Albums Of The Year 2024

Music has never been so omnipresent in our daily lives. With the growth of streaming, a colossal volume of information pours into our ears with each passing moment, allowing us to access a myriad of sounds, genres, and styles with the touch of a button. Yet discerning worth, merit, and longevity amid becomes ever more challenging; with too much data we begin to detach ourselves from what drives us, and can become disoriented in the process.

With the close of 2024 approaching it’s only right to look back on the past 12 months and attempt to map out patterns and trends. Some – BRAT summer, for example – leap out with a neon glow, but others are slightly more hidden away. The return of UK rap to its foundations is noteworthy, as is Gen Z’s ongoing infatuation with DNB, driving those bass culture lineages into fresh spaces. With genres splintering at a breakneck pace, and the chase for virality consuming organisations in their totality, it’s important sometimes to step back, touch grass, and look to the bigger picture.

Piecing our Albums Of The Year list together is never easy, yet this year felt particularly fraught. With more than 100 writers submitting lists, the sheer dizzying array of options was at times overpowering. In the end, we’ve unified around a list that reflects many of the passions we’ve explored in print and digitally throughout the past 12 months, while including a few curveballs, too. The winner is an album that seems to have touched multiple audiences, and won an unprecedented number of No. 1 placings from both writers and staff.

We hope you enjoy exploring this, and decide to revisit or explore some of these albums in depth. Thanks for reading!

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60. Towa Bird – American Hero 

Across ‘American Hero’, British-filipino artist Towa Bird vividly captures the trials of her early twenties as a queer woman; a potent snapshot of foreboding, passion and introspection. Generation-defining acts such as The Beatles, The Vaccines, Kasabian, Blur and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the influences on the record, drawing together the raucous vibrancy of Brit-pop with gritty distortion. Take spotlight track, ‘This Isn’t Me’, a crystallised insight into Birds’ impression of fame during her first trip to Paris Fashion Week. Split across bittersweet guitar licks and a momentous, mood-heavy hook, Bird channels a sense of hesitancy and disassociation towards her success, unveiling one of her most cutting performances yet. Ana Lamond INTERVIEW

59. Nia Archives – Silence is Loud 

Jungle as a sound was forged and codified before Nia Archives was born, but it’s come to define the producer’s life. Speaking up for a new generation of ravers, the Bradford-born artist has helped to spearhead a resurgence within the sound across a flurry of releases, and viral DJ mixes. ‘Silence Is Loud’ is her vision in widescreen – the long-awaited studio album, it’s an amalgam of her most potent audio impulses, a memoir in sound penned by a regal spirit in modern rave. ‘Nightmares’ is darker, letting her impulses stretch a little.

Blending her penchant for club weapons with a desire for songwriting, tracks like ‘Out Of Options’ could easily work in a stripped down fashion, and fan-favourites like ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ and closer ‘So Tell Me…’ are utilised perfectly, providing ample peaks amid the formidable landscape constructed by Nia Archives. As a mission statement, ‘Silence Is Loud’ – from its title down – is virtually perfect for the producer. Exuding femme energy – she’s frequently DJ’d to women-only spaces – she taps into an often neglected aspect of jungle history, while writing a few chapters of her own. Robin Murray REVIEW

58. Cat Burns  – early twenties

Conducting a sound that bridges the gap between early Beyoncé and Paramore, on her debut album ‘early twenties’, Cat Burns is able to make even her saddest moments danceable. From ‘people pleaser’ to ‘low self-esteem’ to ‘some things don’t last forever,’ the certified hit-maker brings hope to even the most emotionally-laden tracks. Yet the sentiment that shines through most is the feeling of togetherness, acceptance and love. On ‘know that you’re not alone’, Burns channels a mid-twenties crisis as she sings “the years are catching up on me.” Still, the more important message of empathy and understanding is the main takeaway that powers on. Lauren Dehollogne REVIEW

57. Bring Me The Horizon – ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’

Twenty years into their career, Bring Me The Horizon have dabbled in just about every corner of the heavy world, from the gristly gutturals of their murky deathcore debut to the experimental pop metal might of ‘amo’. So, it only makes sense that they’re forging their own path this time round. Their seventh studio album, ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’, exists in its very own futuristic world of overstimulated metalcore. Brimming with quirky production, hidden secrets, and an immense level of depth, ‘NeX GEn’ is a rich, intricately-crafted experience.

Interweaving distorted sonics into the guts of brutal metal and post-hardcore, ‘NeX GEn’ harnesses nostalgia and transforms it into something fresh. The record traverses glorious bursts of post-grunge, emo and even woozy alt-metal, yet every flavour has a modern flare. Even features from scene heroes Glassjaw and Underoath are delivered with a ‘NeX GEn’ twist. Underoath collab ‘a bulleT w/ my namE On’ sounds like a frazzled remix of an Underoath track, while ‘AmEN!’ places Glassjaw’s Daryl Palumbo’s post-hardcore vocals alongside the smooth emo rap of Lil Uzi Vert. Emily Swingle INTERVIEW

56. Leon Bridges – Leon

‘Leon’, is Bridges’ most personal passion project yet. It’s completely tied to his identity not only as a musician, but as a person – a bookend of personal development, with each track cleaved from the depths of his soul. From the opening note, it’s clear that this is a version of the Texan musician we’ve never been allowed to see before; one who is vulnerable, one who cares deeply, and one who has a complicated relationship with the fame that continues to snowball with every release. At the heart of the album we find ‘Simplify’, described as the project’s “North Star”. This wistful ballad sees Bridges reflect on the lifetimes he lost to the career he chose. The rest of ‘Leon’ sees these parallel forces at play, with contrasting moments of contentment and grief echoing across the album. Eve Boothroyd

55. Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

Few albums released this year fit the vibe of their title like ‘Night Reign’. The Grammy-nominated latest from the Pakistani-American art-jazz auteur is a total stunner that sees Aftab painting in dark hues inspired by nighttime; nine tranquil-but-edgy tracks overflowing with heat, beauty and mystery. Add in a range of great and sometimes unexpected guest contributions from Moor Mother to Elvis Costello and you’ve got one of 2024’s most intoxicating and immersive sensory experiences. Tom Morgan

54. JPEGMAFIA – I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

There’s no one quite like JPEGMAFIA. A cultural disruptor, there’s a punk-like defiance of the rules laced into his DNA. It’s what drove the Danny Brown link-up ‘SCARING THE HOES’, and it’s what drove him – in spite of the controversy – to produce for Ye’s ‘VULTURES’ project. He does what likes, in other words.

New solo record ‘I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU’ is the work of a singular voice. In a time when genre lines and subculture definitions are barely visible, JPEGMAFIA puts the whole damn lot in a blender. Moving from chirruping electronics that recall SOPHIE’s work through to crushing mosh pit igniting guitar riffs, it’s a disorienting assault on the senses that is prickish, at times gleefully offensive, but always riveting. Robin Murray REVIEW

53. Matt Champion – Mika’s Laundry

On much of Matt Champion’s debut solo album, microscopically intricate gems freighted with wonder and possibility that take sharp detours, pin-dropping the listener into an interdimensional expanse leagues away from where they started. The industrial-trap clamour of ‘Gbiv’ sounds familiar and self-referential for much of its runtime, but halts to a stop before morphing into a cosmic symphony of strings, keys and harp; on ‘Slow Motion’, a powerhouse collaboration with BLACKPINK’s Jennie Kim, the pair fashion a beguiling K-drama soundtrack about starstruck lovers out-of-sync. 

‘Mika’s Laundry’ is a petri dish of imported ideas, titles and allusions that form a new Arcadia. Grasslands, insects, flora and fauna coexist in a time lapse of harmony, elemental destruction and renewal: a loose allegory for Champion’s personal transformation from passive boy band member to an artist embracing their quirks. Shahzaib Hussain INTERVIEW

52. A.G. Cook – Britpop

A.G. Cook’s three-part, 24-song odyssey is an agenda-setting, genre-bending vision of pop music, blurring the lines between nostalgia and innovation, past sounds and future-facing experimentation. Cook seems to understand the power of juxtaposition, seamlessly blending diverse elements to create a rich and dynamic sonic landscape. For example, on ‘Pink Mask,’ his voice emerges like a crackling ember amidst an eerie choir, weaving fantastical non-sequiturs (“Frost on the stained-glass window / membranes stacked in the catacombs”) into a dreamlike spiral that diverges sharply from the familiar terrain of the preceding tracks, carving out a distinct space of its own. Bryson Edward Howe REVIEW

51. Lutalo – The Academy

There was an almost unnerving promise displayed on ‘Once Now, Then Again,’ the breakthrough EP from Vermont based singer-songwriter Lutalo. A hushed confidence accompanied their intricate – at times lo-fi – arrangements that displayed a seasoned approach to composition far beyond their years. The intervening years have merely served to embolden the artist whose debut LP, ‘The Academy’, is an intricate exploration of young adolescence set against the backdrop of a frightful and fractured America: a Holden Caulfield field trip for Gen Z. Self described as a “first chapter” by Lutalo, ‘The Academy’ already feels like an important document;  a diverse and stirring set of songs suffused with an intriguing insight into modern America. Craig Howieson REVIEW

50. The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

Extravagance, melodrama, and ambition – The Last Dinner Party delivered on the hype with their formidably-polished debut album. They unabashedly go for highbrow, greedily scattering literary references, historical characters, theoretical influences, poetic techniques and classical instrumentation across ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’. It does a lot, and goes to a lot of places, both thematically and musically. It goes to too many places to conceivably be called a concept album, even though it sort of looks like one and sort of sounds like one, with all its decadence and theatricality. But the concept at its core, maybe, is just The Last Dinner Party, building their identity with every emotional and musical block they can find and make fit – it’s a delightful, towering debut that will indeed leave you ecstatic. Ims Taylor REVIEW

49. serpentwithfeet – GRIP 

A performance piece comprising music and dance, serpentwithfeet moves between the immersiveness of a theatrical experience and the audio-visual world on his third studio album ‘GRIP’. Enlivened by the inter-dimensional expanse of a Black queer club dominion, ‘GRIP’, conceived mostly with producer collective I LIKE THAT, skirts the underground but has mass appeal. It’s a work more attuned to the modern RnB resurgence – serpent’s subdued strain complimenting the works of Destin Conrad, Ari Lennox and Victoria Monét. These tracks don’t barrel into one other; momentum is decelerated, build-up is sustained. ‘GRIP’ is a deft balancing act between quotidian tales of domesticity, and the thrill that comes with pursuing a paramour across a sweat-stained dancefloor. Shahzaib Hussain INTERVIEW

48. Kali Uchis – ORQUÍDEAS 

At the top of the year Kali Uchis aided our seasonal melancholy with ‘ORQUÍDEAS’, her second Spanish language album and fourth overall; a glittery celebration traversing moonlit disco, blazing reggaeton, and spellbinding soul, gifting us the first great pop record of the year. Where ‘Red Moon In Venus’ seemed to perfectly pair with the blistering heat of her debut, ‘ORQUÍDEAS’ is a seamless spiritual sequel to ‘Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)’, code-switching between English and Romance and beat-switching between sultry R&B and sunny Latin party pop. Kali is the driving force keeping this mélange from becoming messy, masterfully melding this eclectic mix of popified sounds into magic. Jay Fullarton REVIEW

47. Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose 

‘On Purpose, With Purpose’ is probably the first project where the appearance of Ghetto (Ghetts first stage name and the character he utilises for his manic flows and delivery) is not necessarily present. Throughout, there’s a greater sense of composure in the rapper’s intonation – a clear evolution from his previous works where he would hook the listener through his electricity as a performer. 

‘On Purpose, With Purpose’ showcases an artist who continues to be authentic, whilst also realising that at this stage of his career he needs to adapt his style in order to achieve greatness. The features are demonstrative of someone with their finger on the pulse: Kano and Wretch 32 join him on the aptly named ‘Mount Rushmore’, while Sampha delivers stark vocals on the powerful, politically-charged ‘Double Standards’. Even at this stage of his career, Ghetts is still the preeminent UK Rap pacesetter. Joe Simpson REVIEW

46. Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate

Ever since this writer first heard Kelly Lee Owens’ on Daniel Avery’s ‘Drone Logic’, her solo work has been considered unmissable. Pairing the big room energy of Bicep with the creeping electronics of early Björk is a combo which has found her steadily garnering acclaim. ‘Dreamstate’, the Welsh producer’s fourth album, crowns that ascent. Much of the album feels shinier than its predecessors, replacing the dingy basement feel with hands-up, festival euphoria: ‘Love You Got’, for example, is the closest thing Kelly’s done to a genuine radio hit. Fittingly, “Kelly’s World” – a term coined by her mum for the daydream headspace she would often inhabit as a child – has its fingerprints all over ‘Dreamstate’. By its close, and our re-emergence from her universe, you can’t help but feel it’s been a privilege to be invited in. Lee Wakefield REVIEW

45. Sprints – Letter To Self

Dublin four-piece Sprints signed to City Slang in 2023, and blasted into the new year with their debut album ‘Letter To Self’, an album both brutally honest and hyper-personal. It’s a work that explores what it means to be an outsider, to look for validation, and attempt the work of overcoming self-doubt. Lyrically reflective tracks like ‘A Wreck (A Mess)’ and ‘Literary Mind’ are delivered with wild abandon, all scuzzy guitars and thunderous drums. The ebb and flow of the pace keeps the listener on their toes with lyrics that will live long in the memory. Julia Mason REVIEW

44. Bob Vylan – Humble As The Sun

Looking inwards to ignite change, ‘Humble As The Sun’, the third studio album by the London punk duo, couldn’t have come at a more poignant time. Littered with affirmations – “You are more than your take home pay”, “You are more than your ability to learn”, “You are here you are now” – this is the album we need. It leaves the listener feeling power alongside their anger, and brings a fresh and compelling blend of punk, rock, grime and rap together in an experimental way. But regardless of the change in tempos, it’s no secret that Bob Vylan are still pissed off. They are pissed off at the price of life, poverty, and toxic masculinity. And the duo aren’t afraid to say what needs to be said in a way that will rile you up before freeing you. Jazz Hodge REVIEW

43. Yaya Bey – Ten Fold

‘Ten Fold’ continues the documentation of Brooklynite Yaya Bey as a fallible figure and a work-in-progress. ‘eric adams in the club’ is the cheap dancing-through-the-apocalypse thrill, taking aim at amoral politicians and hoarding landlords, the mordant line “cause the world might be on fire, so dance this shit is dire” rings out in an airy paean to the east coast Eden. On the bluesy interlude, ‘me and all my n*****s’, Bey reminds her troupe of survivors their fortitude is divinely-ordained and on ‘slow dancing in the kitchen’, a nebulous but irresistible take on ska, Bey fashions a daybreak display of warm Sunday intimacy. Throughout, Bey channels the destabilising loss of her father and its attendant grief into something transcendent yet eminently relatable. ‘Ten Fold’, like the best journeying album, takes you along for the ride whilst serenading your anguish. Shahzaib Hussain REVIEW

42. Four Tet – Three 

On his twelfth studio album, ‘Three’, Four Tet obtains a sense of forward progression through drilling down on some of the core facets of his multi-decade artistry. Opener ‘Loved’ is tied in place by a beat that recalls Dilla’s work in the ‘90s, a loose-limbed, snare-heavy kind of funk. ‘Gliding Through Everything’ is a decent motto for the producer’s career as a whole; his current work self-released, with a press-averse approach affording him complete independence. 

Undeniably impressive, ‘Three’ neatly frames the wondrous aspects of Four Tet’s work. It doesn’t move beyond the landscapes fans will be familiar with, choosing instead to embrace a more understated pursuit of evolution. For those in search of electronic beauty, however, few albums will be more radiant or rewarding. Robin Murray REVIEW

41. Jack White – No Name 

Halfway through 2024, the Willy Wonka of music resurfaced with what is arguably his most rousing solo effort to date. Always firm in his drive to keep audiences focused on creativity rather than celebrity, the 12-time Grammy winner Jack White substituted (perhaps temporarily?) his blue aesthetic and the lithe tingle of static, outlining it with a fresh bundle of faceless songs. 

By surrounding himself with artisans proficient in equipment rather than genre and masterfully presenting ostensibly passé products for modern audiences, he has made guitar music work during a time where the kids rarely ask for it. Not only that, but ‘No Name’ also manages to satisfy every need he has positioned his day-one fans to rely on him for since he started out three decades ago. Karan Singh REVIEW

40. Empress Of – For Your Consideration 

Whereas 2015’s ‘Me’ was a requiem for doomed romances, ‘For Your Consideration’, Lorely Rodriguez’ first full effort since leaving XL Recordings, is a bolder exploration of pop’s electronic soundscapes that shuffles turntablism and low-key escapism into chromatic highs that linger on the lips for weeks. It’s evocative and like much of Empress Of’s entire discography, it’s a reconfiguration of laptop material and pop expectations. It subverts heartbreak, makes it sexy, and silhouettes a continuous desire to distort dancefloor traditions with experimental come-ons. If her latest is any proof, Rodriguez is finally comfortable with herself – not just as a writer who excels at leaving melodies on your tongue, but as a lover, a dancer, and her own shooting star. Joshua Khan REVIEW

39. Schoolboy Q – BLUE LIPS

Teased at the start of the year, ‘BLUE LIPS’ feels like a bona fide hip-hop event. One of the best rappers of his generation, ScHoolboy Q blends technical virtuosity with street level wisdom, all epitomised by his eagerness to break the rules. So the bars don’t add up to 32 – just slip one, add a pause, or let people fill in the blanks… he does what he wants. As such, ‘BLUE LIPS’ is an eclectic listen, a display of virtuoso rapping that fully utilises the voice as an instrument.

‘Pop’ – with Rico Nasty on board – is packed with punk-like energy; ‘Yeern 101’ by contrast is soulful and downcast, while ‘Cooties’ – a reflection on school shootings from the perspective of a parent – finds ScHoolboy Q grappling with maturation. A record that refuses to compromise, ‘BLUE LIPS’ presents ScHoolboy Q in unfiltered form. A creative accelerator, its commitment to the individual voice makes this the LA rapper’s definitive statement. Robin Murray REVIEW

38. Joe James – BEAST LIVING

The Essex rapper has a singular sound, matching his grime roots to a desire to embrace the full range of his musicality. Adding melodic inflections to his flow, Joe James’ expressive baritone has a sonorous quality, adding extra layers of expression to his bars. Wise beyond his years, ‘BEAST LIVING’ is an electrifying moment, a statement of independence from a voice rapidly emerging as one of the best in the game. It offers ten tracks of piercing autobiography, tracing aspects of manhood, commitment, and maturity, while refusing to look away from the truth. Robin Murray 

37. Confidence Man – 3AM (LA LA LA)

Through carefully modernised idolisation of the sticky raves and UKG breakbeats of the ‘90s, London-via-Australia outfit Confidence Man’s third record ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ is a rave-pop romp. The swaggering bravado of singles ‘I Can’t Lose You’ and ‘So What’ mark a new era of getting wrecked and living it large. There’s more of the trademark tongue in cheek megalomania, but this time it’s in a moist underground warehouse during the liminal period straddling the ‘90s and Y2K. 

Frontwoman Janet Planet adores breakbeats so much that she won’t “drop it” (‘it’ being a pill of unscrupulous origins) until she “hears a breakbeat”. Although his solos are rare, Sugar Bones’ sultry vocals are cataclysmic. ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ is Confidence Man at their raviest, their naughtiest, their most confident. Robin Murray REVIEW

36. Laura Marling – Patterns In Repeat

Four years on from naming her previous release after a fictional daughter, Laura Marling’s very real child is a seismic figure in the lyrics and methodology of her latest, ‘Patterns In Repeat’. Dashing between domesticity and a domestic studio, she has crafted ten landscapes that are simultaneously, viscerally autobiographical and like being subsumed by her bookshelves. The atmospheric room-hiss at the album’s core is one of its central sounds, a texture positioning Marling’s eighth as her most honest yet. 

Music can be many things – bricks, pillars, missiles, pens and mirrors – in unlocking and understanding our worlds and ourselves, but rarely do records so rapidly weld themselves to your soul. When, however, an artist eschews polish to preserve a bewitching intimacy, it’s impossible to resist. Gareth James REVIEW

35. Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft 

Following up two GRAMMY-acclaimed albums at the age of 22 is a tough feat, but it’s one Billie Eilish has managed with gusto on her third collection, ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT‘. Announced with no pre-released singles, the record abounds in a more organic-sounding repertoire, with guitars, drums and gorgeous strings complementing Eilish’s soft vocals. She succeeds with the onus being on the collection as a whole, as opposed to throwaway hits.

The album builds on the premise of 2021’s ‘Happier than Ever’, which saw Eilish begin to map out and document an identity in flux. She explores her sexuality on ‘LUNCH’, relationship breakdowns on ‘BLUE’, and thorny bodily transitions on ‘SKINNY’. These coming-of-age reflections are balanced with up-tempo moments, particularly on TikTok favourite ‘LUNCH’. On ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’, it’s evident Eilish is conveying a musical restraint beyond her years, moulding an identity to her image and not the ephemeral pop game. Amrit Virdi REVIEW

34. English Teacher – This Could Be Texas 

‘This Could Be Texas’, the Leeds band’s grand debut album, is nearly an hour of sprawling realised potential. It’s precisely English Teacher, even though it’s a conglomeration of writing from a far longer time period than ‘Polyawkward’. ‘R&B’, with its themes exploring genre and musical assumptions is just one of a number of moments on ‘This Could Be Texas’ in which frontwoman Lily Fontaine finds herself drawn back to reflections on belonging.

“It was the result of psychoanalysing myself a bit,” Fontaine explains, “but there did seem to be this overarching theme throughout all of it, about home. I’ve spent a lot of time displaced, living in various different places and different houses, and the notion of what ‘home’ means seems to crop up a lot. I use the frame of the hometown that I grew up in as the background for those ideas.” Ims Taylor INTERVIEW

33. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God

Kept to a succinct ten tracks, literally every song here is laden with splendour. ‘O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)’ glows with love; ‘Final Rescue Attempt’ is gorgeous, while the wonderful multi-faceted closer ‘As The Waters Cover The Sea’ is a tour de force, showcasing every single aspect of the album’s many strengths.

Once, Nick Cave was a raving Southern preacher, his paint-stripping vocals tearing apart the stubborn misplaced values placed upon us by authorities. ‘Wild God’ is part of his ongoing transition – disgust has gone, and in its place beauty grows. There’s a quiet, steady faith apparent in ‘Wild God’, a simple wonder that feels unique in modern songwriting, a beatific glow that lingers after the final lights have been switched off. Robin Murray REVIEW

32. St. Vincent – All Born Screaming 

While it’s not a controversial take to say St. Vincent doesn’t have a bad album, her latest set, ‘All Born Screaming’, sees Anne Erin Clark back in domineering form. There’s not a second wasted on the album’s taut track list. The songwriter manages to balance her teenage inspirations simultaneously, go back to basics and break new ground all at once. Bowie soared highest when being his freaky little self. The same can be said of Clark, whose songs come alight when icy beauty and danger go for a dance. A staggering return. Sam Walker-Smart REVIEW

31. Nadine Shah – Filthy Underneath

Nadine Shah has been through it. One listen of ‘Filthy Underneath’ tells you almost everything you need to know about grief, collapse, and renewal. It’s a testimony to resilience, an ode to continuation, and one that never succumbs to victimhood. Produced by long-time collaborator Ben Hillier, ‘Filthy Underneath’ is a record strewn with wild, vivid sonic detail. The rugged, ragged ‘Twenty Things’ sits against the bolshy ‘Sad Lads Anonymous’, a record whose sonic breadth is matched to the assured nature of its construction.Songs of loss and confusion, ‘Filthy Underneath’ is also marked by a certain kind of certainty. It’s as though amid all this pain, all this negativity, Nadine Shah has found herself once more. Robin Murray REVIEW

30. Pa Salieu – Afrikan Alien

There’s an observation CLASH has heard time and time again: UK rap lost something vital when Pa Salieu was sent to prison. Now, that may be reductive – plenty of good music was released when Pa went away – but it also highlights the sheer presence he commands. An artist who walks his own path, Pa Salieu draws from afrobeats and drill, highlife and grime, producing something that speaks to multiple disciplines, while forging his own.

Pa Salieu’s return this year with his mixtape ‘Afrikan Alien’ was welcome news. Moving like a man with a point to prove, his post-incarceration run ranks with the best slate of any UK rapper in the game right now – the likes of ‘Belly, ‘Allergy’, and ‘Round & Round’ are joyous anthems from a galvanized rapper intent on celebrating his freedom and the heritage that affirms him everyday. Robin Murray

29. Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me 

If Maggie Rogers’ 2022 album ‘Surrender’ was thorough, pored-over, and maximalist in detail, then this year’s ‘Don’t Forget Me’ is the opposite; sketch-like, at times deliberately rough, Rogers cites the photography of Linda McCartney as a key point of reference. Songs that attempt to pin down wriggly, half-defined emotions, ‘Don’t Forget Me’ is a wonderfully succinct burst of creativity. Each note feels necessary, each word feels heartfelt – in chipping away at the excess to reveal these personal snapshots, Maggie Rogers has unlocked something very special indeed. Robin Murray REVIEW

28. Sabrina Carpenter – Short n Sweet 

If you wanted to take a swing at putting together a timeline of ‘Short n’ Sweet’s’ songwriting, you’d have to guess that ‘Espresso’ and its strutting allure sat at the very beginning or at the end. The rest of the record is less double-shot swagger and more fluttering, hearts-racing caffeine anxiety. ‘Good Graces’ is a guard-up groove in which Carpenter describes how quickly she can ‘turn lovin’ into hatred’ if she’s wronged by a suitor; ‘Slim Pickins’ and ‘Sharpest Tool’ continue the trend, a return-to-form for Sabrina with a gentle acoustic guitar on each, over which her lyrics lament the various ways men can be disappointing.

On her sixth full-length, Carpenter is writing straight from the heart: no pretentiousness, no lofty aspirations, just precisely the silly, emotional, passionate thoughts that run through the head of a 25-year old woman in a situationship. As she says in ‘Dumb & Poetic’, she has no time for “highbrow manipulation”, especially when she has sentiments she just needs to get. Ims Taylor REVIEW

27. Kim Gordon – The Collective

Kim Gordon is interacting with the world on her own terms. 2019’s ‘No Home Record’ – technically her debut solo album – ripped apart expectations. Crafted alongside producer Justin Raisen, it offered damaged electronics that seemed to shake apart the systems they were being played on. That visceral energy is what powers her excellent new album ‘The Collective’. Steered once more alongside Justin Raisen, it steps into the breach fostered by her debut but it’s more detailed, perhaps even more daring.

At times, the lyrics on ‘The Collective’ are caustic, leaving these acidic stains on all they touch. Just listen to ‘I’m A Man’ with its pastiche of 21st century ultra-machismo. A blistering character study, it also roots itself in the mythos of vintage Hollywood. She’s both the cold, clinical observer, and the central character, shaping the world around her. In a way, the record taps into the pattern her life has taken; it moves back to the shock of the No Wave era, but refuses to intersect with the past. For Kim Gordon, the future is the only option. Robin Murray INTERVIEW

26. Bashy – Being Poor Is Expensive 

‘Being Poor Is Expensive’ by Bashy unfolds as an origin story, set on the very same west London streets that host carnival, as well as the northwest London streets of Harlesden. Throughout the album’s twelve tracks, we get the visuals, the sounds, the paranoia, the perilous machismo and the sense of violence never too far away, that characterised Bashy’s environment when he stepped onto the streets outside of his home. 

We’re also given a view of his family unit and of the soil in which his roots are embedded; recollections of his grandparent’s plight as members of the Windrush generation, vignettes of his father becoming more jaded over time, pressures of the world dimming his light. These “tales of the hood”, given colour by the brilliance of Bashy’s storytelling abilities, are also provided texture by a host of samples reflecting the music of Bashy’s upbringing. Dwayne Wilks INTERVIEW

25. Still House Plants – If I don’t make it, I love u 

So what’s so special about Still House Plants? Their appeal is quite simple really: three dynamic parts in dialogue. You have Jess Hickie-Kallenbach’s low end acrobatics, a voice that will plummet and soar with cavernous soul; Finlay Clark’s largely clean guitar work, notes that cluster then phase out, or crack like ceramics; David Kennedy’s shapeshifting drums, untethered from any standard notion of timekeeping. 

‘If I don’t make it, I love you’ is richer than ever before. They might patiently knead a melody, wringing out its potential from all angles, or perhaps level the ground from under us and remould the rhythmic core of rock. All of this is presented with a show-your-working starkness and a sense of flux that’s sustained and strident, never shapeless. But most miraculous of all is that despite the naked otherness of their sound, you can’t help but feel as if you’re being serenaded – or perhaps successfully wooed with a bouquet of shrapnel. Eden Tizard INTERVIEW

24. Ruthven – Rough & Ready

On his debut album, ‘Rough & Ready’, Ruthven reintroduces himself to the world. The 32-year-old emerged back in 2017 with the pared-back Minneapolis sound of ‘Evil’, followed by intermittent standalone releases. A deal with XL Recordings soon followed, but the South London artist was forced to retreat back into the shadows after a series of personal setbacks.

‘Rough & Ready’ charts the interweaving facets of Ruthven’s life and career; reconciliation with lost parts of his lineage, financial precarity, artistic autonomy, and the fruits of a lived-in monogamous love. It’s a survivor’s chronicle and a fusion work that builds on the foundations laid by his musical and familial forefathers. On the twelve-track collection, Ruthven has cultivated a groove-infused production style that is at once molasses-smooth, strident and maximalist;  a simulacrum of prototypical pop, soft rock, the edge of soul and classic songwriting tropes, with a need to puncture it with synthetic funk abstractions that pulls the listener out of the nostalgic time loop into the future. Shahzaib Hussain INTERVIEW

23. Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter 

Beyoncé’s early albums established her as a hitmaker and a generational performer, but were uneven, and at times, palatable works. For over a decade, Bey has unswervingly defended, reconfigured and reinvented the album format in her image. ‘Cowboy Carter’, the second of a purported trilogy of works, is a cumulative rendering of her past eras: the resplendent vocal detail of ‘4’, the avant-garde production idiosyncrasies of ‘BEYONCÉ’, and the interiority and racial consciousness of ‘Lemonade’. 

Initially, Beyoncé’s omnivorous approach feels overwhelming but the blunt force impact gives way to a tactile aural world; the first half is all scenic immersion by the way of rootsy, clear-eyed confessionals, and the second, full of off-piste deviations through Southern rock, go go, Black gospel hymnody, funk and house. This archival veracity is a key feature of ‘Cowboy Carter’’, but the real truths of this tome lie in personhood: in Beyoncé’s bloodline, her divinely-ordained voice and spirit, the gospel, the dance and the communion. And that can never be contained or effaced. Shahzaib Hussain REVIEW

23. Helado Negro – PHASOR 

Helado Negro eighth full-length was born from a five-hour birthday visit to Salvatore Matirano’s SAL MAR machine at the University of Illinois. Entranced by the complex generative synthesiser, he emerged completely inspired. “It gave me special insight into what stimulates me,” he explains. “This pursuit of constant curiosity in process and outcome. The songs are the fruit, but I love what’s under the dirt. The unseen magical process. I don’t want everybody to see it because not everyone cares to see it. Some of us just want the fruit. I do. But I want to grow the fruit, too.”

Love song ‘I Just Want To Wake Up With You’ and Spanish language single ‘LFO’ were early preludes, but dreamy reverie ‘Best For Me And Me’ is the highlight, revelling in that feeling of home, wherever it may be found. The Impressionistic lyrics look at country vistas, with Helado Negro framing this with some gorgeous, somnambulant sonics. Robin Murray

21. Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us 

A kaleidoscopic culmination of their finest merits, ‘Only God Was Above Us’ is a polished, experimental summation of Vampire Weekend’s world of reverb and socially-conscious indie pop. A cacophony of sounds synonymous with whirring funfair music tie the record even more so with the bright and warm summer imagery; slightly bent discordant notes hit sweetly familiar spots and brim with nostalgic comfort, adding a new adventurous dimension to the New York band’s repertoire. Decades on from their first steps as Vampire Weekend, ‘Only God Is Above Us’ is an elegant encapsulation of joy, sincerity and a feeling of believing in and offering calm amongst the chaos. Maddy Smith REVIEW

20. Nala Sinephro – Endlessness

Nale Sinephro’s second full-length album, ‘Endlessness’, sees the spiritual jazz musician evolve into a fully-fledged conductor, animating liminal ambient compositions with orchestral grandiosity. Centred around an ever-shapeshifting arpeggio, Sinephro’s arrangements swell and fade throughout its ten-track duration, dreamily swirling together as one expansive composition that ruminates on life, rebirth, and this continuous  – or endless – cycle. 

Despite the album’s transportive otherworldliness, there’s a purposeful humanity to ‘Endlessness’. Sinephro – Belgian-born and bred but now London-based – assembled an enviable ensemble of the city’s supreme jazz players, from Nubya Garcia, to members of Kokoroko, Sons of Kemet, Ezra Collective, and even black midi. Never at the risk of either suffocating or over-egging each collaborator’s contributions, she seamlessly folds together pedal harp, bleeping synths, and meditative saxophone with as many intended passages of musical tension and harmony. ‘Endlessness’ simmers with cosmic mystique, but the key to the album’s wonder is in its beating heart. Tom Curtis-Horsfall REVIEW

19. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood 

An album where virtually every single note is worth cherishing, ‘Tigers Blood’ feels carefully hewn, and exceptionally curated. ‘Crowbar’ – “I left your heart of glass in an unmade bed” – is like honey on the ear, but there’s savagery in the lyric as she broaches a “paradox poetic”. The slumped strut of ‘The Wolves’ carries a quiet but enduring confidence, while closer and title track, ‘Tigers Blood’, learns to broaden its spell, additional voices helping to expand and intensify Waxahatchee’s vision. It’s a potent closer, with each part allowed its own identity, unified by Katie Crutchfield’s brilliant lyric and her palpable sense of purpose. A warming end, to an endlessly engrossing record. Robin Murray INTERVIEW

18. Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal 

Doechii’s third mixtape was released back in September but it’s only since recent formidable performances on Stephen Colbert and Tiny Desk that the 26-year-old artist is finally getting wider recognition as one of the best rappers in the game. ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ is a searingly profound project that wrestles with self-doubt, but Doechii undercuts any personal tragedy with dark humour and dry wit. She makes hyperventilation sound like a disc scratch and spits laughter as if it were a percussive effect. Her performance and lyricism are theatrical, hysterical, intimate and utterly genius. Here, paranoia, swag and vulnerability are offered like a cocktail of stimulants washed down with jazzy flourishes and ‘90s beats, sweeping us up on a giddy ride between the highs and the lows. Charis McGowan REVIEW

17. Jamie xx – In Waves 

‘In Waves’, Jamie xx’s long-awaited sophomore album, transcends nearly a decade of anticipation, delivering a sublime experience that blends genres with emotional depth. Like ‘In Colour’, it thrives in diverse settings, equally fitting for morning runs or after-parties; weaves rave culture with personal moments, resonating universally. From the opening track, ‘Wanna’, Jamie showcases his evolution, blending garage, house and disco with a nostalgic, emotive sound. ‘Waited All Night’ with Romy and Oliver of The xx, retain intimacy while exploring dynamic new territory; ‘Treat You Right’ transforms mundane elements into transcendent art, while ‘Baddy on the Floor’, featuring Honey Dijon, pulses with classic club energy.

Standout moments include the melancholic ‘Daffodil’, reflecting Jamie’s pandemic-era introspection, and the finale ‘Falling Together’ which captures the fleeting harmony of connection. Through meticulously layered production and heartfelt storytelling, Jamie xx creates an immersive masterpiece. ‘In Waves’ is a celebration of life, a continuous mix destined for dancefloors and solitary late-night listening. Josh Crowe REVIEW

16. Kendrick Lamar – GNX

Kendrick Lamar’s sixth LP, ‘GNX‘, is a sapphire-blue homage to LA culture, submerged in the waters of spiritual rebirth. The SZA-assisted sleeper track ‘Gloria’, serves as a pseudo-companion to 2022’s ‘Father Time’. Here, Lamar swaps his paternal anecdotes for a pensive rap diary entry, personified as a female partner. The concept recalls Common’s 1994 classic, ‘I Used to Love H.E.R.’, offering a similar meditation on hip-hop as a complex muse. 

Elsewhere, ‘Dodger Blue’ shines as a dreamy ’80s R&B-driven anthem, capturing the city’s neon, nightly pulse. Meanwhile, the airy SWV-sampling ‘Heart Pt. 6’ pairs effectively with volcanic cuts like the Mustard-assisted ‘TV Off’ and the title track. ‘GNX’ is regional and proud, embracing local rap talent and playful production. Across its twelve tracks, the LP’s themes are synthesised into a cohesive expedition of self, blending Jack Antonoff and Sounwave’s layered soundscapes (‘Luther’) with West Coast grit (‘Hey Now’) and lyrical finesse. Niall Smith REVIEW

15. Tyla – TYLA

Honeyed on the ear, TYLA’s debut album opens with a flurry of highlights. ‘Water’ oozes charm, while ‘Truth Or Dare’ has a teasing edge over those amapiano drums. Interpolating fresh elements within her potent elixir, she’s able to remain true to her roots while expanding ever-outwards. The spiralling guitar lines on ‘Butterflies’ point to Millennial R&B, but in a fashion that feels totally true to her; ‘On And On’ has a slight latin tint to the arrangement, while serving to reinforce TYLA’s core values.

On the surface, all is shimmering and light, TYLA’s breathtaking sense of control illuminating the record with refulgent emotion. Alongside this, though, is a desire to push the boundaries – both shockingly immediate and with immense replay value, TYLA’s debut album tapped into the emerging energies of spring to produce one of 2024’s most insistent projects. The world is hers. Robin Murray REVIEW

14. Vince Staples – Dark Times

Despite often being aloof and out of the mix, Vince Staples always cuts through with music that speaks volumes. In a year rife with global despair and conflict, ‘Dark Times’ felt very timely. The Long Beach rapper displays his raw intellect, bop-making prowess and emotional range on upbeat tracks ‘Little Homies’ and ‘Étouffe’. On first listen, they’re giddy party-starters but between the lines they expose hidden truths and hood plights.

Integrating a subtle Lauryn Hill flip, Vince flows between informed nonchalance and more brazen diatribes, all while delivering prolific raps for an ultimately smooth auditory journey. It feels like ‘RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART’s’ older, hardened brother, in the best way. Shanté Collier-McDermott REVIEW

13. Fabiana Palladino – Fabiana Palladino 

Exploring the tumult of a waning relationship, what emerges in the in-betweenness and after the wreckage, Fabiana Palladino’s self-titled debut is a masterclass in restraint, ornate vocal production and transportive world-building. This is music that smoulders across its breathless runtime. There is no padding here: every song feels essential, every retrofitted detail vital.

Two tracks strategically positioned towards the end have me in a particular choke hold: ‘Deeper’, a number furnished with luminous synth stabs and sustained harmony, and the percolating, programmed haze of ‘In The Fire’. Tightly-woven but endlessly rewarding, the Paul Institute alum has delivered the most potent homegrown pop collection of 2024. Shahzaib Hussain

12. Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk

Serving up saccharine delights, Florida duo Magdalena Bay defy the sophomore slump with the wondrous ‘Imaginal Disk’. A whacky, extra-terrestrial offering that throws in juiced-up electro grooves, theatrical vocal performances and alt-pop innovation, it wraps itself in a luminous playfulness throughout. Stepping into the spotlight with glacial opener ‘She Looked Like Me!’, the track twists its twinkling keys into crashing drum sections, a cinematic introduction to Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin’s conceptual exercise. 

Across fifteen tracks, the couple unpick their protagonist True’s human condition, exploring romance, identity and adventure. At its best, ‘Imaginal Disk’ is peak dancefloor euphoria, namely on the pinch-me momentum of ‘Death & Romance’, replete with addictive hooks. Elsewhere, ‘Watching T.V.’ glitches between warm acoustics and woozy synths, contrasting its optimistic sparkle with a 404 error twist. A joy to experience from start to finish, Magdalena Bay’s ‘Imaginal Disk’ takes a trip away from reality and returns with a pure sense of self. Ana Lamond INTERVIEW

11. Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch

On ‘Here in the Pitch’, Jessica Pratt pirouetted deeper into the belly of her bucolic wonderland, luring her perpetual daydream into tangible touching distance. Dialling in on the retro-indebted aesthetic she has carefully etched over the course of her previous records, Pratt’s fourth studio album feels akin to lighting a candle, with eyes clamped shut, whilst spinning a warped vinyl during a seance to conjure the sights and sounds of 1960s California in its countercultural heyday. 

The Los Angeles singer-songwriter’s quivering coo floats along the sparse corridors of each song’s arrangement, directed on gusts of faint percussion and twinkling keys. Every crackle and idiosyncrasy is warmly embraced – likely encouraged – as though it’s a dusted-off record worn by the love of repeated listens. “I want to be a vestige of our senses free,” Pratt sings delicately on ‘World On A String’, opening a portal between past and present as she strums thoughtfully on nylon guitar strings throughout the hazy, sunrise-coded confessional – a portal which stays invitingly open for the album’s 27-minute run time. Tom Curtis-Horsfall REVIEW

10. Clairo – Charm

No Claire Cottrill album has pulled me into its gravitational orbit like ‘Charm’, the Massachusetts singer’s third full-length. On first listen, Cottrill’s muted palette of soft rock, ‘70s psyche-pop and doo-wop washes over you in lean, languid analog brushstrokes, but revisited, and consumed in its entirety, ‘Charm’ works its slowly-encroaching magic. 

Cottrill and new producer, Leon Michels, known for his work with the Dap-Kings, cloak the sonics in harmony-drenched warmth, realised through hums of flutesong, Wurlitzer and organ. Cottrill’s hushed, eldritch whispers and sweet coos feed into a panoramic ambiance that sparks from evanescent moments between would-be lovers. These moments are often faint, sketch-like reveries and not fully-formed observations. Therein lies this album’s “charm”: the gift of remembrance, when small, hidden details cast long shadows. Shahzaib Hussain REVIEW

9. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

It takes a few tries to get it right. MJ Lenderman has proved this with fourth collection, ‘Manning Fireworks’. This is not to discredit the success of his previous work, ranging from the fuzz-laden cynicism of his debut to the solemn reflections of ‘Boat Songs’. But ‘Manning Fireworks’ is a level-minded scrapbook of one-liners, loose witticisms and maturing observations all captured through Lenderman’s slacker storytelling and alt-country twang. 

The result is a significant marker in his musical growth and his most realised work to date. Whether it’s encouraging a befuddled bachelor to face the music on the undeniably catchy ‘She’s Leaving You’ or the not-so-humble brags of wealth that reveal a seething loneliness on ‘Wristwatch’, Lenderman espouses tales of true slackers – caricatures of guys who have totally missed the mark – with a rounded sense of profundity and humour. Kayla Sandiford REVIEW

8. Jawnino – 40 

It’s not often an artist creates an air of mythos and mystery around them whilst also delivering on the goods. South London’s Jawnino is that rare renegade spirit summoning and unpacking the legacy of urban rap folklore through a truly progressive lens. On his 2022 EP ‘4040 – Good Thing Bad Thing Who Knows’, he filtered restive homespun tales through an inventive cross-hatch of bass and breaks. ‘40’, the rapper’s True Panther debut, is a collection of elevated tracks that truly illuminates a nighttime dweller’s psyche.

‘2trains’, a sequel to transient jam ‘Lady On The Train’, ‘Dance2’ and ‘Westfield’ thrum with big city angst and ambition. Elsewhere, ‘Short Stories’, a transatlantic collaboration with New Jersey rapper MIKE, is all pyretic G-funk ambiance. There is perhaps no homegrown release this year, grime-adjacent or beyond, that captures the past and future continuum of London’s underground sound clashes. ‘40’ implants the listener in and amongst this aural dissonance, leaving them to wade through the vestiges of Jawnino’s hazy underworld. Shahzaib Hussain

7. Nilufer Yanya – My Method Actor

‘My Method Actor’ is the moment the world caught up with Nilüfer Yanya. Across two excellent albums the songwriter nailed down skittish, often anxious emotional states, packing each song with data and information. Opening herself out just a little, ‘My Method Actor’ – her first on new home Ninja Tune – played with this tension-and-release formula in a way that could be both frosty and ethereal, embodying both airy lightness and devastating darkness.

Crafted alongside close collaborator Wilma Archer, the songwriting represents Nilüfer Yanya’s most full-blooded set to date – the pop-edged lilt of ‘Like I Say (Runaway)’ is matched to the pangs of regret that adorn ‘Made Out Of Memory’ or the heartrending ‘Just A Western’. A record that revels in subtlety, ‘My Method Actor’ is the most significant work yet from a songwriter rapidly blossoming into one of her generation’s best voices. Robin Murray INTERVIEW

6. The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World

A lifetime has passed since The Cure released their last studio album in 2008. ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ is the culmination of those years away. A man bereft and world weary, ‘Songs…’ is Robert Smith’s most personal venture to date. Introspective and cinematic, the album retains a sublime intimacy with tender lyrics and enthralling melodies. Each note feels deliberate as Smith navigates life and loss through haunting synths and naked, vulnerable lyricism: “Every time you kiss me , I could cry.”

Carefully woven together with only eight tracks, the aching opener ‘Alone’ is a seven-minute sojourn that feels like a return to the comforting embrace of the band’s opus, ‘Disintegration’. The heart wrenching ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’, written for Smith’s late brother, devastates, and the breathtaking ‘Endsong’ wastes none of its marathon ten minutes – six and a half of which lay a swelling instrumental introduction to Smith’s pensive songwriting. A sincere return to the heart of the band, ‘Songs…’ feels both raw and inevitable. Sabrina Soormally REVIEW

5. Adrianne Lenkar – Bright Future

One of the hallmarks of Adrianne Lenker’s lyricism is her ability to disrupt narratives and view emotional situations from unexpected angles. So, let’s begin this review at the end: ‘Bright Future’ is an astonishing album, a feast of emotional dissonance that ties your heart into a thousand knots. Without doubt one of the finest, most complex statements to come from Big Thief’s universe of continual creativity, it’s a singular cycle of poetic achievement, backed by production that isn’t so much unvarnished but digs down into the wood’s very seed with the nails of her bare hands.

The way Lenker plays with words – the “fall-ING” of ‘Vampire Empire’; the “ru-INNED” of final song ‘Ruined’ – suggests a total belief in her lyrics, but also a realisation that language alone is an inadequate vessel for emotional truth. It’s heartbreaking, but somehow you can’t stop listening. Robin Murray REVIEW

4. Fontaines D.C. – Romance 

When CLASH first encountered Fontaines D.C. in some of London’s less salubrious venues the band were a clattering garage-punk noise – infectious, yes, but also brash, and unfinished. With each passing album the band have raised the bar, challenging themselves to work at the absolute limits of their skill and technique.

From its initial roll-out through to stunning live shows, ‘Romance’ is a band at their peak – a stunning demonstration of control and release, backed by their most impactful, lucid songwriter. Whether it’s (inhale) ‘Starburster’ or the sheer joyous release of ‘Favourite’, the Irish group seemed to make every second count. Lean, clean, and pristine, ‘Romance’ found Fontaines D.C. focussing all their skill, craft, and experience into one joyous burst of guitar creativity. This was their time. Robin Murray REVIEW

3. Charli xcx – BRAT 

If 2022’s ‘CRASH’ set out to be the ‘perfect’ pop record, a tongue-in-cheek finale to Charli xcx’s lengthy record deal with Asylum Records, then her sixth studio album ‘BRAT’ is a revolt back to her club roots. Catapulting indie sleaze into the mainstream, the 365 party girl tightened her grasp over popular culture, rising to the occasion with orchestrated blockbuster stunts.

From warehouse raves to campaign rallies, Charli unleashed her most dominant, all-encompassing work to date; a complex but accessible breakthrough that rides the highs of virality in full force. ‘BRAT’ serves up a hedonistic snapshot of the dualities of stardom, artistic growth and authenticity. Tracks like ‘Von Dutch’ are unabashed in their dizzying basslines, whilst ‘I think about it all the time’ or ‘Girl, so confusing’ spotlight anxious, stripped-back musings. Completing her victory lap with a slew of superstar remixes and career-defining performances, ‘BRAT’ gave Charli xcx the mainstream recognition her stellar back catalog long deserved. Ana Lamond REVIEW

2. Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia

Tyler, the Creator’s eighth solo outing, ‘Chromakopia’, is a bold examination of self, driven by narrative heel-turns and self-discovery. Ditching old habits and alter egos, Tyler introduces Saint Chroma – a masked anti-hero navigating the murky terrain of self-loathing, fame, and mortality. Cuts like ‘St. Chroma’ and ‘Take Your Mask Off’ unravel this introspection, blending sweltering drums with soulful crescendos.

Meanwhile, The Neptunes-esque ‘Darling, I’ with Teezo Touchdown, and the lush, soulful and paternally poignant ‘Like Him’ highlight the rapper-producer’s genre-defying artistry. While the LP channels fragments of ‘Flower Boy’ and ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’, its pensive narratives and layered production take on a darker hue, drawing parallels to the character-driven storytelling of Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson and Spike Lee. ‘Chromakopia’ is lavish, precarious, and profoundly human; a testament to Tyler’s evolution as an artist unafraid to lay bare his fallibilities. Part neo-soul therapy, part rap bravado, this is Tyler at his most… Tyler. Niall Smith REVIEW

1. Mk.gee – Two Star & The Dream Police

Winding down the track of Hawk’s Nest, Michael Gordon leans out the window of a retired school bus, emerging from the shadows for his debut studio album, ‘Two Star & The Dream Police.’ A nocturnal collection of songs that draws the listener into a woozy vibrational pull, Mk.gee steps outside of his enigmatic persona, fine-tuning his boombox-over-shoulders ballads. Throughout, Mk.gee amplifies the idiosyncrasies of his production style, jolting between warbling melodies and sparks of distortion, best defined by the likes of ‘DNM’ or fan-favourite, ‘Alesis’. 

Elsewhere, ‘Are You Looking Up’ pinpoints the strengths in Gordon’s delivery, landing with a sense of urgency and free-falling thrills of the heart. The result is magnetic, a project so interior yet somehow outsized, it demands to be listened to in one sitting. Preserving and sanctifying a live element to his recordings, Mk.gee is the one-man guitar hero who has steered a modern-day classic, earning himself the top spot on our Albums of the Year list. Ana Lamond REVIEW

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