After a few years of collaborations and soundtrack work, Julia Holter finally returned with a new solo album in 2024, and it’s yet another chapter in her catalog of otherworldly transmissions. Making liberal use of a lush ensemble of winds and strings, not to mention a persistent, gooey fretless bass guitar, Something in the Room She Moves conjures pillowy clouds of sonic texture, particularly on standout tracks “These Morning,” “Spinning,” and the stunning title track. No one crosses dimensions like Holter. By Scotty Dransfield

It’s impossible to avoid Kneecap’s charm. This was captured in the excellent titular film centered on the punk rock/hip-hop Belfast trio. Imagine the Trainspotting guys were Irish and had some rapping talent. Except Kneecap is a real-life group and its second album, Fine Art. is quality Irish hip-hop with clever, relatable, sharply satirical, drug-friendly lyrics rapped partly in Irish and partly in English. No matter what the language, the bouncing beats, which draw from ’90s rave and 2000s garage in turn, are irresistible. Watch the film, then press play on Fine Art. By Lily Moayeri

There is something to be said for distilling one’s sound down to something truly distinctive. Webster’s ultra relaxed vocals and views on life, backed by an ever tight ensemble are unmistakably her own. The mildly propulsive piano ballad, “But Not Kiss,” is a gorgeous one. While the synth driven brag of “He Loves Me Yeah!,” is even more attention getting. And the soulfully Auto-Tuned duet with Lil Yachty works in its own understated way. Webster consistently delivers another gem in a good way, yeah. By Mark Moody

How’s this for career trajectory? We fell in love with The Decemberists 20 years ago for their story driven folk-rock ballads about plucky orphans and sympathetic chimney sweeps. Now, we fall in love with them harder than ever before for finally giving in to their proggish inclinations and delivering us the grand, 20-minute-long “Joan in the Garden.” The rest of this record is just the sumptuous gravy on top. By Austin Trunick

Recorded in two weeks with Daniel Fox (from Gilla Band) at Black Box Studios in France’s Loire Valley, SPRINTS’ debut album, Letter to Self, is yet another example of Dublin’s healthy guitar-based crop. Flame-haired lead singer Karla Chubb and the band cut their teeth with some relentless touring before the album saw the light of day. The result is a blisteringly tight record. Chubb channels the trauma from inner demons, coupled with honesty and fiery perseverance in her writing and delivery. Pixies were so impressed with their talent that they took SPRINTS on tour with them during 2024. By Lee Campbell

Everything Everything has always been friendly with a concept album, but they take that notion to the next level with Mountainhead. The album’s story of a fictional civilization’s dangerous pursuit of self-reflection at any expense doesn’t just reflect our world in 2024, it also allows Jonathan Higgs and company to create their most direct and vulnerable music yet. Filled with catchy electro-pop anthems and urgent art-rock tirades, Mountainhead is yet another boundary pushing release by Britain’s least comfortable prophets. By Scotty Dransfield

The long time solo project of Water From Your Eyes’ Nate Amos brings his most focused and widely distributed contribution yet. Buoyed by two bona fide hits in “I’m All Fucked Up” and “Dancing in the Club,” but anchored by the six-minute dis track “Where’s Your Love Now.” Because nothing says “I survived you and my life is better now” quite like a toy piano and synth-driven power ballad. Just because what’s on display here is not quite straight up, but tongue in cheek doesn’t necessarily mean that Amos can’t deliver a lump to the throat here and there. By Mark Moody

The third album by Australian punkers Amyl and the Sniffers is a raucous affair that takes their punk rock hijinks to a new level, proving they’re not just a novelty punk band. With ramped up tempo shifts, nifty guitar riffs, bouncy counter-rhythms, and playful harmonies, Cartoon Darkness plays like a roller coaster ride through a twisted carnival. It’s raw and unapologetic, with moments of both exhilaration and unhinged imperfections, and it’s also quite fun. Standout tracks such as album opener “Jerkin’,” along with “Tiny Bikini” and lead single “U Should Not Be Doing That” sound like classic punk anthems yet are resolutely contemporary and are executed with a finesse that elevates punk to something more transcendent. By Matt the Raven

The Primal Scream/David Holmes reunion on Come Ahead is inspired. This is the third time Holmes has reignited The Scream (he was involved in 2000’s XTRMNTR and produced 2013’s More Light). For Come Ahead, Holmes brings Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes’ (the two remaining members of the original group) soulful tendencies to the fore. In the process, a timelessness to Come Ahead that is not dissimilar to what Holmes’ friend, the late Andrew Weatherall achieved on The Scream’s landmark album, Screamadelica. Funk-fueled and soul-dipped, ’70s-style, disco-driven orchestral instrumentation propel Come Ahead, the most personal of all Primal Scream albums. By Lily Moayeri

Nostalgia was in no short supply in 2024’s music output. Fans of ’60s and ’70s psychedelic rock can take comfort in knowing The Lemon Twigs have them covered. On A Dream Is All We Know, the brothers have produced a factory clean homage to the twangy guitars, breezy harmonies, and lover-boy themes of Beach Boys and The Beatles at their peaks. Tracks like “My Golden Years” tear the roof off the record, with soaring melodies and an infectious power-pop drive over three fantastic minutes. If rock music that evokes the past is a crime, The Lemon Twigs could easily turn us all into co-conspirators. By Paul Veracka

Honorable Mentions: The following 2024 albums were also liked by some of our writers and editors and almost made the Top 100.

Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia), Boeckner: Boeckner! (Sub Pop), Bright Eyes: Five Dice, All Threes (Dead Oceans), Chinese American Bear: Wah!!! (Moshi Moshi), Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More (4AD), Dehd: Poetry (Fat Possum), Madi Diaz: Weird Faith (ANTI-), Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft (Darkroom/Interscope), Sam Evian: Plunge (Flying Cloud), Fat Dog: WOOF. (Domino), Font: Strange Burden (Acrophase), Friko: Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (ATO), Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past is Still Alive (Nonesuch), Kendrick Lamar: GNX (PGLAng/Interscope), Lionlimb: Limbo (Bayonet), Nala Sinephro: Endlessness (Warp), NewDad: MADRA (Fair Youth/Atlantic), Kelly Lee Owens: Dreamstate (dh2), Real Estate: Daniel (Domino), Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: Challengers (Original Score) (Milan), Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn: Quiet in a World Full of Noise (Merge), Rosali: Bite Down (Merge), Tyler, the Creator: Chromakopia (Columbia), and Jane Weaver: Love in Constant Spectacle (Fire).