Observer Critics’ Favorite Albums of 2024

We may all share in the feeling that this year’s Dec. 31 merits a “crappy new year” celebration – drown us in Champagne and black-eyed peas until we forget the election, the Luigi Mangione news cycle and Blake Lively’s drama persisting  as long as all seasons of Gossip Girl and the book series combined.

The blinding silver lining was that – as in any time of turmoil – this crazy year brought a whole lot of great new music.

No doubt, 2024 was absolutely owned by pop princesses Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish (we’re still plucking away trying to sing along to “Birds of a Feather”) and by rap gods Kendrick Lamar (whose album GNX followed a string of singles stuffed with Drake-flavored beef) and North Texan BigXThaPlug. But there were gems to be unearthed in every genre, especially in Latin music and indie rock, and even new releases from old heads such as Willie Nelson and The Cure.

We’ve gone over our favorite concerts, local singles and albums in 2024. Now, here are the new releases that obsessed our music critics this year.

Eric Diep

1. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter
2. Tyler, the Creator, Chromakopia
3. Kendrick Lamar, GNX
4. GloRilla, Glorious
5. Metro Boomin and Future, We Don’t Trust You
6. Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal
7. Schoolboy Q, Blue Lips
8. Latto, Sugar Honey Iced Tea
9. Tinashe, Quantum Baby
10. Don Toliver, Hardstone Psycho

Eric Diep has contributed to the Observer since 2017. He has written for Billboard, Complex, Vulture, HipHopDX and XXL.

David Fletcher

1. Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood
2. Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven
3. Gouge Away, Deep Sage
4. Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Past Is Still Alive
5. Vampire Weekend, Only God Was Above Us
6. Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future
7. Kim Gordon, The Collective
8. Cindy Lee, Diamond Jubilee
9. Beth Gibbons, Lives Outgrown
10. The Cure, Songs of a Lost World

David Fletcher has written about music, arts and culture for the Observer since 2018. You can usually find him at a show in Deep Ellum, whether he’s writing about it or not. A punk scholar and local music enthusiast, David focuses his attention on the artists screaming from the margins of Dallas’ music scene.

Carly May Gravley

1. Charli XCX, brat
2. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter
3. Maya Hawke, Chaos Angel
4. The Dare, What’s Wrong With New York?
5. Remi Wolf, Big Ideas
6. Magdalena Bay, Imaginal Disk
7. Oso Oso, Life Til Bones
8. Towa Bird, American Hero
9. Doechii,  Alligator Bites Never Heal
10. Kim Gordon, The Collective

Carly May Gravley has contributed to the Observer since 2019, and has written for Consequence of Sound, the Texas Tribune and Central Track. In addition to writing and reporting, Carly is a concert and portrait photographer and an alumna of Collin College’s Commercial Photography program.

Preston Jones

1. Dua Lipa, Radical Optimism
2. Norah Jones, Visions
3. Jack White, No Name
4. St. Vincent, All Born Screaming
5. Cigarettes After Sex, X’s
6. Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Well
7. T Bone Burnett, The Other Side
8. Miranda Lambert, Postcards from Texas
9. Willie Nelson, Last Leaf on the Tree
10. The Last Dinner Party, Prelude to Ecstasy

Preston Jones is a Dallas-based writer who spent a decade as the pop music critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors honored his work three times, including a 2017 first-place award for comment and criticism (Class AAAA). His writing has also appeared in the New York Observer, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, Central Track, Oklahoma Today and Slant Magazine.

Simon Pruitt

1. IDLES, TANGK
2. Childish Gambino, Bando Stone and the New World
3. Speed, ONLY ONE MODE
4. Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope
5. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers (Original Score)
6. The Cure, Songs of a Lost World
7. LLORA, LLORA
8. Amyl and the Sniffers, Cartoon Darkness
9. Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal
10. Dezi 5, Dirty Laundry
11. Magdalena Bay, Imaginal Disk
12. The Smashing Pumpkins, Aghori Mhori Mei
13. Justin Timberlake, Everything I Thought I Was
14. Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Orchestra Hits
15. Frances Moth, On Cat Hill and What Is Peace Between Us

EPs: The Beckleys, PARADISO; South Arcade, 2005; Baby Rose and BADBADNOTGOOD, Slow Burn.
Singles: Stevie Wonder, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” and Sade, “Young Lion.”

Simon Pruitt is the Observer‘s new music, food and culture staff writer. He was a staff writer for Advocate Magazine, director of company culture and lead writer at Music Movies and Hoops, and he’s the general manager of music venue Zounds Sounds B-Side.

Sean Stroud

1. The Genuine Articulate, The Alchemist
2. Exhibition of Prowess, Kublai Khan TX
3. Penalty of Leadership, Boldy James & Nicholas Craven
4. #RICHAXXHAITIAN, Mach-Hommy
5. Dark Times, Vince Staples
6. Eviscerate, Eidola
7. Gemini, LUCKI

Sean Stroud has been a contributor to the Observer since 2023. He hosts the Weak In Review Podcast, is Editor-in-Chief at the Dallas College newspaper, where he earned an Associate of Arts in Mass Communication/Media Studies, and he has a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago.

Eva Raggio

1. Tyler, the Creator, Chromakopia
2. IDLES, TANGK
3. Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal
4. Fontaines D.C., Romance
5. St. Vincent, All Born Screaming
6. Latin Mafia, Todos Los Días Todo El Día
7. Kim Gordon, The Collective
8. Cigarettes After Sex, X’s
9. Willow, Empathogen
10. BigXThaPlug, Take Care

Eva Raggio is the Observer‘s music and culture editor. She has contributed to the Observer since 2013.