The 10 best albums of 2024
(NEXSTAR) — The year is quickly coming to a close and with that comes a cascade of year-end lists. While 2024 was a great year both in amount of music releases and their quality, some albums stuck around with us more than others.
Honorable mentions who didn't make the list include the carefree pop perfection of Sabrina Carpenter's "Short n' Sweet," Vampire Weekend's return-to-form record "Only God Was Above Us," the breezy and relaxed vibe of Kacey Musgraves' "Deeper Well" and Clairo's "Charm," Porches' exquisite rock-folk album, the ambition and skill of Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter," and MJ Lenderman's country album-by-way of internet jargon, "Manning Fireworks."
Keeping in mind that "best" is subjective, find 10 of our favorite albums from 2024.
10. "Quantum Baby" — Tinashe
The seventh studio album by Tinashe is the second installment in a planned album trilogy and the 31-year old packs a lot into its eight-tracks and 22 minutes. The album was preceded by the viral success of lead single, "Nasty," which became a popular TikTok trend and is among the singer's most well-known hits.
The rest of "Quantum Baby" finds the R&B pop master contemplating love in a softer and more vulnerable way than ever before. Tracks like the spacey "Red Flags" and "Cross That Line" show Tinashe toiling over confusing relationships — or situationships. Meanwhile, tracks like "Getting No Sleep" harken back to "The Velvet Rope"-era Janet Jackson, though with much more expansive (and again, spacey) instrumentation that ranks among some of the best atmospheres heard across any of Tinashe's work.
Finally, it must be said that the album's third single, "No Broke Boys," was absolutely was robbed of a "Song of the Summer" title.
9. "Loss of Life" — MGMT
Like most albums by this iconic, quintessentially millennial band, "Loss of Life" is a grower. Coming off the heels of their beloved (and strangely popular with Gen Z) catchy, 80s-tinged fourth album, "Little Dark Age," the rock duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, returned with... a midlife ennui album.
Both men, whom we met when they were college kids, are now reflecting on the ways our lives turn out, the things we believed in that turned out not to be true, and about what comes next.
Taking major notes from 1980s-90s arena rock, adult contemporary music, and The Beatles (but their weird, psychedelic stuff), "Loss of Life" can be a little odd to the ears at first. Instead of joyous oddity, listeners will find melancholy and even affected boredom — almost as if lead vocalist VanWyngarden is literally watching his life pass him by. Though it may be less immediate than the album that came before, "Loss of Life" is more complex instrumentally than its predecessor, bigger in scope and a more interesting project, especially in the full context of the band's career.
Favorite tracks: "People in the Streets" and "Nothing Changes."
8. "Hit Me Hard and Soft" — Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish's third album arrived in May and quickly won deserved acclaim across the internet. Though the album's lead single, "Lunch," is actually one of the album's weaker tracks, the bedroom poppy album has no shortage of surprising — even beautiful — moments.
Among our favorites are second single (and perhaps her best single ever), the simple and sweet "Birds of a Feather," the throbbing and dreamy "CHIHIRO," and the double-attack of the two closing tracks, "BITTERSUITE" (which oscillates between dark industrial and bossa nova) and the hypnotic and touching earworm "BLUE."
All-in-all, though Eilish, 22, has little to prove — owing to her nine Grammys, two Golden Globes, and two Academy Awards — "Hit Me Hard and Soft" marks a more mature and accomplished step forward in the young artist's career. We're excited for what comes next.
7. "Scrapyard" — Quadeca
This mixtape by alternative hip-hop artist Quadeca arrived in February and has been in major rotation ever since. The fourth and final entry into the artists' planned quadrilogy of mixtapes, "Scrapyard" lives up to its name, showcasing the artist challenging himself across a variety of styles and influences. Though typically thought of as a rapper, Quadeca's recent releases — but most decidedly this one — have made a case for just classifying him as an alternative artist.
The album features musical texture upon musical texture and the artist and his collaborators show deft skills at making all the disparate parts work together (or not, on purpose).
Tracks like "Under My Skin" and "Guide Dog" conjure nostalgic feelings from early 2000s emo acts like Dashboard Confessional and offer some oddly beautiful and pure emotion. Meanwhile, "U Don't Know Me Like That" exists as a mid-tempo downer before erupting with a synth pop explosion. This album was released near the end of winter 2024 and putting it back on this fall, going into winter 2025, feels just right.
6. "Hyperdrama" — Justice
The fourth album by the French electronic duo who burst onto the music scene with the release of electronic dance classic, 2007's "Cross," is a welcome embrace for those who've never forgotten that album.
"Hyperdrama" features some bombastic tunes and interesting guests (including indie-pop darling Tame Impala), and its genre breadth is wider than you probably would imagine. Tracks like "Generator" and "The End" will throb, rattle and pound your home's walls while the album's true standout, "Incognito" is a pitch-perfect tribute to the James Bond films and the spy genre in general. Meanwhile, "Mannequin Love" is pure pop with a more than a tinge of Daft Punk.
This was the year of "brat" (more on that later) and "Hyperdrama" fit perfectly into the theme, sounding like "next steps" for anyone who loved the more techno moments on Charli XCX's 2024 album.
5. "GNX" — Kendrick Lamar
Few artists have had a better year than rap legend Kendrick Lamar.
After being provoked into a beef with fellow rapper Drake, Lamar made quick work of stomping the Canadian superstar with several diss tracks, including “Not Like Us.” The song dropped in May and would go on to be a bonafide no. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and a cultural moment. The track has even landed on multiple year-end lists, rightfully.
As if that wasn't enough, Lamar surprise dropped his sixth album, "GNX" on Nov. 22 (in anticipation of his forthcoming Super Bowl LIX halftime show) and the sprawling and skillful (and fun) album became an instant critical and commercial success.
Like the number 1 album on this list, "GNX" represents a perfect marriage of things the artist in question does well. On "GNX," we find Lamar still at his best, spitting bars that are as cutting and observant as any of his more "heady" material but have the additional benefit of being matched with beats and tempos closer to his club hits.
While "GNX" is great from end-to-end, a few standouts include the anthemic album opener "wacced out murals," the smooth and affectionate duet with SZA, "Luther," and the very "Not Like Us" Part II-feeling "tv off" (feat. Lefty Gunplay).
We're sorry, Drizzy. This year belonged to Kendrick.
4. "SMILE! :D" — Porter Robinson
American DJ Porter Robinson's third album, the very early 2000s electropop collage titled “SMILE! :D” — yes, that’s the real title — has been a mainstay since its summer release. Preceded by the infectious and pulsing "Cheerleader," the album is a tribute to internet culture, nostalgia and innocent love.
Sounding like Owl City doing chiptune/hyperpop, "SMILE! :D" covers topics from self-confidence to even self-harm (the heartbreaking but life-affirming "Russian Roulette") and each song brings along a punchy chorus that will be stuck in your head for days.
This album has already appeared on multiple year-end best of lists and deservedly.
3. "LL" — The Hellp
L.A.-based electropop/indie band The Hellp’s debut album “LL” is a stunning 14-track assortment of styles, personas, sounds and ideas that touches on everything from punk and hip-hop to 2010s party music.
The band, which self-mythologizes itself so much many interviewers have no idea what is real or not, dazzles most with their production and songwriting abilities. Standouts include “9_21,” which sounds like a Dashboard Confessional song hijacked by “808s and Heartbreak” era Kanye West; title track “LL,” which sounds like Sugar Ray producing a track for some unknown California emo band; and “Ether,” which is the best song 3OH!3 and LMFAO have made in years.
2. "What's Wrong With New York?" — The Dare
The Dare, whose name is Harrison Patrick Smith, has created much chatter online — mostly among social media users debating whether his music is “good” or “bad.” While that’s an interesting conversation to have, it’s not one The Dare really cares about. While listening to the 10-track, 27-minute debut album, “What’s Wrong With New York?” it’s hard not to notice the oddball influences the multi-faceted 28 year-old wears proudly on his sleeve and uses to create his own specific sound.
With “What’s Wrong With New York?”, The Dare creates a collage of styles — both high-brow and not — by juxtaposing the respected indie music of the time (LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead) with elements of the “sleazy” party music of the time (3OH!3, Ke$ha). Taken at face value, these tracks might seem silly and vapid, even dumb.
But it’s really difficult to make music this referential, this chaotic and this seemingly off-the-cuff. It would be easy to dismiss The Dare’s style as a gimmick if the production weren’t as thoughtfully crafted as it is and if the “dumbness” wasn’t used so intelligently.
On tracks like “I Destroyed Disco,” The Dare delivers cheerfully boastful lyrics reminiscent of both LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Kanye West (“What’s a blogger to a rocker? What’s a rocker to The Dare?”) over a stuttering electro-dance beat that devolves into a thumping noise-pop outro. Meanwhile, the album’s eighth track, “Elevation” employs elements of ’00s dance and pop that few artists would have the gall to release with a straight face. The dance-ballad draws comparisons to Cobra Starship and Thom Yorke, two artists who likely never thought they’d be stylistically paired.
There’s a whole lot going on in these songs but it’s never way too much.
Check out the full review from September.
1. "Brat" and "Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat" — Charli XCX
What can we possibly say about Charli XCX's now-iconic sixth studio album, "Brat," that isn't already being said in dozens of other end-of-year lists? The album and its "ugly" green cover arrived in early June and its songs, memes, dances, aesthetics, remixes, remix album and live performances seemed to swallow American pop culture in a way few albums in recent memory have.
The album features a mish-mash of tempos, styles, and themes and feels like the perfect synthesis of what Charli has been doing with little fanfare for the past decade. "Brat" represents an artist at her peak — finding a way to marry her more "alternative" musical instincts with the mainstream pop elements she's often been forced to employ to get her music to sell. "Brat" is an uncompromised vision of pop that not only harkens to the past but is and will push pop music into a new sphere.
Though a dance-pop album, "Brat" tackles topics like mid-life and babies ("I Think About It All the Time"), jealousy ("Sympathy is a Knife"), low self-esteem ("Rewind"), misunderstandings among friends ("Girl, So Confusing") and generational trauma among families ("Apple"). And of course, it tackles the joy of partying, in songs like the glorious, thumping "Club Classics" and the dance masterpiece "365."
The release of the remix album, "Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat" in October pushed the "bratosphere" into overdrive, with seemingly at least one artist everyone likes being featured on new versions of every single "Brat" track. Chief among these was the true pop culture moment that was "Girl, So Confusing" (featuring Lorde), in which XCX and New Zealand pop artist Lorde hashed out a rift in real-time. The internet did go crazy, as the song predicted.
Though Charli has said "Brat" will be her last album for a long while, the cycle feels like a new beginning for the artist — and a level up in every single way. This year, 2024, was the year of brat and it deserves every accolade it has coming to it in 2025.
You know we ride for you, Charli!