January 1st, 2025

Happy New Year! I hope you have had a great start to 2025 – or, if you’re reading this in the future, I hope life is treating you well! 2024 was a strange year for a lot of reasons, and I think the media that released throughout the year highlights that. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share some posts about pieces of media that made an impact on me. These posts serve as a way for me to reflect on 2024 and a provide a format for me to recommend some media that I enjoy!

First up are my favorite albums!

10. Under Blue – Eve

My tenth rank was a toss-up between a few albums, but ultimately I think Eve’s Under Blue deserves the spot. Eve is an artist that has his hands in a lot of media and styles that I enjoy, and this album didn’t break that trend. This is simply a solid J-pop album. From the first song to the title track, it offers an enjoyable, light, and fun listening experience. I don’t think Under Blue breaks any new ground in J-pop and doesn’t reach the heights that Eve has achieved in the past, but it plays with enough new ideas while offering a familiar sound to Eve’s previous works.

Favorite song: “Midnight Runway”

9. Stereophonic – Original Cast of Stereophonic and Will Butler

I love Daisy Jones & the Six… the book, at least, I haven’t seen the show yet. It’s an incredibly engaging, interesting book about a band making it big and the relationships between the band members. But what if Daisy Jones was a broadway stage play? Well, I think that’s what Stereophonic would be.

Now granted, I have not seen this play. But from my understanding, it follows a band on the brink of success and the way the relationships between the band members change. And if the music from it is anything to go by, I’m sure it’s great. After controversy befell Arcade Fire and Will Butler has been on his own, he’s been up to a lot of cool projects that I’ve passively enjoyed. None of them really reached the heights that I felt like older Arcade Fire albums did, but they’ve allowed him to explore new musical avenues (I do really enjoy and recommend his work with Sister Squares).

This is possibly his biggest creative leap to date, and he nails it. I love the music he wrote for this play. It’s diegetic music performed by the fictional group in the play, and it’s all great. I’m sure the listening experience is enhanced by seeing it live on stage, but the recording is pretty great too.

Favorite song: “Drive”

8. Negative Spaces – Poppy

This is another solid album. Since I Disagree, Poppy has been exploring plenty of different avenues to carve out her own niche in uncanny music. I was a big fan of Flux, but 2023’s Zig didn’t really resonate with me very much. Despite her releasing new music at a quick pace, Negative Spaces sees Poppy once again reinventing herself. It finds an interesting balance between metal and alternative, with some pop mixed in for good measure. Poppy is a creative powerhouse, and this album showcases this.

Favorite song: “crystallized”

7. What Happened to the Beach? – Declan McKenna

“You tell me I don’t relate to the kids no more / Now I feel like I’m letting them down”

This is a very interesting release. In a lot of ways, I think the sound and style explored on this album is an interesting departure from his previous works. I won’t say it’s a good departure because I don’t think it’s always successful. But when it is successful… oh man.

There are some fantastic tracks on here. They certainly don’t all contain the same mindful commentary that he used to showcase, but that slips in sometimes too. I don’t know, something about this album (and the single drop he had later in 2024) really resonates with me. This is not for everyone, and honestly, I’m not exactly sure who it is for, but there are enough interesting lines and fun, funky melodies to keep me fully engaged.

Favorite song: “Nothing Works”

6. Found Heaven – Conan Gray

This is the best 80’s album since 1989! Jokes aside, this album has a fantastic personality and great sound. Conan Gray takes a pretty firm departure from his previous albums and delivers what feels like an eighties tribute album to a bunch of new wave and synth-pop legends I love.

That’s not to say it’s all stuck in the past, though, as this album still feels very present. Modern lyrics and topics as well as modern songwriting helps ground it in the 2020s while still remaining nostalgic.

Favorite song: “Bourgeoisieses”

5. Hyperdrama – Justice

Wow, it feels so long since this has released that I almost forgot it came out in 2024. But, it did, and it’s fantastic. This is Justice’s best album since self-titled. Great opening, great singles, great features, it really has it all. If you enjoy Daft Punk, you will love this as it feels like the closest Justice has ever been to their sound (they even have an anime style music video like Daft Punk). I don’t have a ton else to say, I just really love this release!

Favorite song: “Generator”

4. Forever – Charly Bliss

A new Charly Bliss album?? There were five years between the release of Young Enough and Forever, but I think it felt especially long because this album had been teased for so long. Well, it’s here, and it’s really good. It’s almost poppier than Young Enough, but not necessarily to a fault. I think it reaches a nice style that’s unique from their other works.

As someone who’s been a huge Charly Bliss fan for a while, this was huge and didn’t disappoint (which will be similar to one of the albums up next, but to an even crazier degree).

Favorite song: “Waiting For You”

3. GNX – Kendrick Lamar

What an insane year to be a Kendrick fan. Even besides getting this album shadow-dropped, 2024 was still a crazy time for Kendrick and his music. I am pleased to say that this album stands on its own even outside of all of the other headline-making news.

This album may not be as theatric or game-changing as some of his previous albums, but it exchanges those for simply having a concise set of great tracks. There’s not a bad song on GNX, and some of its peaks rival Kendrick’s other triumphs.

Favorite song: “tv off”

2. Model – Wallows

I know it’s in the number two spot, but Model was certainly my most played album of the year. It’s fun, catchy, and cohesive – arguably Wallows most cohesive album since their debut. I also need to mention that the songs from this album are great live too! All around, this is a fun album that really captures some of my best memories from 2024.

Favorite song: “A Warning”

1. Songs of a Lost World – The Cure

The Cure is my favorite band. So, as I reflect on the music that really defined 2024 for me, I have to put Songs of a Lost World at the number one spot. I would like to write a longer post about this one day, but this is a monumental release. This is the first full-length Cure album in sixteen years, and it somehow lives up to that level of hype.

It’s beautiful and tragic like other Cure albums, but from a new angle. Robert Smith reflects on aging, death, and the progress of time. It’s haunting at times, but tackles its topics in a way that only The Cure can. It’s a really special album.

Favorite song: “All I Ever Am”