Feature First’s Top 25 Albums Of 2024

It may or may not have been a blessed year for films and television, but in terms of music, this year will go down as one of the best of this decade. There have been so many great albums this year that it was hard to pick 25, yet we went ahead and picked them anyway. Without further ado, let’s begin with some honorable mentions:

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Lechyd da (Bill Ryder-Jones); Empire (Yonige); Sentir Que No Sabes (Mabe Fratti); Girl With No Face (Allie X); This Could Be Texas (English Teacher); The New Sound (Geordie Greep); A Lonely Sound (samlrc); Empathogen (WILLOW); Preclude to Ecstasy (The Last Dinner Party); Night Palace (Mount Eerie); Cunnigham Bird (Andrew Bird, Maddison Cunningham); Charm (Clairo); Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (Friko); AMAMA (Crumb); A Dream Is All We Know (The Lemon Twigs); Permanent Pleasure (Joywave); Britpop (A.G. Cook); This Ain’t The Way You Go Out (Lucy Rose); Your Favourite Things (Satoko Shibata); Back Into The Dream (Elephant Stone); INTL Waters (Omni); Madra (New Dad)

25. Tapir!: The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain

A solid debut, while initially, the spoken parts didn’t really enhance the experience for me, the overall creativity impresses nonetheless. Songs here are well composed with vocals that contain little hints of Radiohead. A must for Indie-folk enjoyers.

24. Chromakopia: Tyler, The Creator

Tyler’s 8th studio album is spread out and introspective, his writing at times loose, at times sharp while other times rather corny. With Tyler it’s all about mood and that he creates in Chromakopia quite impressively, though the entire album as a whole feels a little tiring.

23. Julia Holter: Something in the Room She Moves

Holter creates such a lush and magical mood, evoking the emotions through the incongruent yet fertile instrumentation, even though the sudden tonal shifts from one track to another creates a disorienting effect.

22. Hurray For the Riff Raff: The Past Is Still Alive

Alynda Segarra reflects on the past, their days of running away and the loss of loved ones through this soulful alt-country album. Right from Alibi to Kiko Forever, Segarra takes us on a journey of self-reflection, the heftiness of grief and memory is counterbalanced by the lightness of her instruments. Vetiver acts as a microcosm of this album which is echoed by the line, “It’s all in the past, but the past is still alive..“

21. DIIV: Frog In Boiling Water

The ferocity with which DIIV were releasing singles made me worried that they weren’t going to leave anything on the album as a surprise. Thankfully, there were some pleasantly surprising songs in the album. With this good exercise in shoegaze and dream pop, the band shows a great suggestive power for what’s to come; I wish them luck.

20. Adrianne Lenker: Bright Future

This one resonates so much on an emotional level. The production quality and sound mixing are incredible. The raw and ethereal vocals create a sense of nostalgia, the album has such a great flow that enhances the level of immersion for a listener. It’s an album that I keep returning back to, in order to cherish the feelings that arise by virtue of Lenker’s voice.

19. Jessica Pratt: Here in the Pitch

Super short and super sweet album with hypnotic vocals that evoke a strong sense of nostalgia, so familiar yet so alien, like an album possessed by the spirit of cat from Kink’s Phenomenal Cat.

18. Juliana Gattas: Maquillada en la Cama

Having a little Jessie Ware itch?! Well, look no further, Juliana Gattas is here to set the mood right. The overall album is a bop, the title track, in particular, is an immediate banger and “Borracha en un…” just sticks perfectly. Remember folks, people who converge upon Dance-Pop, converge with each other.

17. Waxahatchee: Tiger’s Blood

If you overlap Brat and Tiger’s Blood, the commonality would be “365”, while the former is bumping bop, the latter a ballad that feels like a fresh wave of mentholated air. This entire album can be called a cool breeze of mentholated air, maybe not so consistent in terms of production yet the songwriting and album as a whole feels very balanced, with some obvious stand-out tracks.

16. Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven

A short, intense and rambunctious album. The passion simply oozes out of the vocals and sassy songs here pack a solid punch, so much that you’ll keep returning back to satiate that specific type of Punk-Rock craving. C’est banger.

15. MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks

An album that feels like a love-child of Strokes and Songs: Ohia, Jason Molina, going through an adolescent phase. There’s a considerable amount of cheese in the songwriting, yet it’s impressive how well the album as a whole works.

14. Kendrick Lamar: GNX

Now I admit that I got into Kendrick fairly later than most people out there, this being the first album of his I’ve listened to in full. I’m pleasantly surprised at how playful this album as a whole turned out to be, every song has its own bop energy, and believe me in how strongly it has grown on me since its release. I don’t have to say anything more on it, except that it’s such a bop.

13. Nilüfer Yanya: My Method Actor

Let’s just say that it’s an easy album to fall in love with, lush with lo-fi vibes that is suitable for both rainy day blues and sunkissed summer evenings.

12. Chelsea Wolfe: She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She

Pleasantly surprised by this one. A dark and atmospheric album, the sounds of which seems to be a perfect backdrop for Fincher films, particularly The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Chelsea Wolfe’s seductive vocals enhance the overall experience.

11. The Cure: Songs of a Lost World

The Cure is back after 16 years with a late-career banger, the vocals still as electrifying, and instrumentation even longer and moodier, this is the definition of locking it in.

10. St. Vincent: All Born Screaming

Their 7th album and there’s no dip in quality, for St. Vincent I feel comfy to be a blank canvas since the impression she leaves makes me feel chaotically excited.

9. Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft

Honestly, in my opinion, this is the best Billie Eilish album so far. With this album, Billie showcases that she’s so adept in her art that she could turn her critics into converts. Easily one of the best mainstream pop artists in the current landscape. This album has no misses, however I do like some songs over others. Some tracks were surprising in how smoothly they undergo a tonal change, “L’amour De Ma Vie” for example. The production quality is impressive.

8. Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us

My expectations were high with their consistent singles but goddamn, I wasn’t expecting them to deliver a banger so good. An impressive home run for Vampire Weekend.

7. Fontaines DC: Romance

Do yourselves a favour and watch the music video for Starbuster if you haven’t yet. While it may not touch the depth of Skinty Fa, it still manages to attain the highs and sustain it throughout the album.

6. The Smile: Cutouts

The Smile going for a kill this year with 2 back to back banger albums. I prefer this a smidge over Wall of Eyes, though as a fan let’s just say I’m very satisfied with their music. Just look at Greenwood Greenwoodin’ hard with Zero Sum game, what a vibe.

5. Father John Misty: Mahashmashana

The frisson induced on listening to the title track alone shot me to a different stratosphere. The album as a whole is great but the title track is beyond the beyond. Love me some Pynchon nods in the lyrics, Papa John Misty certainly a man of culture.

4. Cindy Lee: Diamond Jubilee

Every track on this album is a breath of fresh air. The album-length might be daunting for some people, but hear me, right from the first track the album grabbed my attention and continually kept impressing with each successive track. A real surprise of the year and a gem that I don’t see many people talking about. At the time this album isn’t streaming on Spotify or Apple Music yet, it’s only available to stream on YouTube. Do make sure to give this a try.

3. Charli XCX: BRAT

Bumpin’ that…

2. Beth Gibbons: Lives Outgrowth

With such power in vocals, such depths in lyrics, and such quality in production, no one is doing it like Beth Gibbons. This is a treat for Portishead-pilled beings. Gibbons hits a home run with this album and I highly recommend you to give it a try if you haven’t already.

1. Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk

Magdalena Bay’s chef-d’œuvre. We are talking about a generational work of art with this one, a quantum leap for Bay and a joyful reinvigoration of senses for me on every listen.

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