be one of the songs of the year, while ‘Please Hold’ is one of Weeks’ most vulnerable moments in an elongating career.
Loja should also be heard as a love letter to believing in oneself enough to let it all go, to stride out into the sun and to feel liberated enough to do what you please.
[Words by Jack Whatley]
Release Date: May 17th | Producer: Beth Gibbons, James Ford and Lee Harris | Label: Domino
Beth Gibbons has one of music’s most recognisable and distinctive voices, having risen to prominence as the vocalist of trip-hop band Portishead in the 1990s. Luckily, 2024 gave us Gibbons’ first solo album, with the musician leaning heavily towards influences like folk and classical instrumentation. Exploring themes such as grief and menopause, Lives Outgrown is a mature and considered album, with Gibbons pouring not only her life experience into the record but also decade’s worth of musical expertise.
As a result, the album feels expansive and immersive, simultaneously intimate and wide-reaching. One moment, Gibbons is singing hushed tones over gentle strings, the next, she is projecting her voice over grandiose outbursts, as best demonstrated on album highlight ‘Reaching Out’. There’s some ethereal force at play, elevating the singer’s voice above the plane of human existence; she sounds like an angel coming to tell us stories of what it means to experience a meaningful life – in all of its ups and downs. Haunting and thought-provoking, Lives Outgrown stands, without a doubt, as one of the greatest releases of the year.
[Words by Aimee Ferrier]
Release Date: March 22nd | Producer: Adrianne Lenker and Philip Weinrobe | Label: 4AD
Setting a poignant emotional tone from the outset, Bright Future upholds Adrianne Lenker’s signature emotional intensity while capturing the complexity of human experiences, both joyous and sad. With an effortless and organic sound shaped by its rustic setting, Bright Future shows off Lenker’s familiar style with exceptional songwriting.
With deeply heartwrenching lyrics like, “I never saw you cry until our dog died,” Bright Future also deals with emotional nuance directly, proving Lenker’s position as an intrinsically intricate storyteller whose folk sounds venture far deeper than surface-level observations. Although there are plenty of simpler moments on the album, the balance between darker musings and featherlight folkish charm flit like the crackle of a campfire.
Those coming to Bright Future from the world of Big Thief will surely be astonished by Lenker’s work here. Personal reflections on heartbreak and the journey toward healing feel more accessible, coming together in a masterful stroke of musical artistic expression.
[Words by Kelly Scanlon]
Release date: June 28th | Producer: I. La Católica | Label: Tin Angel Records
Latin America has always boasted a particularly inventive musical landscape, pioneering styles of cumbia, bossa nova, and Latin jazz. In more recent years, however, one of the region’s greatest musical exports has been Guatemalan vocalist Mabe Fratti. Armed only with a cello, Fratti takes listeners on a truly unique journey on her latest record, Sentir Que No Sabes – which roughly translates to ‘Feeling Like You Don’t Know’. An unsuspectingly experimental effort, the album consistently subverts expectations of cello-based music, offering an inventive, avant-garde atmosphere which few other albums can match this year.
A new gold standard for the world of avant-pop, Fratti’s unique enmeshing of darkly electronic beats and atmospheric soundscapes is awash with something of a cinematic quality. These tracks rarely give you a chance to fully relax, keeping you on edge and unsure of where you are being led by the cellist. Throughout it all, however, her melancholic vocals and the incredible production stylings of La Católica tie all these uneasy feelings together into one masterpiece.
Furthermore, Fratti expertly showcases the wide range of sounds that can be constructed with the cello, leading to multiple moments in the tracklisting where the audience is pretty unsure what exactly they are hearing. However, that sense of unknowing only adds to the captivating nature of Fratti’s composition style.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release Date: June 7th | Producer: Amanda Bergman & Peter Winnberg | Label: CowCow / Red Eye
There isn’t another artist on this list who can boast that they juggled creating an album, raising a family, and regenerative farming in a flurry of constant activity. However, Amanda Bergman not only eased her way through this heavy workload, but she also transfigured the trials and tribulations of such a life in a stunningly warm and comforting record. Bristling with trademark hooks and her wistful baritone, the complexities of a simple life never sounded sweeter.
That would be beautiful enough in itself to warrant a spot among the year’s best, but she bolsters that with brilliant musicality—her voice often plays out like an instrument central to the mix rather than one that sits on top of it. Naturally, her fire-crackling tones still make it stand out, but it slips into the grooves of the melody and rhythm with supreme skill, at one minute fulfilling the role of a slide guitar, the next, bouncing along like a double-bass. Thus, the album is not only one of the most pleasant to listen to this year, but undoubtedly one of the best performed, too.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: October 11th | Producer: Goat | Label: Rocket Recordings
Swedish mystics Goat chose to self-title their sixth studio album. It is a move that implies, on this occasion, a culmination of sorts. The sound of each of their previous records is woven into the colourful maelstrom of what might just be their best yet— shimmering, danceable hit. Heavy Afrobeat rhythms, jazz-inflections, psychedelia and a bluesy undercurrent all swirl around in the heady mix of an album like no other.
The funky mire of the manic songs is underpinned by the sense of a collective fully tapped into the same frequency and yet unique enough to surprise their neighbour in these dense jams. That comes from years on the road and endless shows that have asserted the group as one of the finest lie acts around. Goat brings that energy to the fore and captures it perfectly. It’s an album to jog a new PB to. It’s an album that says, ‘Why not book that trip to Peru?’.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: May 3rd | Producer: Jari Haapalainen | Label: Merge Records
Returning from an absence so grief-stricken as a band is a tricky landscape to navigate. Facing the fear of sounding like a different band altogether without the presence of their late keyboardist Carey Lander and embracing a world of music publishing that was very different to the one in which their last record was released 11 years ago, the canvas upon which a return was drawn must have felt almost too blank.
But Camera Obscura’s sixth studio album, Look to the East, Look to the West delivers a contemporary spin on an indie-pop band who know how to deliver dreamy melodic soundscapes with glimmers of electronic instrumentation. This record may not signify a dramatic sonic departure from an already established sound, and nor should it, for its intent is to create something that strikes at the very heart of this band’s identity.
Sliding guitars, textured percussive sections and breezy harmonies foreground the sense of hopeful melancholy that thematically threads the record. Nostalgic yet contemporary and optimistic against all odds, this is a record to hold tight and take forward into a brighter future where its sonic timelessness will render it an album you can consistently rely on.
[Words by Callum MacHattie]
Release Date: May 31st | Producer: Arooj Aftab | Label: Verve Records
When Pakistani-American composer Arooj Aftab was initially compiling ideas for this record, it was supposed to centre around the Urdu poetry of Mah Laqa Bai Chanda. Although this initial idea soon morphed into a much more all-encompassing project, the roots of Bai’s words and ideas always remained at the heart of Night Reign. Celebrating Aftab’s heritage through Urdu-language lyricism and deeply introspective songwriting efforts, the record is as emotionally endearing as it is beguiling.
Blending Pakistani poetry and folk music with American bebop-style jazz is a feat which has never really been attempted before, and certainly not to this scale. However, Aftab is perhaps the only musician on the planet who could blend those two very disparate styles with such effortless grace. Weaving her own emotional narrative around an ever-changing soundscape, often driven by the harp music of Maeve Gilchrist. Far from being a self-indulgent affair, however, Aftab creates a universal atmosphere throughout the tracklisting, helped along by a variety of contributors and collaborators.
From Elvis Costello to Chocolate Genius, Inc., jazz pianist James Francies, these wide-ranging contributions help diversify the voices heard on the record, allowing it to feel like a much more spontaneous, sonically diverse offering—as every great jazz-orientated record should.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release date: 2nd February 2024 | Producer: James Ford | Label: Island Records
It is tough to think of another band in the last year, no, the last few years, that has had the rise that The Last Dinner Party has. Before the release of their debut single, ‘Nothing Matters’ in April 2023, the band were slowly but surely building a cult following through their gigs and bootlegged clips of their performances circling online. When that single dropped, everything skyrocketed, and suddenly, the London-based group were heralded as the ultimate next big thing. That scale of hype can be a curse. How can anything ever hope to match up to the overwhelming chorus of voices demanding greatness and the countless critics wanting to see you fail?
But when Prelude To Ecstacy dropped, there was no denying that The Last Dinner Party not only lived up to the hype but utterly exceeded it. Beyond the catchiness of the hit singles, when the whole project was unveiled, its consistent quality and incredible polish were staggering—serving up a journey through rock ‘n’ roll history with evident chops.
It’s a debut so gleaming, backed up by thunderous live shows, that it will no doubt go down in history as the launchpad of a new huge band. No stone is left unturned, and no detail is left dull, as each chorus is hooking, each guitar riff is interesting and electrifying, and the shiny sheen of the album’s orchestration, also composed by the bandmembers, proves a level of skill other acts could only dream of.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release Date: September 12th | Producer: Hataałiinez Wheeler | Label: Dangerbird
Hailing from Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, 21-year-old Hataałii conjures sepia tones with more ease than an Instagram filter. His latest album, Waiting for a Sign, throws a picnic blanket out on the deck of a truck and eases its way through the stark landscapes of his hometown at golden hour, wistfully driving through a mirage towards some unknown nostalgic horizon.
It’s an album for fans of Paris, Texas and those who wish everyone would chill out and get on, plagued by the asterisk of uncertainty over how. This imbues the steady-rolling and funk-infused songs and their accompanying social commentary with a laidback easiness, proving that bliss doesn’t have to be ignorant and calls for change don’t have to be hysterical.
The crux of these crooned and strummed lo-fi hits is a lust for a simple life that proves increasingly illusive in these trying times—times which he charts with choker-block irreverent fidelity. It’s a task that imbues the record with a weary hush. A tender and easy gem, Waiting For A Sign is an album that mediates the modern world through the honeyed hiss of an AM Radio in an old pick-up, driving through eternities in search of sunnier climes, as the dusk steadily settles in.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: May 3rd | Producer: Mikey Coltun | Label: Matador Records
How often do you hear a collection of ideas being referred to as kaleidoscopic? Colourful and complex, the word is thrown at anything displaying more than a singular idea. Which, on reflection is truly offensive to Funeral For Justice by Mdou Moctar, which in musical form is the truest example of the word. Brimming with ideas that are pulling at each of your limbs, drowning you in the deep soundscape he’s created, the record’s myriad of feelings and complex layering is a compositional tour de force.
Blues riffs, hard rock rhythm sections and chanting vocals combine powerfully for a record that fiercely defends the Tuareg people and fights against the mistreatment of Niger. Pain and anger run rife in the vocal deliveries, that push forward with unrelenting rhythms, acting as one big sonic rebellion. Be it the powerhouse drumming of the opening title track or the face-melting solos in ‘Sousoume Tamacheq’, the album manages to explore while remaining succinct.
It’s an album to be treated with caution and respect, for its intensity requires nothing short of active listening, but give it the courtesy of your attention and it will repay you ten-fold.
[Words by Callum MacHattie]
Release Date: April 19th | Producer: Bennett Littlejohn / Claire Rousay | Label: Thrill Jockey Records
Claire Rousay might be an unknown name to many, but they are an artist of rare quality and one who extracts from personal experiences to create compositions that firmly tug at the heart by marrying them with musical innovation. On April’s Sentiment, the ’emo ambient‘ pioneer created an album for our times. Blurring sonic lines and crafting a profound journey into love, loss, regret, sex, and seemingly every aspect of life, it’s the kind of record that, if you let it wash over you, you will find yourself changed following its end.
Fusing their customary use of autotune with heady acoustic guitars and field recordings captured on their trusty Zoom H5 Handy Recorder, Sentiment flew a bit under the radar this year, but this letter to the universe in all its power, heartbreak and glory is the kind of record that is so intensely human, and expertly composed, that you cannot help but give yourself up to it.
One of the album’s ultimate triumphs is the arc it leads us on. Musical choices ranging from musique concrète to transcendent orchestral flecks bring to mind Harold Budd’s emotive odyssey, The Pavilion of Dreams. An oscillating flow of thoughts, emotions and experiences, instilled with the hefty essence of reality through the field recordings, mirrors life’s haphazard rhythm and unlocks core memories with aplomb. This is exactly the kind of record that will inspire a generation.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Release Date: May 24th | Producer: Chris Coady | Label: Fantasy Records
Five years between albums is a long time, and there was a moment when it felt like 2019’s exceptional Deceiver might have been the final release from DIIV. However, after airing their grievances and realising the personal idiosyncracies that make the band such a resonant one, the group reconvened and finished their fourth album, Frog in Boiling Water.
It’s quite astounding that the group are still going, considering everything they’ve been through, but it speaks volumes about the fortitude of the members and the bonds that bind them. It’s also reflective of just how sonorous their sonic blend is that even before the 2019 effort was released, they were already one of their generation’s most influential guitar bands.
While the familiar aspects of their work remain, including Zachary Cole Smith’s hushed delivery and the atmospheric picked chords, the quartet have continued to build and push forward. Not only is the music more dynamic than ever, using tape recordings and deep, Jesu-evoking drop-tunings, thematically, it’s their most robust. With the title taken from Daniel Quinn’s philosophical 1996 novel, The Story of B, it’s an intense and darkly comic record, touching on the socio-political and spiritual malaise of the present, where the band pick apart the chains humanity has wrapped itself in.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Release date: September 27th | Producer: Ezra Collective | Label: Partisan Records
Following up on a Mercury Prize-winning album cannot have been an easy task, but it is one which London-based titans Ezra Collective dealt with expertly. With 19 tracks divided into four distinct acts, Dance, No One’s Watching is much more than just another album release; it is a real sonic journey taking the listener all through the vibrancy of Ezra Collective’s world. Consistently evoking the influences of old-school afrobeat artists like Fela Kuti, the album is often euphoric in its output, but it never loses the overarching narrative which weaves itself throughout the entirety of the jazz odyssey.
Through the use of interludes and atmospheric tracks, this record takes on the spirit of improvisational live performance. The album’s first act is awash with upbeat afro-jazz, but this quickly moves into something a little more relaxed, taking heavy inspiration from South African amapiano and even lounge. It is this incredible diversity within the album’s offerings that prevents the 19-track record from ever feeling too dragging.
Across the tracklisting, the collective are joined by a slew of collaborators. The musical range that these various collaborators bring to the record is incredible, adding another layer of improvisation and spontaneity to proceedings.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release date: August 31st | Producer: Craig Silvey | Label: Communion
On their second album, but their first as a bonafide official group rather than just Jacob Slater and a team of called-in musicians, Wunderhorse really leaned into being a band. They made that clear from the very start, as it seems like every decision made about this album prioritised the energy of the unit. They not only cut the tracks live to tape to capture the raw atmosphere in the room, but they even called upon the spirit of the great groups in history, recording in the same studio as Nirvana and sitting down before sessions to listen to the likes of The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, and letting their influence float into the music for good measure.
Listening to Midas, it’s easy to see why this record has solidified Wunderhorse as one of the acts leading the charge of a guitar rock revival. The titular track kicked things off nicely by getting a whole new batch of fans to pay attention, while follow-ups ‘Rain’, ‘Arizona’ and ‘Silver’ kept that hype coming and coming. It’s as nuanced as it is rowdy, as poetic as it is punchy, as intimate as it is loud. Really, it’s everything you want in a rock record.
But maybe even more so than the album itself being a great release, it’s a record so strong and so captivating that the band’s entire discography has certainly seen a reappraisal. Somehow, tracks like ‘Purple’ and ‘Teal’ have managed to also feel like soundtracks for 2024 despite being released back in 2022, all thanks to the band’s swiftly growing crowds at their live show and a second album so strong that it has people hitting shuffle on their entire catalogue, already eager for more.
[Words by Lucy Harbron]
Release date: November 1st | Producer: Robert Smith & Paul Corkett | Label: Polydor / Fiction
The Cure frontman Robert Smith has been a master of crafting beautiful and gloomy art pieces since they first entered the scene with Three Imaginary Boys in 1979. His forté, which lies with presenting the complexities of romance and hollowed hearts in delicate worlds, pervades the walls of Songs of a Lost World, unveiling the voids that thrive on vulnerability and suffering while spotlighting the most beautiful experiences and feelings. This time, Smith is an even more meticulous architect, blending beginnings and ends as rich and convoluted as the luscious middle (eighths).
Previous albums by The Cure have been heavily compounded by yearning and despair, embellishing the mystery of darkness and certainty, which also reaches many aspects of Songs of a Lost World. This time, however, the guitar work and rhythms spotlight all of the unspoken words and feelings unaccounted for, revealing a more immersive and forthcoming side to The Cure, where the haunt of a perturbed mind lingers in the subtleties. Ambience is a prominent force in modern music, and here, its vagueness is anything but background.
This time, however, the sound incorporated a vibrancy that both panders to bygone eras while signalling a new one, defined most prominently by The Cure’s new mindset about existing in purgatory, simultaneously enduring the beginning and the end, matching their usual motifs without appearing boring or one-dimensional. More than usual, Smith forcefully stamps his impending finality, enhancing lyrical precision while loosening his grip on the band’s usual tropes, creating something that feels liberated in every sense.
[Words by Kelly Scanlon]
Release Date: May 3rd | Producer: The Lemon Twigs and Sean Ono Lennon | Label: Captured Tracks
Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever and with A Dream Is All We Know, The Lemon Twigs provide somewhat of a worthy part two. Channelling groups like The Move and the golden days of the 1960s, the D’Addario brothers throw caution to the wind on their fifth studio album and dare to dual with dreaded ‘homage’, knowing that they’ll always have enough invention and ingenuity in their ranks to delve deeply into what they love and enliven it with fresh originality.
This baroque pop beauty catches them in a prolific spell, fresh from last year’s Everything Harmony, and something about that approach blesses the songs with a unnfettered sense of naturalism. This is heightened when you see the band live—these tracks feel as seamless as the twittering of song to a blackbird.
Funky jazz chords are thrown in to subvert the familiar throughout, and there’s a collision of poetry, humorous irony, and simple joy in the distinctively Jonathan Richman-like lyrics. Perhaps the pinnacle, however, lies in the vocal harmonies that the D’Addario brothers chirp out alongside their now consistent rhythm section of Danny Ayala and Reza Matin. They’re a band who seem stuck in a groove—in the best possible way.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: March 29th | Producer: Patrick Flegel and Steven Lind | Label: Realistik Studios
It might be dainty, distant and mysterious: small and delicate words by anyone’s measure, but it is also impossible to think of Diamond Jubilee without evoking the stark larger picture. Its haunted sound might just be a novel lo-fi way to pay homage to the doo-wop days of the past, bringing something new to ‘60s pop, but it also conjures a listlessness, a wistful sense that all revolutions died along with counterculture and now alternative futures are impossible to imagine.
Likewise, its release – one that refused to play ball with traditional streaming services – might have just been an independent artist’s nonchalant step to get an experimental record out there quickly, but it’s hard not to aggrandise it as a startlingly fresh statement. Moreover, the 122-minute runtime might have just been the product of a flippant approach to editing, but when you’re in the grips of the floating cavalcade, it’s a move that proves impossible not to embellish with thoughts of the ever-flowing content stream in the digital age.
Even the imperfections, of which there are naturally a few in the two-hour experiment, seem to express a sense of moving senescence, as though the album is an evolving body of work rather than a fixed and polished analogue product. The mystic Cindy Lee character that Patrick Flegel puts forth even plays a part in eliciting thoughts of unbound creativity in the post-truth age—who is this character? Why are they perched morosely outside of an industrial works? Are they real? And all of this is done with stirring skill and sweet catchiness.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: March 29th | Producer: Guillaume Dussably | Label: DANAYA
Equal parts fuzzy garage rock and defiant political affirmation, Sahra Halgan unveiled her radical musical manifesto back in March. Boasting captivating psychedelic rock guitar riffs and infectious rhythms, the record is adept in blending the joyous sounds of rock ‘n’ roll with the traditions and heritage of Halgan’s home in Somaliland. The impact of Somaliland on this record is unavoidable; after decades of political struggle, civil war, and violence, Hiddo Dhawr is both a celebration of the unrecognised Republic of Somaliland and a rallying cry for its independence.
Back home, Halgan herself has been both a nurse and a staunch political activist for years, battling violence and continued oppression with joy and music. Her personal history and attachment to the themes explored on the record make it all the more emotionally affecting, as the vocalist channels both anger and uplift into Hiddo Dhawr. Halgan pays faithful tribute to the heritage of her home while also driving those traditions forward into new and exciting avenues of expression.
From the opening moments of the album, Halgan wastes no time in immersing listeners in her unique style, balancing wonderfully fuzzy guitar riffs with her beautiful melodic vocals. Halgan’s bandmembers are also deserving of heaps of praise, particularly the percussion of Aymeric Krol which acts as a constant guiding light throughout the diverse sonic offerings of the record. Maël Saletes’ wonderful psych-surf guitar riffs, of course, are an essential part of Hiddo Dhawr’s appeal, too, but it is the compelling voice of Sahra Halgan and the influence of Somaliland which are always at the forefront.
[Words by Ben Forrest]
Release Date: February 23rd | Producer: Ben Hillier | Label: EMI North
Arriving four years after Nadine Shah’s 2020 record Kitchen Sink, Filthy Underneath delivers a charm like never before, proving a singer very much at the top of her craft with effortless blends of Britpop-inspired cadences and 1980s-esque disillusionment. With themes tackling the many personal struggles the songwriter has faced since 2020, including the pandemic, the loss of her mother, and the breakdown of her marriage, Filthy Underneath appears as heartbreaking as it is uplifting.
Rife with emotional complexities and self-reflection, the record also demonstrates the very best of Shah’s talents, immediately solidifying her position as a consistent one to watch. Songs like ‘Sad Lads Anonymous’ strive to present the viscera of Shah’s reality. There is a greyish malaise in moments, reflected in a weary sigh. Still, amid the purgatory, Shah shines with musical excellence, like an artist scorned by the vapidity that plagues her surroundings.
Other tracks, like ‘Topless Mother’ and ‘Food For Fuel’, present an ongoing commitment to experimental music, coasting the line between accessibility and unsettling, adorned with her signature danceable style that immediately injects even more endearing nuances and complexities. Although every track pulls you in, the entirety of Filthy Underneath feels like a reckoning of sorts, the groundbreaking kind that evokes the same masterful tendencies as something like Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing. Rich sounds are compounded by the stark realities of life’s more dark moments.
[Words by Kelly Scanlon]
Release Date: January 26th | Producer: Sam Petts-Davies | Label: XL Recordings
When you have fronted a successful band like Radiohead, when you announce that you will be releasing new music under a different alias, fans usually tut and moan. While it’s always lovely to listen to music that’s coming from the same mind which has produced some of your favourite music, when you’re a fan of a band, you want more of that specific band. Oasis lovers have never been content with Liam’s solo work or High Flying Birds; Led Zeppelin fans would much rather see a reunion than a Robert Plant solo slow; however, with Radiohead’s spin-off The Smile, there are few grumbles, and that’s likely because of quality albums like Wall of Eyes.
Where do you even start with this album? Song structure is a fickle beast at times, as it can make tracks repeatable and boring, but at least it also makes them make sense. You will listen to a lot of pop music and can work out what came first, begin to understand how a song was formed around a chorus or an intro, and then appreciate how the rest of the track was put together around those elements. You don’t get that with Wall of Eyes. The songs are complicated and have so many moving parts that it’s baffling trying to understand how they were ever put together in the first place.
The music is soft, hard, gentle, and aggressive, and Yorke’s voice dances around each tone flawlessly. This is the kind of record you plan to listen to; it doesn’t fall into the background of your life; rather, you set aside an hour and allow yourself to get lost in it. Particular highlights include tracks such as ‘Friend of a Friend’ and ‘You Know Me!’, which are elongated tracks that are both meticulous and precious.
If you have yet to experience Wall of Eyes, do yourself a favour and set aside the time to immerse yourself in this complicated piece of music.
[Words by Dale Maplethorpe]
Release Date: October 25th | Producer: Nick Launay | Label: Rough Trade
Modern punk music can be difficult to get right. We don’t live in a world with a specific “mainstream” anymore. Instead, what we listen to and what we consume is the result of algorithms carefully catered for us, so the idea of making something that rebels against the mainstream, as tends to be the mindset with punk music, isn’t as easy to do anymore. It leaves punk questioning where to go. Well, Amyl and The Sniffers have directions if you need them.
Cartoon Darkness is the most carefully crafted and beautifully put-together mosaic of rage, anger, silliness, and elation ever committed to sound. Through the dynamic vocals of Amy Taylor and perfectly put-together instrumentation, this album that dances around hardcore punk, dreamlike rock, and distortion-laden surf rock culminates into one of the best albums of 2024.
Cartoon Darkness acknowledges the complicated relationship that we have with modern media and mocks it. Tracks like ‘Jerkin’ are a scream into the void, lashing out at the evil nature of a faceless internet, holding nothing back as Taylor describes trolls as “Arseholes,” “Bumholes,” and “Dumb cunts.” Meanwhile, the band also allow themselves to have fun simultaneously, with songs like ‘Tiny Bikini’ and ‘Chewing Gum’ that are built for friends, lovers and dancefloors.
When you’re a band renowned for having an excellent live show, it can be difficult to put the energy people have grown accustomed to into a record, but Amyl & The Sniffers do it perfectly on Cartoon Darkness. The way music is packed together and delivered feels akin to a live show and could be coming directly from the stage. If you want an album that touches upon every emotion you face in the modern world and that feels like authentic punk music, don’t be an arsehole, bum hole, or a dumb cunt, have a listen to Cartoon Darkness.
[Words by Dale Maplethorpe]
Release Date: August 2nd | Producer: Jack White | Label: Third Man Records
No Name is strictly old-school analogue rock ‘n’ roll, and it absolutely obliterates any tired narrative spelling the end of either. In a blur of bluesy guitar, the record sees Jack White return to his roots. In fact, it practically defibrillates the ghost of Freddie King back to life in a blitzkrieg of searing riffs.
White’s signature crisp guitar tone is sustained throughout as the wail of a man with a point to prove and having fun in the process rings out. The bursting nature of his playing, where daring simplicity tangos with superbly skilful solos, adds to the slap-across-the-chops sensation of the record. No Name arrived without any fanfare, dished out as a free gift at live shows before a press release had even been printed.
It is the former White Stripes and Raconteurs rocker’s sixth solo release, arriving two years on from Entering Heaven Alive, and it proves he is still as keenly engaged with inspiration as ever. His instantly recognisable ways are revivified by modern pedals. Hypnotic vocal lines that he spits out with venom create a maelstrom of thrashing sound always centred around the firm structure of the melody.
He doesn’t quite rob the future to pay homage to the past, but he does electrify the blues with a beautiful mix of technological innovation and analogue warmth that could make Nikola Tesla rethink electricity once more should his soul be stirred back to life by this stealthy seance.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
Release Date: October 4th | Producer: Self-produced | Label: Constellation
Canada’s mysterious post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor have been one of the most influential groups around since their mighty 1997 debut, F♯ A♯ ∞, hit the shelves. Since then, they’ve steadily released a string of acclaimed albums and burnished their stirring, mostly instrumental songs that fuse ambient, orchestral, field recordings and monologues. No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead makes a strong case for being the crowning achievement. Thematically, it’s undoubtedly their most important.
While it doesn’t take a genius or anyone remotely politically minded to understand the title, as the band are famously forthright, with guitarist Efrim Menuck openly identifying as an anarchist, it’s essential to outline what it means again. It refers to the reported number of Palestinian deaths by Israeli strikes between October 7th 2023, and February 13th, 2024, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
This means that right from the get-go, the album has more of an emotional and significant foundation than even their previous socio-political and sonically profound work. The record is one of the band’s customary journeys of emotional ebbs and flows, resounding climaxes, and debilitating crescendos. You leave it feeling changed, enlightened, and furious.
It’s an album channelling tragedy and turmoil, where the intensity is ramped up to supreme levels. The tears well, with an emotional response prompted that is seldom felt in today’s music due to the very human and tangible nature of the subject matter. However, despite the raw emotions and dissonance elicited, the way the record soberly communicates the need for listeners to be focused on current events is incredible. It’s telling us to wake up and stand up for what is right.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
Release date: May 3rd | Producer: Al Carlson & Jessica Pratt | Label: City Slang
The arrival of a new album from Jessica Pratt always promises to be a serene and blissful experience, and on Here in the Pitch, she takes her feather-light folk brilliance to new heights. While not quite as sparse as On Your Own Love Again and Quiet Signs, the warmth that each song exudes is something that few other artists can produce so effortlessly. Where both of her two previous efforts felt rooted in the past, there are some elements to the production that draw Pratt closer to the present day, but there’s still the feeling that these could be nine tracks dug up from a forgotten songsmith’s archive.
Ethereal and otherworldly are words that tend to get overused when describing a work like Here in the Pitch, but it’s near impossible to listen to the album and not feel transported elsewhere in some regard. There are moments where it’s a seedy cocktail lounge where you’re alone with just a small house band, and there are moments where it’s an open pasture with the spring sunshine beating down above you, but either way, the locations you’re taken to by the record are tranquil and free from trouble. Even the more pensive songs on the album are easy to lose yourself in, and it would feel wrong to listen to it and not allow yourself to be lifted from your location and taken somewhere new and enchanting.
There’s nothing complicated about Pratt’s songs, but you always know that a peculiar chord change or extra harmonic layer waits around almost every corner for you, and every time it happens, you’re going to sink into the floor. The only thing to do at this point is simply to embrace the new world that you’ve been plunged into and begin to swim, exploring every minute detail it has to offer in the luscious, watery dreamscape.
[Words by Reuben Cross]
Release Date: September 6th | Producer: MJ Lenderman & Alex Farrar | Label: ANTI-
MJ Lenderman might only be 25 years old, but you’d be forgiven for thinking on a cursory listen to Manning Fireworks that he’s reaching 50 soon. There’s a sense of maturity in Lenderman’s delivery and an overarching sense of world-weariness in his lyrics to suggest as such, and that he’s experienced enough heartbreak and drowned his sorrows enough times to last a lifetime. Evidently an old soul in a young body, the Wednesday guitarist and occasional Waxahatchee collaborator has avoided the awkward phase of his career where he feels like he might be on the verge of something special without being able to grasp it, and risen to slacker rock stardom in next to no time.
Heavily informed by the country-adjacent rock of Jason Molina and Mark Linkous’ work in Songs: Ohia and Sparklehorse, respectively, Manning Fireworks feels like it was written to carry the torch left behind by the two sadly deceased artists. Full of characters that feel lonely and rejected by society or simply lacking something in their life, Lenderman’s work serves not to give the outcasts a voice but instead to ridicule the sad sacks of the world. While those individuals grapple with a sense of hopelessness, Lenderman sounds as though he’s being dragged down with them and despairing at what people around him are becoming.
Despite how despondent the album is, there’s a wickedly wry sense of humour running throughout, and the imagery that Lenderman conjures up is of places you know you’ve been but don’t really want to remember with the same level of scarring detail as he does. You don’t want to be sat under the half-mast McDonalds flag, and you certainly don’t want to board the houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome. You don’t really want to be anywhere, and Manning Fireworks is the soundtrack to wishing you could get out of whatever shithole you’re in. This isn’t a glass-half-full album; the glass is half-empty and cracked, and the strong IPA is trickling away slowly across the table. There’s nothing you can do about it either, so you might as well drink it and start the cycle over again.
[Words by Reuben Cross]
Release Date: August 23rd | Producer: James Ford | Label: XL Recordings
They say it takes ten years to be an overnight success, and with Romance, Fontaines DC have hit the mark right on cue. Their biggest commercial record to date platforms a band oozing with confidence and self-assurance. Produced by James Ford and powered by XL Recordings, it had the early framework to be a defining album in the pantheon of modern indie music, and the substance certainly delivered.
From the track’s opening, listeners are invited into a world of ominous ruminations on the state of modern life as Grian Chatten ponders whether ‘Romance is a place’ to increasingly powerful effect as the track develops. It’s a cinematic opening that sets the tone for a record that stretches and remoulds the recognised Fontaines D.C. sound where possible. Whether it’s the trip-hop rhythms and vocal ad-libs on summer hit ‘Starburster’, the caustic guitar melodies in ‘Death Kink’ or the grandiose string back-drop of ‘In The Modern World’, Fontaines D.C. have proven themselves a band who have developed an instantly identifiable and artistically unique voice that will accompany them on several sonic directions.
While Romance’s third track, ‘Here’s The Thing’, could have been a fun retrospective B-side, the record barely wastes a minute of the listener’s time in their pursuit of sonic innovation, which is most compelling in their exploration of expanse. Open space is welcomed in several tracks – ‘Desire’, ‘Sundowner’ and ‘Horseness Is The Whatness’ – giving room for several individual elements of the band to flourish in ways they haven’t on previous records.
Of course, at the heart of this record is Grian Chatten’s astonishing lyrics that flip between personal and observational but ultimately cement his reputation as one of the generation’s most profound poets. Weaving a lyrical tapestry of personal pain, existential panic and post-modern romanticism, Chatten holds our hand through Romance, which is indeed a place where their future records and all records of the genre will be compared.
[Words by Callum MacHattie]
Release Date: November 15th | Producer: Benjamin Romans-Hopcraft / Jamie Neville | Label: Strap Originals
It’s not very often that we’re treated to albums that are so cinematic you cannot help but be immersed within seconds of the first notes crawling out of the speaker. Well, on the latest Warmduscher effort, Too Cold To Hold, the London band manage such a feat and pulls us into their version of Cool World, a pulpy, cartoonish and deeply narcotic realm.
While all of the band’s previous efforts are brilliant, you immediately get the sense that this one is to go one step further when you hear the familiar Scottish tone of Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, who introduces the body of work with a surreal tale about the mind leaving the body on a DMT trip, a fitting way to open an exultant, mood-altering mammoth.
Too Cold To Hold sees Warmduscher refine their approach and the aspects that they have always excelled at: hypnotic rhythms and inventive melodies. Produced by bassist Benjamin Romans-Hopcraft and friend of the group, Jamie Neville, they kept everything in-house, and it’s had a refreshing effect.
There’s a lot to love. From the dovetailing of retro-sounding orchestral flecks and imaginative electronics to the funky basslines and frontman Clams Baker Jr’s unsettling lyrics and caustic delivery, Too Cold To Hold is an exercise in style and substance. Encompassing a range of different themes, emotions and styles while remaining cogent and drawing upon an all-star cast of collaborators such as Lianne La Havas and Confidence Man’s Janet Planet – who bring their own dose of magic to the party – this is as full-bodied of a record you’re likely to hear this epoch. It’s a clear example of why standards or conventions should never stifle imagination.
[Words by Arun Starkey]
An exclusive comment from Warmduscher: Ben: “I think this record was an opportunity for all of us to enjoy everyone in the band’s versatility. The funnest thing about the project is that it’s compiled of dj’s, producers and musicians from different head spaces. Seemed a no brainer just to work it out without asking a label or producer if we can make something. We had the idea of maintaining the energy of what we’ve always done but finding that through genres that made us excited.”
Clams: “Thanks to Far Out for all the support over the years with our records and live shows, it means a lot. We can’t wait to get back at them with album six and hit that number one next time!”
Release Date: April 12th | Producer: Marta Salogni | Label: Island
Back in spring, art-rock outfit English Teacher combined the sound of Yorkshire with the scale of outer space on their debut album, This Could Be Texas. The record placed strange, Jockstrap-style synths and autotuned vocals alongside addictive guitar riffs and clean keys, creating atmospheres equally suited to a packed-out Brudenell or to a David Lynch project, and pulling it all together with witty, referential and restless lyricism provided by vocalist Lily Fontaine.
Tracks like ‘Nearly Daffodils’, ‘R&B’, and the endlessly addictive ‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’, show off the band’s talent for truly great guitar songwriting, urging you to move your feet, leaving you hanging on Fontaine’s every biting word. They’ve proven to be crowd-pleasers amidst the band’s never-ending tour schedule, but the charm of This Could Be Texas extends far beyond those soon-to-be indie staples.
Gentler offerings like ‘Mastermind Specialism’ and ‘You Blister My Paint’ allow Fontaine’s prowess with a pen to shine even brighter, adorning her words with little more than a piano or a vocalised hum. She intertwines references to Stanley Kubrick classics and Doctor Who with more introspective moments, investigating indecision, comfort zones and the spotlight.
While Fontaine’s distinctive lyrics often pull the record together, every band member shines on This Could Be Texas. Prog-inspired tracks show off the instrumental talents of the entire band, Lewis Whiting’s ever-unpredictable flair on the guitar and Douglas Frost’s mastery behind the drumkit. It’s the sound of a band who have taken their time with their debut, who allowed themselves to figure out exactly who they were before introducing themselves to the world.
It’s a decision that has well and truly paid off. Between unexpected time signatures and nods to sci-fi flicks, English Teacher forged a debut album for the ages, endearing themselves to a new generation of guitar fans in the process and even taking home a well-deserved Mercury Prize win. Thriving on the band’s truly distinctive collective voice, This Could Be Texas is one of the finest first releases in recent memory, and its impact will extend far beyond 2024.
[Words by Elle Palmer]
Release Date: January 12th | Producer: Bill Ryder-Jones | Label: Domino Records
It was one of the year’s first, and it remained its best. A blustery and bleak January was blessed with hope—a defiant buoyed sense of hope that rang from every children’s choir, string quartet, and wave-crashing chorus that roared out from the plashy depths of Iechyd da. In praise of the record, violinist Amy Chalmers celebrated the fact that every note on the album was constructed in the mind of Bill Ryder-Jones. That is not just a creditable achievement in an age of generative culture but also the album’s crowning triumph.
The deeply personal evocations are profound, billowing forth with a contrasting sense of fortitude and vulnerability that makes it clear they could’ve only come from Bill Ryder-Jones himself. As a producer, he endlessly collaborates, so this ownership over all the finer details of this album is not a sign of a controlling creative but rather an artist arriving at a culmination that he truly cares about—one that reconciles his journey to this point with unguarded gusto.
That gusto is the lasting impact of the record on the listener—the songs pass through gorgeous modulations, cleverly swerving through time signatures and key changes in a mark of genius compositional skill, but none of those technical flourishes are arrived at with any other purpose than to channel the feelings and thoughts of the artist behind it.
The result is an unfettered masterpiece brimming with unbridled emotion, fully realised in music honest and meek enough to feature references to American Dad and the din of a beat-up Gibson, but bold and bellicose enough to call on the best voices from Bidston Avenue Primary School and bellow to the rafters, “This can’t go on”.
No track teeters below the eye-line of excellence, and everything is put forward with supreme care, consideration and unquestionable skill.
[Words by Tom Taylor]
An exclusive comment from Bill Ryder-Jones: “Obviously, it’s really lovely to be recognised in this way so firstly, thank you for that. It’s quite strange to be at the end of the year looking back already, but in general, I’m happy with how the album has been received. People have been saying lovely things about it all year, and whilst it doesn’t really mean a great deal, I think I’d be hurt if no one said anything positive. Iechyd Da was a lot of work, and I really did take my time to make something that would stand out, which in 2024, when you make music like mine, isn’t all that easy. Lots of love.“
