The Album of the Year race is heating up & the competition is stiff

Yes, it’s early days, and yes, there’s plenty of new albums we’ve yet to listen to in 2024. Nonetheless, as we did last year, we’re presenting a feature that may as well be re-named “50 Great Albums We’ve Heard in 2024.” When the new year began, I took a bit of a hiatus from listening to new music. Instead, I went back and listened to albums from previous years that I’d missed. I also allowed myself to deep dive into specific genres – like techno and hardstyle – and to from there get sucked into deeper and deeper sonic rabbit holes. I’ve finally re-emerged, convinced I’m a more diverse music listener than I was before.

Now, the past month has been all about catching up on all the good stuff I’ve missed. Each night I’ve binged new albums from artists old and new, big and small, and am left very hopeful that the rest of the year will shape up to be a fantastic year for new album releases. We didn’t bother ranking this list; considering how little some of these albums have marinated in my consciousness, it felt disingenuous. And if there’s a favorite album of yours that isn’t on here, well, chances are we haven’t gotten around to it yet. We promise we’ll step it up between now and December. Until then, enjoy the 50 best albums of 2024, so far (IMO!).

Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future

The singular Big Thief frontwoman wrangles a soft and stripped-down volume of indie folk and Americana, full of bittersweet emotions and singer-songwriter reflection.

A.G. Cook – Britpop

The dastardly PC Music founder charges headfirst into the future via brightly deconstructed bubblegum bass, progressive IDM, glitchy ’90s alt-rock, and everything else in between.

Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

The Pakistani-American musician concocts a haunting avant-folk and chamber jazz elixir that is introspective, soothing, and full of nocturnal vibes.

Astrid Sonne – Great Doubt

Chamber music, angular guitars, and unwieldy synths provide the existential foundation for the Danish art-pop artist’s buoyant vocals on her longing and surreal fourth album.

BEAK> – >>>>

The latest album from the Portishead member’s side project is a heady and minimal swirl of krautrock and neo-psychedelia that’ll leave you picking up the broken pieces of your brain.

Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

A double dose of Portishead infiltrates 2024 via frontwoman Beth Gibbons’ dark, somber solo excursion through pastoral chamber folk and grizzled art rock.

Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

The Queen Bey continues to reinvent herself in the most refreshing and unexpected of ways. Her latest album is a galloping victory lap full of stratospheric country pop, folk, and R&B-soul.

Bladee – Cold Visions

The Swedish cloud rapper and Drain Gang member drops the darkest and most ominous album of his career, featuring Yung Lean, Thaiboy Digital, Ecco2k, and a production assist from Skrillex.

Charli XCX – BRAT

Over a decade into her career, the dazzling electropop star has gone and captured the zeitgeist with an entrancing record full of catchy bops, futuristic beats, and soul-bearing lyricism.

Chief Keef – Almighty So 2

The influential and hedonistic Chicago drill rapper completes the comeback, leveling up with the most lush, hardcore, and strangely soulful set of songs of his rough-and-tumble career.

Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubliee

An enthrallingly chill and melancholic elixir of slacker rock, Wall of Sound, and hypnagogic pop from the Vancouver-based experimental unit led by former Women member Patrick Flegel.

Cowboy Sadness – Selected Jambient Works Vol. 1

The debut LP from the supergroup of David Moore (Bing & Ruth), Peter Silberman (The Antlers) and Nicholas Principe (Port St. Willow) is a bleary, meditative slice of ambient and post-rock.

Deathbrain – A Slice of Life

The anonymous German DIY producer’s thrilling sophomore album reaches for the heavens and will leave you floating on cloud nine with its warm, cuddly liquid drum and bass soundscapes.

DIIV – Frog in Boiling Water

The dreamy NYC shoegazers keep their winning streak alive on their excellent fourth LP, an off-kilter and obtuse record that beautifully unravels into a colorful, chaotic, downcast mess.

Four Tet – Three +

In between high octane, high-paying festival DJ sets, the English producer goes back to basics on his latest album with a set of hypnotic microhouse bangers and downtempo gems.

Friko – Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

The breakout debut album from the Chicago art rock outfit is full of eclectic chamber pop ballads, indie folk jams, and poetic musings about the anxious nature of love and longing.

glass beach – Plastic Death

The Midwest emo group’s latest sonic pivot is a heady swirl of progressive rock, math rock, and neo-psychedelia – packed with themes evoking the spiritual turning of a new leaf.

Hoplites – Παραμαινομένη

Originating out of China, the Paris-based progressive black metal band’s fourth record in two years is their best yet; ominous, brutal, anti-religious, and surreal in the best way possible.

Iglooghost – Tidal Memory Exo

Deconstructed club, drill and bass, and wonky grime bars are the name of the game on the British IDM producer’s ferocious latest LP. And good luck topping that album cover. Wow.

Jawnino – 40

The south London producer and MC doesn’t hold back a bit on his cryptic and atmospheric debut mixtape, plunging fans of cloud rap and U.K. hip hop into a cold, nocturnal world.

Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch

The L.A. singer-songwriter’s tranquilizing melodies grab you and never let him you go on her best album yet – a gorgeous mix of contemporary folk and Laurel Canyon-style baroque pop.

Jlin – Akoma

The latest footwork masterpiece from the Gary, Indiana producer is packed with subtle sonic nuances, rhythmic suspense, and sly touches of juke, IDM, and modern classical music.

Joey Valance & Brae – No Hands

Late ’90s and early ’00s-style party rap is back on the menu thanks to this raucous duo, whose entire aesthetic will instantly teleport you to a millennial, jungle juice-filled college dorm party.

Julia Holter – Something in the Room She Moves

The veteran avant-garde art pop marauder experiments with unorthodox instruments and a fluttery palette of sounds on her quirky new album that’s brimming with childlike wonder.

Kali Malone – All Life Long

Classical drone, orchestral chamber music, polyphonic chant, and holy minimalism are just a few of the modes that the Swedish composer tackles on her choral and medieval-sounding LP.

Kim Gordon – The Collective

Ever the experimentalist, the Sonic Youth co-founder’s new album pivots into industrial hip-hop, noise rock, and no wave via pummeling drum machines, corrosive guitars, and raw vocals.

Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

The Kentucky metalcore overlords have somehow cracked the code – going bigger and heavier and becoming more popular than ever – with their blood-curdling, death-defying best album yet.

Korea Town Acid – In Motion

Blending wonky, warped breakbeats with relaxed lounge pop flourishes, the Korean-Canadian DJ-producer’s latest album strikes the perfect balance between zoned-out and hyperactive.

Lip Critic – Hex Dealer

The sophomore LP from the NYC digital hardcore unit takes it to 11 with synth punk rippers, post-industrial explosions, and playfully mouthy, verbose vocals that will not shut up.

Mach-Hommy – RICHAXXHAITIAN

The New Jersey underground rapper continues his winning streak with politically-tinged bars, abstract boom bap beats, and esoteric features from Roc Marciano, 03 Greedo, and more.

Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven

The Philly indie punk vets bring all of their power, rage, melody, and scream-singing into beautiful focus with a poignant and anthemic set of songs full of longing and catharsis.

Mk.gee – Two Star & The Dream Police

The latest record from the L.A. musician has proven to be a career breakthrough, thanks to his entrancing and swooning off-kilter fusion of alt-R&B, psychedelic folk, and lo-fi bedroom pop.

Nathy Peluso – GRASA

The Argentinian-Spanish pop star drops dance club bangers and raps her ass off on her glorious Blood Orange-featured LP, which strikes a deft balance of Latin pop, alt-R&B, and trap.

NewDad – MADRA

The debut album from the Galway, Ireland shoegaze band is sonically and emotionally icy, with dark and devastating melodic textures wrapped around themes of bittersweet melancholy.

Nia Archives – Silence is Loud

Liquid drum and bass beats meet confessional neo-soul crooning on the fast-rising British DJ-producer’s long-awaited debut album – just in time for her to conquer festival season again.

Peachlyfe – Permission to Roam

Flickering dark techno, cinematic trance, and moments of sparse dissonance conjure a hypnotic and cosmic EDM journey on the Danish DJ-producer’s impressive debut album.

Saramalacara – Heráldica

HexD, Cloud rap, jungle, and digicore furiously collide on one adrenalized emotional banger after another on breakout Argentinian singer-producer Sara Azul Froján’s promising debut LP.

SeeYouSpaceCowboy – Coup de Grâce

The San Diego post-hardcore outfit led by Connie Sgarbossa picks up where ’00s sasscore left off: unreal time signatures, throat-shattering screams, and pulverizing breakdowns.

Sega Bodega – Dennis

The third LP from the Irish alt-electronic producer is a mysterious and futuristic affair that experiments with a wide array of subgenres: glitch, alt-R&B, UK bass, IDM, trance, and more.

The Smile – Wall of Eyes

The second LP from the trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner is a krautrock-heavy affair with surreal ambient detours, warped production, and bizarre time signatures.

samlrc – A Lonely Sinner

A feeling of mounting anxiety persists throughout Samantha Rodrigues da Cruz’s fourth album, with myriad layers of lo-fi post-rock and downcast folk simmering in hypnotic ways.

Stay Inside – Ferried Away

With their sophomore LP, the Brooklyn group drops a mini-masterpiece as indie, post-hardcore, and midwest emo unite behind driving chords, anthemic horns, and heart-on-your sleeve lyrics.

Thou – Umbilical

More apocalyptic sludge and doom on the veteran Baton Rouge metal band’s sixth studio LP. Corrosive riffage, explosive rhythms, and a seething energy yield the best release of their career.

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers

Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was a great film for many reasons, one being the hyperkinetic EDM score from the NIN duo that drove the film’s carnal, competitive, intoxicating spirit.

Twikipedia – For the Rest of Your Life

The former digicore artist and cloud rapper from Rio de Janeiro fully embraces indie rock, noise pop, and shoegaze in the vein of Parannoul and Asian Glow on their towering sophomore album.

Tyla – TYLA

Across a lush spectrum of sensual, tropical, infectious contemporary R&B, the South African musician weaves in pieces of her cultural fabric: amapiano, Afrohouse, and more.

Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us

The legendary indie rock unit’s consistency is staggering as they drop arguably the most interesting album of their career – a deft mix of colorful singles and jazzy stylistic detours.

Vince Staples – Dark Times

One of the best rappers of our generation continues his dark and insular streak with a sobering and reflective record that feels like its forever searching for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood

Indie queen Katie Crutchfield goes even harder into folk and alt-country mode with her deeply grounded, heartfelt new LP that’s even more twangy and pastoral than 2020’s Saint Cloud.

xaviersobased – Keep It Goin Xav

Blown-out beats like rolling thunder, processed vocals that drip like molasses, and aggressively grandiose hyperpop synths form the backbone of the DIY rapper’s breakout mixtape.