The soundtrack of the year 2024 can’t be easily contained. Blistering punk, explosive modern rock, shimmering indie pop, driving dance music, introspective folk and soul. Some of our favorite records of the year did one of those things and did it expertly; most of them contained multitudes, capturing the rollercoaster of a year that we’re on the tail end of.
For WXPN’s Best of 2024 MEGA-LIST, we once again polled our on-air hosts to find out their favorite records of the year. A list totalling 139 albums was the result (check out everyone’s top ten here), and as we tabulated out the votes, we arrived at the consensus: WXPN’s Top 15 Albums of The Year. Read on for reviews of each, written by the DJs who chose them — it’ll take you on a deeper dive on music you might already know, and it might help you discover a new favorite or two.
And keep going once you reach number one; there’s more mega in the MEGA-LIST, including a handful of bonus host picks – writeups of stellar records that just missed the top 15 – as well as a comprehensive rundown of every other album voted for by our team.
15. Khruangbin – A La Sala (Dead Oceans)
Every time I listen to Khruangbin, it feels like I’m diving into a funky version of lo-fi. Their new album, A LA SALA, is as relaxing as it is energizing, proving once again that Laura Lee Ochoa, DJ Johnson, and Mark Speer know how to get a party started when the moment calls for it. Some of my favorite tracks from the album include “Fifteen Fifty-Three,” “May Ninth,” “Ada Jean,” “Todavía Viva,” “Juegos y Nubes,” and “A Love International.” Each song offers its own vibe, from mellow grooves to dance-worthy beats. Although Khruangbin’s songs occasionally feature lyrics, I often find myself so immersed in their instrumentation that the words fade into the background. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but it’s their musicianship that truly hooked me. It’s no wonder they were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist—even if it took nine years for the rest of the world to catch on to what I and many others have long appreciated! – Abdur Rahman
14. St. Vincent – All Born Screaming (Virgin)
I had my first goosebumps moment less than 7 minutes into my first listen to the album…a pretty strong indicator that it’s going to be an impactful piece of art. And boy, is it. Shedding the blonde wig and corresponding character/persona from the “Daddy’s Home” era, on All Born Screaming, Annie Clark gets real and raw exploring themes of life, death and love, and earns herself a handful of Grammy nods while she’s at it. The album’s got industrial guitars, noise and distortion that I’d imagine would make Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross proud, with its glitchy electronic moments reminiscent of Radiohead’s finest. You know how after an intense workout you feel depleted and kind of beat up, but also invigorated, satisfied and somehow more alive?… that’s the experience of listening to this album. Through the lens of St. Vincent on All Born Screaming, the chaos of life sounds artful and elegant. – Amber Miller
13. Idles – Tangk (Partisan Records)
This album is thunderous and fragile all at the same time. Idles open with a sweet piano melody and by track two they are taunting you to jump in the pit. The band ricochets back and forth throughout the album. You’ll also find soft electronic trance and raw punk, and they wear it well. Likewise, frontman Joe Talbot knows how to ride the wave. His poetic lyrics gliding over the lighter tracks and blasting into your bones on the heavier cuts never losing the album’s recurring theme: the thunder and fragility of love. “Love is the thing.” – Wendy Rollins
12. The Dare – What’s Wrong With New York (Republic)
Harrison Patrick Smith (a.k.a. The Dare) has made an album that – he hopes – harkens back to the trashier, devil-may-care NYC attitude of decades ago. The propulsive, clubby vibe is there throughout, and the inevitable LCD Soundsystem comparisons are fair. But, with closer inspection, the songs on What’s Wrong With New York? work outside the dance floor just fine. The uber-catchy “All Night” sounded great on XPN at any time of the day, and I suspect it sounds even better at 1 AM at your friendly neighborhood disco. If his intention was to shake off the shackles of our current situation and get a little down and dirty in the process, then count me in. Smith had a pretty big chore in following up his raunchy viral hit “Girls,” and this 10-song, 27 minute debut album certainly gives it the ol’ college try. – Dan Reed
11. Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes (Polydor Records)
There’s a line in “Stay By My Side” that sums up the experience of listening to Michael Kiwanuka’s fourth album, Small Changes: “No hearts designed to be alone, but yours and mine overflow in rollin’ tides.” There is something tidal about these songs. They float on grooves and meditate on mantra-like lyrics that reflect the constant flux of life, and the feelings of helplessness, hopefulness, grief, and love that arise from the changes we must meet and accept in our day-to-day lives. While this record creates space to process experiences on a deeply personal level, it is also an invitation to share that space with loved ones. The mood, created by subdued jam sessions with longtime collaborators Danger Mouse and Inflo, is that of a gentle evening full of reassuring conversations with close friends. It is acceptance. It is a hug for the soul. – Kristen Kurtis
10. Jack White – No Name (Third Man Records)
Somehow, Jack White did it again. Rock’s Willy Wonka is a true believer in the power of vinyl, and with his latest No Name, he managed to surprise and delight on July 19th at his record stores in Nashville, Detroit, and London when clerks snuck unlabeled copies of the new album into unsuspecting shoppers’ bags – who freaked out when they realized what is was and spread word of the album’s existence online. Without a press windup or any info at all, it was a pre-Spotify thrill to listen to vinyl rips of songs posted by fans, guessing at titles and reveling in what is the most White Stipes-esque of Jack’s solo career – full of snarling riffs, playfully clever lyrics, and the overdriven boogie that brought Jack and Meg straight outta Detroit two decades ago. Combined with a series of pop-up gigs at tiny venues (alas, no Philly show – yet!), White has brought the power and mystery back to rock – at a time it’s needed more than ever. – Jim McGuinn
9. Father John Misty – Mahashmashana (Sub Pop)
If anyone is equipped with the required amount of observational wit, incisive reflection, and melodic bombast to serve as guide for modern life’s unending vision quest, it’s Josh Tillman. Each of the six albums he’s released as Father John Misty has said just the right thing at just the right time, in just the right way. From the “Last Days at Pompeii” anthems of I Love You Honeybear to his post-lockdown emergence as the smoke-tinged song-and-dance man of Chloë and the Next 20th Century, Tillman’s music has always met the moment. On Mahashmashana, possibly his last album of the FJM era, Tillman goes for broke with outsized arrangements and verse after verse of cutting commentary. In just under an hour, the album veers from chugging post-punk (“She Cleans Up”) to plush orchestration (“Mental Health”) to a songwriting tour-de-force (“I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All”). Facing an undoubtedly unforgiving future, Father John Misty acts as both a smirking harbinger and comforting protector. It’s dangerous to go alone. – Eric Schuman
8. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings – Woodland (Acony)
David Rawlings and Gillian Welch released only their second album credited to them as a duo in 2024. Woodland is more down tempo than previous albums from the two songsters, many songs from which were written only after their studio was almost demolished by a tornado in March of 2020. Barely salvaging their master tapes and instruments, the songs speak of a willingness to rebuild anew. From the opening track, “Trainload of empty sky” (perhaps the most lively track on the album) we’re forced to take a different perspective, to see things as not just black or white, good or bad, real or not-real. “Hashtag” and “The Day The Mississippi Died” offer a new take on death and rebirth. And all ten songs are filled with some of the most beautiful harmonies and guitar work available for your ears. – Ian Zolitor
7. Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us (XL)
Start this with the acknowledgement that the full-length album is no longer the preferred mode of musical consumption. That hasn’t stopped anyone from making them. But so few actually hang together as a statement, even others on my list. The full-length with no duds, even rarer. That is why Vampire weekend’s Only God Was Above Us is such a shock and a joy. Yes the album is front-loaded with bangers like “Classical” and “Connection,” but the quality does not fall off through “Mary Boone” and the elegiac “Hope” at the end. The strong songs rise above, but others reveal themselves over time. Musically it hangs together with acoustic piano and stirring string vamps appearing throughout. Kudos to the unexpected stabs of dissonance accenting these highly melodic tunes. Thematically, the album seems to be a return to NYC, the city the band left behind in a West Coast move. Plus a nostalgia for who they were, as a band in their generation. Oh, and a nifty Soul II Soul sample. So happy to see a band started in the 21st century progressing so well. – David Dye
6. The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy (Universal)
Here’s a band that emerged from the pandemic pressure cooker with songs so strong, an image so clear, and a live show so polished that dumbfounded naysayers were quick to accuse them of being “industry plants.” On the contrary, the five people who make up The Last Dinner Party really are that talented in both their writing and musicianship. They have a secret weapon in guitarist Emily Roberts, who is like if Brian May and Baby Spice had, well, a baby, and put her through classical/jazz higher education. You can hear her and fellow guitar player Lizzie Mayland adding their flutes to the literal orchestra that underlines each track on the bold debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy. After the instrumental prelude that serves as an opener, dynamic singer Abigail Morris leads us through 11 more songs that are perfectly sequenced and fearless in their depiction of the human experience. This quintet – rounded out by Georgia Davies (bass) and Aurora Nishevci (keys) – has managed to create a layered and heavy yet uplifting record that is unbelievably good. – Kristen Kurtis
5. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood (ANTI-)
When Waxahtachee, the musical project of Katie Crutchfield, released Saint Cloud in 2020 it was a sign that she was growing out of her indie rock roots and stepping into a world of Americana sounds honed by her heroes, the likes of Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch. So, when Katie teamed up again with producer Brad Cook to create Tigers Blood it should’ve been no surprise that the collection would take her further down that musical path. The results, well, they’re stunning. Crutchfield sings as well as she’s ever sung, her lyrics are poetic and crafted with care & purpose, and there’s an overarching confidence to the entire record that makes it an essential listen. Tigers Blood is an album in the truest sense — just hit play and let it roll. Songs like “Burns out at Midnight” and “Lone Star Lake” will dare you to hit repeat (more than once) but it’s impossible not to be lured again and again by the brilliance of “Right Back To It.” Crutchfield teamed with M.J Lenderman is not just a high mark on Tigers Blood, but for all of 2024. It’s so much fun to play witness to an artist that is so obviously in a wonderfully creative state, just as Katie Crutchfield is right now, and Tigers Blood is evidence of that. – Mike Vasilikos
4. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven (Epitaph)
Look, sometimes you just need to scream. You gotta let it out. That is what originally led Mannequin Pussy frontperson Missy Dabice to the stage: it was one of the only socially acceptable places where you can scream in public. The opening, title track to I Got Heaven starts with one of the most intense tracks of the year, a ferocious, growling track that sees Dabice asking some big (and deliciously obscene) questions. But the band doesn’t keep things at a full boil all the way through, opting for a simmering tension that makes those big moments even more satisfying. Their songwriting is also the most sophisticated it’s ever been, with songs like “I Don’t Know You” and “Sometimes” providing irresistible hooks. For years, Mannequin Pussy’s punk rock has been picking up steam, and with I Got Heaven, they finally broke through. The success of this album also changed what we were allowed to say on the radio, and got The New York Times to allow their full name in print. See? Sometimes screaming works. – Raina Douris
3. The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World (Fiction)
Fans of The Cure finally have the answer to the question: After 16 years since their last album, was it worth the wait? The answer: An overwhelming yes. Songs of A Lost World sounds as emotionally intense and as musically majestic as their best work. Robert Smith’s voice and lyrics convey a striking range of emotions – despair, sorrow, beauty, weariness, vulnerability, even joy, with highlights being “Alone,” “A Fragile Thing,” and “I Can Never Say Goodbye.” After 45 years, Smith and company show no signs of musical infirmity. The wisdom of the elderly rock and roll class shines brilliant and shines on. – Bruce Warren
2. Fontaines D.C. – Romance (XL)
It’s a new era for Dublin rockers Fontaines D.C. on their 2024 album Romance, but don’t get it twisted. This is not a record of soft sentiment or naive optimism; it’s still made by the band that built its rep over the past five years barreling through existential post-punk bangers like “Boys In The Better Land” and “Nabokov.” But as frontman Grian Chatten told NME, “To be creatively understood by too many people feels like flies settling all over your face. Every now and again you have to shake them off, just to see who you are again.” On their fourth album, Fontaines D.C. expands its sonic palette into outer space, incorporating dreamy orchestral pop on “In The Modern World” and gnarly unsettling modern rock on “Starburster.” It sets the stage for Chatten’s deep dissection of personal connections, from shared pain and anxiety (“Here’s The Thing”) to genuine hope and love (“Favourite”). – John Vettese
1. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks (ANTI-)
My favourite lyric of the year is “I got a houseboat docked at the himbo dome” from MJ Lenderman’s song “Wristwatch.” What is a himbo dome? I’m not sure, but the point is – I don’t need to know exactly what it is because I feel what it is. Like the artist he gets compared to perhaps the most, Neil Young, Lenderman has a knack for capturing a feeling. Both through his guitar playing, but also through his lyrics that are filled with strange but familiar images, pop culture references, and little observations that tell a much bigger, more profound story about what is lurking just under the surface of everyday life. It would be enough if MJ Lenderman had just been in the band Wednesday, or guested on Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood (both of which he’s done in the last two years) – but Manning Fireworks is a stunning display of one of this generation’s finest new storytellers and songwriters. – Raina Douris
Bonus Host Picks
Albums we love that just missed the top 15.
Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness (Virgin)
Anybody remember those Loony Toon cartoons with the Tazmanian Devil? Partially because of how they sound and because they hail from neighboring Australia, that image popped into my mind the first time I saw the sonic onslaught of Amyl and the Sniffers at SXSW in 2019. Frontwoman Amy Taylor has the most dynamic stage personality since Iggy and is fronting a power trio not unlike The Stooges. With the release of their third studio album Cartoon Darkness, Taylor ups her game and widens her lyrical worldview, while retaining the sense of wild abandon and fun on 13 fierce songs of determination, self-deprecation, pre-, post-, and actual punk rock, delivered with the Sniffers trademark look-at-us-you-could-do-this-too (but if you could, why aren’t ya?) that makes them one of the best bands to emerge in the past decade. – Jim McGuinn
Angelo Outlaw – Axis of Time (Eraserhood Sound)
One of the finest jazz releases of 2024, Angelo Outlaw’s album Axis Of Time puts a contemporary spin on the classic sound of jazz vibraphone. Backed by the Eraserhood Sound house band, Axis Of Time has all the lush, utopian hallmarks of 70s vibe-heavy albums like Bobby Hutcherson’s Montara and Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity. The album opens with “Free My Mind,” a groovy, mid-tempo jam with an open drum break soaked in reverb. A simple electric piano motif acts as the bassline, as wah-wah guitar, synths, and Outlaw’s vibes flesh out the tune. “Speed Of Light” finds Outlaw and crew pushing into uptempo territory, while “Loose Reality” is a slower, darker, tune with shades of Curtis Mayfield. Slick, soulful, and cosmic, Axis Of Time feels like a bridge between eras. – John Morrison
Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn – Quiet In A World Full of Noise (Merge)
R&B singer/songwriter Dawn Richard and multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn’s 2024 collaboration, Quiet in a World Full of Noise, is an expertly crafted song-cycle that manages to bend with its thoughtful, often pain-ridden lyrics, but never break under its own weight. Rather, the combination of Zahn’s deliberate jazz and new-age inspired piano and atmospherics and Richard repeatedly finding a way to persist and thrive despite everything life has thrown at her, results in art that finds strength in its gentleness. On the title track she sings, “I’ve been lost in plain sight / I done walked dark roads with no light / I’ve been broken too many times / I been put myself together every time // If I have only one choice / I wanna be the quiet in a world full of noise.” While her words have become mantras I’ve listened to repeatedly on my evening walks, Quiet in a World Full of Noise has also become one of my most cherished albums of 2024. – Julian Booker
Orion Sun – Orion (Mom + Pop)
The gentlest beats, the softest melodies, an honest and vulnerable vocal that touches your very soul: each element of Orion, the latest project from Orion Sun, is packed with understated power. Taken as a whole, the New Jersey born multi-instrumentalist / producer / singer-songwriter’s sophomore album is a profound expression of gorgeous pop introspection that addresses personal loss (“When I Was In Love,” “Already Gone”) and self-doubt (“These Days”) through highly relatable lyricism and uplifting arrangements. A song like “Mary Jane” might be a reaction to all the pain in the world circa 2024 – in lesser hands, it could have simply turned out as a celebration of weed as a go-to balm for trying times – but Orion Sun expertly makes you feel that pain and understand the need to numb it, guiding you through the journey of overcoming. And in that moment, it’s clear that Orion is not a record steeped in melancholy, but guarded optimism, one that strives toward a better place for us all. – John Vettese
Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers (Rounder)
It’s fair to say that for Sierra Ferrell making music is truly a way of life. The singer-songwriter spent years hitchhiking across the country and busking for a living. And when you listen to her music, it feels like every stop along the way served as an ingredient to what has become her artistry. To be clear, it’s not an easy way to embark on a musical career, but those travels and hardships have informed her music and storytelling. As she sings on the opening track, “American Dreaming” of her new album Trail of Flowers, ‘every set of curtains opens to the open road’. Ferrell paints the picture of the traveling life of a musician throughout the album; from “Dollar Bill Bar(s)” to the “Cheatham County” Hills in Tennessee. Trail of Flowers is an authentic snapshot of our country through the lens of a songwriter who has actually traveled those roads. – Mike Vasilikos
Further Listening
A rundown of every other 2024 album our hosts voted for.
Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future; Alan Matthews – Anonymous Moods; Andrew Bird – Sunday Morning Put-On; Angélica Garcia – Gemelo; Arooj Aftab – Night Rein; Bastille – &; Been Stellar – Scream from New York, NY; Béla Fleck – Rhapsody in Blue; Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown; Beyonce – Cowboy Carter; Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft; Bodega – Our Brand Could Be Yr Life; Bonny Light Horseman – Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free; Brigitte Calls Me Baby – The Future Is Our Way Out; Brijean – Macro; Cage The Elephant – Neon Pill; Cassandra Jenkins – My Light My Destroyer; Cedric Burnside – Hill Country Love; Charles Lloyd – The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow; Common & Pete Rock – The Auditorium Vol. 1; Cosmic Ground – Melt; Cosmic Guilt – Palace of Depression; Craig Padilla/Zero Ohms – To Sleep on Stellar Winds; Cults – To The Ghosts; Dehd – Poetry; DIIV – Frog In Boiling Water; Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal; Earthroom – Heuristic Environments; English Teacher – This Could Be Texas; Eric Bibb – In The Real World; Erik Wøllo – Solastalgia; Fantastic Cat Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat; Field Lines Cartographer – Portable Reality Generator; Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Dark Rainbow; Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore; Ginger Root – Shinbangumi; Headpiece – Out Of The Loop; Helado Negro – Phasor; Hélène Vogelsinger – Ethereal Dissolution; HIBOU – Something Familiar; Hinds – Viva Hinds; Ian Boddy – Modal Operandi; Ibibio Sound Machine – Pull The Rope; Ifeanyi Elswith – Everything Festyle; Jack Davies and the Bush Chooks – The Nighttime, the wind, the crocodile; Jeremy Dutcher – Motelwolonuwok; Jerron Paxton – Things Done Changed; Jill Haley – Colors Collide; John Zipperer – River And a Dirt Road; Jonathan Bremer & Morton McCoy aka Bremer/McCoy – Kosmos; Jontavious Willis – West Georgia Blues; Jordan VanHemert – Deep in the Soil; Judy Kang – Judy Kang; Justice – Hyperdrama; Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well; Karrin Allyson – a kiss for BRAZIL; Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne – Ooh Yeah!; Kim Gordon – Dream Dollar; Kurious – Magician; L.o.S.O. – Posted; Lake Street Dive – Good Together; Larry & Joe – Manos Panamericanos; Lee Baggert & Blind Dead Timmy – Strings Across The Water; Leif Vollebekk – Revelation; Leon Thomas – MUTT; Lizzie No – Halfsies; Lucy Rose – This Ain’t The Way You Go Out; Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me; Man Man – Carrot On Strings; Martha Spencer – out in LaLa Land; Mary Timony – Untame The Tiger; Merce Lemon – Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild; Metro Boomin & Future – We Don’t Trust You; Middle Kids Faith Crisis Pt 1; Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding – Milton + Esperanza; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God; Norah Jones – Visions; Nubiyan Twist – Find Your Flame; NxWxrries – Why Lawd?; Paris Paloma – Cacophony; Paul Weller – 66; Personal Trainer – Still Willing; Peter Stampfel and the Wildernauts – Wildernauts; Phosphorescent – Revelator; Potatohead People – Eat Your Heart Out; Reef The Lost Cauze – The Triumphant; Samara Joy – Portrait; Schoolboy Q – Blue Lips; Shabaka – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace; Shemekia Copeland – Blame It On Eve; Shovels & Rope – Something Is Working Up Above My Head; Sinkane – We Belong; SiR – Heavy; Sonny Gullage – Go Be Free; Sophos – Sending Signals; Soweto Gospel Choir X Groove Terminator – History Of House; Spectral Forces – The Universe Is Within Who; Steve Roach/Robert Rich – Waves of Now; Talia Schlanger – Grace for Going; The Bug Club – On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System; The Deslondes – Roll It Out; The Magnolia Janes – The Light Years; The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis – self-titled; The Smile – Wall of Eyes; Tim Heidecker – Slipping Away; Toronzo Cannon – Shut Up And Play!; Tray Wellington – Detour to the Moon; Twenty One Pilots – Clancy; Tyler The Creator – CHROMAKOPIA; Vaneese Thomas – Stories In Blue; Veryan – One Universal Breath; Wavy Bagels & DRIVEBY – A Carfull; Wunderhorse – Midas; Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia; Yasmin Williams – Acadia; Yuka Mito – How Deep is the Ocean; Zac Harmon – Floreada’s Boy
