The 20 best albums of 2024 so far
Grace Cummings, Emma Donovan, The Smile, and Beyoncé have released some of the best albums of this year so far. (Supplied: Riot House Publicity, Ian Laidlaw, Frank Lebon, Sony Music / ABC Enterainment: Luke Tribe)
If you're one of those people who gets to the end of the year and kicks yourself for not adhering to your New Year's Resolution to listen to more new music, you are not alone.
People are creating and releasing more music than ever these days, and it feels like fans and pundits are as quick moving on from their latest obsession as they are to adopt it.
So, it can be helpful to take stock halfway through the year. What's been released? What slipped under our radar? What deserves a second chance?
The team here at Double J listen to a lot of music and have strong opinions about it. After much deliberation, we've put together a list of 20 records released this year worth your time and attention.
Of course there's only so much we can cover, and we weren't able to hear certain records in time for deadline, but thankfully we'll be back in a few months with a much broader list.
For now, try out a few of the albums below. We promise there's something for almost everybody.
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Cowboy Carter is not just one of the greatest albums of the year, but perhaps one of the greatest albums ever. Beyoncé uses this album to reclaim space for Black artists and to highlight the often-overlooked contributions of Black musicians to country music.
Its political, cultural and historical notations are fused within a kaleidoscope of genres — Americana, roots music, contemporary soul, rock and hip hop.
There are samples from The Beatles, Linda Martell, The Beach Boys while she also shines a light on emerging Black artists like Shaboozey, Tanner Adell and Rhiannon Giddens.
Each song is delivered with such deeply considered intention, yet again proving why Beyoncé is the undisputed and illuminating leader of the modern zeitgeist.
Cowboy Carter sees her dare to venture into the unknown and potentially polarise audiences in pursuit of change. It's a potential communion for the masses, should they wish to let their preconceptions down and jive to a different sound. — Kath Devaney
Crowded House – Gravity Stairs
Gravity Stairs — Neil Finn's eighth record with the world-conquering Crowded House — is testament to the timeless quality of his songwriting.
It's also a clear indication that the newest incarnation of this iconic band is gelling beautifully. They're a great advertisement for nepotism, as the frontman's sons Liam and Elroy continue to prove their musical and creative value across the new album.
Finn's songs remain the hero, though. When you hear him lightly channel Bowie on 'Some Greater Plan (for Claire)', deliver vintage melodies on 'All That I Can Ever Own', and lock in with his family and friends on the breezy chorus to 'Oh Hi', you'll be so glad that the man has never chosen to rest on his laurels.
Tempting as it may be to load up your playlist with vintage Crowded House classics, a few spins of Gravity Stairs will give you an even deeper appreciation for one of the all-time great bands. — Dan Condon
Grace Cummings – Ramona
This album needs a warning so that listeners don't drown in Grace Cummings's intoxicating voice. Her control of her instrument on this, her third album, is staggering, especially in her powerful lower register.
She can sound as smooth as heavy silk one minute, then when she takes it up to the next level, she sounds like someone who's lived a thousand lives, including perhaps Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and Renee Geyer's lives, and also perhaps the life of a well-loved cello.
Ramona allows Cummings to shine throughout every single track. It's an intense journey, and I love it. I love hearing someone who is the music. Grace is the music.
Grace needs to sing the next Bond theme. Grace needs to play the part of Wonder Woman in the next film, and sing these songs in it. This wondrous woman is the real deal. This album is proof of that. — Dylan Lewis
Emma Donovan – Til My Song Is Done
From the old-school flavour of the record sleeve through to the mix of vintage sounds within, Emma Donovan's first proper solo album feels like discovering a gem from your parents' record collection.
Fittingly, the powerhouse vocalist has described Til My Song Is Done as an ode to her family, reconnecting with the country, gospel, and bluegrass sounds of her youth after a decade-long, award-winning run with The Putbacks.
There's some of that familiar soul-funk fire here, particularly on strutting protest song 'Blak Nation', but Donovan's aching, expressive voice also works a treat among twangy Americana, boot-scootin' rock, and delicate, soulful ballads.
Liz Stringer shows up to match her vocal muscle on 'Change Is Coming', and Paul Kelly plays support on the swaying country lullaby 'Sing You Over' (dedicated to Donovan's late mother and Uncle Archie Roach).
Til My Song Is Done is a moving dedication to Country, community, and what this proud Gumbayngirr, Dhungutti and Tamatji woman has always excelled at: showing up and singing up. — Al Newstead
Mia Dyson – Tender Heart
The story behind this album is mind-blowing. A minor earthquake in Mia Dyson's adopted home of L.A. triggered an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia. Her heart stopped and, for a moment, she was gone. Thankfully, her husband was able to resuscitate her before Dyson was rushed to hospital. It was a terrifyingly close call that elicited a renewed appreciation for life.
Tender Heart gets into the real guts of it all — depression, death, grief, pain, gratitude, hope and love — all wrapped up in shimmering guitars, propulsive drums, and Dyson's rich vocals.
There are so many stand-outs; 'Dare' sounds like a direct response to Dyson's near-death experience, but was actually written before the incident. 'Golden Light' has gorgeous strings, and on 'Thank You', Dyson totally nails it, singing, 'Thank you. I love you. Forgive me. I forgive you'.
A beautiful reminder that time is short and none of us know what's around the corner. — Gab Burke
Sierra Ferrell – Trail Of Flowers
Sierra Ferrell is a West Virginian mountain-folk mastermind who approaches the Americana genre with a wild boldness and confidence that stretches its boundaries.
Trail of Flowers has all the sonic comfort of the ol'-timey Americana sound, without any of its conservatism. She is an epic performer with a cinematic drama to everything she touches: her incredible sense of the visual, full of scattered flowers and bold costuming, translates into the sound.
The record is embedded deep in the world of twangy tones, but the journey jumps from the wide-eyed ballad of 'American Dreaming' to the driving pulse of 'Fox Hunt', through moments of smoky jazz to Western swing. The Trail of Flowers might be the best road trip you've ever taken. — Henry Wagons
Four Tet – Three
The comfort zone. You don't ever want to get stuck there, but boy is it a nice spot to visit — especially when you really need it. A person who loves you, a friend that understands. A hug from family, a dog that sits on your feet. A food that settles your nerves, an old sitcom under a familiar blanket.
I've been listening to Four Tet's music for over 25 years, it has soundtracked moments in my life both menial and cosmic. I do the dishes listening to Four Tet. I hang out the washing. I watch the stars listening to Four Tet. I watch my daughters' faces grow, their minds and hearts too.
What timing to have this new album just when I need it, as one chapter closes and a new one starts. It's all about the sound of course, so full of wonder and warmth, but the wistful song titles also help: 'Loved'. 'Gliding Through Everything'. 'Daydream Repeat'. 'I'll Miss The System Here' (from the expanded edition, Three+).
I put on Three+ and I feel love. I feel loved. I'll miss the system here. — Tim Shiel
Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
We rarely get to hear from the Portishead vocalist, but Beth Gibbons' long-awaited solo album proves, once again, she's always worth the wait.
Lives Outgrown showcases her singular voice — mysterious, devastatingly poignant and strangely comforting all at once — in spellbinding, meticulously crafted arrangements.
There are echoes of her previous achievements (the brassy 'Reaching Out') but also witchy folk ('Beyond The Sun'), sinister, sweltering missives ('Rewind') and pastoral beauty ('Whispering Love').
A decade in the making, these 10 songs are fixated with the passage of time, mortality and "lots of goodbyes".
That perspective manifests in shapeshifting music that is occasionally challenging but often beautiful, as it charts the extremes of grief and ecstasy. Sometimes, in the case of stand-out 'Floating on a Moment', within the one song.
Children's voices join Gibbons, transforming existential melancholy into a life-affirming reminder that 'All we have is here and now'.
It's a cliché, but one that bears repeating coming from a one-of-a-kind artist like Gibbons: Life is precious. So is this album. — Al Newstead
Justice – Hyperdrama
This album is a wild ride.
Some songs, like 'Neverender', featuring Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame, feel like they should be enjoyed while splayed out on a super yacht, icy beverage with tiny umbrella in hand. Then it's dark, dank and sweaty — like I'm moving through the hallways of a seedy nightclub, each room more thumping than the last.
It's an album made for a sweaty summer and everything you need from a Justice record. It's simultaneously playful and fun, while also being full of some very serious and seriously great instrumentation and cleverly using production techniques to create and ease tension.
'Neverender' has this bouncy push and pull, shifting the beats through your body, then, in 'Muscle Memory', the moments of complete silence feel like a sharp breath.
The collaborations really lift the album up to another level; Thundercat and Miguel's vocals fit just so perfectly into this beat-heavy album without feeling like add-on features. But it's the silky voice of Australia's own Parker that really seals the deal on this very fun, very addictive record. — Liza Perkovic
KAYTRANADA — TIMELESS
KAYTRANADA's long-awaited third album plays out like a seamless hour-long soundtrack to the best night of your life.
Some of the best voices in the business have leapt at the chance to jump on the Canadian producer's new project, resulting in an enviably cool collection of soulful electro and R&B that builds beautifully on his already impressive catalogue.
Childish Gambino adds a little star power on 'Witchy', Tinashe's syncopated vocal works brilliantly with the various sonic treats KAYTRA slips into the mix on 'More Than a Little Bit', while the steely-yet-alluring PinkPantheress brings the whole affair into the current day on 'Snap My Finger'. There are shades of P-Funk in 'Weird', slinky neo-soul in 'Still', and early-00s-aping R&B on 'Video'.
There's value in just about every individual song on TIMELESS, but the record is altogether more exciting when heard in its entirety. KAYTRANADA is a master of mood and flow, and this record is the best example of his particular style of craftsmanship yet. — Dan Condon
Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future
It's an incredible gift to be able to transport a listener so wholly, while connecting them to a tangible world you can see, smell, touch, and feel. Adrianne Lenker does this with every album, and her latest solo work is no different.
Recorded straight to tape, it captures that exact moment, while reminding us of her extraordinary vocal talent and ability to corral a beautiful bunch of collaborators.
That authenticity is also tied to specificity, and if she isn't destroying you in the opening song where she sings of a fateful vet trip then I ask, have you even a pulse?
Her ability to walk the tightrope of raw, minimal songcraft and songs that feel like a family band jam is what sustains her warmth and heart as a songwriter. And the way she can slay with a slight chord change has me gasping.
We are so lucky to be living in the time of Adrianne Lenker. — Zan Rowe
Logic1000 – Mother
Not all dance music is made for the dance floor. We're not all equipped with the time, able bodies, energy, or the desire to lose ourselves in a sea of sweaty bodies and pounding beats.
On the debut album from Logic1000 — real name Samantha Poulter — the Sydney-born, Berlin-based producer and DJ has served up an album bursting with influences: from 90s house, to reggaeton, UK garage, pop, soul and the sound of folks like Caribou and Four Tet.
Mother is stunning in its softness. Opener 'From Within' draws you in with a hypnotic beat and dirty bassline, there's the pop hooks of 'Promises' and 'Self To Blame' and the sass of 'Saint Rex', all tinted with nostalgia and melancholy.
Knowing Poulter made this record after becoming a mother for the first time has drawn me in deeper as I've navigated my own way through new motherhood.
In stolen moments alone, I've put my headphones on, cranked the volume, and disappeared into a dancefloor daydream, remembering a person I used to be and finding a new rhythm. — Caitlin Nienaber
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well
On 2021's Star-Crossed, Kacey Musgraves delivered a post-divorce album under the influence of magic mushrooms.
On her sixth LP, Deeper Well, the country crossover star is off the mushies — and the weed too, for that matter — and searching for a more sustainable source of joy. She finds this in sober self-care and new-age mysticism, sprinkling this sparkling, stripped-back set with references to moon bathing, jade crystals, and tarot readings.
Across 14 tracks, the Nashville star ponders new love, the afterlife, free will and intelligent design, big-picture topics brought down to size by delicate, unfussy arrangements that throwback to classic Laurel Canyon folk-pop, setting Musgraves' crystalline vocals against twinkling keys, gentle guitars and plucked banjos.
But don't mistake these cosmic meditations on life and death for skin-deep woo-woo: in grounding Deeper Well in relatable real-world experience, Kacey Musgraves' Saturn return is as earthed as anything in her catalogue. — Sam Wicks
Jordan Rakei – The Loop
Waikato bred, Meanjin/Brisbane fed Jordan Rakei has long been one of the premiere voices to come out of this part of the world. Many projects deep, Jordan just now feels like he is really kicking into gear on his fifth album, The Loop, which is a scary thought.
Maybe it's age and experience that has allowed Jordan to really exert just the right amount of energy and pinpoint exactly what he wants to say? Maybe it's the planets aligning?
We knew the type of journey we were about to embark on when he released first single 'Flowers'; snappy drums, soul-touching pianos, and, of course, those harmonies. Once he followed up with the anthemic 'Freedom', we knew this album was going to be one of the best for 2024.
If you're after melancholy vibrations, 'State of Mind' and 'Hopes and Dreams' is for you. If you're looking to get the blood flowing, then give 'Friend or Foe' and 'Cages' a spin. Regardless of the mood you're in, you'll find something that'll suit it on The Loop. Just like the title suggests, play it over and over and over. — Hau Latukefu
Regurgitator – Invader
Thirty years into Regurgitator's career, it's fair to say most fans like their old stuff better than their new stuff. But the Brisbane trio's 10th album stands shoulder-to-shoulder with their earlier, highly regarded work.
Invader finds a renewed Regurgitator back to doing what they do best: fun, genre-hopping tunes with subversive edges.
'Cocaine Runaway' is pitch-perfect 80s kitsch, Peaches punches up 'This Is Not A Pop Song', while 'Wrong People' (essentially the Ramones re-imagining Pulp's 'Common People') returns to the band's punk rock roots.
They also tap into contemporary hip hop: Bundjalung rapper JK-47 shines on 'Dirty Old Men' while Quan Yeomans himself spits bars over the bombastic title track and symphony-sampling trap joint 'Epic'.
Invader excels when dancing on the fine dividing line between satire and sincerity. Who'd think to put an oddball titled 'Pee Pee Man' next to a pop-rap protest against colonialism? The Gurge, that's who! And we love them for it. — Al Newstead
The Smile – Wall Of Eyes
Each song on The Smile's second album Wall of Eyes is packed with ideas, constantly surprising us with cinematic orchestration, woozy synths, and Tom Skinner's endlessly creative and disciplined drumming gluing everything together. A change in producer and a shift to Abbey Road Studios has yielded a more focused and organic flow within the songs and across the record.
'Teleharmonic' and 'Under our Pillows' have unquenchable grooves and unsettling atmospheres. The title track and the widescreen car-crash epic 'Bending Hectic' start evenly enough, before their strings create a sense of vertigo.
Even the album's undeniable highlight, the Beatles-esque pandemic lament to cronyism 'Friend of a Friend', is torn apart by radio transmissions, lopsided horns, and intrusive echoes. It sounds fully sick, in every sense of the phrase.
Radiohead's DNA remains strong, but this fascinating trio are moving forward at rapid pace. — Ryan Egan
Vince Staples – Dark Times
Vince Staples understands his place in the current music scene. "I'm obviously not an A-tier artist… no one's coming to me for a party record, so I don't feel those pressures," he recently told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. Dark Times sees him improving upon the macabre introspection that fans expect from his decade-long career.
On 'Government Cheese,' he raps, 'Everybody gotta die, only question is it hell or in the sky?' before the lead synth from 'Blue Suede,' his debut 2014 single, kicks in. 'Little Homies' sounds like an homage to the dancier cuts from one of Staples' closest collaborators, the late great Mac Miller. 'Radio' reflects on his youth, listening to California radio DJs and the music of his childhood.
The album feels like a state of the union, with Vince taking stock of where he's been and hinting at where he's going. Given his consistency thus far, we can no doubt expect another decade of great albums from one of music's strongest pens. — James Brennan
Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us
Frankly, it's almost rude to other bands how good Vampire Weekend still sound after nearly 20 years. If this was cycling, someone would accuse them of doping. But no, their fifth album, Only God Was Above Us, is just that good.
It's everything you love about them: sunshiny Afropop, preppy little guitar lines and classy chamber pop colliding to create one of indie rock's most recognisable sounds. But it's more than that. It's grittier, more honest and more self-reflective than we've heard from them before.
There's clarity in hindsight and, on Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend use it to show us who they are and how they've grown. — Stephen Goodhew
Waxahatchee – Tiger's Blood
Katie Crutchfield again proves she is one of modern Americana's most endearing figures on Tiger's Blood, her sixth album as Waxahatchee, as her distinct voice cuts through her band's stunning instrumentation in a way that puts her evocative storytelling front and centre.
While the band makes a racket on songs like 'Bored', most songs here have an abundance of space. Crutchfield says a lot with few words on songs like 'Ice Cold' and 'Right Back To It', a collaboration with fledgling indie star MJ Lenderman and the album's highlight, and there's a general restraint to these songs that makes them feel often wistful and always considered.
If you're too busy luxuriating in those weeping guitars to pay attention to her lyrics, you'll find yourself catching short, beautiful lines of prose here and there, pulling focus from her expansive music to her ultra-personal reflections.
Crutchfield as both singer and songwriter is one of the true treasures of modern music, and to see her thrive album after album is a privilege. — Dan Condon
Yard Act – Where's My Utopia
Yard Act's second album is a riot of ideas, rhythms, samples, witty lyrics, and catchy hooks that sees the Leeds band consciously break away from the 'post punk' tag of their excellent first album The Overload.
It's an infectiously fun, clever record, with hip hop, disco and dance influences and tons of musical confidence to experiment, honed by relentless touring. Frontman James Smith is a singular talent, a self-deprecating, observant and often hilarious storyteller with a dry wit.
On 'We Make Hits', he gives voice to the contradictions of his new-found fame, 'Dream Job' is a 70s-flavoured disco punk anthem for the dance floor, and 'Down by the Stream' is honest and reflective.
Recruiting producer Remi Kabata Jr from Gorillaz was an inspired move in evolving their sound. There's still lots of jagged guitars and elastic basslines, but the additional layered instrumentation suits them. It's a brilliant leap forward from a band with a lot more to give. — Karen Leng
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