Remember December ’24: My Top 25 Albums of the Year

I’ve listened to a slew of new music this year. Most mornings and early afternoons find me here, at my decades-old desk, grooving via the Vox or Soundcloud apps to albums, EPs and singles slated to reach the virtual racks in the days, weeks and months to come. I also enjoy CD/vinyl/downloads purchased via Bandcamp and the artists’ own web stores, plus routinely dig deep into Apple Music’s genres in search of buried treasure.

The upshot: I’ve spotlighted 127 albums and EPs, plus 52 singles, in 2024—and have a few more yet to come! I’d like to say I’ve played upwards of 500 additional releases, as it’s a nice round number, but I can’t—I have no idea beyond “a lot.” I listen to most things sent my way, at least in part, and either like/love or move on. I don’t share anything that doesn’t connect with me, which sometimes causes my blog to read like cheerleader central. (As I joked last year, “I am an emophiliac when it comes to music, forever falling in love with the next new release.”) Some stick around longer than others, of course, and it’s from that smaller pool that I choose my much-ballyhooed Album of the Year.

Over the past good while, I’ve revisited the stickiest of the sticky spins. In years past, as longtime readers may remember, I’ve hosted a celebratory soiree at a nearby park for the nominees, filling every seat in a spacious—and, given it’s winter, heated—tent. Thus far, the Tom Petty line that “even the losers get lucky sometimes” has come true thanks to the delicious BBQ spread donated by a local eatery. (We North Carolinians know how to party!) This year’s gala is slated for next Monday, December 16.

Before that, however, there’s this: My Top 25 Albums of the Year—arranged in alphabetical order—with links to my original reviews.

• Abigail Rose – Surprise Valley
• Carolyn Kendrick – Each Machine
• Chelsea King – I’ll Meet You in Dreams
• Diane Birch – Flying on Abraham
• Ella Thompson – Ripple on the Wing
• Hayley Reardon – After Everything
• Hayley Reardon – Live at Starseed Studios
• Honeyglaze – Real Deal
• Jackie Minton – Sagesse
• Jimetta Rose & Voices of Creation – Things Are Getting Better
• JM Stevens – Nowhere to Land
• Kaitlin Butts – Roadrunner!
• Karen Jonas – The Rise & Fall of American Kitsch
• Little Mystery – self-titled
• Lucy Rose – This Ain’t the Way You Go Out
• Malin Pettersen – Acoustic Acts of Rebellion
• Niamh Regan – Come As You Are
• Pa Sheehy – Maybe It Was All for This
• Paul Weller – 66
• Podge Lane – Multiple Dead Ends
• Samara Joy – Portrait
• Sarah Darling – Canyon
• Shelby Lynne – Consequences of the Crown
• Sophie Gault – Baltic Street Hotel
• The Staves – All Now