Carlos’s 25 Favorite Albums of 2024
In what is, for me, the best year in music since 2019, I am so torn about the placement of these top albums on an arbitrary list. Especially at the top, there are so few instances where I’d rather spend $50 on Touchtunes between one or the other. But for you, reader, the list is always on my Notes app, starting from January 1 to today. Some are there because they were enjoyable and I have nothing else to say. Some are there because for them, I have everything to possibly say. So, my favorite albums of 2024.
First, some non-album standout songs from this year that I really enjoyed:
“Coca Cola” – Les Passagers
“Good Luck, Babe!” - Chappell Roan
“Messages” – Jane Penny
25.
ISABEL LP | Noa Sainz
R&B, Pop
Nice and easy listen of Mexican R&B-type pop for darker work days.
Favorite song: "Prendo La Luz - Jazzaton"
24.
This is How Tomorrow Moves | Beabadoobee
Rock
First track is very good, and who else is doing this soft pop bossa nova vibe like Bea?
Favorite song: "Take a Bite"
23.
Mariana | Ruzzi
Alt Pop
Ruzzi was one of the first contemporary Mexican artists that dove into a modern R&B/alt pop sound. This album sounds a lot like those first tracks I enjoyed, like “Cuando” and “Dártelo” from 2018.
Favorite song: "Miamorcito Loco", "Lo Sientes Tú?"
22.
Don’t Forget Me | Maggie Rogers
Soft Rock, Folk Rock
Sometimes I really like an album of country-adjacent TJ Maxx music!
Favorite songs: "Drunk", "The Kill"
21.
Only God Was Above Us | Vampire Weekend
Indie Rock
I didn’t love it when it dropped, left it out to sit, and revisited the album while making this list. And then I looped it back a little more and felt the warmth of enjoying old school VW, how fun the production is, and it made the list.
Favorite song: "Connect", "The Surfer"
20.
Deeper Well | Kacey Musgraves
Country Pop, Soft Rock
One of the better albums of the year that had good staying power, thumbs up.
Favorite song: "Moving Out"
19.
ÉXODO | Peso Pluma
Corrido, Urbano
This man finds no trouble in keeping corridos fresh, though I really wish he could stick to 10-ish songs to an album because at 24, the ones that don’t stand out really weigh this down. Peso Pluma also throws in some genre-bending, and I know he has the voice to do some softer sounds like he showed in another album from this year further down this list. Need him to get with Rostam and makes a soft, dreampop corrido soon.
Favorite songs: "LA PATRULLA", "VINO TINTO"
18.
Submarine | The Marías
Indie Pop, Dream Pop
I won’t lie, I was fairly disappointed by the change in sound here. Not quite the sultry, cozy vibe they exemplify in Superclean or CINEMA, or even in their “Out for the night” live performance. Instead, this seeped into the sad girl melancholic dreamscape of more recent Faye Webster. Favorite moment from this era is going to their post-concert DJ set where the band’s producer mixed “Run Your Mouth” with Kendrick Lamar’s “LOYALTY” so seamlessly.
Favorite songs: "Run Your Mouth"
17.
Girl With No Face| Allie X
Synthpop
High energy with a lot of fun vocals was the right thing to hear on cooler and greyer winter days when this dropped.
Favorite songs: "Galina"
16.
Pour ne pas mourir en hiver | Olivier Faubert
Soft Rock
Some saying (or something I saw on twitter) goes that Gabriel García Márquez could never write Cien años de soledad in a cold climate, and this album is a lovely exemplification of the different kind of dread and hope that the seasons turning in Québec brings. I mean the title is literally “to not die in winter” so yeah what are they putting in the water in Montréal. If you like Alvvays I think you’ll like this.
Favorite songs: "Mercure", "Sang d’Août"
15.
Radical Optimism | Dua Lipa
Pop
I’m sorry for being a hater in the album’s first few months. The rollout/marketing for this was abysmal, but Dua Lipa’s dance pop is still really good, even if it’s not at Future Nostalgia levels. I’ll admit, this got a huge boost from me seeing her perform these songs live.
Favorite songs: "End Of An Era", "Illusion"
14.
Melancholy | Maddie Moon
Dream Pop
I was so excited when I first discovered my favorite song from this album, “Cariño”, that it I played it on loop so much it shot up to my 9th most listened-to song (Spotify Wrapped, 2024). The rest is a lovely little dreampop album en español and that will always play for me.
Favorite song: "Cariño"
13.
GNX | Kendrick Lamar
Hip Hop
If Kendrick keeps his Auto Caps off on his phone then I will continue to do so. Maybe it’s a clue to how this album is less serious than his usual work, where his production, musicality, and performance take center stage over the depth of his usual lyrics. This work feels like Kendrick pushing his musical expectations without apprehension in a glorious victory parade from whatever little trouble Drake brewed up this summer.
Favorite songs: "tv off", "dodger blue"
12.
Romaticism | Hana Vu
Indie Pop
Not a new name for me, but definitely a new appreciation for this guitar-forward indie rock sound through Hana’s album. Some of the tone of Cassandra Jenkins but the softness of a rock voice that Lucy Dacus can bring.
Favorite songs: "Dreams", "Alone"
11.
Fabiana Palladino | Fabiana Palladino
Alt R&B, Synth Pop
Discovered Fabiana off an Insta story that Lorde posted saying how talented Fabiana was. After her last album, I don’t really have a lot of reason to trust Lorde’s taste BUT she was right and I see Lorde has gone on to make much better decisions for her music, too. Fabiana has a voice and sound that, if a major artist took her on tour as an opener, would make her a pretty big name and deservedly so.
Favorite song: "Can You Look In The Mirror?", "Stay With Me Through The Night"
10.
Manning Fireworks | MJ Lenderman
Alt Country, Folk Rock
I’ll admit that this is a recent listen based on a lot of suggestions, so I’ll need to give it more time to marinate. But damn what a refreshing sound; clangy guitar, pacing bass and rhythm, and nostalgic folk-rock voice. To me, this is the grunginess and angst under the shadows of the mountain beauty of Appalachia in music form.
Favorite song: "Wristwatch", "On My Knees"
9.
Time is a Flower | Telenova
Dance Pop
Addicting dance pop album from a group I never heard of before, shoutout to the Australian Indie Mix Spotify playlist.
Favorite songs: "Discothèque Inside My Head", "Power"
8.
My Light, My Destroyer | Cassandra Jenkins
Singer-songwriter
The brilliant mind and delicate arrangement of Cassandra Jenkins never misses. I think I found one of my favorite love songs of all time in “Only One”.
Favorite song: "Only One", "Clams Casino"
7.
Pulsar | L’Imperatrice
Singer-songwriter / Chamber pop
They’re kinda pros at the indie electropop scene, what can I say? Also giving Maggie Rogers a stage to sound like more than just TJ Maxx music is important.
Favorite song: "Déjà-vue", "Any Way" with Maggie Rogers
6.
Dream Talk | Still Corners
Synth Pop, Indie Pop
Hazy feel of a grey, rainy, and humid Houston day where you are trying to find a way out of the misery. My favorite track, “The Dream”, has such a cool gentle and spooky rock sound that for some reason reminds me of something Kenny Loggins would work on.
Favorite songs: "The Dream", "Lose More Slowly"
5.
ORQUÍDEAS | Kali Uchis
R&B, Dream Pop
I don’t trust many artists to do genre-hopping within the same album, but Kali Uchis makes it feel natural. My favorite track here is basic, but I was in a taxi in Mexico City on a warm April afternoon where the sun was setting and buildings were casting shadows on all the people moving around me with “Igual Que Un Angel” playing on buzzy frequency of the taxi’s radio, and it felt like I was in a movie. Also, getting Peso Pluma to do a soft, dreampop type of voice is an incredible achievement, I feel like I’ve been asking for that specifically.
Favorite songs: "Igual Que Un Angel" with Peso Pluma, "Labios Mordidos" with KAROL G, "Te Mata"
4.
BRAT | Charli XCX
Hyperpop
Brat summer is long gone but the bratitude will never die. If I ever played pro baseball, my walkup song would be “Von dutch”. Incredible service of Charli to provide my non-sober bike rides home from a bar with a constant loop of “Apple”.
Favorite songs: "Von dutch", "Apple", "Club classics"
3.
Charm | Clairo
Soft Pop, Singer-songwriter
It is not a bit, I truly love Clairo and I love even more the era that these productive choices have made. Working with Leon Michels of a soul and funk background proved perfect for Clairo’s soft, airy vocals. This album feels like Clairo and her band are giving a live, dimly lit performance in someone’s living room with the elegance of a jazz club. For an album of feeling yourself, feeling your yearning, feeling your vulnerability walking alone on a cold day, it fits the bill perfectly. “Juna” is the most played song, and I adore it too with how playful it uses Clairo’s own backing vocals and a heavy presence of piano ornamentations across the track. But my favorite moment is with “Add Up My Love”, where the sultry vocals turn combative and the rhythm section turns the tide into more angst. In the same breath, flute and keys pull back on the weight. It’s an all-time Clairo song and was my most played song in the entire year.
Favorite songs: "Add Up My Love", "Juna", "Terrapin"
2.
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT | Billie Eilish
Alt-Pop
Finneas and Billie on this album is like that meme highlight reel of Kobe and Shaq at their prime. Easily the strongest album of Billie Eilish’s career where the siblings are in sync on pulling out every ounce of pure musicianship in every track. The stirring of Billie’s voice follows is the engine that makes Finneas’ rumbles and avalanches of sound take flight. I find myself wanting each of these songs to go on and on like “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” or the trailing off on “CHIHIRO”. There’s a feeling I get from my favorite albums where track after track feels full, heavy, like a deep body of water that you can’t see the bottom of, but still want to dive head-first; that’s what this album creates for me. Absolute masterpiece that was a lock to be my album of the year until…
Favorite songs: "CHIHIRO", "WILDFLOWER", "L’AMOUR DE ME VIE", "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"
1.
Imaginal Disk | Magdalena Bay
Synth Pop, Dance Pop, Everything
Still the most exciting pop sound I’ve heard. A sound that is tremendously exhilarating, buzzing, and in depth on every detail of production and composition. Magdalena Bay’s music is the glowing neon lights of your favorite place to go out before you have the time of your life in sonic form. In this album, they’ve mastered that rush from top to bottom. Even the three interludes don’t disturb the generational run that every single song in order creates. I love seeing the little bits of influences scattered across the tracks—the hyper and noise pop of “Image” and “That’s My Floor”, the ABBA feel of “Cry for Me”, even a specific reference to Bill Evans’ piano jazz cover of “Skating in Central Park” in the beginning of “Angel on a Satellite”. If I keep writing, I’ll just keep saying this is an impeccable album in so many different ways. Not only album of the year for me, but among the top albums I’ve ever heard.
Favorite songs: "Image", "Cry for Me", "Death & Romance"