For me, music in 2024 was defined by my love for female artists.
I spent time this year with features from some longtime favorites, like Taylor Swift and Holly Humberstone, and time listening to backlogs of other artists I love, like Kelsea Ballerini. I even gravitated toward new artists, like Tate McRae, and the people’s queen, Chappell Roan.
This year, according to Apple Music Replay, I spent 20,478 minutes listening to 526 different artists, 1,572 different songs and 156 different albums.
[Read more: Here are the artists, albums and songs Utah’s capital loved the most in 2024.]
These are my favorite albums I listened to this year:
“Subject to Change” | Kelsea Ballerini
Toward the beginning of the year, I listened to a lot of this 2022 album. It’s one I was familiar with, but not overly so. This album is peak Ballerini — an artist who is unafraid of combining country, pop and all the feels — an ode to her continuous evolution as both a person and musician. My favorite tracks are “Muscle Memory” and “Subject to Change.”
“The Tortured Poets Department” | Taylor Swift
Earlier in the year, I said I wasn’t sure how I felt about Swift’s latest studio album. Turns out, I enjoyed it more than I initially thought, since it was my top album of the year, and two of its tracks were featured on my top five songs of the year, according to Apple Music. While it’s still not my favorite Swift album (I’m loyal to “Speak Now”), it’s grown on me and is a tortured, decadent work of art.
“Work in Progress” | Holly Humberstone
Humberstone is hands-down one of my top-five favorite artists of all time. This year, I got to see her in concert, where she continued to blow my mind in the Soundwell’s tiny room. Her 2024 EP, “Work in Progress,” is only four songs long, yet each is unique and has a distinct spot in her discography. Her patent lyricism and ability to communicate the complexity of human emotion makes every single record she puts out an automatic hit for me.
(Constantine Spence | Darkroom / Geffen / Polydor Records) British singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone, whose debut album "Paint My Bedroom Black" debuted in October 2023.
“THINK LATER” | Tate McRae
McRae’s 2023 album was the soundtrack to my early months of 2024, a great addition to any workout class, and an album packed full of range. McRae can do the fast, adrenaline-pumping songs (“guilty conscience”) and the slow tracks (“calgary”) like a pro.
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” | Chappell Roan
Roan needs no introduction, and neither does her 2023 album, which blew up this year. From the H-O-T-T-O-G-O dance to the screams in “Femininomenon,” this album was a bright, much-needed fun spot in my 2024.
“Am I Okay?” | Megan Moroney
Moroney’s second studio album, released over the summer, elevated her from a softer, sadder country sound to a more upbeat era, following in the footsteps of female country artists before her, but with her own unique twang. The album’s title track is perfectly indicative of this; a sad title, but an upbeat song that feels like a breath of relief.
