Editor’s Pick: Favorite Albums of 2024
Albums are perennially in style. Yep, we all stream, and yes, playlists and mixtapes are great too, and some of us really get into earworms. But the whole album concept abides, even if it’s sometimes in CD or in streaming form. At times it’s hard to find the time to sit through an entire one, but just like when you go for a long walk outside, you never ever regret that you did it. This year there were loads and loads of great albums. I’ll hereby present my favorites – top eleven this year.
Heather Little By Now. This is a beautiful album – every song. Her songs cover painful topics from realizing you might not be cut out for marriage, being in relationship with a man addicted to hunting (while you’re up all night rolling change), and asking that one person to come look for you if you go missing. And a duet with Patty Griffin, and a famous co-write with Miranda Lambert. Each song is crafted with depth, clear emotion, and care. REVIEW: Heather Little “By Now”
John Moreland Visitor. I heard once that John Moreland didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a “sad song” writer, but, when you love well-crafted sad songs and their authenticity and the catharsis they bring how is this a bad thing? These are as thoroughly well-crafted as they come. Superb. “We don’t breathe and we don’t rest, we just choose the lie that feels the best.” REVIEW: John Moreland “Visitor”
Madeleine Kelson Where the Spirit Meets the Muscle. Madeleine has some deep thoughts about places where the spirit meets the muscle, and the way rain carves out the canyons if it only finds a groove. This is a 4-song EP and it’s stellar and we can only be left wishing for more. REVIEW: Madeleine Kelson “Where the Spirit Meets the Muscle”
Will Hoge Tenderhearted Boys. This is gentle, reflective Will Hoge, speaking in vulnerable human tones about falling in love, falling apart, visions of coming home from work, war on the tv, and wraps them all in love even if it’s the end of the world. REVIEW: Will Hoge “Tenderhearted Boys”
Wyatt Flores Welcome to the Plains. Wyatt gained a giant slew of followers this year and for excellent reason: he’s talented and his songs are heart wrenching and wonderful and he even tackles mortality in the most direct yet relatable way I’ve ever heard. REVIEW: Wyatt Flores “Welcome to the Plains”
Sturgill Simpson aka Johnny Blue Skies Passage du Desir. This album is quite thoroughly excellent. Sturgill’s return album is utterly beautiful and amazing and the songs are heartbreaking and cathartic all the way through. As an example: “The only thing that makes sense is being next to you, so put another bandaid on my bullet wound and pour us both another cup of mint tea, and tell me why you’re so afraid of little old me.” REVIEW: Johnny Blue Skies “Passage du Desir”
Anna Tivel Living Thing. Anna’s poetic imagery weaving is always on target. Anna’s vocals draw you in to the tales, the observations and the flashes of commentary that grips you tight and releases you to the wild. There are aliens in a lonely desert, bright lights in a dark room, flowers in the rain, and pleas for false hope and escape. Plus genius songwriting. REVIEW: Anna Tivel “Living Thing”
Ordinary Elephant Ordinary Elephant. This duo is a powerhouse, like the elephant in the room of every folk music gathering. Respectful of spaces in production, songs of deep abiding ideas about truth, and hoping we all end up all right, this album is pure and excellent. REVIEW: Ordinary Elephant “Ordinary Elephant”
Jubal Lee Young Wild Birds Warble. Jubal Lee is absolutely a songwriter to know. The songs in this album create clear imagery as they tell stories of broke down cars, wild birds warbling down by the cold river banks, vying for “Southern” status, the joke being on the rich man, and of course a stunning reworking of his father’s “Seven Bridges Road.” There’s a hint of Southern gothic in the mix. REVIEW: Jubal Lee Young “Wild Birds Warble”
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Woodland. Easy going acoustic guitar and rhythms, nostalgia, abstract imagery of mortality and our place in the universe, and, realizing that you only really want what you had. The vocals feel like part of your own thoughts. Pretty, reflective, moody, and memorable. REVIEW: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings “Woodland”
Joachim Cooder Dreamer’s Motel. If you like the experimental side of things, even just occasionally, this is fantastic. Wooden earthy sounds and mediative vocals in Joachim’s wholly unique style result in a captivating album from start to finish. REVIEW: Joachim Cooder “Dreamer’s Motel”
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3o2dR1VOKlwUxQWxFjos68?si=L1Po1R3kSY2RsxV-JNViuw&pi=u-NZ9z0tXOT6GB
