The Best Albums of 2024: Charles' Version

Charles Hughes picks his favorite albums of the year

Every year is a good year for music - in fact, every year is a great year. 2024 was no exception. Whether in the wide-open world of country music, its affiliates in genres from rock to hip-hop, or music rooted elsewhere, many albums from this year earned a place in my regular listening that they will occupy for a long time. Here are a few of them, listed alphabetically and unranked, along with some favorite reissues and some honorable mentions at the bottom. Each of these enriched my life and made me think and feel differently this year. I’ve turned them up a lot, and I hope you will too.

Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

Now that various tidal waves of discourse have died down, Cowboy Carter sounds pretty great. It’s probably too long and the first half drags a tad, although the expert classicism of “Protector” and “Blackbird” (with its welcome appearances from the all-star team Tiera Kennedy, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, and Tanner Adell) are undeniable. When Beyoncé fucks around with stylistic boundaries as the album progresses, Cowboy Carter feels like both the affirmation and the reimagination for which many of us hoped. “Spaghettii,” featuring country legend Linda Martell and a-just-about-to-break-big Shaboozey, is a grimy delight, “Ya Ya” is a Nancy Sinatra-and-Tina Turner-invoking smash, and “Sweet Honey Buckin’” (with Shaboozey back on board) moves from a Patsy Cline sample to a dancefloor groove that splits the difference between Gilley’s line dances and the house music Beyoncé engaged on Renaissance’s first act. Befitting her roots in the “western South,” she engages the real and mythical West both sonically and thematically in songs like “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which – for all its two-stepping joy – is about sheltering in place during natural disasters. Cowboy Carter is big, bold, and brash, an in-depth exploration of Linda Martell’s invocation on “Spaghettii”: “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?,” Ms. Martell reminds us. They sure are.

Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin – Symbiont

Symbiont is music that greets the end of the world and calls forward a new one waiting to emerge. A collaboration between two of the most important young voices in “roots” music, each of whom have distinguished themselves by using old-school sounds to explore futurist themes, Symbiont puts Black and Indigenous traditions in conversation around a narrative that balances burning apocalypticism and spirit-conjuring utopianism. If that all sounds heavy, the music –equally influenced by the industrial side of electronic rock – doesn’t get weighed down at all: Tracks like “No Hiding Place,” “My Way’s Cloudy,” and “In the Garden” crackle and buzz with a mixture of analog and electronic musical textures. On Symbiont, Blount and Obomsawin enact a rich, multifaceted call and response between voices, sounds, and eras. It’s the sound of our time, in ways both frightening and reassuring.

Sabrina Carpenter – Short N Sweet

A brilliant pop record that refuses to be anything more than that, Short N Sweet isn’t just an anchor for “Espresso,” the bubbling party that deservedly became one of the year’s biggest breakout hits. It’s the Top 40 of your dreams, with New Wave glisten (“Taste”), disco sheen (“Please, Please, Please”), dance-pop snap (“Bed Chem”), echoing emo (“Lie to Girls”) and even some country twang (“Slim Pickins”) all in the mix. Carpenter brings a wonderfully naughty sensibility to all of it, with sex talk that moves quickly past double entendre, humor that zings like screwball comediennes of old (“he doesn’t even know the difference between ‘there,’ ‘their,’ and ‘they are’”), and aching discussions of love in all its stages. Short N Sweet is exactly what it says on the tin, and it will be on my hit parade for a long time.

Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal

All hail the Swamp Princess. The first full-length mixtape from the Tampa-based rapper, Alligator Bites Never Heal is a no-skips treasure, bursting with good ideas both lyrical (the self-deprecating diary “Denial Is a River”) and musical, with its primary orientation in the kaleidoscopic boom-bap of the Native Tongues era. On track after track, most of which are under three minutes, Doechii unleashes rhymes that are equally sophisticated and melodious, changing her timbre from playful cooing to gritty growl at the drop of a mic. (“I’m the hardest rapper, this your motherfucking training day!” she proclaims in “Catfish.”) And she’s got choruses too, with the R&B waves of “Wait” or hazy singalong in “Boiled Peanuts” just two of the lines that’ll stick with you from the start. Alligator Bites Never Heal sounds like the coming-out party for a major new talent that it’s become. The fact that she’s ending this big year with an all-timer of a week marked by Grammy nominations and amazing performances on The Late Show and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert makes the coronation even more certain. Long may she reign.

Green Day – Saviors

Let it rock. Thirty years after Dookie and twenty after American Idiot, these unlikely rock heroes returned with a rip-roaring effort that combined the best elements of both canonical records. (I went deep on all three earlier this year.) They get the big swings right: “The American Dream is Killing Me” feels like a too-appropriate national anthem, especially in this year. But Saviors works equally well when the group remains less topically ambitious, like the joyous nostalgia trips of “1981” and “Corvette Summer,” or cheap thrills of “Look Ma, No Brains!” In the groove again after 2020’s excellent Father of All…, Saviors signals a continued late-period renaissance for a trio who always keep their hooks, and hearts, as big as their sound. What a blast.

Haley Heynderickx – Seed of a Seed

Seed of a Seed arrived just when I needed it, becoming my immediate post-election soundtrack. Not only did its intoxicating sound help me find something like a workable vibe, but Heynderickx’s consideration of life and death in the natural world – and what it might teach us, if we’d listen – offered a welcome counterpoint to all the human nastiness. I still find myself returning to the album to luxuriate in the soaring strings of the title track or the circling rumble of “Spit in the Sink” and to contend with Heynderickx’ evocative portrayals of the fine grains and “ancient gods” of the world that surrounds us. It’s not a simple pastoralist vision, either; on “Mouth of a Flower,” for example, Heynderickx considers how natural processes often possess no more poetry than their human counterparts. That song, like the others, is made even richer by Heynderickx’ remarkable guitar playing, a mixture of strumming and finger-picking that is one of her greatest strengths. (Especially in how it pairs with the piercing crystal of her voice.) This is only her second album, and it’s her second great one. I can’t wait to hear what she does next.

Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive

Alynda Segarra never misses, and they really hit the mark with The Past Is Still Alive. Driven as ever by a rock-solid foundation of guitars and drums, every song is a testament to Segarra’s unique power as singer-songwriter, with their ringing, resonant voice considering sweet love (“Dynamo”), desire in the face of collapse (“Say goodbye to America, I wanna see it dissolve” from “Colossus of Roads” gains sad salience every day), and what remains after loss (“Hourglass”). And then, on the barreling “Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive),” they do all at the same time, remixing “I Was Young When I Left Home” for an era of fentanyl and garbage islands. Whether they’re slowly drawing out the richness of the melodies or rocking out with a power drive that matches the razor-sharp lyrics, Hurray for the Riff have made a loving, ferocious album that nurtures its listeners in so many ways.

Kyshona – Legacy

From the title to the multigenerational voices that appear throughout the album, Legacy is an act of both reclamation and regeneration. Kyshona, an essential young artist and therapist, builds from a musical foundation of gospel, blues, rock and soul to weave a meditation on family and memory. With a mind on freedom and an ear towards the sounds of past and present, Kyshona moves through reflections both graceful – the close harmonies of “Always a Daughter,” the spare reassurance of “Covered” – and boisterous, like the funky declaration “Comin’ Out Swinging” or “Heaven Is a Beautiful Place,” a gospel song written by her grandfather. In many respects, Kyshona’s work recalls the remarkable career of Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, the scholar, activist, and Sweet Honey in the Rock founder who we lost this year. Just as Reagon reminded us that “I remember, and that’s why I believe” in one of her most powerful compositions, so too does Kyshona insist on the presence of the past to help shape a better future. We’re all blessed that she’s sharing the vision with us.

Lizzie No – Halfsies

Lizzie No is one of the most exciting members of the Black Opry generation, and Halfsies is a beautiful and vibrant collection. A gifted singer and harpist, Lizzie No can make a killer country record, as evidenced by “The Heartbreak Store.” She can rock out, like on the ‘90s-recalling “Lagunita.” And on many of the album’s other best moments – the delicate “Sleeping in the Next Room,” the bruising “Annie Oakley,” the swelling “Shield and Sword” – she explodes stylistic lines in songs that are instantly memorable and even better on subsequent listens. Hopefully this is only an early chapter in a long and distinguished career – as great as Halfsies is, I reckon Lizzie No is just getting started.

LL Cool J – The FORCE
MC Lyte – 1 + 1
Juicy J – Ravenite Social Club

I’m cheating here by lumping together three great albums that were all released within a few weeks of one another, and which together represent a connected demonstration of effective hip-hop elderhood. LL Cool J teamed up with producer Q-Tip to make his best album in forever, a deep exploration of rap legacies and a potent affirmation of his continuing relevance to it. MC Lyte brings an all-star team of collaborators (from Stevie Wonder to Queen Latifah and beyond) and throws a block-rocking seminar that celebrates and chronicles Lyte and the communities she’s worked within. Juicy J connects with Robert Glasper’s crew on an album that sounds less directly jazz-influenced and more like the simmering funk and fusion of the 1970s, which offers a perfect foundation for Juicy’s bluesy meditations. Each one a masterful statement from one of the greats, these albums collectively create an artistic conversation that manages to honor the old days (individual and cultural) without getting stuck in them. Some of the most vital music that I’ve heard this year.

Shelby Lynne – Consequences of the Crown

Lynne has made good and sometimes great records since her acclaimed 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne, but it’s hard not to hear the remarkable Consequences of the Crown as a kind of bookend to that breakthrough. Both have a sharpness of writing and performance that trawls the corners of love and living with careful detail, and both simmer with arrangements that allow Lynne to bob, weave, and pierce through in songs that breathe deeply. Consequences of the Crown is particularly spare, with Lynne often accompanied only be a bed of electronics that buttress tracks like the snapping “Consequences,” and the prayerful “Dear God.” Best of all is “Clouds,” an airy meditation that finds Lynne refusing to either apologize or celebrate. Earlier this year, I suggested that Consequences of the Crown sounds like what would’ve happened if Dusty Springfield made a ‘90s R&B album, and I hold to that assessment. Which, as you can imagine, is a very good thing.

Talibah Safiya – Black Magic

I didn’t rank this list and I didn’t want to. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this was my favorite record of the year. An alchemic mix of blues samples and contemporary hip-hop/R&B textures, with Safiya’s remarkable voice at the center, Black Magic contends with the cultural and historical past while reinventing it for a new and uncertain moment. Defiantly seizing the traditions that are her birthright while transforming them around her uniquely syncretic vision, Safiya and her colleagues make tracks like the Western fantasia “Jack and Jill,” moaning gospel blues of “Have Mercy,” and the pleasure release of the closing “Delicious” into a brief, powerful journey through this visionary blueswoman’s experiences. I’ve written about Black Magic multiple times already, and I’m not tired talking about it yet. It’s a masterpiece.

Shaboozey – Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going

The massive, record-breaking success of “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” shouldn’t overshadow the brilliance of Shaboozey’s full album. A moody and moving collection, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going contains both the broad horizon and the close-held secret, made vivid in songs like the broken-heart pulse of “Highway” and the urgent country-rock of “Annabelle” or “Let It Burn.” Shaboozey’s voice contains multitudes, and his brooding performances animate everything from the twangy reckonings of “East of the Massanutten” to the popping bottles of the BigXthaPlug-assisted “Drink Don’t Need No Mix.” The whole thing’s a consistent, compelling statement. Of course, the brilliance of Shaboozey’s full album shouldn’t overshadow just how great “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is, either. An extraordinary rap-country synthesis, the single juxtaposes escapist fun with ambivalence about the night life. (And if that ain’t country…) Its feet planted in both directions outlined in the title, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is a straight-up stunner.

Various Artists - My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall

Released in conjunction with Randall’s book of the same name, an astonishing blend of memoir, history, and criticism that I wrote about when it was released, My Black Country pairs Randall’s songs (which made her a groundbreaking and esteemed Nashville songwriter) with an all-star lineup of young Black women who are currently transforming country music in all its stylistic manifestations. Randall’s songs had been previously recorded by white artists, and the re-centering of her story (and her stories) around this community allows them to transform and blossom. Adia Victoria brings the fire to “Went For A Ride,” which transitions perfectly into Rhiannon Giddens’ troubled reading of “The Ballad of Sally Anne.” Allison Russell’s gorgeous “Many Mansions” and Rissi Palmer’s urgent “Who’s Minding the Garden?” make Randall’s songs newly fresh in an era where their questions are still unanswered. And then, at the end, Caroline Randall Williams - award-winning poet and Randall’s daughter - performs a striking version of her hit “XXX’s and OOO’s (American Girl)” that remixes the song that her mother wrote about her. Plus Sunny War, Miko Marks, Valerie June, and others, all both paying tribute to Randall’s talents and using her example as a way to create a new circle of influence and innovation. May that circle stay unbroken.

Reissues

Johnny Bragg – Let Me Dream On

From the fine folks at the Country Music Hall of Fame, this new collection unearths unreleased music by Johnny Bragg, most famous as the leader of the Prisonaires and an important figure in the storied history of Nashville R&B. A collection of rehearsal takes that his daughter found following his death, Let Me Dream On showcases Bragg’s stylistic range – from the thumping-piano boogie of “Let’s Rock, Let’s Roll” to the deep-blues moan of “Hurt and Lonely” – in unadorned settings that focus attention on the power of Bragg’s honey-sweet baritone. The closing “How Great Thou Art” – with Bragg in gospel-quartet mode – is a fittingly heartbreaking, heart-filling finale. An archival treat that succeeds even beyond its historical importance.

Skeeter Davis and NRBQ – She Sings, They Play: Deluxe Edition

Long out of print but never out of mind for those who love both singer and band, She Sings, They Play is a delightful reminder of their respective talents and how effectively they merged. From the kicky honky-tonk of “Everybody Wants A Cowboy” to the gently swaying duet “Heart to Heart,” Davis proves a fine frontwoman for the snapping versatility of NRBQ, whose warm performances bespeak their affection for their temporary leader’s gifts. The album adds a few choice live tracks – including Davis’ deathless “End of the World” – and great Skeeter-led studio versions of the Q classic “I Want You Bad” and the rockabilly romp “I Gotta Know.” A pure, sweet pleasure.

Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera: Deluxe Edition
Drive-By Truckers – American Band: Deluxe Edition

Listening to these two epic records, one released in 2001 and one in 2016, it’s very hard not to count Drive-By Truckers as one of the very best rock bands of the century. Southern Rock Opera exorcised the demons of the real and imagined South in blazing songs from lead singer-songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. Fifteen years later, just before Trump’s first (ugh) election, American Band fierily assessed a country already riven by wounds both old and new. It’s a killer album, and Cooley’s “Ramon Casiano” is as good a song as anyone has written about why we are where we are. The whole thing burns with the loving rage that makes the Truckers such a powerful political presence when they choose to aim their axes in that direction. These great albums are made better here by the addition of other stuff, both studio outtakes and tracks from the band’s deservedly legendary live shows. Long may they run - we’re gonna need them.

Various Artists – From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music

An astonishing, important collection that David wrote beautifully about earlier this year. Adding a disc of recent songs, along with new essays and photos that complement the essential original liner notes, the new From Where I Stand seems both culmination to this crucial era of Black country music and a reminder that each new era requires a full appreciation of that which has come before. Just like Alice Randall’s book My Black Country and accompanying album, the expanded From Where I Stand is both the creation of a canon and a refusal to abide by its restrictions. And it’s a fantastic listen from top to bottom.

Other things I loved

Adeem the Artist – Anniversary – “Nancy,” “Nightmare,” “Plot of Land”

Carsie Blanton – After the Revolution – “After The Revolution,” “Empire,” “Right In The Middle Of It”

Bonny Light Horseman – Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free – “Rock The Cradle,” “Singing To The Mandolin,” “Speak To Me Muse”

Denitia – Sunset Drive – “Back To You,” “Gettin’ Over,” “Ready To Fall”

Jake Xerxes Fussell – When I’m Called – “Leaving Here, Don’t Know Where I’m Going,” “Who Killed Poor Robin?,” “Going to Georgia”

Jett Holden – The Phoenix – “Karma” (feat. Cassadee Pope), “When I’m Gone” (feat. Emily Scott Robinson), “Backwoods Proclamation” (feat. Charlie Worsham and John Osborne)

Brittany Howard – What Now? – “Earth Sign,” “I Don’t,” “Power To Undo”

Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers – “When The Lights Go Out,” “Runaway Train,” “Just Like Paradise”

Stephanie Lambring – Hypocrite – “Good Mother,” “Hospital Parking,” “Two-Faced”

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets – Indoor Safari – “Went To A Party,” “Crying Inside,” “Raincoat In The River”

Megan Thee Stallion – Megan/Megan II – “HISS,” “Accent” (feat. GloRilla), “Fell In Love”

Joy Oladukon – Observations From A Crowded Room – “Am I?,” “Drugs,” “I’d Miss The Birds”

The Paranoid Style – The Interrogator – “The Interrogator,” “Last Night in Chickentown,” “Bad Day for the Group Chat”

Brittney Spencer – My Stupid Life – “I Got Time,” “First Car Feeling,” “My Stupid Life”

Swamp Dogg – BlackGrass – “Songs to Sing,” “Your Best Friend,” “Rise Up” (feat. Vernon Reid)

Various Artists – Red Hot: TRAИƧA – “Young Lion” (Sade), “Ever New” (Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Sam Smith), “I Would Die 4 U” (Lauren Auder and Wendy & Lisa)

Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood – “Right Back to It” (feat. MJ Lenderman), “Bored,” “365”

Cecily Wilborn – Kuntry Gurl Playlist – “Living For The Weekend,” “Kuntry Girl,” “In Da Kuntry With My Daddy” (feat. Cecil Coleman, Sr.)

Lizz Wright – Shadow – “Root of Mercy,” “No More Will I Run,” “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”

Don’t miss the rest of the Best of 2024!

Monday 12/9: Turn It Up, Everything But Country, 2024

Coming Monday 12/16: Turn It Up, Country Music, 2024

Coming Friday 12/20: David Cantwell’s favorite albums of 2024

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