The Top 50 Albums of 2024: Part Three (#40 to #31)
Things are starting to warm up as we enter the Top 40...
Welcome to Part Three of The Perfect Prescription’s Top 50 Albums of 2024 series. In the first two instalments, I covered some honourable mentions and albums #50 to #41. Today, it’s time to push on and reveal the next ten choices. You can expect Part Four later in the week, before I share my Top 20 in two posts next week.
Explore The Top 50 Albums of 2024 Series
[Honourable Mentions] [#50 to #41] [#40 to #31] [#30 to #21] [#20 to #11] [#10 to #1]
40. Iron & Wine
“Light Verse”
(Sub Pop)
I used to love Iron & Wine — Our Endless Numbered Days wasn’t just a favourite, it was my standout record of 2004 — but it was evidently a fleeting love. As Sam Beam’s ensuing releases dipped in quality, I figured I’d heard the best he had to offer and stopped paying attention altogether. I wasn’t expecting Light Verse to change my mind, but Beam’s glorious duet with Fiona Apple pulled me back into his quiet universe, only for the rest of this humble little record to win me over.
39. Nadine Shah
“Filthy Underneath”
(EMI North)
Channelling the grief and pain she has experienced in recent years, Filthy Underneath is Nadine Shah’s bold, triumphant comeback record. The jarring rhythms provide a perfectly moody backdrop for some of Shah’s career-best vocal performances.
38. Nia Archives
“Silence Is Loud”
(HIJINXX / Island)
Silence Is Loud, the debut album by Bradford-born artist Nia Archives, is one of the year’s finest pop records. The two key influences here are jungle and Britpop, which had a memorable crossover moment on the 1997 Goldie/Noel Gallagher collaboration, “Temper Temper”. There was nothing wrong with that track, of course, but Silence Is Loud is more ambitious and a lot more fun.
37. Les Amazones D’Afrique
“Musow Danse”
(Real World)
The African collective’s third album fuses so many styles — soul, disco, gospel, electro-pop, hip hop, folk — that it can be disorientating at times. The common denominators here are unbridled joy and a strong theme of female empowerment, which is basically the collective’s central purpose. Find the perfect time to listen and Musow Danse is a rush of pure fun.
36. Cloud Nothings
“Final Summer”
(Pure Noise)
Final Summer is the classic return to form record. The sound is slightly more refined, the underlying tone a little more hopeful, and the result is a subtly reinvigorated version of Cloud Nothings.
35. Kacey Musgraves
“Deeper Well”
(MCA Nashville / Interscope)
Kacey Does Jangle! An unexpected delight from an unlikely source, I have frequently returned to Deeper Well and its perfectly formed country-tinged pop throughout the year. “Cardinal” is a particular delight.
34. 2nd Grade
“Scheduled Explosions”
(Double Double Whammy)
Philly power pop favourites pay homage to Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes-era GBV with a sprawling collection of ideas — some fully explored, others jettisoned mid-song. It’s not the classic I’d hoped for, but there is still a lot to like here.
33. Chat Pile
“Cool World”
(The Flenser)
Cool World is an uncompromising listen, but there’s ample material here capable of drawing in listeners from outside the noise-rock genre. Of the previously unreleased tracks, “Shame”, “Frownland” and “Milk of Human Kindness” all jump out on first listen, the latter reminding me a little of some of the sludgier moments on Nirvana’s seminal In Utero. A more raucous highlight, “No Way Out” closes the record with a roar, its opening chord landing with the ferocity of a liver shot for the ages.
32. The Lemon Twigs
“A Dream Is All We Know”
(Captured Tracks)
The Lemon Twigs made a giant leap forward last year with the stunning Everything’s Harmony, my #4 album of 2023. A Dream Is All We Know doesn’t quite hit the same heights for me, but it’s still a very accomplished power pop record, bursting with late 60s/early 70s nostalgia, like the Beach Boys-esque “My Golden Years”.
31. Good Looks
“Lived Here For A While”
(Domino)
The War on Drugs with better songs? Drive-By Truckers with better guitar solos? There are many purveyors of the type of heartland indie rock Good Looks specialise in, but few sharper songwriters. Their well-documented misfortunes make them an easy band to root for, but the acclaim afforded to Lived Here for a While has nothing to do with sentiment. One of the best pure indie rock records of 2024.
All of the selections so far have been added to my Top 50 Albums Spotify playlist. Go ahead and save this one as I’ll be adding to it as this series progresses.
If you like this year’s Iron and Wine album you’ll probably like the last one, Beast Epic, and its follow up EP, Weed Garden, too. As a steadfast Iron and Wine fan I agree the stuff after Endless Numbered Days was a departure but I must object to the dip in quality remark! These days are almost a return to folksy instrumentation but with a tendency to break into free jazz.
Love that Good Looks album. Those shots at The War on Drugs and Drive-By Truckers cut me deep though (ha). I just can't seem to get into any new Iron and Wine albums. I've really enjoyed some of the "Archives" releases though. The Creek Drank the Cradle, Endless Numbered Days, and Around the Well are all-timers.