The best albums from the 2020s that you (probably) haven't heard (2024)

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It's somewhat criminal that Australian pop-svengali Sam Sparro is still largely regarded as a one-hit-wonder. While his 2008 smash "Black and Gold" is undeniably iconic, his follow-ups didn't pack the same punch. His audience was whittled down to its absolute core, but those who stuck around were richly rewarded with his ever-increasing melodic confidence. While his self-released 2020 album "Boombox Eternal" didn't chart anywhere in the world, it's slowly been building a reputation as one of the most enjoyable pop records released in the last several years. Obsessed with late '80s/early '90s pop styles, "Boombox Eternal" is an absolute love letter to his record collection. Each style is effortlessly, meticulously recreated but filtered through his unique romantic lens, like on "Love Like That", which is by far the best New Jack Swing song created since Bruno Mars's "Finesse". "Marvelous Lover" sidles up to Prince's "Delirious" to cop a few moves, "Eye 2 Eye" is the synth power ballad we didn't know we needed (with plastic guitar lines galore), and the effervescent "Everything" should've been the song of the summer several summers ago. While being released a month before the pandemic may have hurt its commercial prospects, enough time has passed that it's time to rediscover such a joyous pop masterpiece.

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While Australia's anthemic rockers Gang of Youths have been gaining momentum for some time, nothing could prepare old fans and new listeners alike for the revelation that is 2022's "angel in real time." Since 2017's "Go Farther in Lightness", lead singer David Le'aupepe's father passed away, and in digging into his possessions and learning more about his life, he discovered that his dad lied about many of those details, trying to protect his family from a cruel, intolerant world but at a strange emotional cost. "angel in realtime." has us watch Le'aupepe as he processes all of this information against gigantic, cathartic rock choruses. Le'aupepe's everyman vocal tone almost disarms you from the severity of the lyrics, which carry immense weight. "It'll torture me at first, then it'll hurt a little less / And I will pour through every piece of you 'til nothing new is left / Just your eyes in my reflection / And the heavy thing now beating in my chest," he croons on the powerful opener "you in everything". How the single "in the wake of your leave" didn't become a radio smash is beyond us, but any lucky soul who's been blessed by this "angel" knows that this album has a powerful, beating heart that pumps even stronger with each new listen—a rock masterpiece in an era with too damn few of them.

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Brittany Howard is nothing short of a force. While her time with the Southern rock outfit Alabama Shakes launched her into the spotlight, her solo career has been nothing short of extraordinary. Her tight, soulful, and deeply personal 2019 solo album "Jamie" painted her in a whole new light, while her glammy garage-punk Thunderbitch side-project from 2015 showed there was a deep-rooted sense of fun to her work. Yet 2024's "What Now", her second solo album proper, is an extraordinary step forward. Dispensing with the notion of genre altogether, Howard gives in to her most curious psychedelic impulses, forcing her voice and her guitar into new colorful textures that jump out of the speakers. "What Now" is pitched between the fuzz-guitar of Prince and the dark neo-soul of Erykah Badu, while "Prove It To You" goes full dance-floor in a way that doesn't even remotely sound like her selling out, but instead having fun. "Power to Undo" could very well have come in from Prince's "The Black Album", and it's clear that as she lyrically explores themes of romantic disruption and isolation, she has never been more in control of her craft. Somehow missing all of the commercial success of her last record, "What Now" is a cult classic of an album if we've ever heard one, and if there's any justice in the world, it will be rightly lionized over time.

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Trans artist Lia Ouyang Rusli has made a career out of scoring films and occasionally dabbling in hardcore, face-melting extreme rap music. When the pandemic lockdowns hit them while living in Brooklyn, Rusli used their OHYUNG moniker to unleash two wildly different albums: the extreme noise terror of "GODLESS" and the astonishingly warm, delicate, ambient masterpiece that is "imagine naked!". With song titles adapted from a t. tran le poem, "imagine naked!" is Rusli's first true attempt at ambient music, fully exploring a style they were familiar with but hadn't fully approached prior. What's astonishing about "imagine naked!" is just how good it is, even when clocking in at just a hair under two hours. Rusli understands the power of tension and release, of genre-hopping and texture-changing, even within the framework of an ambient record. Minor key piano chords set a sad tone on one track, while warm billowing clouds of synths can wrap around you on the next. "imagine naked!" is a meditation, a journey, and an emotional diary all at once. There is no shortage of good ambient material released every year, but OHYUNG's masterwork loudly announces itself with soft, beautiful whispers. Harold Budd would be proud.

Vera Bello

For the Israel-born Ben Aylon, West African drumming has been his lifelong obsession. Having studied under masters for years while developing his own style, Aylon has spent time documenting the practice of the sabar (Senegal's traditional drum) while also lending out his talents to metal bands like Salem when the time calls for it. With 2021's "Xalam," Aylon takes his years of worldbeat study and creates a gorgeous soundscape built around West African and Middle Eastern influences, achieving effects both psychedelic (dig that instrumental break by Doudou Ndiaye Rose on the title track) and heartfelt (with the gorgeous vocals of the late Mali singer Khaira Arby on "Alafia"). Mixing acoustic guitars and Aylon's layers of drumming with Malian song structures, "Xalam" makes for a rich, compelling listen that breezes by so easily and with such a casual calm that it's hard to believe that it took years to assemble. Then again, Aylon has a tattoo of a Senegalese N'der drum on his leg, so maybe he's justifiably obsessed with his craft.

Wharf Cat Records

The title of Dougie Poole's 2023 album refers to the spinning loading symbol on Apple computers when something is buffering, loading, or crashing. Poole has stated he still works a day job, which is a shame given that for a few years running, he's gained a cult following due to his incredible songwriting. While his song "Vaping on the Job" went semi-viral, his third full-length is far more interested in exploring the lively topic of death itself. Album highlight "High School Gym" supports an indescribable guitar tone that leans more toward slowcore indie rock than it does pedal steel guitar, but when he starts describing a dream where everyone he knows who's passed on filling up the rafter of his high school gym, it pulls directly on the heartstrings. Poole's plaintive voice belies richly detailed lyrics and choruses that feel like they've existed for decades, but we're just hearing them for the first time. Few people could write couplets as memorable as "Hit every server burning in North Carolina / Trying to find the message you wrote," but not every artist, country or otherwise, is as good a songwriter as the deftly talented Dougie Poole.

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There is no downside to being a Carly Rae Jepsen fan. While normies may mock and say, "Wasn't she just the 'Call Me Maybe' girl?" true fans know that she's been amassing one of most impressive pop music songbooks of the modern era. Not only are most of her albums varying flavors of perfection, but she tends to accompany each new album release with a "B-sides" album the year after release, containing even more songs she wrote and recorded during her sessions for the main record. In 2023, Jepsen followed up 2022's more exploratory "The Loneliest Time" with an album she claims isn't full of B-sides but instead is a true and proper sequel: "The Loveliest Time". As per tradition, it's filled with bulletproof mid-tempo dance tracks and nary a ballad to be found. Yet, as is the curse of being a Carly Rae Jepsen fan, every new album features at least a few songs that make you wonder, "Why isn't she the most successful diva on the planet?" Specifically, tracks like the fluttering "Kamikaze" and straight-up Daft Punk cosplay of "Psychedelic Switch" are so good it's likely they've already gone multi-platinum in another corner of the multiverse. While Carly always deserves better, listening to this confection will ensure that you too have "The Loveliest Time".

Alice Ivor

How do you even begin to describe 2023's "Gentle Confrontation", the fifth album from British electronic genius Loraine James? While known primarily for her work in the minimalist IDM space, "Gentle Confrontation" covers fascinating territory, wedged somewhere between ambient, breakbeat, and even R&B in the way she uses her fragile voice and light keys to deliver daring passages about death and acceptance. At times, her lyrics seem plaintive, even casual, as on moody "Cards with My Grandparents" ("I really cherish / Playing cards with the grandparents / My grandad has dementia / He's still very cool"), while the skittering closer "Saying Goodbye" feels fatalistic with its lines sung by collaborator Contour about growing older while positing if they can engage in the world the same way ("I wonder if my organs work outside"). James' music has always been pulsating and boundary-pushing, but with "Gentle Confrontation", it feels like she's gone beyond finding her own land and instead has established herself as a new genre. It's a stunner.

Søren Lynggaard Andersen

The laid-back, sophisticated, and beautiful music made by pianist Morten McCoy and bassist Jonathan Bremer is so elegant that it feels reductive to refer to it as "chill vibes," but for 2021's "Natten", their third full-length record proper, that's exactly what they achieve. Walking a fine line between classic jazz and modern ambient, "Natten", which means "The Night" in their native Danish, is a record that relies more heavily on synthesizers than previous outings, giving the record a chilly, icy feel that still manages to feel inviting. At just under 40 minutes, "Natten" manages to sound like the aural equivalent of the aurora borealis, shimmering in colors and textures right before your ears. In fact, for a record referring to the night, it's fitting that the slow bass and warm melody of closer "Lalibela" evokes the sun slowly warming up the ground you're standing upon. We could stay up all night listening to this one.

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Being a fan of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard nets you constant rewards. This wild Australian collective only started putting out albums in 2012, but since then, they've managed to put out roughly two to three new studio full-lengths every year (or, in the cases of both 2017 and 2022, five). While primarily a rock band, they have pivoted to virtually every genre you could imagine, and if fans didn't love their sludge-metal record, all they had to do was wait a few months for them to put out a country-pop confection. 2023's "The Silver Cord", officially the band's 25th LP, dives full-on into the realm of psychedelic synths, and it's almost impossible for them not to find a perfect groove. In fact, they enjoyed the process of making this record so much that they put out two versions of it: one containing the seven songs they wrote for this concept and another featuring the "extended editions" of those same songs. When they say "extended," they mean it: album opener "Theia" clocks in at three-and-a-half minutes on the standard edition and is mutated into a wild 20-minute jam in its extended iteration. No matter what speed you feel comfortable with during their keyboard era, rest assured this "Silver" gets the gold.

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Courtesy of SWEISS PR

Frank LoCastro is a self-taught pianist who grew up in Dallas, Texas, soon finding his way as a stand-in musician in studios and on stage and quietly releasing little-heard solo albums on his own. While he had a love of '60s/'70s movie scores, jazz, and exotica, those influences had never come together as they do on 2022's "Gung Ho", his debut outing under his KOLUMBO moniker. With a professional studio polish that would make Steely Dan blush, "Gung Ho" is one of the decade's most exciting records — drifting between sounds and styles, bringing in lush woodwinds and soaring string sections to give his powerful piano melodies extra oomph and charm. A clear student of bossa nova and cultural exchange Hollywood soundtrack legends like Les Baxter, there's a sadness in the samba of "Gung Ho". Tracks like "Nukoli'i" paint a sultry cinematic picture, while "Mysterious Femme" builds a powerful narrative around an old Wurlitzer riff that goes off in unexpected directions. "Gung Ho" sounds like nothing else that came out in this young decade, defying most "library music" categorizations by simply being one of the most pristinely produced and endlessly replayable records of the last few years. It serves the aural equivalent of setting up some tiki torches while sipping on a Mai Tai.

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2021's "SUBA" isn't the first collaborative album from Senegal-born kora player Seckou Keita and Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa, but it is handily their best. A lush, stylized journey through the mellower end of Afro-Cuban jazz tradition, Sosa and Keita's team-up feels less genre-specific and more all-encompassing, with the kora and piano alone painting with a wide swath of colors that bend and break tradition with casual ease. The stacked multi-vocal harmonies of "Drops of Sunshine" feel contemporary, but the spritely soft bounce of the piano and the descending kora licks turn the song into something that's simultaneously immediate and eternal. "SUBA" is only the legends' second collaboration, but it feels like they've been communicating on a musical level with each other for decades. Sublime.

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Brandee Younger has never been shy about tracing her muses back to their source. Specifically, as one of the most dynamic harpists working in both jazz and R&B circles today, she finds inspiration in the incredible work of Dorothy Ashby, a jazz harpist who rose to prominence in the late '50s and early '60s. Younger incorporates three Ashby compositions into her 2023 record, "Brand New Life", but infuses them with her fresh contemporary perspective. Even with deep respect for her musical lineage, she knows what year she's recording in, and Younger smartly mixes her harp work with outside collaborators like hip-hop producer Pete Rock and a more-than-game Meshell N'degeocello. Younger's harp sings, glides, and sometimes even approaches levels of mania like on the cascading instrumental climax during "Dust", the N'degeocello duet. By the time she covers Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" as a closer, it feels as if she's fully communicating with the idols she had growing up, and, in turn, they're giving their blessing to one of the most exciting musicians working today. A stellar record.

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Have you ever wanted to meet your lover on an astral plane? Similarly, have you ever wanted to hear a trio of talented singers unite their voices in three-part harmony over lo-fi disco beats? You're in luck, reader, as Say She She has blessed us with their 2023 sophom*ore album "Silver", and it's a treat. Retro in mindset but modern approach, it's amazing what can happen when Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown can do when mapping out their parts and figuring out who sings what. With dated keyboards and a retro-soul vibe dominating their record, each new track off "Silver" proves even more hooky and memorable than the last, all while avoiding repeating themselves thematically or textually. There's genuine power behind their performances, but none of it would work if the songs weren't as fun, as wry, or as sometimes downright goofy as they get. It may be called "Silver", but we'll gladly give this album the gold.

Eslam Abd El Salam

Egyptian-by-way-of-Alexandria composer Nancy Mounir is deeply aware of her country's musical history. Despite mastering the bass guitar, the violin, the Theremin, and much more, her research into microtones and classic singing techniques has made her dig up multiple recordings from the 1900s. These often-damaged sounds of early audio-age Egyptian singers possess a haunting, tragic quality, so for her 2022 debut album "Nozhet El Nofous" (which translates to "Promenade of the Souls"), she decided to breathe new life into them. Leaving the original performances unchanged (and giving each of these deceased legends a prominent feature credit), she builds new orchestrations around each recording, sometimes even padding out her songs with synths and some other anachronous instruments to give these documents vital new life. The result is an album drenched in emotion, as the ghosts of the past are dancing with the sounds of the present, creating one of the most dynamic, powerful listening experiences of recent memory. Almost impossible to properly describe, "Nozhet El Nofous" is without question one of the decade's greatest finds.

Leaving Records

Los Angeles-based bassist Sam Wilkes has been exploring the outer rims of the experimental ambient/jazz scene, often through the Leaving Records collective that includes frequent collaborators like saxophonist Sam Gendel. Yet in 2023, Wilkes did a sudden pivot to indie-rock with his self-released album "Driving", and it was a welcome surprise. Heavily influenced by the likes of Alex G and other odd-pop auteurs, "Driving" was surprisingly direct for a Wilkes record, as his other "pop song" experiments correlated in a 2020 EP release felt more like demos and one-offs. "Hannah Song" has the lilting bounce of a campfire strum-along, while "Again, Again" expands the lo-fi structures of Ariel Pink into more dynamic and colorful shapes. Never once does it feel like Wilkes is conceding anything, as the album still buzzes with a nervy energy befitting of his experimental-jazz roots, and even when he expounds on the feelings of heartbreak in the rambling acoustic closer "Driving", it feels like he's opening up his heart even under the artifice of metaphor. It's a short, sharp record that holds up on constant replays. Sam Wilkes is poised to break out in a big way this decade, so be grateful he invited you to the ground floor with "Driving".

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Kesha has been extremely upfront about the things she's faced in the music industry, and an ugly, multi-year legal battle with former producer/songwriter Dr. Luke, whom she openly accused of assault, only finally ended in a settlement in 2023. While her self-written 2017 album "Rainbow" was hailed as a contemporary pop masterpiece, the fact that it still had to contractually come out on his Kemosabe imprint meant she could never fully escape from Luke's oversight. It was 2023's "Gag Order" that made no bones about her feelings towards the situation, and while this dark, brooding record eschewed easy hit singles (perhaps deliberately, as it was her final Kemosabe release), it was nonetheless a profound, stunning dive into her psyche. "I am the one that I've been fighting the whole time / Hate has no place in the divine," she intones on the sinister "Eat the Acid", and it's only the start of her journey into the shadows. Yes, tracks like the stuttering "Only Love Can Save Us Now" and the lo-fi sendup "The Drama" have amp and energy to them, but "Gag Order" is as raw nerve as we've ever seen the singer. It's an endlessly fascinating listen and one of the darkest pop full-lengths released in the last few years. Cratering on the charts after debuting at #168, "Gag Order" feels less like the record Kesha wanted to make so much as the one that she needed to, and even if it marks the end of an ugly era, she went out with her soul and her integrity intact.

Courtesy of Rafael Anton Irisarri

Seattle, WA's Rafael Anton Irisarri and Argentina's Leandro Fresco have been considered ambient heroes for several years, even as both have used their solo time to dabble in everything from dub-techno to Latin pop (Fresco can even be heard playing keyboards on Shakira's "Oral Fixation, Vol. 2"). Yet the duo's 2017 collaboration "La Equidistancia" was nothing short of jaw-dropping: a nuanced, airy, and damn-near perfect ambient record that didn't have a texture, instrument, or second out of place. It was unspeakably beautiful, greeted to such a rapturous response that in 2020, they simply had to release another one. "Una Presencia En La Brisa" translates to "A Presence in the Breeze", and this new record takes on similarly cloud-like qualities, with compositions floating in suspended animation. Yet much like clouds themselves, the more time you spend observing them, the more you notice the gradual changes, and here, each of these six compositions evolves with such a natural fluidity it feels like there is no other direction they could've gone in. Capable of transporting your head to a completely different universe than the one it is in now, "Una Presencia En La Brisa" may very well be the record you need in your life right now. Quiet, powerful stuff.

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Hailing from Switerzland, brothers Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez have a very specific viewpoint on how instrumental guitar music should be played. While they are both dexterous six-string bandits, the point of their compositions isn't to show off their skills so much as to create a groove, an atmosphere, and a dusty-but-warm vibe. With smart production by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, there's a lot of emotional ground covered on their stunning 2022 release "El Bueno Y El Malo", from would-be '60s desert ballads ("Tres Hermanos") to cinematic mood pieces ("Los Chicos Tristes"), all held together with finger-picked melodies and palmed strums used to keep tempo. It might be a breezy listen at only 33 minutes, but it's the kind of piece you find yourself returning to repeatedly. No vocals, no excessive third-party instruments, just a beautiful record celebrating the power of musical chemistry between two clear geniuses.

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Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré has always been aware that his legacy would be a continuation of what his father Ali, one of the most famed musicians in all of Africa, had accomplished. Yet Vieux found a distinct groove for himself, and following Ali's 2006 passing, still found inspiration in his father's songbook. Crafting a tribute album to his father's legacy has always been a project he wished to see through, and it was his manager who put him in touch with Khruangbin, a beloved instrumental rock trio out of Texas. The pairing is inspired, as their 2022 collaborative effort "Ali" finds the band deftly apply themselves to the structures and stylings of traditional West African blues while also adding their own energy to the recordings. With a group of songs that were hand-picked from Ali's children, the set veers from energetic ("Tongo Barra") to casually psychedelic ("Tamalla"). Lovingly rendered, gorgeously executed, and wisely eschewing some of Ali's more well-known works (like "Ai Du") in favor of more evocative cuts gives this tribute album a profound sense of reverence and gravity. No wonder it's already one of the most acclaimed albums of this young decade.

Charles Elmore

Once the strummy college-rock pastiche of "Blitz" kicks into high gear, it's clear that Unwed Sailor doesn't need a vocalist to create one of the year's catchiest songs. Johnathon Ford's outfit has been churning out reliable instrumental rock for over two decades at this point, but 2021's "Truth or Consequences" feels cut from a different cloth. After opening with some amped-up numbers, the band's umpteenth studio full-length finds its real groove in a series of mellow, blissed-out recordings. The loopy, laid-back basslines of "Ajo" give way to some sparkling guitar work, "Voodoo Roux" sounds like a sweet mid-tempo ballad beamed in directly from the early-'90s U.K. indie rock scene, and the glorious title track has the shuffle and shamble of a Sunday morning where you're just dragging yourself out of bed, letting the sun fill your day. A casual listen and an underrated gem at the same time: that's the truth.

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Not many people knew who Charlotte Adigéry or Bolis Pupul were when "Topical Dancer" was released, but anyone lucky enough to have their ears blessed with this Belgian duo's hyperliterate electropop sound knows that they are soon going to become household names. Wildly accessible and casually confrontational, 2022's "Topical Dancer" is a record about racism, politics, and identity, all backed by abstract dance beats that are as irresistible as they are instantly memorable. Co-produced by Soulwax, "Topical Dancer" pops out of your speakers due to its neverending sonic surprises. "HAHA" takes Adigéry's laughter and chops it/rearranges it into fascinating new shapes that don't sound too dissimilar to legendary indietronica act The Books. "Making Sense Stop" is a loving and unexpected Talking Heads tribute, "Reappropriate" is a stark note about the importance of embracing one's sexuality, while the raw self-deprecating look at societal appearance standards that is "Ceci n'est pas un cliché" stutters, stops, restarts, and engages with the listener immediately. A dynamic record with a distinct identity and few immediate sonic peers, "Topical Dancer" is a hell of a topical album that demands you dance to it. Mission accomplished.

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There are some Sleater-Kinney fans who will never forgive Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker for the dismissal of drummer Janet Weiss during the sessions for their St. Vincent-produced 2019 album "The Center Won't Hold" (what a title, considering). Down to a duo, 2021's "Path of Wellness" was basically ignored by fans, which only paved the way for the surprising emotional firecracker that is 2024's "Little Rope". Following a tragic car crash that killed some of Brownstein's family members, the already under-way recording sessions for "Little Rope" altered course, taking on a darker tone as it navigated grief through the fury of raging guitars, not unlike the best of their early output. Despite its angular thump, "Hunt You Down" faces off against fear and loneliness directly ("Been crawlin' 'round here for days / In hopes the walls open up," they sing), while "Six Mistakes" buries its words under so much feedback it's almost as if they're trying to cover up what they're saying. Easily their best album since 2015's "No Cities to Love", there's an urgency to "Little Rope" that has been missing from their last few releases. It's understood why some long-standing fans never bothered to check the album out, but they do so at their own peril: it's one of the best indie rock albums we've heard in years.

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Fatoumata Diawara always felt destined for stardom. Initially making it as a film actress after moving to France from Mali, it was her music that ultimately helped cement her place in pop culture. While her early self-penned albums traded in Wassoulou and Mali blues idioms, she ended up becoming an in-demand vocalist for electronic acts, appearing on albums by Disclosure and Gorillaz within just a few years of each other. Seeing the potential of her incredible voice and songwriting, 2023's "London Ko", her third studio album proper, features a heavy assist from Gorillaz/Blur mastermind Damon Albarn, who co-produces half of the tracks here. While Albarn does push Diawara's music into some slightly more Western directions at times, the album doesn't feel like an overly commercial bid: it just feels like the next step for one of the most talented West African musicians working today. Tracks like "Mogokan" don't feel too far removed from peak-era Amadou & Miriam records, but hearing an epic dance collaboration with -M- on "Massa Den" feels like the marking of something new. "London Ko" brings in a range of new guests to Diawara's world (soul legend Angie Stone, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus), but when you hear Diawara emote over the quick-paced jazz piano on "Blues", it's clear that no matter who shows up to assist, it is and always has been the Fatoumata Diawara show, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

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