We’ve reached the end of this year-long project where I posted an annual playlist every week in chronological order. I kicked it off acknowledging my uncertainty as to how comprehensively one could sum up a single year in 30 or 40 songs; 50+ weeks later, I don’t have a definitive answer to that question, only confirmation that each year produces a wealth of great tunes—it’s all a matter of seeking them out or, more specifically, remaining open to discovering them.
As noted in my Best Albums of 2024, this year was a particularly taxing and chaotic one (as will most national election years be going forward, I fear.) Music (and art in general) provides, if not a reason to endure it all, at least some comfort and enjoyment. The power of a song you want to play over and over again is not to be denied or underestimated. Thus, the return of simple but utterly transcendental pop music (Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, even the first Billie Eilish song I’ve unabashedly loved) felt as inevitable as the disco/dance revival from four years before. If some artists couldn’t sustain such a vibe over an entire album, bite-sized highlights such as Jamie xx’s Robyn-starring sonic whirlwind or Aussie jangle-pop outfit Quivers’ precise, invigorating 1980s pastiche provided abundant nourishment.
Increasingly and (given the times) predictably I gravitated towards music that offered relief and a sense of blissful escape: Real Estate expertly channeling Big Star and The Go-Betweens, Kacey Musgraves edging further into folk-rock worthy of prime Sheryl Crow, Michael Kiwanuka reemerging after a five-year absence on a bed of lush and gently effervescent soul. Still, there’s tension in the gap between the pillow-soft soundscapes of Cigarettes After Sex, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Arooj Aftab and the spikier dissonance of Nilufer Yanya, Father John Misty and an ever-musically-evolving Yola. Splitting the difference between these poles is another returning veteran: while Alison Moyet’s reimagining-tracks-from-her-past-catalog project Key yielded enough varied results for it to just miss my top ten albums list, “Such Small Ale”, one of its two new songs offered solace in its arresting melody and Moyet’s undiminished voice but also urgency in its rejection of complacency, compelling us to think about where and how we find (and remain open to finding) meaning and purpose in this crazy, frustrating and occasionally sublime world.
2024: Abandon The Crowd
- Hurray For The Riff Raff, “Alibi”
- Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”
- The Last Dinner Party, “The Feminine Urge”
- Father John Misty, “She Cleans Up”
- The Cure, “A Fragile Thing”
- Gossip, “Real Power”
- Jamie xx/Robyn, “Life”
- Yola, “Future Enemies”
- Tindersticks, “New World”
- Arooj Aftab, “Raat Ki Rani”
- Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, “The Bells and The Birds”
- Andrew Bird & Madison Cunningham, “Crying In The Night”
- Pernice Brothers, “Who Will You Believe”
- Gruff Rhys, “Peace Signs”
- Quivers, “Never Be Lonely”
- Beabadoobee, “Take a Bite”
- Alison Moyet, “Such Small Ale”
- Kacey Musgraves, “Cardinal”
- Nilufer Yanya, “Like I Say (I Runaway)”
- Camera Obscura, “Big Love”
- Cigarettes After Sex, “Baby Blue Movie”
- Beth Gibbons, “Floating On A Moment”
- Laura Marling, “The Shadows”
- The The, “Cognitive Dissident”
- Cassandra Jenkins, “Clams Casino”
- Julia Holter, “These Morning”
- Michael Kiwanuka, “Floating Parade”
- Waxahatchee, “Bored”
- Another Sky, “Playground”
- Pet Shop Boys, “Feel”
- Billie Eilish, “Birds Of A Feather”
- Vampire Weekend, “Prep-School Gangsters”
- Brittany Howard, “Prove It To You”
- Suzanne Vega, “Rats”
- Orville Peck, Kylie Minogue & Diplo, “Midnight Ride”
- Real Estate, “Flowers”
- Pond, “(I’m) Stung”
- Chappell Roan, “Good Luck, Babe!”
- Jessica Pratt, “Life Is”
- Maggie Rogers, “Don’t Forget Me”
Haunted Jukebox 