The Best Albums of 2024

The vast majority of A Creative Maelstrom is me working my way through my music collection, one review at a time, but I like to share my favourite albums released each year as well.

I have found 84 albums worth buying that were released in 2024, and that number is only likely to grow. If you haven’t found any good new music in the past year, that’s on you, not the music.

But I’m not here to throw blame, I’m here to assist you in your journey, with a quick overview of ten of 2024’s best, as well as five more ‘honourable mentions’ for those with the same insatiable desire as I have for discovering new music. The usual caveat applies – I am almost certain to discover some other album from 2024 that should make this list, but that I don’t know yet, or haven’t properly grokked in their fullness.

OK, on with the action. For albums that I have already reviewed, you can click the link on the album title to read more about why I liked it. If you’re done reading (which, given that you’ve gotten this far, is surprising) you can enjoy a rare bit of multimedia on the CD Odyssey by listening to a track from the album to whet your appetite.

10 Cheekface – It’s Sorted

-          Cheekface’s 2021 album, “Emphatically No” landed #7 on that year’s list, and they’ve once again broken the top 10 with “It’s Sorted”. Cheekface does a post-punk vibe full of clever turns of phrase that is so funky and catchy you don’t just forgive the verbal gymnastics, you welcome it.  Here’s a live version of Popular 2 performed live at KEXP. 

9 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Wild God

-          Nick Cave has been in a pretty dark place over the last decade, having gone through more than anyone’s fair share of tragedy. He still made great music (hitting #3 on my list with Carnage back in 2021). On Wild God he re-infuses the majesty and grandiosity back into his dark journey, to glorious and fell effect. Here’s Long Dark Night: 

8 Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers

-          I didn’t give this album a chance at first, probably because it wasn’t Long Time Coming (#2 from 2021) but over time I realized it didn’t have to be that, and it was brilliant all on its own. Ferrell is as raw and real as she ever was with her quavering voice and homespun honesty. Here’s American Dreamin’.

7 St. Vincent – All Born Screaming

-          I’ve been a St. Vincent fan along time and a big part of it is her constant willingness to reimagine her approach to music. One of the great guitar players of our generation, St. Vincent is always happy to let the guitar be just one part of her creativity, bending it and all the sounds it can make to her will. A lot of my favourite albums never see the light of radio play, but it is nice when one or two do. On that note, here’s Broken Man.

6 Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal

-          I’ll always be a sucker for lightning fast phrasing and clever wordplay though, and Doechii is this year’s best. It is impossible to pick a song by Doechii without a LOT of vulgarity and harsh imagery, so if that offends you DO NOT watch this video for Denial is a River. OK, you’ve been warned. Here's the song. The best song on the album is Nissan Altima, but it is a whole other magnitude of crude. By all means look Nissan Altima on your own, but as with Denial Is a River you’ve been warned. Twice.

5 Grace Cummings – Ramona

-          Grace Cummings “Storm Queen” was my number one album of 2022 and she’s back two years later cracking the top five. There is nothing quite like that ghostlike warble of Cummings’ voice. Transcendent, and once again paired with thoughtful tunes. Here’s On and On: 

4 Benjamin Tod – Shooting Star

-          I wasn’t sure about this record on my first listen, fearing it might just be another derivative country record. Not so. Benjamin Tod is grit like you ain’t seen in these parts in a while, and I’ll be doing some serious diving into his back catalogue in the months ahead. If you love an angry tune about being swallowed whole by Nashville like I do (or just like great music) then here’s  the title track, Shooting Star.

3 Willi Carlisle – Critterland

-          Critterland is a showcase for singer-songwriter, and Carlisle is up with the greats in the genre, after only a couple records. I haven’t heard a vibrato-loaded storyteller like this since Stan Rogers, and it reminded me how much I’d missed it. If you can handle harsh songs about bad fathers then consider that your trigger warning and here’s The Arrangements, played live for maximum sting. 

2 Mean Mary – Woman Creature (Portrait of a Woman Part 2)

-          The highest ranked of the four established artists that were only newly discovered by me in 2024 (the others being Willi Carlisle, Benjamin Tod, and Doechii), Mean Mary is another voice that, like Grace Cummings, is one of a kind. Mean Mary devotes her instrument to folksy tales that have a lot more to say than just what’s on the surface, and this record is everything its provocative title promises and then some. It also features one of my favourite murder ballads of all time, Murder Creek. Yes, it is almost eight minutes long, but it’s worth the time spent. 

1 Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness

-          My friend Nick introduced me to Amyl and the Sniffers back in 2019 and I’ve been hooked ever since. They’re punk brilliance from Australia, and while Cartoon Darkness may be their least rough and raw recording, it more than makes up for it with range, dynamics and composition. Despite that it still hits hard as hell. The album is raunchy, and the single I've chosen has some offensive language, so if that offends you don't listen. OK, warning over. Here’s Tiny Bikini. 

Honourable Mention – all great, but fell short because I could only pick a top 10. Here are 5 more in no particular order in the event you aren’t sated by the official winners:

• Mary Timony – Untame the Tiger; Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past is Still Alive; The Paranoid Style – The Interrogator; Vera Sola – Peacemaker; Dehd – Poetry

And for those new to the Top Ten Experience, click on the year below to get the full from that year (I’ve proved #1 as a teaser):

Best of 2023 (#1 was Boy Golden)

Best of 2022 (#1 was Grace Cummings)

Best of 2021 (#1 was Lucy Dacus)

Best of 2020 (#1 was Katie Pruitt)