I usually try to curate a little list of albums I loved at the end of a year. It’s a nice way to think back on what I really enjoyed listening to, what soundtracked my life for that particular span of time hurtling around the sun. I forgot to last year, but I’m doing it again now!
This won’t be everything I enjoyed in the year, not by a long shot! I’d be here writing longer than anyone would care to read if I tried to do that. Here are some of my highlights though.
I simply could not have a list of music from 2024 without including brat. The pendulum of Charli swings erratically from coke in the club to vulnerable concerns about missing a chance at parenthood right back to the club, and I think it works precisely thanks to those, dare I say, brattish swings. Brat was life for most of my June and July, and it was a good life.
I loved Charly Bliss’s last album Young Enough, but this one is where I really fell in love with the group’s sound. I couldn’t get enough of their powerpoppy sound this year. Wall to wall singalongs in the car kind of stuff.
I discovered Poppy as she made her first forays into metal. Going back to find the electro artpop Poppy.Computer was my first clue that this artist was capable of hits across genre barriers. Negative Spaces is my favourite Poppy release in some time with its selection of hard hitting rock and metal laced with moments of consideration at the role of entertainers and the impact it has on artists. This one was a daily listen for a while.
Speaking of daily listens, I reckon for a few weeks after GNX surprise dropped in November I was listening to it at least once a day. Kendrick’s been on a roll this year, somehow turning a rap beef into a song-of-the-summer contender with Not Like Us and then dropping an entire album (release? EP? Something) full of great tracks to top off the year. It’s great stuff.
A complete 180 from hard hitting hip-hop and rock, next up is Vitesse X’s latest. Ethereal, ambient techno that speks directly to my electronic enjoying, PS1 demo disc music remembering heart. Chuck this on in the background and you might be surprised at how it becomes the focus of your attention despite it’s ambient sound.
It couldn’t be a Steven music list without a ska release, it just wouldn’t be right. Half Past Two have been simmering in the background of my ska enjoyment for a few years now but really came to the fore with Talk Is Killing Me. The title track is fantastic, but Dominos is the standout for me.
Smile took a while to grow on me. I’ve enjoyed almost everything that porter Robinson has put out in the past and under various projects but for whatever reason this one didn’t land immediately. I came back to it a few months after and it clicked. It’s poppier, it’s personal, and has some of the coolest drops I’ve heard all year. Cheerleader has been on repeat ever since.
There are heaps more releases I loved this year, but I can’t write about them all. I did make a playlist of my faves of the year though, and you can listen to it right here!