Every time I dive into the albums of a new month, I find myself wondering - will this be the first time I come across 3 albums with a rating above 0,900? In lucky months, I've found two, and there have been months with none at all, like March and July. So, in the VIII part of the digest of the best albums of 2024, for the first time, 4 artists exceeded the 0,900 pts mark. Read on to find out who managed to achieve this in the new issue. The selection was made from 942 albums, and the full list will be attached at the bottom of this article on Boosty and Patreon. If you want to stay updated with the next parts of this series, follow my Telegram channel.
Emoji showcases popularity, from total unknowns to superstars: [🌌🌑🌙☄️✨🌟]
20. Joy Bogat - Fabric of Dreams
🇩🇪 Germany / March 8 / 0,816 / 🌌
Spotify / Apple Music / Yandex Music
neo-soul / r&b / indie pop
I stumbled upon this overlooked March album entirely by chance while working on this VIII section. Following two EPs released in 2020 and 2021, Joy Bogat’s logical progression led to her debut album, "Fabric of Dreams". A significant part of the album is imbued with her experiences of motherhood and how she learned to view the world anew through her child's eyes. It’s a delightful mix of hip-hop beats, nearly always played on live drums, restrained soul sketches that sometimes drift into poetic recitation, and the enveloping R'n'B vibe of synthesizers. Despite its generally de-commercialized sound, Joy Bogat captivates with her sincerity and her eagerness to weave her personal stories and the impressions from the books she avidly reads into her music.
19. 49 Winchester - Leavin' This Holler
🇺🇸 US, Virginia / August 2 / 0,820 / 🌟
Spotify / Apple Music
country / americana / southern rock / rock'n'roll
The fifth studio album by "49 Winchester", one of the most popular Appalachian folk bands in the USA, has arrived. Despite what their name might suggest, it has nothing to do with guns, although their music does evoke the rugged atmosphere of the historical Wild West. The band actually comes from the small town of Castlewood, Virginia, with a population of about 2,000, nestled in a valley of the Appalachian Mountains. In 2014, they started performing on Winchester Street in their hometown, so the name refers to the very place where they became a cohesive band and first found an audience for their music.
18. Anberlin - Vega
🇺🇸 US, New York / August 2 / 0,825 / 🌟
Spotify / Apple Music
alternative rock
The legendary American band has made a comeback with a new release after a 10-year break since their last album, “Lowborn”. The term “American” fits perfectly because European listeners might not have heard of them at all. If you’re that rare European listener who knows them well, congratulations - your knowledge is vast and exceptional. “Vega” is more of a compilation than an album; it includes two EPs released over the past few years, plus two new tracks with vocalist Matty Mullins from the metalcore band Memphis May Fire. The album "Vega" captures Anberlin at a pivotal moment, transitioning from inactivity to actively making music and performing again, changing vocalists after Stephen Christian's exit, and exploring genre changes, which are starkly evident when comparing Christian's 10 tracks to Mullins' 2 tracks. Hearing “Seven” for the first time made me think, “Wow, have they ever sounded this heavy?”
17. Simone Simons - Vermillion
🇳🇱 Netherlands / August 23 / 0,826 / 🌙
Spotify / Apple Music
symphonic metal
For years, Simone Simons has been a guest vocalist on Arjen Lucassen's projects, beginning with the 2008 album "Y". However, the announcement of "Vermillion" brought something new - a full-length collaborative album where both artists share equal roles. The prospect was intriguing. After all, there's a considerable gap between Epica's symphonic metal, aiming for straightforward theatrical drama, and Ayreon's project, which leans more toward progressive than symphonic or power metal. Which way would it go? Fortunately, it didn’t lean towards either extreme, resulting in a work that is creatively whole, not just a spin-off or side project of either band. Arjen Lucassen resisted his usual penchant for extended synthesizer solos akin to Jordan Rudess, while Simone moved away from Epica’s characteristic choral layering, where vocals dominate and the music serves as a backdrop. Surprisingly, the debut solo album of this remarkable vocalist, contrary to expectations, isn’t just about her voice. It provides plenty of room to be captivating instrumentally as well.
16. Marie Sahba - A Billion Years Too Soon
🇳🇴 Norway / 🇮🇷 Iran / 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan / August 16 / 0,835 / 🌌
Spotify / Apple Music
electropop / oriental pop
Maria Sahba was born in Trondheim, Norway, to an Iranian Azerbaijani father and a Norwegian mother. Interestingly, there are more Azerbaijanis living in Iran than in Azerbaijan itself, which is historically explainable. However, it’s not as surprising as the fact that more Lebanese live in Brazil than in Lebanon, despite the distance between the two countries. Maria fell in love with music at a young age, mastering the piano, and as she grew older, she developed a passion for synthesizers, which led her into the realm of electronic music. The original album, released in February, stayed below my radar, but the deluxe version released in August didn't. Her debut album “A Billion Years Too Soon” beautifully combines modern Europop with the oriental flavors of live ethnic instruments like the santur and bağlama.
15. Alltheprettythings - Prose
🇺🇸 US, North Carolina / August 21 / 0,835 / 🌑
Spotify / Apple Music
indie rock / alternative rock
My favorite category: supergroups made up of unknowns. On the band's bio page, there’s a long list of their past projects, some with zero listeners on Spotify, while others are famous and successful bands like Thousand Foot Krutch or Chiodos. However, the involvement of our musicians in these projects was so fleeting (if it even happened) that they aren’t listed as members on Wikipedia. Yet, two members have a legitimate and extensive background in successful bands - the drummer played in Alesana, and the bassist in Emarosa. Despite the amusing puffery about their backgrounds, this newly formed quintet has produced an excellent album that fans of early 2010s alternative rock will definitely appreciate.
14. Brave Rival - Fight or Flight
🇬🇧 UK, England / August 16 / 0,836 / 🌑
Spotify / Apple Music
classic rock / blues rock
Modern old-school rock bands often stick to the classic 4/4 beat with steady measures, trying to replicate a formula that worked 50 years ago. But this approach rarely succeeds because rhythm has evolved significantly over the decades. Led Zeppelin were the first to grasp this, distinguishing themselves from their contemporaries. The Portsmouth quintet Brave Rival understands this well, too. Despite their overall style resembling Fleetwood Mac, their groovy riffs and rolling drum beats set them apart. In 2022, they released their debut album, which caught Joe Bonamassa’s attention, calling them one of his favorite new bands. Two years later, they released their second album, “Fight or Flight”, showcasing even more interest and refinement.
13. Inertia - Second Shadow
🇦🇺 Australia / August 9 / 0,839 / 🌑
Spotify / Apple Music
alternative metal / metalcore / dark pop / post hardcore
Inertia has undoubtedly made their mark on the Australian music scene in 2024. Their dynamic energy, aggressive force, and raw ferocity are unmatched. The band claims to blend metalcore with almost pop-like catchy choruses, and it’s hard to disagree. Instead of the tearful choruses typical of melodic metalcore, these guys write hooks that make you want to sing along, only for a djent-like riff to take over and fill the space, eventually leading to metalcore’s heaviness with extreme vocals and syncopated kick drums (it’s interesting to note that djent is fragmented mainly due to the guitars, whereas in metalcore, the drum parts are often more irregular). Despite almost all 12 songs following the same recipe of a triple cycle of djent riff, metalcore verse, and dark-pop chorus, it never becomes tiresome and sounds remarkably cohesive.
12. Hamish Hawk - A Firmer Hand
🇬🇧 UK, Scotland / August 16 / 0,841 / 🌙
Spotify / Apple Music / Yandex Music
sophisti-pop / post-punk / art rock
I love albums like these, which serve as a complex statement on a variety of themes. Their soundscape is graceful and intricate, and the lyrics are a tapestry of chaotic thoughts buzzing in the artist’s mind. It makes you want to head to Reddit or Genius for help deciphering them, but there’s no assistance to be found - this isn’t Taylor Swift, where the fanbase figures out which ex each line refers to within days. These complex and layered albums from lesser-known artists leave you alone with your thoughts, providing no guidance, and thus, allowing for a wide range of interpretations and the feelings they evoke. The lyrics of this album will surely be annotated on Genius, but it will take dedicated enthusiasts years to complete the task.
11. The Smashing Pumpkins - AGHORI MHORI MEI
🇺🇸 US, Illinois / August 2 / 0,842 / 🌟
Spotify / Apple Music
alternative rock / progressive rock / heavy metal
The world is full of surprises, and when The Smashing Pumpkins released the endless stream of music titled “Atum” last year and the year before, I struggled so much to get through the boredom that I completely wrote off this once-legendary band. I don't even believe a double album can surpass the standard 44-minute format, let alone a triple album with a fourth disc of B-sides. It's no wonder Jeff Schroeder left the band because of it. I didn’t expect the band to redeem themselves, let alone so quickly. The Smashing Pumpkins have been on a slippery slope since their 2000 album “Machina”, which was decent but not as significant as “Adore”. Then came a drop in quality, a decent “Oceania” in 2012, followed by a series of questionable releases, and now, finally, the surprisingly solid and engaging “AGHORI MHORI MEI”. I haven’t had the chance to touch on this topic before, but I’ve wanted to share an observation for a long time – tell me, where in the entire internet have any discussions evaporated about how Matthew Bellamy was inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins in the early Muse days and particularly by the album “Siamese Dreams”? When I listened to Muse in the 2000s and communicated online, it was common knowledge. But recently, I googled it again, and suddenly, either it's no longer considered true, or everyone has forgotten about it? Such a strange Mandela effect.
10. AYLIVA - In Liebe
🇩🇪 Germany / August 16 / 0,844 / 🌟
Spotify / Apple Music
pop
Elif Akar is having an impressive career. She first gained attention as an opening act for Alicia Keys during her 2022 tour in Germany. For three consecutive summers, Ayliva has released albums that have made a significant impact on German-speaking music. Last year's “Schwarzes Herz”, like her new album “In Liebe”, easily topped the charts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Despite her quality pop music and excellent live performances, Ayliva hasn’t been spared from review bombing online. Critics have constructively pointed out her for copying Ariana Grande's image (though musically they are quite different), and in 2024, Ayliva moved away from this image. However, there’s also a significant amount of unmotivated criticism with minimal ratings and no clear explanations, leading to suspicions that the true reason lies in the singer's Turkish heritage and use of Arabic motifs in her music.
9. David Kushner - The Dichotomy
🇺🇸 US, Illinois / August 30 / 0,848 / 🌟
Spotify / Apple Music / Yandex Music
gothic pop
From one victim of review bombing to another - David Kushner gained popularity in 2023 with his song “Daylight”, which went viral on TikTok and amassed over a billion streams on Spotify. His album ended up being very lengthy, comprising 17 songs. This wouldn’t be an issue on its own, but David tried to replicate the success of “Daylight” 16 times, crafting all the songs using the same formula, making the record feel monotonous and tiresome. Yet, his voice is phenomenal, with an incredible timbre that's hard to believe comes from such a young, slender boy. In a way, “The Dichotomy” feels like a downgraded version of Rag'N'Bone Man’s “Human”, except the latter was better at being dynamic and varied, while David Kushner focuses more on overcoming his own flaws and developing virtues through a Christian moral lens.
8. Mary Rome - REALITY
🇩🇰 Denmark / August 23 / 0,857 / 🌌
Spotify / Apple Music
alternative pop / indie pop / bedroom pop
It's incredibly disappointing for Danish music - no matter how talented musicians are, they often go unnoticed. I've stopped being surprised when I discover a new artist from Denmark, only to see their monthly listeners number less than a thousand (Mary has just 72). It's as if Denmark's high HDI can't help talented artists gain any recognition. If you're born in Denmark, try heading to London, one of the world's music production hubs, as soon as possible. It's no wonder Danes have been heading to England for a thousand years, and one album from 1066 continues to enthrall us. But Mary Romvig faces not only the issues of the Danish music scene but also makes some unfortunate mistakes herself. For example, the song "Snowflake" is several decibels louder than the rest, which is hard to miss. Still, the song is fantastic, with the piano constantly falling into an extra beat, pleasantly disrupting the 4/4 rhythm each time. Then there's the wonderful track "Scars", which features a silly and unnecessary guitar solo near the end, clearly recorded over the song, as some of its notes dissonate with the more fundamental piano, which is the core of all Mary's songs.
7. Telenova - Time is a Flower
🇦🇺 Australia / August 16 / 0,860 / 🌙
Spotify / Apple Music / Yandex Music
alternative pop / art pop / blues / electronic pop / indie folk
I can't recall another instance where an outstanding album, clearly deserving of attention, begins with a brilliant song that is actually just an intro, designed to start things off beautifully... Yet, the one-minute “The Wallpaper” possesses a full ABAB song structure and manages to pack immense drama into such a tiny composition. This is achieved through elegant modulations from G natural minor to the shockingly unexpected F#maj7 chord, followed by a major Ab chord, creating a subtle, elusive F# Lydian atmosphere. The cycle repeats twice before the song halts on the chromatic chord linking these two different modes, all within its allotted minute. These transitions are so fantastic that if there were a category for the best song of the year under a minute, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to give it the win.
6. Blues Pills - Birthday
🇸🇪 Sweden / August 2 / 0,872 / 🌙
Spotify / Apple Music
blues rock / psychedelic rock
Following in the footsteps of The Smashing Pumpkins, another story of redemption and comeback, though this journey from peak to fall and then to renaissance took only a decade instead of 30 years. Their impressive debut in 2014 quickly brought them success, and they soon released “Lady in Gold” in 2016, which felt more like a mash-up of retro inspirations than original work. In 2020, the band attempted to recreate the transition from psychedelic rock to hard rock that some bands experienced in the late 60s and early 70s. That album had a few interesting tracks, like “Low Road” and “Dust”, but the overall impression was blurred, and the album felt secondary. Playing with retro vibes is a tricky thing, much like fashion, which is cyclical, but you can’t simply pull out an old item from the drawer 40 years later and wear it as new, even if the spiral has brought us back to a certain style; the details and nuances have shifted. The same goes for reviving old music, which must balance overall style with modern elements. This is what Blues Pills initially didn’t understand but managed to capture on their new album “Birthday”, which seamlessly blends the 60s psychedelic rock style with a contemporary feel.
5. Mystery Waitress - Bright Black Night
🇳🇿 New Zealand / August 2 / 0,888 / 🌌
Spotify / Apple Music
alternative rock / indie rock / dream pop
One of the most overlooked releases this month is the second album by New Zealand’s Mystery Waitress. The band’s style is so refined that it can only be described through surprising mash-ups... Imagine Lana Del Rey as the vocalist for Wolf Alice, or Mazzy Star fronted by Patti Smith. The opening title track even sounds like Justin Chancellor from Tool stepped in to play bass on one song. On the third track, “Mountain”, it’s as if Chris Isaak swooped in to deliver a quick dose of the Dorian mode. This album is a true gem; its only drawback is its short length - a couple more tracks would have made it perfectly satisfying. These guys are destined to become one of New Zealand's leading rock bands.
4. MEER - Wheels Within Wheels
🇳🇴 Norway / August 23 / 0,918 / 🌌
Spotify / Apple Music
progressive rock / symphonic / orchestral / art rock / indie rock / crossover prog
Following up with new work after such a monumental album as “Playing House” is no easy feat, especially when it was one of the best records of 2021, with few albums able to outdo it. Additionally, MEER has always been a loosely connected musical group, with their first two albums feeling more like a traveling minstrel troupe, rather than the tightly bonded core of a modern band, unified by solid grooves and riffs. On their third album, this weak connection seems to unravel even more, leaning towards touching orchestrations that would be more fitting in romantic, melodramatic, or even epic musicals or films. Can you picture a conflicted and rejected hero in a pivotal moment of a Disney animated movie singing “Today Tonight Tomorrow”? I certainly can, and vice versa, I can't imagine that song anywhere else. Even in tracks like “Behave”, which retain an art-rock integrity, the chorus is suddenly swept by dense string arpeggios, which, for me, instantly bring to mind Howard Shore's “The Sword That Was Broken” from The Lord of the Rings soundtrack.
3. Bent Knee - Twenty Pills Without Water
🇺🇸 US, Massachusetts / August 30 / 0,928 / 🌑
Spotify / Apple Music
art rock / progressive rock / art pop / chamber pop / electronic / alternative rock
Releasing this album is a testament to resilience. A couple of years ago, guitarist and co-founder Ben Levin and bassist Jessica Kion left the band, leaving a significant gap in Bent Knee. The band's peculiar name plays on the founders' names, Ben and Courtney. All six members are graduates of Berklee College of Music, each excelling in their discipline. Interestingly, Courtney Swain wasn't accepted for vocals but for piano. She also applied for vocals, but the Berklee admissions committee rejected her when they heard her sing. This is particularly ironic, considering the many incredible songs she has sung since, and her experimental and extreme vocal style has a captivating magnetism. Berklee was a notoriously toxic place until recently, although they now claim to have resolved all the ethical and toxic issues that had persisted for decades and were brought to light by the Esperanza Spalding scandals. It was Ben Levin who discovered the young Courtney and worked with her extensively, revealing more of her talent. According to Courtney, as a Japanese expat, she struggled to pronounce English vowels, so you can imagine the effort involved. Now, she records stunning albums even without Ben Levin. All six musicians were exceptional - Ben and Courtney with their avant-garde harmony sense, Jessica Kion's bass groove, Chris Baum's virtuoso violin playing, Gavin Wallace's syncopation and polyrhythm, and last but not least, Vince Welch, who mixes and masters the band's music in his own unique way, maintaining a raw, rough, and nonconformist sound.
2. Leprous - Melodies of Atonement
🇳🇴 Norway / August 30 / 0,931 / ☄️
Spotify / Apple Music
progressive rock / progressive metal / art rock
For 12 years, Leprous maintained a relentless pace, releasing an album every odd year. As time went on, this became increasingly challenging. “Pitfalls” was released in October, with its cover art hastily sourced from a stock photo store at the last moment. It still baffles me how they managed to produce the brilliant “Aphelion” despite the quarantine and the band’s exhaustion. Perhaps all great things are truly invented in a rush, amid other tasks and under immense pressure. Finally, after two seemingly impossible albums recorded through titanic efforts, the band took a break, allowing everyone to relax... except for the indefatigable Einar Solberg, who decided not to let another odd year pass by and released a small solo album of 70 minutes. I often look for more conceptual depth in Leprous’s music than they might intend: when they changed their logo to fragments of three connected dots, the title on the cover was defragmented, and the same cover featured the bacterium Xystonella treforti, a marine endemic near the coast of Bangladesh... I was convinced that the album would continue the theme of Coal, dedicated to the strange scientific methodologies of modern times. If you’re unaware, studying microorganisms today isn’t about microscope observations and drawing new species but more about scooping from unknown swamps into test tubes, blending everything, and biologists then claiming with serious faces that they’ve found a certain number of unknown DNA fragments. However, such conceptuality of the album is merely my imagination, and even the cover didn’t fully embrace it – to style the title as fragments of codons, these fragments should have been scattered across the cover: “LEP ROU SME LOD IES OFA TON EME NT*”.
1. Thirteen Senses - The Bound and the Infinite
🇬🇧 UK, England / August 9 / 0,935 / ☄️
Spotify / Apple Music
post-rock / post-britpop
I never imagined that any album could top Leprous, especially when I was almost done sorting through the 942 albums, listening to the latest batch of the most unnoticed and almost invisible on the web. And from which band! I had forgotten they even existed, a group from the 2000s, known mostly for one song, "Into the Fire" from their debut album in 2004. They released their last album a decade ago and then simply vanished without a trace, making no statements, disappearing without a word. They reappeared just as mysteriously - no announcements, no singles, no fanfare... just dropping an album out of nowhere after ten years. It happens, right? This near-disbandment, dissolving from all trends and tendencies of global music, and their eventual reconnection via online calls, working secretly to avoid burdening their families, has allowed this album to exist in a timeless space. It’s not just beautifully crafted - it’s a genuine artifact from the 2000s, evoking those elusive vibes that music gave back then but can't anymore. “The Bound and the Infinite” is not styled as vintage, like much music today - it truly is vintage. If they claimed it was an unreleased album from 15 years ago, no one would question it.
Thank you for reading my digest. If you enjoy my work, you can support me with any level of paid subscription on patreon. This greatly helps in releasing future parts. Also, the bonus 21-40 places for the VIII part also has a lot of interesting releases, featuring more great music.
