With the end of 2024 drawing near, many music artists have released numerous full-length albums throughout the year. As an avid music listener, I couldn’t help but rank every recent album from my favorite artists, and along the way, I have also discovered new artists and genres of music. While I am not an album critic by any means, nor am I an expert when it comes to music and production, I tried ranking these albums based on their cohesion while factoring in my music taste. With that said, not only will I be sharing my top five favorite albums of 2024, but I will be highlighting some of my favorite music artists as well!
5. troubleshooting by xdinary heroes
For those unfamiliar with K-rock, let me introduce you to my favorite South Korean rock band of all time, Xdinary Heroes. They released their first single, “Happy Death Day,” in December 2021, which showcased their diverse talent with a unique concept. Since then, their music has improved immensely and they have grown extensively as musicians and songwriters. Then, in April of this year, they released their first full-length album, Troubleshooting.
What makes their music so appealing is that their songs immediately hook you in from the first listen, and when I heard this album for the first time, I was surprised to find that there was not a song I disliked. I usually skip a few songs whenever I listen to full-length albums, but that was not the case for Troubleshooting, even after numerous listens. The album’s songs range from upbeat and fun tunes like “No Matter” and “Money on My Mind,” to deep and emotional ballads like “Dreaming Girl,” which includes some of my favorite lyrics of all time. Translated from Korean, the chorus of “Dreaming Girl” says, “I believe you’ll overcome everything, a dreaming girl who is too beautiful to be faded. Wipe your tears and rest easy. Have a sweet dream for tonight.” Their message of perseverance and chasing after your dreams helped me and many other fans find motivation through this ballad, and I cannot help but fixate on how passionately they sing this song during concerts and live performances.
If you listen to K-pop or Rock music, I highly recommend you check out Xdinary Heroes, as their discography comprises both genres. I am a huge fan of their music, and no, I’m not just saying that because the members look like real-life anime characters. The band is insanely underrated despite their amazing talent and work ethic, and if you give their music a chance, you will realize why I love them so much!
4. requiem by keshi
Keshi’s sophomore album, Requiem, includes upbeat and mellow tunes written about his relationship with his partner, the people he works with, and his art. In an interview with Jessica Bui from BuzzFeed, Keshi was asked what Requiem is about. He replied, “Requiem itself, the title of the album and the title track of it, is about loss, and that’s something that I’ve wrangled with the past couple of years.” He also said, “Requiem is just such a beautiful sounding word in general — in classical music, it’s like the song that you play at someone’s funeral. So I’d written a lot of songs about that experience, but none quite as poignant as ‘Requiem’ itself.”
What I love about how Requiem was structured is that it transitions from a seemingly romantic and positive album to songs describing loss and the realization of mortality towards the end. This shift gradually occurs as you listen to the album in its entirety. Despite the tonal differences in the first and second half, Requiem feels very fluent as you’re taken on a journey through Keshi’s mind. For example, let’s look at the first and last tracks of the album: “Amen” and “Id.” The intro to Keshi’s second album is a one-minute track of him singing a verse with nearly identical lyrics to the last track on the album, “Id.” In “Amen,” one of the lyrics is, “I’ve been playing God in arenas,” but in “Id,” those lyrics are changed to, “I’ve been playing God, but I’m bleeding.” These lyrical changes likely represent Keshi’s changed mindset from a certain point in his life, until now.
Even if you disregard the lyrics and prefer listening to music for the vibes, Requiem has multiple catchy songs, some of my favorites being “Say” and “Like That.” However, the album’s songs sound much better collectively, making Requiem work remarkably well overall.
3. charm by clairo
Building onto her trademark bedroom pop sound, Clairo’s third album, Charm, comprises a diverse range of instrumentals coupled with mature lyrics exploring complex relationships and self-discovery. Although the album’s title may seem straightforward at first, the word Charm poses a double meaning. While it refers to the popular saying, “third time’s the charm,” she dives deeper into the meaning of Charm during an interview with Amanda Petrusich. She stated, “I came to the conclusion that, to me, charm is the moment when two people meet, and they have separate life experiences, all their own stories and feelings, and then they tell each other the first layer. ‘I’m from blank, and I do blank.’ There’s this beautiful haze and buzz when you’re still imagining the rest of it.” As I listened to this album more and more, it became clear to me why she named her album after this feeling of being charmed. It wasn’t only a play on words; it was because of the album’s innate nature of relationship exploration.
Like Keshi’s sophomore album, Charm takes you on a journey from start to finish as you listen to the songs and read their lyrics. The album’s beginning details the start of a romantic relationship, with the songs “Nomad” and “Sexy to Someone” describing the feeling of yearning and desiring another person. It transitions into songs like “Juna” towards the middle of the album, which details having such a deep connection with someone that everything feels natural. The album ends with the song “Pier 4”, which is very mellow and jaded, contrasting with “Juna”. “Pier 4” describes the end of the dating process when the relationship doesn’t work out, while also using imagery to describe the feeling of loneliness.
I read and watched many interviews of Clairo discussing her third album, and I couldn’t help but notice a distinct pattern in which she wanted her songs to sound “weird”. Leon Michels, her producer, stated this when he was interviewed by Amanda Petrusich. He said, “There was a recurring theme throughout the recording process where Claire would say, ‘It’s not weird enough.'” To me, that makes her music so unique and distinct, in terms of production. This mindset is what I love so much about Clairo, and it has left many of her fans, including me, extremely charmed.
2. right place, wrong person by rm
What happens when RM, the leader of BTS and mastermind behind their success, releases his second solo album describing his raw emotions and experiences throughout the past year? You get a 34-minute critically acclaimed masterpiece, with each song paying homage to different genres of music. From alternative hip-hop with the second track “Nuts”, to progressive jazz with the fourth track “Domadachi”, RM not only showcases his diverse sound and clever lyricism but perfectly encapsulates his struggles and the pressures that come with fame through his most vulnerable album yet.
Going into this album, I was surprised to find how open and brutally honest RM was about his experiences. On the website of his upcoming documentary, RM stated, “I’d try to see to what extent I could be truly honest with myself as RM, or as Kim Namjoon (his real name). For the first time in a while, I feel like I’m existing as myself.” Not only is this honesty showcased through his lyrics, but it is shown through this alternative genre of music. The album’s genre is very different from the sound BTS is well-known for, and although I am not someone who normally listens to rap music or hip-hop, I couldn’t help but become addicted to the style that suits RM so well.
Even though RM is not as popular as some of the other BTS members, like Jungkook and V, he does not get nearly as much credit as he should, and this has become even more apparent as the members have worked on their solo projects these past few years. RM is the person who brought the members of BTS together in the first place and is the greatest influence regarding their global success. Because of this, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check out Right Place, Wrong Person, along with his other works.
1. hit me hard and soft by billie eilish
Billie Eilish’s third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, was structured in a cohesive manner meant to be listened to from start to finish, as opposed to releasing singles and having standout tracks outshining others. On her website, the album is described as, “her most daring body of work to date, a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs—ideally listened to in its entirety from beginning to end—does exactly as the album title suggests; hits you hard and soft both lyrically and sonically, while bending genres and defying trends along the way.” This description becomes apparent as many songs on the album lead directly to the song right after, and in my opinion, listening to the album through and through is the only correct method for you to consume it. Even after multiple listens, I still can’t get enough of this album, and it’s no wonder why it was recently Grammy-nominated for Album of the Year.
If I were to highlight one song from this album, it would be the closing track, “Blue”. Initially leaked in February 2022, the first half of the song was written by her and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, when they were fourteen and eighteen years old. The song was originally titled, “True Blue,” and upon reworking it, she added a verse reminiscing each previous track from the album. The song’s second half was initially titled, “Born Blue,” and was written and recorded in 2021 to be featured on her sophomore album, Happier than Ever. By combining both songs, Billie Eilish not only created a highly-anticipated gem, but wrote one of the best closing tracks on any album I have ever listened to, solidifying my decision to choose Hit Me Hard and Soft as my favorite album of 2024.
Although every album I have showcased in this article is sonically different from one another, written and produced in varying music genres, I highly recommend you listen to all of them regardless of your music taste. You might find that you enjoy listening to rock music or alternative, which was the case for me when I began listening to some of these artists this year. So, if you need new music to listen to, I suggest listening to one of these albums if not all five!