25) POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES – Big Special

If you had described BIG SPECIAL’s unique blend of post punk, spoken word and Alt Rock to me at the start of 2024 I probably would have run a mile. But POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES is a record that defies your expectations constantly. It’s musically diverse and dense but relentlessly engaging. Songs like BLACK DOG/WHITE HORSE showcase such a great vocal performances, while moments like THIS HERE AIN’T WATER show how the more ‘Mike Skinner’ style moments shine even more. A bold and thrilling album that I absolutely wish I had heard earlier in the year.

24) Small Changes – Michael Kiwanuka

Saying something is the most predictable and least boundary pushing album in an artist’s discography might be seen as a very harsh criticism. But when it’s an artist as musically gifted as Michael Kiwanuka it’s easy to forgive. Small Changes might not be the landmark record that KIWANUKA was but it doesn’t attempt to be, instead it’s a much more delicate and consistent album. I especially love the run of both parts of Lowdown, no one captures my soul in the way Michael Kiwanuka does and ‘more of the same’ is still a glowing review of anything he does.

23) ELLE – Dagny

If ELLE had about 4 more songs on it it would probably have made my top 15 albums. These 8 songs are slight but relentlessly catchy and showcasing Dagny as one of pop music’s most consistent songwriters. The vocal production on Hate Being Alone as the effects kick in on the hook is pop music gold and Dagny proves time and time again that she’s the master of just that.

22) What A Devastating Turn of Events – Rachel Chinouriri

The audacity to be as self assured musically, confident in your own sound as Rachel Chinouriri is on What a Devastating Turn of Events. From massive indie pop hits like Never Need Me to the almost Lily Allen-esque It Is What It Is, Rachel defies every expectation you might have of her on this brilliant album. She has such a way with words and is surely one of my favourite new artists of 2024. Rachel Chinouriri deserves to be absolutely massive this time next year so don’t let me down everyone.

21) All Now – The Staves

Every time I’d go back and listen to the fourth studio album by The Staves I’d be surprised once again by just how bold this album is from the sister duo. It’s not that I’d forget I enjoyed it, but there’s something about the way this album is produced, from the diverse instrumentation to the same gorgeous harmonies we’ve always heard from these women. I Don’t Say It, But I Feel It is a high point of their entire career, while lyrically the rest of the album gives new and more confident takes on life and emotional baggage. An absolutely underrated record from one of my favourite acts.

20) COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé

A classic rock sound brought straight into the world of 2024 and straight into the world of Beyoncé. The most impressive thing about what Beyoncé achieves on COWBOY CARTER is her respect for her musical forebears. This is no pastiche, it’s a celebration of country, of classic southern rock and of the legends that paved the way for music in her home state of Texas. Is this my favourite Beyoncé record of her recent run of all time classics? Definitely not, it’s at least 25 minutes too long for a starter, but when it’s good as on YA YA, AMERICAN REQUIEM, II MOST WANTED or BODYGUARD this album is truly great. 4 truly great albums in a row? I’ll take it.

19) Postcards From Texas – Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert makes another fantastic country album? Groundbreaking. I’d almost be more impressed at this point if she managed to make a bad LP. Postcards From Texas manages to dig into the rockier sound of Miranda’s earliest albums to amazing results, like the absolute knockout January Heart or the barnstorming Wranglers. No one teases out emotion in country music like Miranda Lambert and she’s done it yet again with ease on Postcards From Texas.

18) This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway – Lola Young

Lola Young isn’t trying to find a hit, This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway makes perfectly clear that it wasn’t. This is such a personal record front to back Lola is brutally honest and it’s captivating to hear. It’s musically chaotic from the indie thrill of Wish You Were Dead to the classic soft rock of Messy to the London hip-hop sound of Fuck. It’s all brought together by Lola’s dynamism as a central voice, both her soulful tone but also what she’s saying with her words. A true breakthrough moment from an artist who has been on the edge of greatness for a while now. This will surely be the first of many incredible records from Lola Young.

17) Fine Art – Kneecap

Chaotic, unhinged and one of the year’s most memorable albums. The way that Kneecap play off each other on every verse of songs like Fine Art, Better Way To Live or standout Parful is incredible. It’s so musically daring and bold and yet held together with a passion for sharing the Irish language and diving into stories from so many different places. This music is just so infectious and impossible to deny. There’s no other record like Fine Art in 2024 or any other year.

16) Lives Outgrown – Beth Gibbons

Someone who has never quite ‘got’ Portishead including the long awaited solo record from lead singer Beth Gibbons in his album of the year list is as shocking to you as it is to me. But Lives Outgrown is a stark and beautiful exploration of Beth as a songwriter and as a person. Her close sound on Tell Me Who You Are Today is so dynamic, while Lost Changes is so wide reaching in scale. The instrumentation on Lives Outgrown is stunning and only matched by Beth’s performance. Maybe the most surprising inclusion on my whole list, but an album that keeps giving me more on every listen.

15) Don’t Forget Me – Maggie Rogers

Maggie Rogers continues to be one of music’s most underrated voices and is yet to have a misstep. Don’t Forget Me is perhaps her least ‘ambitious’ record yet but it’s allowed her to hone in on a sound that is now entirely hers. On The Kill, So Sick of Dreaming and On & On & On she captures a raw emotion that feels timeless. These are songs that just exist now, Maggie has such a delicate touch with her lyrics that it makes Don’t Forget Me feel like a classic rock album that’s been unearthed again.

14) Radical Optimism – Dua Lipa

The pressure to follow up one of the best pop albums of the last decade feels like it’s dominated the conversation around Radical Optimism, but for me it’s Dua Lipa’s third knockout album in a row. It doesn’t rest on a sound that Dua Lipa so lazily gets lumps into, songs like Whatcha Doing and French Exit have a funk to them that suits her so well, while vocally Falling Forever is equal parts ridiculous and joyous. In Houdini, Training Season and Illusion Dua Lipa has the strongest run of singles of any current pop girl, and if it had been released as a single Happy For You would have been hands down my #1 song of 2024. It closes this album with pure euphoria; the almighty peak of Dua’s career so far. Radical Optimism would probably be this high for that song alone. I feel so overwhelmed by it.

13) Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves

Deeper Well is perhaps the first time that Kacey Musgraves has settled into her sound. Across her previous four albums, all of which have been brilliant in their own right, she has experimented with pushing in a more pop direction, a more classic 70s country style, or a more ethereal sound. Deeper Well feels like Kacey is finally confident in her own ‘sound’ enough to let the music live for itself. On Jade Green or Too Good To Be True she gives me the same emotional poignancy that made Golden Hour one of the best albums of the 2010s. Kacey Musgraves remains my favourite songwriter in country music and on songs like Lonely Millionaire, Dinner With Friends and Giver/Taker she proves time and time again why she is.

12) Silence is Loud – Nia Archives

Debut albums are not supposed to uproot an entire genre and define a sound for the entire year but on Silence is Loud Nia Archives does exactly that. It’s impossibly danceable from start to finish, but full of soul and raw emotions too. Even when songs are musically different, Nia threads everything together with Jungle rhythms and infectious beats. I lost myself to the music that Nia Archives creates on this album and Silence Is Loud is an album that gives back so much every time you listen.

11) Smitten – Pale Waves

The undeniable peak of Pale Waves career, the sheer joy I feel whenever I listen to Smitten can’t be denied. This is almost the first true ‘Pale Waves’ album that can’t be lazily compared to anyone else. Heather, Ciara, Hugo and Charlie have found their voice and their place in British music on Smitten and as a day one fan it fills me with genuine pride to see all of that work pay off like this. Perfume, Thinking About You, Glasgow, Kiss Me Again, Hate To Hurt You these are songs that have been so firmly lodged in my head this year that I haven’t been able to avoid going straight back for another listen. One of my favourite bands at their all time best.

10) In Waves – Jamie xx

2022 was Oliver’s year for his fantastic album Hideous. 2023 was all Romy’s with her brilliant Mid Air album and so 2024 is all Jamie’s with In Waves a phenomenal dance record that completely matched my huge expectations. Jamie xx has a way of crafting beats and teasing every bit of emotion out of them. In Waves is an album stacked with collaborations and yet so distinctly Jamie xx at all times. Life gives me life, Waited All Night has me desperate for The xx reunion we deserve, while Baddy On The Floor is the banger of 2024. Whether it’s as genre defining as Jamie xx’s debut record In Colour is still up for debate but when the music is this infectious, this dynamic and this powerful I couldn’t care about comparing it to anything.

9) Patterns in Repeat – Laura Marling

Probably the slowest burn of any Laura Marling album for someone who proudly calls her his all time favourite music act. There’s a stillness to Patterns In Repeat that only emerges a few weeks into living with the album. But this is also by far the most personal music of Laura Marling’s career. Patterns In Repeat is an album of self identity and self reflection, Looking Back does that explicitly, but elsewhere I love the interpolation of Breathe from Once I Was An Eagle on the title track or the emotive string arrangements on The Shadows. On the surface this might seem like an album that Laura Marling from 10 years ago ‘could’ have made, but the context of becoming a mother, the reflection on what you want that new life to look like seeps into every moment of what is a stunning album. Patterns In Repeat is intimate, raw and poignant in ways that even I didn’t expect to hear from my favourite voice in music.

8) This Could Be Texas – English Teacher

I’ve spent the last few years of my life creating a podcast and running a music website surrounded by people who adore music from bands like English Teacher. Albums that pull from alternative, jazz, folk and rock influences, each album would get me in a slightly different way but never grab me. English Teacher are the first to completely enrapture me. This Could Be Texas is a tremendous album and one that defies every expectation you have of it across its 13 tracks. Musically so ambitious and full of creativity and life. It’s the best debut album of 2024 and one that really captured me in a way I didn’t expect.

7) eternal sunshine – Ariana Grande

I’ve spent most of the year debating in my head if eternal sunshine is better than Ariana Grande’s previous best album Thank U Next and I’m ending the year clear in my head that it is. The most starkly honest music of her career I don’t think we have ever ‘seen’ Ariana like we do here and it makes songs like we can’t be friends, i wish i hated you and imperfect for you even more impactful. It can’t be overstated how good Ari sounds on every moment here, the preparation for starring in Wicked in full view on the way she sings these songs. Even the more uptempo moments like the boy is mine and bye she sounds spectacular. Eternal sunshine feels like the distillation of everything I love about Ariana Grande as a performer finally brought together with her own unique personality.

6) BRAT – Charli xcx

The album of 2024 by pretty much any metric you can mention. A lot of much better pop writers have written extensively about the impact and sheer creativity on offer on BRAT, but this is a personal list and I have to think about my own experience with Charli xcx and how this album has changed that forever. I have always loved to hate to love Charli. She’s made it into my top 10 songs of the year multiple times, I’ve been baffled that one of her songs has resonated with me each time it happened. I was even more shocked when I loved Crash, her supposed ‘sellout’ album. I guess in the end I have been the one with the problem and not Charli. With BRAT she does what she has always done but in a way that is self referential, an album about her position as an artist that resonates simply because there’s no bullshit at all. The release of the remix project made me even more enamoured, an album about the album that you released that unintentionally made you a viral star in places that never once gave a toss before this year? Charli xcx has always been about 20 steps ahead of the rest of us and I am so glad that for 2024 at least I finally caught up enough to appreciate pop music at its most chaotic and most enjoyable.

5) Romance – Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C. are the best band of 2024 and I for one refuse to rescind any of the negative comments I have made about them in the past. Romance is so undeniably brilliant from start to finish that I feel like my brain must have been tampered with by Griann Chatten and the lads. Bug, Here’s The Thing, Starburster, Favourite and Death Kink every single track here is an alt-pop knockout and I’ve had to rethink my entire personality thanks to this album.

4) GNX – Kendrick Lamar

Restoring my faith after the slight misstep of Mr Morales and the Hotsteppers, Kendrick Lamar is the greatest hip hop artist of a generation and very soon could claim to truly be the G.O.A.T.. On Reincarnated he completely floors me every time I hear it. Four and a half minutes of non stop bars against music that swells and moves like a jazz song. Lyrically raw and intricately crafted GNX is an album full of moments like this and even though it’s only been out for mere weeks no other Hip-Hop record in 2024 came close. The moments with SZA are glorious, while heart pt. 6 defies all expectations of what songs in that series can and should be. GNX could easily become my favourite Kendrick Lamar record, yet another absolutely killer album from the best artist in rap.

3) This Ain’t The Way You Go Out – Lucy Rose

I really enjoyed the last Lucy Rose album, it even made my top 25 albums of 2019. I went into her new record hoping for more than the same and left feels emotionally overwhelmed and in sheer awe. This Ain’t The Way You Go Out is outstanding; some of the most dynamic, surprising and daring music of 2024. It’s emotionally devastating on a song like Dusty Frames, ‘Life could be so simple but it’s full of pain’ and then utterly transcendent on the soaring Sail Away. There’s a way that songs like Life’s Too Short and Over When It’s Over lull you into this false sense of feeling familiar, ‘this is just a jazz influenced moment’ or ‘this is a piano ballad’ and then Lucy completely turns everything on its head. This record is so changeable and so musically thrilling that I haven’t stopped telling people to listen to it since the day I hit play. Held together by Lucy Rose’s gorgeous tone in her voice and the stark storytelling in her lyrics. It’s the first of three outstanding creative achievements that complete my albums of the year list.

2) What Now – Brittany Howard

I am aghast at putting an album as incredible as What Now at #2 rather than the top spot because I can’t overstate how brilliant this record is. Brittany Howard impressed me so much with her debut solo record Jaime, but the musical creativity and ambition she shows on What Now is outstanding. Completely genre agnostic there isn’t a single box you could put Brittany Howard into if you tried. She’s soulful on To Be Still, danceable and thrilling on Prove It To You, a rock powerhouse on What Now or an emotionally charged lyricist on I Don’t. That moment she sings ‘If you want someone to hate then blame it on me’ is electric and there isn’t a single moment on this record that doesn’t feel that vital. It’s incredible that this music works better within the context of the album as a whole than individual tracks when each is so musically diverse. What Now is an effortless and personal record that seems to get better and better with every track and every listen. This is a classic album that feels so much more important than I could have ever imagined it to feel. It showcases Brittany Howard as a musician, as a person and as a visionary artist.

1) HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is maybe a perfect album. I hate to use that word but I feel genuinely overwhelmed by the sheer mastery of music that Billie Eilish shows on every single second of this album. Probably my favourite new artist of the last 10 years, Billie Eilish is behind so many of my favourite songs of that time so it’s not a surprise I like this. What surprises me every single time I hit play is how much this music affects me. It’s devastatingly beautiful at times, wondrously chaotic at others, infectious and catchy at the next; and genuinely every single one can leave me overwhelmed and emotional.

Billie and Finneas are just on top form at every moment, painstakingly crafting music without the need to prove a thing to anyone. The freedom of LUNCH or the daring instrumentation of L’AMOUR DE MA VIE to the reinvention of a song that predates Billie’s debut album on closer BLUE every moment feels like it’s taken them all decade to perfect and the results are so clear to hear. No song stays still, the steadily building bassline of CHIHIRO has an almighty payoff, while BITTERSUITE moves between sounds so freely. The almighty peak is the run of songs that opens with the best ‘pop song’ that Billie and FINNEAS have ever written, BIRDS OF A FEATHER, into the best vocal of her career, WILDFLOWER. It’s THE GREATEST that completely devastates me though and I can’t think of a time I’ve been able to make it through ‘I loved you, and I still do’ without choking up.

Everything about HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is special and I end 2024 feeling such an intimate personal connection to a record that is so wide reaching. There’s a handful of albums across the last decade that make me emotional not because of the lyricism or the emotion of the song, both of which are standout here, but the sheer quality of what I’m hearing. I am lost to HIT ME HARD AND SOFT and front to end it’s hard to think of a pop record I’ve loved more in years. Hands down the best album of 2024.