With all of this year’s extracurricular music stories – Taylor Swift taking her unstoppable Eras tour to Europe; Kendrick Lamar burying Drake in the most electric rap beef in years – it's easy to forget that some artists have been putting out records too. But they have, and there are already many strong contenders for the best albums of 2024. Veterans in pop (Charli XCX), indie (Vampire Weekend) and grime (Ghetts) have released some of the best work of their careers. Debuts from The Last Dinner Party and Fabiana Palladino show there's ample new talent around too.
And there’s plenty more to come. Sabrina Carpenter is following up her smash singles with an album; Jamie xx has got a long-awaited follow-up to In Colour; and the late hyperpop producer Sophie is getting a full-length posthumous release. But no, we don’t know when Frank Ocean – or indeed Rihanna – will ever get around to dropping another record.
Here are the best albums of the 2024 (so far), as well as everything else that’s coming this year.
Kali Uchis – Orquídeas (12 January)
Another day, another stylistic fever-dream from our favourite Colombian-American pop princess, Kali Uchis. Orquídeas is Uchis’ fourth album, following last year’s Red Moon in Venus, and includes guest features from Peso Pluma, El Alfa, JT, Karol G and Rauw Alejandro. The vibe of the video for “Muñekita” is absolutely unmatched, with Uchis rolling around with rapper JT in a Barbie-pink Mustang, two furry pink dice dangling from the rearview mirror, glistening diamond cross hanging around her neck. The rest of the album is a heady cocktail of sultry reggaeton and sparkling synthpop that’s just the thing for a hot summer – or to lift the mood of a cloudy one.
The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy (2 February)
“And you can hold me like he held her / And I will fuck you like nothing matters,” so sings Abigail Morris on the rich and biting, glam-rock track “Nothing Matters” by The Last Dinner Party – a band who sit somewhere between Kate Bush and Arcade Fire, but with a gothic edge. By now, you’ve probably heard of them, either at an actual dinner party or online among the “are they an industry plant?” brigade. Either way, their debut album Prelude to Ecstasy, which came out in February, is a bright, sparkling introduction to an indie-adjacent group who know how to craft an earworm of a pop tune.
Serpentwithfeet – Grip (16 February)
Experimental Baltimore R&B artist Serpentwithfeet’s third album, Grip, sounds like nothing he’s come out with before. On “Damn Gloves”, which features Ty Dolla $ign and Yanga YaYa, the silky-voiced singer leans away from the gospel-inflected pop gems of earlier years and further into clubbier, bass-heavy territory. The album’s beats bang harder than those on its predecessors, but it isn’t at the expense of the songwriting, which shines on some of Serpentwithfeet’s most passionate and overtly sexual songs to date.
Ghetts – On Purpose, with Purpose (23 February)
UK rap might be filled with young stars like Dave and Central Cee right now, but don’t sleep on the veterans of the scene. Grime legend Ghetts released his fourth studio album in February, On Purpose, With Purpose, presenting us with a typically well-crafted collection of bangers (“Mount Rushmore”, with excellent features from Wretch 32 and Kano) and raw narrative tracks like “Street Politics” and “Jonah’s Safety”. It’s crammed with intricate rhymes and an arresting vibe of restrained menace. “I just rap about what’s authentic to me, and what was authentic to me at 21 ain’t authentic to me in my late 30s,” the rapper told GQ earlier this year, speaking about an album that feels socially conscious and sounds fully grown.
Bleachers – Bleachers (8 March)
New Jersey mega producer Jack Antonoff was literally everywhere last year. From his work on 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd and Rob Grant’s Lost at Sea, Antonoff was behind the scenes of some of 2023’s most colossal pop records, earning him yet another Grammy Award for production in January. Earlier this year, however, he stepped up to the microphone himself for his band Bleachers’ self-titled fourth album. It’s a bombastic guitar record, with wry, winking lyrics and smatterings of 1980s saxophone. Come for the Lana Del Rey guest feature (in “Alma Mater”) and stay for all the Bruce Springsteen-leaning rock tracks.
Fabiana Palladino – Fabiana Palladino (5 April)
Singer-songwriter and former session musician Fabiana Palladino has impeccable credentials. Her self-titled debut album is released by the storied independent label XL Recordings, with contributors that include soulman-of mystery Jai Paul – who once cold emailed to encourage her to take her own songwriting more seriously – and her father, the legendary bassist Pino Palladino. The graceful, mournful R&B of Jai Paul collab “I Care” is a highlight, but the rest of the record is rock-solid too, including “Forever”, its stunning closer.
Khruangbin – A la Sala (5 April)
A la Sala translates as “to the living room”, which isn’t bad advice for this album: the Texas trio’s groovy, psychedelic sound is perfect for at-home discos. This, their fifth album, continues the party. “A Love International” has a propulsive bassline, a flickering, echoing guitar, and a wacky music video where a bunch of kids square up to each other on a raft off a beach. The rest of the record keeps up that impeccable vibe, with the occasional detour into dreamy introspection on songs like “May Ninth”.
Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us (5 April)
Vampire Weekend are indie’s great survivors. Not only did they release some of the best work of that genre’s golden era, but they’ve kept up the same quality since. Their fifth album is Only God Was Above Us, which follows the fun but slightly baggy Father of the Bride in 2019. OGWAU is darker and more compressed, but still showcases delightfully weird arrangements on songs like “Connect” and “The Surfer”. And, of course, the songwriting is world-class. “Mary Boone”, named, in true Vampire Weekend style, after a disgraced art dealer, is is probably one of 2024’s best tracks.
Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me (12 April)
If an album could smell like pine trees, hot summer nights and skinny dipping in a lake, then Maggie Rogers’ third album, Don’t Forget Me, is it. This one came out on the same day as Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, but don’t let that distract you from another artist with honey-sweet vocal chords and heartstopping lyrical brilliance. Rogers has the ability to make you feel nostalgic for memories that you didn’t even know you had, and grieve for lovers you don't even remember. “Love me ’til your next somebody / Oh, and promise me that when it’s time to leave, don’t forget me,” she sings on “Don’t Forget Me”. Ouch.
A.G. Cook – Britpop (10 May)
The Brat extended universe birthed another great album this year: Britpop, the third full-length release of producer and Charli XCX collaborator A. G. Cook. It’s a bit looser than Charli’s album – it’s nearly 100 minutes long, in fact – and goes deeper down experimental pop rabbit holes. But it’s also full of great melodies and stunning arrangements, plus an appearance by XCX herself on the title track. If you’ve played “360” to death, this is where to go next.
Charli XCX – Brat (7 June)
Charli XCX’s sixth album, Brat, has every other pop star green with envy – specifically, the shade of radioactive lime green that plasters the album cover. “Von Dutch” is the dancefloor-ready first single that’s so pumped up it almost sounds unhinged, in the best way possible. “360” is another stone-cold banger, as are “Mean Girls”, “Rewind” – basically every track, in fact. Charli's Brat summer is here and everyone is bumpin'.
Peggy Gou – I Hear You (7 June)
Peggy Gou has, in recent years, seemingly been on the decks at every club and festival worth going to. But the South Korean musician finally found enough time in her globetrotting schedule to put out her debut album this year, and it was worth the wait. It’s terse (40 minutes) and light on collabs (with only Lenny Kravitz and Villano Antillano) – instead, the focus is fun, uncomplicated dance bangers, like “Lobster Telephone” and the inescapable “(It Goes Like) Nanana”.
James Blake and Lil Yachty – Bad Cameo (28 June)
As collaborative albums go, this is a screeching left turn – or is it? Though James Blake and Lil Yachty’s sounds might seem quite different, both artists are known for their musical adventurousness: Blake has worked with rappers like Travis Scott and Andre 3000 on previous releases, while Yachty’s last album, Let’s Start Here., was a full-blown psychedelic opus. On Bad Cameo, the two manage to gel: the combination of Blake’s sad-boy electronics and Yachty’s sad-robot Autotuned vocals makes for one of the year’s most unlikely but most engaging albums.
JPEGMafia – I Lay Down My Life for You (1 August)
JPEGMafia makes some of the weirdest rap out there, but it still bangs. His latest album, I Lay Down My Life for You, turns up to 11 at points, with beats (and the odd crunchy guitar riff) that could blow your speakers. But there are some meditative, melodic moments here too, particularly towards the end – on “Either On or Off the Drugs”, JPEGMafia swaps avant-garde tendencies for a gleaming soul sample and an elastic flow. Excellent features from Vince Staples and Denzel Curry round out one of their year’s most interesting hip-hop releases so far.
Post Malone – F-1 Trillion (16 August)
“The name of the new Post Malone albums is F1000000000000.” Hiring a big billboard in Nashville was a typically no-nonsense way for the rapper-slash-crooner to announce his next project, also known as F-1 Trillion. Given the country flavour of Post Malone’s recent music – including “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen and “Pour Me a Drink” with Blake Shelton – we can expect more twang to come.
Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet (23 August)
Not content with claiming the song of the summer (“Espresso”), or couple of the summer in collaboration with Barry Keoghan, Sabrina Carpenter is dropping a full-length album, her sixth, at the end of the August. “Espresso” will be on there, as will the follow-up smash, “Please Please Please” – and probably a whole bunch of other laster-focused bops we’ll be playing well into the autumn.
A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb (30 August)
On his Kendrick-focused diss song “Family Matters”, Drake also took a pot shot at A$AP Rocky’s lack of musical output: “I ain’t even know you rapped still / Cause they only talking ‘bout your fit again.” There is, of course, nothing wrong with Rocky making headlines for great outfits – but he’s now got his first album since 2018 on the way. One early single, the Pharrell collab “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)”, shows his swaggy, lurching flow and excellent taste in beats hasn’t gone stale in the meantime.
Jon Hopkins – RITUAL (30 August)
Electronic producer Jon Hopkins, who’s no stranger to crafting epic techno tracks, is currently on an extended exploration of the more ambient side of his palette. His last album, 2021’s Music for Psychedelic Therapy, drew inspiration from his own therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs – and RITUAL, its follow-up, look like it’ll have a similar vibe. The album is built around a single extended song split into eight tracks; he says “it feels like a tool, maybe even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world”.
Nala Sinephro – Endlessness (6 September)
To most people, the harp might seem like a dusty piece of hardware. Not to Nala Sinephro, a Caribbean-Belgian harpist who combines the instrument with keyboards, synthesisers, saxophones and more to conjure up a sound part classical, part jazz and part electronic. Her debut album, 2021’s Space 1.8, was a stunning, ambient-leaning work – and the followup, Endlessness, is on the way. “Continuum 1”, the first single, is lush and blissful, with muted keyboard and a winding saxophone line evoking the floating astronaut on the album cover.
Floating Points – Cascade (13 September)
Floating Points (aka Sam Shepard) is a producer of many talents. His last album, 2021’s Promises, was an astral, astounding collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, who passed away in 2022. Earlier this year, Shepard scored a ballet. But his next full-length, Cascade, is shaping up to be more club-focused: the throbbing synthesisers and no-nonsense drums of “Key103” show a man itching to get back into the DJ booth.
Jamie xx – In Waves – (20 September)
Though legendary indie trio the XX haven’t released a group album since 2019, they’ve kept busy with solo work: Oliver Sims released his debut Hideous Bastard in 2022, and Romy put out hers, Mid Air, last year. Now it’s the turn of producer Jamie XX to follow up In Colour, his glorious 2016 album. In Waves, out this September, will be laser-focused on the dancefloor, if the singles released so far are anything to go on. “Baddy On The Floor”, a pumping track with Honey Dijon driven by hectic horns and piano, is one guaranteed highlight.
Sophie – Sophie (27 September)
Hyperpop pioneer Sophie died in a tragic accidental fall in Athens in 2021, having only released one studio album. Now her family have helped overseen a posthumous, self-titled work. The brilliant first single “Reason Why”, featuring Kim Petras and BC Kingdom, is one of the few pieces of Sophie’s music that has been released since her death. Her influence remains strong, especially in the work of collaborator Charli XCX.
Lana Del Rey – Lasso (September)
The gods have spoken and Lana Del Rey, one of our defining pop stars, is releasing an entire album of country songs. It’s called Lasso (great title), and there isn’t yet a concrete drop date beyond some time in September – but her recent release “Tough”, on which the Migos rapper Quavo also gets his twang on, shows that we should all be keeping our eyes (and ears) peeled. The album was made over the last four years in Alabama, Nashville and Mississippi, and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff will be back on board too.
Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching (27 September)
Last year, the London quintet Ezra Collective became the first jazz group to win the Mercury Prize since it was established in 1992. Not resting on their laurels, they’re following up the album that bagged them the award – 2022’s Where I’m Meant to Be – with Dance, No One’s Watching, out this September. The first single, “Ajala”, lives up to the album’s title with an infectious drumbeat.
Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat (25 October)
Marling’s last album, the wonderful Songs for Our Daughter, came out slap bang in the middle of the pandemic in April 2020, and the title track was written as a letter to a fictional daughter. Three years later, Marling gave birth to a real one, and now she’s got a new album about her on the way too. “I was just bouncing a BabyBjörn and playing guitar all day,” she recently told The Guardian. “It was all written looking her in the eye.” Expect immaculate but heartbreaking folky vibes.
