The 2024 Standouts: Album Edition
The cream of the crop. Twenty (or so) of the years finest albums get recognized.
I have been hard at work assembling the final piece of the year. It is usually composed of a few sections- albums, awards, categories, good cheer all around. I realized that the section typically devoted towards albums was getting a bit long and with just a little bit of expansion, I would end up with a well rounded top 20 of the year.
Well here we are.
The albums have been ordered alphabetically. Each album was listed alongside its review blurb from the backlog. A word was selected that was felt befitting and indicative of the project. The goal of this piece is to pick albums that really defined this year. Not necessarily ordered by the best or worst. Our experiences with music rarely correlates 100% with “quality” anyhow. Some of these albums played on repeat for a month and then were rarely returned to. Others have frequently been returned to. The quality of the respective projects was not the reason for that disparity. Instead,something more amorphous, yet also cohesive was the difference maker. Sometimes an album just fits the mood. Regardless, the main point is that these are A) quality records that B) defined 2024 in music and therefore C) they ought to be rewarded.
At the end, I share two special favorites. I guess it's really a top twenty two.
Enjoy!
Amanda Ferris- Rope The Wind
Energetic
Painstaking attention to detail in the writing fleshes out straightforward stories of life and love, elevating far beyond the rote generics often found on younger artists' work. Some high ranking songwriter talent on display, check the liner notes. A modern sheen on classic country sounds does wonders for teasing out the emotional depth. Ferris’s husky tinged vocals are expressive and wonderfully apropos for the style.
Brad Tursi- Parallel Love
Wistful
An intoxicatingly and absorbing listen. Thematic, deeply personal, wistfully reflective. A genuine contender for year end. Between this and the Shawna Thompson record later in this piece, it really makes you think about how much talent gets wasted trying to fit into mainstream boxes.
Brinley Addington- Nobody's Favorite
Execution
Songwriter turned singer, Addington presents a well executed perspective. A case study in how the careful use of detail can flesh out narratives and create relatability. I was taken aback by just how organic the album was. A cursory glance at his writing credits would give off a very different picture. Just goes to show you how important it is to be willing to give some time towards checking out music from unknowns. You may end up with a sneaky contender for an end of year list.
Dan Smalley - The State Of Country Music
Storytelling
Under-the-radar traditionalist with a wickedly talented pen. Storyteller extraordinaire, Smalley illuminates more than just his own story. He delivers dashing prose, illustrating the sad and the sunny, the everyday and the extraordinary with aplomb and aspirational relatability. Unlike many a songwriter turned singer, the Brad Paisley-esque vocal chops are usually capable of delivering on the promise of the material.
Ella Langley- Hungover
Striking
Channeling early career Miranda, Langley takes her distinctive and soon to be characteristic rich-with-a-touch-of-sharpness vocal work and puts in lengthy work on a traditional leaning with pop hook earworm energy record. A fantastic introduction. Country has seen a good number of female artists debut with some buzz, Langley might have the clearest sense of artistic identity of any of those big names thus far.
Emily Nenni- Drive & Cry
Effervescent
Rythmic upbeat production aids, but does not mask the heartbreak at the core of the record. A delicate balance built by nuanced vocal and lyrical touches. This fine balance is the key to the record. Classic country and modern relatability, upbeat production and downcast themes, lush melodies and aggressive accoutrement. A remarkable performance from a young future star.
Josh Abbott Band- Somewhere Down The Road
Engaging
Imaginative and rollicking in the best moments. Josh Abbott Band leans into red dirt and provides a fun and reflective listen. Aside from a couple lifestyle tracks, Abbott and co provide a sophisticated red dirt project chock full of perspective, songwriting and muscle.
Luke Combs - Fathers and Sons
Heartfelt
Unexpected and deeply appreciated creative turn from a superstar. Shades of Kenny Chesney's Be As You Are era, wherein a superstar takes advantage of success to release a passion project. Deep and nuanced reflection on fatherhood, aging, child rearing, and maturation. The most traditional Combs has ever gone, the production choices excell at setting the scene for the mostly slow and mid-tempo tunes. Cohesive, clear, concretized. A conceptual project par excellence.
Matt Castillo- Pushing Dirt
Reposeful
Mid year release, but I only got around to it recently. Sneaky album of year contender. Tex-Mex Country. Pinch of 90s, pinch of Ranchero/Tejano, large doses of accordion and steel guitar. Need I say more?
Maggie Rose- No One Gets Out Alive
Mellifluous
With all but the faintest of country roots stripped away, Rose succeeds in presenting an enchanting performance. One of her better ones yet. Clean, straightforward messaging and presentation, but not to a fault. Vocally it really shines.
Palmer Anthony- You, Me & The Moon
Gregarious
A Texas name I've had an eye in for a couple years now. Anthony represents the rough middle zone of the Texas country gamut. There's some rock, some singer songwriter, some straight country, some Texas pride, some wit, some heartbreak, and a live scene seasoned, well executed presence behind the microphone.
Rob Baird- Burning in the Stars
Weathered
Alt country husky vocals meet Tom Petty-esque country rock. A melodic, thoughtful excavation of emotion that strikes the balance between personal, real, and relatable. A personal favorite of mine.
Scotty McCreery- Rise & Fall
Efusive
The organic turn in contemporary country opens the window for McCreery to put out his most traditional sounding project yet. The warm tones mesh excellently with his vocals. A Frank Rogers production masterpiece. The thematic content falls squarely into the established wholesome family friendly McCreery niche. Reasonably autobiographical in tone, if not exact detail. Less experimentation leads to a more consistent result than prior projects. Albeit without as intense highs and lows.
The Secret Sisters - Mind, Man, Medicine
Intimate
Sedate folk pop provides gentle reflection on the multitudes contained within mankind. Probably the first album I’ve reviewed on here to feature glockenspiel ( Never Walk Away), the depth instrumentally aligns with the lyrical heft. Most music describes emotion, this record analyzes it. Stylistically may not be for all, but an essential listen for the thoughtful listener.
Shane Smith and The Saints- Norther
Massive
Texas based outfit returns with a cinematic and atmospheric country rock project. Bold and boisterous both in sonic and lyrical presentation. Big topics and stories tackled with intensity, gusto and strong string work. Celtic fiddle mixes with southern rock guitar and Smith’s signature growly vocal work for one of the best projects of the year.
Shawna Thompson- Lean On Neon
Idiomatic
Wow. When the news dropped that Thompson was planning to drop a solo project, a seeped in the bones traditional country record was the last thing anyone expected. I guess you can chalk it up to Nashville formula-icing another bona fide country talent because Thompson sparkles on this record. None of the little details were missed here. The elevated result speaks for itself.
Sierra Ferrell- Trail Of Flowers
Salient
Notable efficiency in lyricism packs more emotional heft per bar than most. The curious blend of jazzy trills, ragtime fills, mid-century country-pop gloss meets bluegrass sounds like a more jarring mashup then it actually is as Ferrell's charismatic tone provides the connective tissue. Both timeless and modern, Ferrell stands out from the Americana pack as a singer with clear identity beyond the now hoary cliches that oft infect the subgenre.
Wade Bowen- Flyin’
Vicarious
This definitively demonstrates why, even at a veteran stage of his career, Bowen is a VIP member of the Texas country elite. Although his offering is less traditionally Texan in presentation than an Aaron Watson, Bowen fluidly melds all of his strengths (songwriting, singing, perspective, wit, interpretation, emotive ability, distinct sense of melody) and fuses them into one of his best albums yet.
Waxahatchee- Tigers Blood
Perspective
Resisting simple categorization, Tigers Blood resolves to a series of snippets, subtleties, stream-of-consciousness recollection, and sketched out thoughts that somehow bond together into a sweeping reflection on the messy, little, disparate details of reality as experienced in the mostly settled arena of one's mid thirties.
Zack Top- Cold Beer & Country Music
Congenial
An honest to goodness 90s styled record that doesn't ape the time, rather it lives the era in all facets. Top is built for this. The synergy shows. The voice is perfectly suited for the style. It would border on pastiche for most others, but not here.
And now for the Today I Heard Albums Of The Year….
Female Album Of The Year:
Carly Pearce- Hummingbird
Long awaited record comes as a slight across the board shift from 29. Now focused more on a bluegrass inflected, pop friendly, yet country forward sound. Hummingbird features high level execution with depth and nuance. Soft edges and slight sheen make a genuinely country album more palatable to mass audiences. Coming off of a divorce album, a strong thematic shift might have been expected, but instead the subtle changes feel natural and reflect mature advancement from the now 34-year-old Pearce.
Additional Notes: cohesive, dynamic, with clear sense of thematic continuity. Vocal tone and arrangements are immensely pleasing. Perennially underrated, probably because she straddles the midpoint between so many areas. Pop, Bluegrass, Neotrad on the genre side. Personal, Artistic, Commercially viable on the identity side. A veritable ode to balance and cohesion as the most durable of artistic traits.
Male Album Of The Year:
Joe Stamm- Memoirs
Spare acoustics accompany the incredibly detailed and hauntingly enchanting poetry. Prose raised up to the level of fine art. Character, thoughts, feeling, and moments brought to technicolor life by an Appalachian man with a raspy voice. Think Shane Smith mixed with Charles Wesley Godwin. An awe inspiring work of art. Builds on top of the exceptional EP released earlier in the year.
Additional Notes: it takes a lot for me to love an acoustic record. To be fair, Alleghany- his more EP from earlier this year with more instrumentation- was better, but it's only four songs. By expanding the scope, and stripping away, Stamm emphasizes his keen clarity. Stories come alive. Perspectives become shared. A holistic Appalachian experience not easily breakable into parts.
Thank you for joining along this entire year. The backlog project was a big undertaking and this, in a sense, is the culmination of that project. This blog has always been focused on the joy of discovery and 2024 was chock full of material that was exactly that.
Hope you discover something new and great!
-Joe