TrendyWebAltar<p><span>I think 2024 is now one of my favourite years in pop </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/music" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#music</a><span>. I'm gonna ramble, because I'm a nobody with barely coherent writing skills. No one will publish this blather, so here we go!<br><br>Some qualifications and considerations: I'm mostly thinking women singers in Western Anglophone pop, albums with songs that sorta went viral on social media. That last aspect usually doesn't bode well, but I think 2024 proves that what goes </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/viral" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#viral</a><span> isn't always shit. <br><br>Incidentally: I listen to lot of K-pop (hey, new Nayeon!), but this year isn't so much about new revelations, except for maybe groups like Katseye, who I ended up liking a lot even if the trainee I was rooting for wasn't picked, and also Unis, who have quite the energy, especially with "Curious."<br><br>The big release is Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department, a record I was predisposed to like (I've been a fan for a dozen years and also have a degree in creative writing where I specialised in lyric poetry), and I do like it. It's very likeable. Not sure about the timing though with the Eras Tour still ongoing and stuff. In fact, I feel I would be happier if TTPD came out some other time and we got Reputation Taylor's Version instead. <br><br></span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Beyonce" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Beyonce</a><span> is someone who seems to me incapable of releasing a bad record, and Cowboy Carter wasn't just a good record but a great one. I'm not sure whether I prefer it to Renaissance (and maybe it doesn't matter), but Cowboy Carter isn't just Beyonce doing country music well but doing the album format, too. TTPD has good songs, but I feel it doesn't quite cohere, unlike previous Taylor Swift albums.<br><br>The third artist I'm thinking of who belongs in this category of pop singers who deliver consistently good records is </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Charlixcx" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Charlixcx</a><span>, but I was totally surprised by brat becoming the pop culture phenomenon it became. I was already getting ready to once again defend her, because it feels like so many people just write her off online, like what happened with Crash. I was so shocked to not have to defend her new record. Really beautiful moment there.<br><br>This leads me to the surprise I got from singers I've never listened to before, but who were all over social media. All three turned up with very different-sounding records, but each one was so addictive and went on heavy rotation:<br><br></span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/ChappellRoan" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChappellRoan</a><span> came out of nowhere (for me), and I wasn't sure how her music sounded, but when I heard it, she blew my socks off. And I know--being a straight dude--that I'm not supposed to listen to her, but I do I do sincerely love her music and personality. <br><br>I haven't listened to the new Normani yet, but just when I was about to, I got recs for </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Tinashe" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tinashe</a><span>, so I listened to the latter instead. Oh, she sang "Nasty," I realised, and then was awestruck by all the other songs on Quantum Baby. That led me backwards to her discography, and I like them all. It's R&B but just so weird in all the right ways. I think of her as an American FKA Twigs. She's so likeable too in interviews and a really confident performer.<br><br>And then there's </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/SabrinaCarpenter" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SabrinaCarpenter</a><span>. "Espresso" was all over social media, and I liked it a great deal (and initially wondered if it was--hilariously--Camilla Cabello). Sabrina Carpenter is such a familiar name, I thought, and then--OH, it's the older girl referenced in Olivia Rodrigo's "drivers license"! I never bothered listening to her before, because Olivia was probably the last time before this year when a new pop singer wowed me, and I thought Sabrina Carpenter was just an actress, so I just didn't pay attention whatsoever. I didn't realise how many records Carpenter already has, but okay, this new one? It's so good! "Espresso" works even better in an album rather than a hook on social media videos. It's also a hilarious album, and I sometimes think she reminds of REDACTED if REDACTED was actually funny and not annoying. I get it now. Sorry it took me so long, Sabrina Carpenter.<br><br>Finally, here are the others. </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Beabadoobee" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Beabadoobee</a><span> surprised me with the remarkably "quieter" record This is How Tomorrow Moves. It'll take some getting used to, but I do like these songs. It sort of reminds me of how I felt with </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/StVincent" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StVincent</a><span>'s Daddy's Home. And I think that, as much as I like Daddy's Home, I love All Born Screaming even more, and if Beabadoobee comes back with another rock record, I would welcome it with open arms. <br><br>(Forgive me, but both Beabadoobee and St. Vincent--in very different ways--straddle rock and pop.) I love Beabadoobee a great deal, especially when she's cranking up guitars. Same with St. Vincent.<br><br>Hit Me Hard and Soft by </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/BillieEilish" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BillieEilish</a><span> album needs to grow on me more than her previous records, for some reason I can't quite articulate, but again, it's also very likeable. I think repeated listening will reveal more of its delights, just like with Beabadoobee but--unfortunately--maybe not with TTPD. (I did listen to TTPD for weeks after its release.)<br><br>I'm out of the loop and don't know what other records are coming out this year, but there are still several 2024 releases I haven't listened to. </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Normani" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Normani</a><span>'s Dopamine, for one. </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/DuaLipa" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DuaLipa</a><span>'s Radical Optimism I would like to listen to, but Future Nostalgia was so strong that I'm worried the new one may be a letdown. Finally, I find it shocking to realise I've never listened to an </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/ArianaGrande" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ArianaGrande</a><span> record before, so maybe now it's time. <br><br>p.s. </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/Clairo" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Clairo</a><span> and </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/GracieAbrams--while" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GracieAbrams--while</a><span> not dance-pop like most of the ones I mentioned here--also have records this year I need to listen to. And </span><a href="https://evil.social/tags/KaceyMusgraves" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#KaceyMusgraves</a><span> too. (Oh, there's a Musgraves and Carpenter performance of "This Boots are Made for Walking"!)<br><br></span><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/music" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@music@a.gup.pe</a></p>