As 2024 starts to wind down, and we all gear up for our New Year’s Eve speculation, many of us will be feeling a little nostalgic and reflective.
Plenty of people will be using these next few days to look back at the past 12 months and their personal highlights – whether that’s in their own lives or just the TV, music and films that made the year for them.
Others, though, will be using this time to catch up on the key moments they missed out on earlier in the year.
We’ve already rounded up some of the best TV shows from 2024 to dive into now you’ve got some time on your hands, but music fans will be pleased to hear we’ve got you covered, too.
Here are 14 essential albums released in 2024 to check out before the end of the year (in the order they were released)...
Nadine Shah – Filthy Underneath
Singer-songwriter Nadine Shah had been through a turbulent few years while putting together her fifth album, Filthy Underneath – culminating in the death of her mother, a divorce and a stint in a mental health facility.
On her fifth album, Nadine didn’t shy away from any of this when recording Filthy Underneath. Reflecting on some of her darkest times with frankness, courage and, often, a refreshing sense of humour – most notably on lead single Greatest Dancer, in which she reflects on a night in watching Strictly with her mother during lockdown, while under the influence of her mum’s pain medication, and follow-up Topless Mother, in which she pokes fun a former therapist. There’s also a beautiful ode to her late mum on See My Girl, and a lament about the current climate in the UK on Sad Lads Anonymous.
Although its heavy themes don’t make for the easiest of listens, the eclectic Filthy Underneath’s production is also a feast for the ears – like a mix of Rahim Redcar and David Bowie, in a Geordie accent.
Ariana Grande – Eternal Sunshine
Ariana Grande has done some of her best work with pop superproducer Max Martin, so fans were overjoyed when they found out the pair would be reuniting in a big way on her seventh album.
The result was Eternal Sunshine, on which Ariana and the Swedish pop juggernaut worked on all but three of the final tracklisting.
Of course, by the time the album came along, the Grammy winner had a few things to get off her chest after finding herself at the centre of tabloid headlines about the breakdown of her marriage and subsequent relationship with Broadway performer Ethan Slater, who she met while still working on Wicked.
Ari kicked off the new era with Yes, And?, a breezy house-inspired bop where she takes on her critics head-on (“why do you care so much whose **** I ride?” she ponders at one point), while elsewhere she sends up her own reputation on singles We Can’t Be Friends and The Boy Is Mine, as well as album cut True Story.
There are also personal moments when Ari reflects on romance past and present on the likes of Bye, I Wish I Hated You, the beautiful Imperfect For You and Ordinary Things, which ends the collection with a voicenote from the singer’s beloved Nonna.
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well
After the more experimental sound of her ambitious break-up album Star-Crossed, Kacey Musgraves went back to her roots on Deeper Well, both in terms of its more simplistic and organic instrumentation, but also its stripped-back visuals.
The title songs sees Kacey reintroduce fans to herself at a new, more reflective stage of her life, while the rest of the album sees the Grammy winner analysing various aspects of her life.
She also asks big questions, pondering the existence of God on The Architect and Heaven Is, before ending on a hopeful note with the pretty Anime Eyes and Nothing To Be Scared Of, as she looks ahead to a new romance.
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
After capturing her attention with Renaissance, Beyoncé decided to head in a completely different direction with the second part of her three-act musical project.
Bey’s performance at the Country Music Awards in 2016 was infamous not because of anything she did on stage, but because of the frosty reception she received from certain members of the crowd, despite the song she was performing at the ceremony – Daddy Lessons – being so obviously rooted in country music.
It may have taken the Texas-born star the better part of a decade, but she eventually issued her rebuttal in Cowboy Carter, after really doing her homework on the origins of country music, and used her album not just to highlight Black performers who are currently excelling in the genre, but also shining a light on those who came before her.
She also made sure to have the co-sign from some genuine country music legends, like Dolly Parton (whose song Jolene she covered) and Willie Nelson – but never one to limit herself, Beyoncé also tries on other genres for size on Cowboy Carter too, dipping her pedicured toes into everything from gospel and soul to funk and classic rock and roll.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a Beyoncé album,” Beyoncé said of her eighth full-length release, and it’s hard to argue with that thesis.
English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
On their debut release, it’s fair to say that British four-piece English Teacher came out of the gate strong.
Described by critics as “chaotic” and full of “surprises”, This Could Be Texas certainly keeps listeners on their toes over its 50 minutes, eventually peaking within the top 10 here in the UK and, crucially, earning them the coveted Mercury Prize title over the likes of Charli XCX, Corrine Bailey Rae, Ghetts and Brit Award winners The Last Dinner Party.
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
Undoubtedly one of the year’s most talked-about and commercially-successful albums, The Tortured Poets Department was something of a surprise release from Taylor Swift – particularly when release day saw her dropping another unexpected 14 tracks for the special edition.
After taking a more outward-facing approach with the songwriting on her hit albums Folklore and Evermore, and looking back on follow-up Midnights, Tortured Poets saw the Grammy winner returning to the more confessional – though veiled – lyricism she was synonymous with earlier in her career.
While much of the album is perceived as a break-up record about her short-lived romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy (and the ensuing media furore that it created), she also alludes to her split from her long-time partner Joe Alwyn and looking ahead to her new relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce.
And with song titles like The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) and So Long, London, The Tortured Poets Department is Taylor at her most unflinching.
Rachel Chinouriri – What A Devastating Turn Of Events
We’re going to say it – Rachel Chinouriri’s Never Need Me is probably the best single released by a British performer in 2024, and follow-up album What A Devastating Turn Of Events proved there’s so much more that this artist is capable of.
It Is What It Is and the brilliantly-titled Dumb Butch Juice continue the conversational style first showcased on Never Need Me, as she reflects on past relationship drama in an extremely relatable way, while elsewhere on the album Rachel broaches difficult and – at times – heartwrenching topics in a ways many artists a lot further into their careers would struggle with, singing about everything from body image and self-harm to loneliness and gender inequality with both confidence and sensitivity.
Here’s hoping a support act on Sabrina Carpenter’s 2025 tour can help boost Rachel’s career to the next level as even more people discover this must-listen album.
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft
Billie Eilish returned to the music scene with a quiet confidence in 2024 (we imagine that second Oscar winner probably helped with that), dropping her strongest and most personal release to date on Hit Me Hard And Soft.
Having been in the spotlight since she was a teenager, Billie’s third album introduced the chart-topping singer at a different stage in her life, singing about new themes and diving headfirst into new genres, spawning two of 2024’s biggest hits in Lunch and Birds Of A Feather.
Charli XCX – Brat
Alright, this is the biggie. The album that pretty much defined 2024, Brat marked the first album Charli XCX put out after renewing her record deal, and it became apparent pretty early on with the uncompromising Von Dutch and 360 – not to mention the album’s acidic green hues – that the British singer was doing things her way this time around.
Once people began to catch on, the era only grew in scale, from the confessional Girl, So Confusing remix with Lorde, the viral Apple dance and the arrival of “Brat summer”, culminating in A-list guest features on the re-released version, an Album Of The Year nomination at next year’s Grammys and even Brat creeping into the US election.
All we can say is, now Charli’s had a massive hit on her hands with something so unapologetically bold and true to her own vision, we can’t wait to see what she follows the Brat era with.
Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
She’s been quietly working away in the music industry for a good few years now, but 2024 was the year it all really paid off for Sabrina Carpenter.
Few can say they’ve had a year as big as her, with three massive number ones under her belt (not to mention an extra two top 20s), and even a Netflix special over the Christmas period, pushing her from a little-known cult figure to a real force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
Short N’ Sweet might not be a debut – it’s actually Sabrina’s sixth album overall – but it still feels like a breakthrough moment for a young star really discovering what kind of artist they are in the past year.
Fontaines D.C. – Romance
Fontaines D.C. took their biggest swing yet on the more electronic-inspired Romance, earning them their best reviews and sales to date, and a legion of new fans.
The Irish rock group’s fourth album even wound up earning them their first nominations at next year’s Grammys, where they’re in the running for both Best Rock Album and Best Alternative Music Performance for lead single Starburster (which saw the band working with music video legend Aube Perrie on the accompanying clip).
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
This one’s technically a mixtape rather than a proper album, but it’s just so strong we couldn’t quite bring ourselves to exclude it.
We’ve been championing Doechii for a good few years now, after she proved herself to be one of the most exciting and shape-shifting stars on the music scene. Alligator Bites Never Heal is her strongest work to date, showing off just how capable Doechii is at anything she tries her hand at. When her proper debut album inevitably follows in 2025, watch out.
Tyler, The Creator – Chromakopia
Award-winning rapper Tyler, The Creator went back to his roots on Chromakopia which he said was his way of paying tribute to his early life growing up in California before rising to fame as part of Odd Future.
The album got underway with the elaborate music video for Noid, co-starring Ayo Edebiri, with the boundary-pushing album following a week later.
Like his previous acclaimed releases Igor and Flower Boy, Chromakopia sees Tyler confidently hopping from genre to genre, this time with a seriously impressive bunch of collaborators including Solange, Lil Wayne, British singer-songwriter Lola Young, electro singer Santigold and fellow rapper Doechii.
Kendrick Lamar – GNX
After stand-alone singles like Not Like Us and Meet The Graham captured the world’s attention over the summer, rap superstar Kendrick Lamar rounded off 2024 with GNX, which gave him yet more commercial and critical success and proved he had the goods to back up what he was saying on those scene-stealing Drake disses.
Next year is shaping up to be another huge one for the Pulitzier Prize winner, who’ll follow his performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show with a mammoth US tour, where he’ll team up with frequent collaborator SZA.