Let’s be honest – trying to sum up a year in music is like attempting to explain Matty Healy to your grandparents or giving a sensible answer when someone asks you, ‘What kind of music do you like?’. It’s messy, it’s subjective and someone is definitely going to disagree with you in the comments.
But here we are again, Dear Reader, doing what we do best: Ranking things and having opinions about them. 2024 has been the kind of year that makes music journalists reach for increasingly elaborate metaphors – a year where artificial intelligence tried to write pop songs (badly), where every other week brought another “unexpected” collaboration, and where pop girlies ruled all.
From bedroom pop breakthroughs to stadium-sized statements, from heartbreak to hyperpop, we’ve listened to it all. Multiple times. Probably while crying in the shower or doing our silly little tasks or commuting to our silly little jobs. These are the albums that made 2024 feel less like a simulation and more like somewhere we actually want to be – ranked meticulously, debated passionately, and served up with a signature side of mild sass. Strap in. Things are about to get opinionated.
50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1
40. CONAN GRAY – Found Heaven
Conan Gray’s ‘Found Heaven‘ marks a dramatic shift from his melancholic past to a vibrant, synth-soaked dance party. With production from Max Martin and others, it delivers arena-ready anthems that showcase Gray’s evolving artistry. At its core, ‘Found Heaven’ explores young adulthood – new loves, heartbreak, and self-discovery. Through vibrant synth-pop, he proves that paradise lies in embracing our deepest feelings, transforming pain into strength. ‘Found Heaven’ emerges as an electrifying testament to growth, weaving together the trials and triumphs of youth.
Top Track: ‘Lonely Dancers’
Fun Fact: Conan Gray has been on the cover of Dork not once, but twice.
Read the full cover interview with Conan from the April issue of Dork
39. LIZZY MCALPINE – Older
After viral hit ‘Ceilings‘, Lizzy McAlpine returns with ‘Older‘, shedding expectations for authenticity. ‘Older’ departs from folk-pop roots, embracing rich instrumentation and confident vocals. The album explores twenty-something life with raw honesty, from codependency to emotional abuse, prioritizing genuine emotion over polish. Through ‘Older’, McAlpine emerges as a storyteller who understands life’s complexities, crafting a deeply personal journey of growth.
Top Track: ‘Older’
Fun Fact: Lizzy is about to make Broadway debut in Floyd Collins.
Pick up a copy of our April 2024 issue of Dork with Lizzy McAlpine on the cover
38. BEEN STELLAR – Scream From New York, NY
Been Stellar are the 90s throwback we never knew we needed. ‘Scream From New York, NY‘ blends Nirvana, The Strokes, and Slowdive influences into a living creation. Grungy garage rock meets dreamy shoegaze, capturing the essence of post-pandemic NYC life. From the visceral ‘Start Again’ through dream-pop ‘Pumpkin’ to the throbbing title track, Been Stellar masterfully balance nostalgia with innovation. Full of verve and kinetic energy, this debut gives the band room to breathe before fully loosening the shackles.
Top Track: ‘Pumpkin’
Fun (Horrifying) Fact: “In a place like New York, you hear screams all the time,” they explained in a recent Dork interview.
37. LAVA LA RUE – STARFACE
Ever wondered what it sounds like when an alien discovers Earth’s entire musical history and decides to remix it all at once? ‘STARFACE‘ is your answer – a kaleidoscopic journey through sound that treats genre boundaries like optional extras. From the Cuco-assisted sugar rush of ‘Better’ to the genre-blending chaos of ‘Push N Shuv’, it’s like stumbling into the world’s coolest intergalactic house party. Beam us up.
Top Track: ‘Push N Shuv’
Fun Fact: Lava is a founder and creative director of NiNE8 collective.
36. GLASS ANIMALS – I Love You So F***ing Much
Glass Animals’ ‘I Love You So F***ing Much‘ is what happens when you lock a pop genius in a house that’s about to fall off a mountain and tell him to make sense of the universe. The sonic equivalent of free-falling through the cosmos, it’s a dizzying, exhilarating journey that’s both intimately personal and cosmically vast. Glass Animals deliver a work of startling ambition, wrestling with existential questions against a backdrop of soundscapes and storytelling.
Top Track: ‘Creatures In Heaven’
Fun Fact: Dork’s second ever cover stars, this lot.
Read the full Glass Animals cover feature from our August issue of Dork
35. DECLAN MCKENNA – What Happened To The Beach?
In the near-decade since emerging with his iconic debut single ‘Brazil’, Deccers has evolved into one of today’s most dynamic pop artists. After his politically charged debut ‘What Do You Think About The Car?‘ and the theatrical ‘Zeros‘, 2024 finds Dec exploring surreal sonic dreamscapes. This is clearly a different kind of Declan album. When asked to describe the album in three words, he called it ‘intimate, messy and wobbly’. Perfect.
Top Track: ‘Nothing Works’
Fun Fact: Declan owns at least one pair of CMAT socks.
Pick up a copy of our November 2023 issue featuring Declan McKenna on the cover
34. DEADLETTER – Hysterical Strength
Our artiest rabble-rousers have gone and delivered the kind of debut that makes you want to start a revolution – or at least a really rowdy book club. From the brass-knuckle punch of ‘Mother’ to the smoke-wreathed swagger of ‘Mere Mortal’, this is what happens when post-punk stops moping and starts moving. When even Bulgaria’s singing along, you know something special’s cooking in the kitchen of chaos.
Top Track: ‘More Heat!’
Fun Fact: The band are already working on album two.
Pick up a copy of our October issue of Dork featuring Deadletter on the cover
33. COURTING – New Last Name
Remember when Courting were just another bunch of scally upstarts making a racket in Liverpool? Their second album – self-produced by Sean Murphy O’Neill and Robert Whiteley but with a couple enlisting Gary and Ryan from The Cribs for a hand – is what happens when you let your weird flag fly while simultaneously writing choruses big enough to be seen from space. Guitar music isn’t dead – it just needed a new last name.
Top Track: ‘Flex’
Fun Fact: It turns out that when Courting gave us an acronym for the name of their next album, ‘LFL O HTTTNACOTOSTTTS’, it wasn’t a giant fib. ‘Lust for Life, Or: ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story’ is due in March.
32. RACHEL CHINOURIRI – What A Devastating Turn of Events
Don’t let that doom-laden title fool you – this is the kind of devastating that has you grinning like you’ve just found a fiver in your old jeans. Rachel’s debut pulls off that rare trick of feeling both instantly classic and box-fresh new. From LA adventures that feel like lost coming-of-age film scenes to late-night confessionals that hit harder than your last 3AM text, it’s the sound of a new star being born.
Top Track: ‘All I Ever Asked’
Fun Fact: Rachel is very in-demand, and has toured with Lewis Capaldi, Louis Tomlinson and Sabrina Carpenter.
31. CLAIRO – Charm
Claire Cottrill’s gone and done that thing where she makes everyone else look like they’re trying too hard. Trading bedroom pop for the warm hug of analog tape, ‘Charm‘ feels like stumbling into a lost 70s session where Carole King’s writing tunes for The Velvet Underground. Working with producer Leon Michels, she’s crafted something that feels both impossibly vintage and completely now – like finding your gran’s record collection in a time machine.
Top Track: ‘Sexy To Someone’
Fun Fact: Clairo recently took part in ‘Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan’, along with Margo Price, TOPS, Kate Bollinger, Empress Of and more.
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