Over the last six years, Jacob Collier has been working on his four-volume musical anthology Djesse, which attributes its title to Collier’s initials (JC.) While embarking on the project, Collier has collaborated with over two dozen different artists to help bring his vision to fruition. The English multi-instrumentalist holds a lot of obvious ambition when it comes to his experimentation with various different sounds. Now, on his fourth and final installment of his massive 53-song project, Collier aims to build a new world, blending together a multitude of sounds and genres in an attempt to create a diverse melting pot of music. Unfortunately, his admirable intentions are muddled by heavy overproductions that never quite come together the way he wants them to. 

Collier attempts to merge a multitude of contrasting genres on his polarizing album, such as stadium rock, synth-pop, folk, rap, Latin, Indian, choral, and orchestral music (to name a few). However, instead of working together to create the harmonious utopia he seems to envision, the genres seem to be at war with each other, each fighting to take over the spotlight. As I listened to this record, I often caught myself counting down the minutes until it was over. Many of the songs heavily rely on the featured artists, with most of the album’s interesting moments stemming from the elements they bring to the table. Indian singer Varijashree Venugopal keeps the album’s eighth track, “A Rock Somewhere,” alive with her impressive vocal runs, even if the song does lose its excitement due to the forced mix-in of pop elements. 

Collier’s work seems to connect best with listeners when he strips down the instrumentations and produces a simple ballad, usually carried by a guitar and adorned with a few added synth effects. Duets like “Little Blue” with Brandi Carlile and “Cinnamon Crush” with Lindsey Lomis allow for Collier’s voice and message to deeply touch audiences as they are not clouded by the gross overproductions that pull so much of this album down. 

Collier displays a natural aptitude for songwriting, often providing us with powerful, moving lyrics – but what value do lyrics hold against instrumentations that make the songs nearly unlistenable? Needless to say, to name Djesse, Vol. 4 Album of the Year would be an insult to the countless remarkable projects released this year. 

Best Tracks:

• Little Blue
• Cinnamon Crush
• Summer Rain
• Never Gonna Be Alone

There’s no doubt that Taylor Swift is one of the most highly acclaimed songwriters of our time. For nearly 20 years now, Swift has torn down and reinvented herself with each brand new album she releases, shocking audiences with a new, never-before-seen side of herself. Now, with her 11th studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, it seems as though Swift has stagnated for the first time in her career, sharing an album where her famed songwriting seems to be dulled by fears of waning cultural relevance and petty behaviors. 

The magical storytelling and cheeky charm that carried 2020’s folklore and evermore and 2022’s Midnights appear to be virtually absent on this new record, being replaced instead by shallow, juvenile lyrics. “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day,” Swift pouts on the track “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” in a childish tone that echoes that of her infamous 2019 single, “ME!” While songs like “So Long, London” and “loml” allow for her writing to shine, their productions, much like the rest of the album, offer nothing new or interesting. The album’s lead single, “Fortnight,” feels like a decaying husk of an old song dug-up from Swift’s archives that was made for little more than background retail music. 

Swift has consistently displayed artistic growth through the productions of her albums, presenting new elements that draw in new fans and keep listeners engaged with each record. Unfortunately, much of the instrumentation on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT matches the project’s cover: bland and colorless. Overall, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT feels less like a work of art made to be digested and interpreted and more like a cheaply-made product rushed out to be consumed. 

• Best Tracks: 
• My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
• So Long, London
• Florida!!!
• loml

For nearly a decade, Sabrina Carpenter has been putting out playfully honest pop songs that have always seemed to elude the attention of the mainstream, but in 2023 she was finally able to turn the spotlight in her direction. Her 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send, became a sleeper hit after its singles “Nonsense” and “Feather” went viral online, with the latter becoming her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fast forward to April 2024, when Carpenter drops her cheeky summer bop, “Espresso,” before her then-upcoming Coachella performance. The single quickly became a hit and an instant pop classic, reaching #3 on the Hot 100 and garnering over a billion streams throughout the year. 

Although the track is riddled with simplicity (the instrumental is literally a free online sample) Carpenter’s charming, sensual delivery encapsulates the song and keeps drawing listeners back in for another taste. “Espresso” is the perfect track to set the stage for Short n’ Sweet, an album built on the brazen, perky gimmicks and witty lines she exhibits on the album’s lead single. While the quality of Carpenter’s writing sometimes falls victim to her fixation on shock factor (“The next thing I know, I’m like / Manifest that you’re oversized) tracks like “Bed Chem” make up for it through her playfully seductive delivery and hypnotic instrumental. Songs like “Good Graces” and “Don’t Smile” paint the image of a petty Sabrina Carpenter who wants those who wrong her to feel the pain she feels. It seems that Carpenter gets a kick out of poking fun at her lover on tracks like “Dumb and Poetic” and “Sharpest Tool,” where she repeatedly questions her man’s intelligence and ability to read their situation. 

Carpenter teams up with highly-lauded producer Jack Antonoff (who also worked on Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT) for the album’s warm and inviting instrumentals, which may not offer anything unique or innovative on their own, but when paired with Carpenter’s powerful vocals and witty charm they create an amusingly delightful album that will keep audiences wanting more from pop’s new blonde bombshell.

Best Tracks:

• Please Please Please
• Good Graces
• Sharpest Tool
• Espresso
• Juno

Over 17 years since André 3000 and fellow rapper Big Boi disbanded their best-selling hip-hop duo, Outkast, André 3000 has finally delivered his long-awaited debut solo album. However, the album isn’t exactly what fans were expecting from the acclaimed rapper. After retreating from the public eye following Outkast’s break-up, only ever making an occasional appearance for a feature on a song, André 3000 found solace in the tranquil tones of the flute. For years, the only sign fans got of new music from the elusive artist was the occasional perplexing sighting of him playing a flute. 

After the hip-hop star turned flautist lent his abilities to the soundtrack of the 2022 sci-fi/comedy film Everything Everywhere All At Once, many began to wonder in what direction André 3000 would take his long-overdue album. The result was a spiritual rebirth guided through improvised new age and ambient jazz compositions. “NO BARS,” warns the label on the record’s packaging, as André 3000 delivers what is probably the complete opposite of what fans were expecting from the rap hitmaker. “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time,” he states on the first track of the album, trading away lyrics for lengthy, conversational song titles. André 3000 describes the eight tracks on the album as “spontaneous,” stating that they were each improvised rather than thoughtfully planned out. 

While the album does display a touch of disorderliness through its prolonged, idiosyncratic tracks, the final product is ultimately a beautifully immersive experience that allows one to melt into the music and bathe in its serene waves of ambient synths. André 3000 masterfully combines the classic sounds of his flutes and other woodwinds with electronic elements to present a new, matured version of himself who is more in touch with his emotions and his soul. While the majority of listeners may not connect with the unorthodox composition of the record, those who do have unlocked a treasure that is sure to lead them to higher states of being.

Best Tracks:

• That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control…Sh¥t Was Wild
• BuyPoloDisorder’s Daughter Wears a 3000Ⓡ Shirt Embroidered
• Dreams Once Buried Beneath the Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout into Undying Gardens

When Billie Eilish announced her third studio album, she stated she would not release any singles before the album’s release as she wanted fans to take it in all at once. It seemed as if Eilish was suggesting her new record had a level of grandeur that she hadn’t evoked on previous records – and it does. On HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, Eilish and her brother/collaborator, FINNEAS, access a whole new creative side of themselves to create what is Eilish’s most personal and ambitious record yet. The album kicks off with the deeply intimate “SKINNY,” where Eilish describes the struggles of fame and adulthood against a somber string arrangement. 

However, Eilish immediately throws listeners for a loop as she trades her wispy, solemn vocals for a more chewy, aggressive tone on the raunchy, sapphic alt-rock “LUNCH,” letting audiences know that Eilish remains an unpredictable force who speeds down her own lane. 

Much of the album follows the narrative of a failing relationship and the struggle of reconnecting with oneself through major life changes. The haunting electro-R&B track “CHIHIRO” reflects these themes beautifully, if devastatingly, as Eilish desperately pleads for her lover to “open up the door” as she senses a growing disconnect between them. On many tracks, Eilish and FINNEAS reflect the album’s title by building low, despondent tracks up to achieve explosive climaxes, as presented on the emotionally troubling “WILDFLOWER” and “THE GREATEST.” In a similar sense, other tracks completely switch up their genre midway through, offering a different perspective on the story they are telling. The bitter, sullen “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” begins as a mellow indie-rock tune before transforming into a spiteful eruption of high-powered, driving electro-pop. 

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT manages to stay thematically cohesive while swimming through a sea of ever-shifting instrumentations. Eilish has undoubtedly delivered one of the most beautifully constructed records of the year, reassuring the world that her creative embers remain burning bright.

Best Tracks:

• CHIHIRO
• WILDFLOWER
• THE GREATEST
• L’AMOUR DE MA VIE
• BLUE

For many, Chappell Roan seemingly burst onto the music scene out of nowhere and instantly made waves with her theatrical performances. However, true fans remember the many obstacles Roan faced while creating her sporadic, eclectic debut album. After her former label, Atlantic Records, dropped Roan in 2020 shortly after she released her glittery queer anthem, “Pink Pony Club,” due to its poor performance, Roan halted all production on new music. It wasn’t until March 2022 when the work for Roan’s debut album really started to pick up; she signed a publishing deal with Sony and began working with producer Dan Nigro while simultaneously signing to Nigro’s label, Amusement Records. The next 15 months would see Roan releasing a slew of singles and building a cult following while also forming the iconic drag queen image she is known for today. 

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dropped on September 22, 2023, and was met with universal love from both critics and the queer community Roan so deeply sought to uplift. The debut record saw Roan displaying her queerness with pride through playful, snappy hooks and pulsating pop productions. Roan showcases her wildest, raunchiest sides on tracks like “Red Wine Supernova” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” as well as her rawest emotions and fears on songs like “Kaleidoscope” and “California.” She even goes on to suggest that these two personas go hand in hand, as displayed in the sexually-charged, euphoric ballad “Casual.” Even the satirical, occasionally pestersome earworm “HOT TO GO!” offers a feeling of senseless freedom, leading it to be a staple of the album. 

As Roan’s stardom skyrocketed in 2024 following the release of her hit single “Good Luck, Babe!” instead of bending to the pressures of the mainstream, she continued to serve visuals and performances whose unabashed flamboyance echoed the early days of Lady Gaga while still being fully and uniquely Chappell Roan. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess pushes against the cultural norms and barriers of the mainstream music scene, cementing Roan as one of the brightest rising stars today and creating a special place where boys and girls can indeed “be queens every single day.”

Best Tracks:

• Femininomenon
• Red Wine Supernova
• Casual
• Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
• Kaleidoscope
• Pink Pony Club
• Naked In Manhattan

Charli XCX first broke through to the general public in 2014, with pop classics like “Boom Clap” and “Break The Rules” from her pop-punk album, SUCKER, as well as her infectious hook on Iggy Azalea’s hit song “Fancy.” However, many people remained unaware of the true visionary behind the tracks, leading the songwriter to feel unfulfilled by her chart success. So what did Charli XCX do? She ditched the radio-friendly sound that popularized her work and instead focused on creating music that pushed the limits of pop to its extremes. In the years that followed, Charli gained a loyal following in the underground electronic and hyperpop scene, where many often dubbed her a pioneer of the subgenre as she established herself as a trailblazer for new avant-garde pop music. 

After returning to a more mainstream sound on 2022’s CRASH to satisfy her label, Charli returns with the club-oriented BRAT, paying homage to the early-2000s raves that helped shape who she is today. “I went my own way and I made it” she declares on the album’s opening track “360.” While Charli may have once sacrificed her artistry to achieve stardom, today, nearly a decade later, she can stay true to herself as audiences celebrated every ounce of the record during the viral “Brat Summer” movement. The movement reflected the carefree themes of the record as Charli calls fans to the dancefloor with songs like the bubbly “Club classics” and the aggressively confident “Von dutch.” 

What distinguishes BRAT from other dance records is the pop star’s ability to deliver honest and personal songwriting aside from the lively productions. Charli describes complicated relationships with loved ones on tracks like “Talk talk” and “Girl, so confusing,” even calling herself out for hurting her late collaborator and friend, SOPHIE, on the brutally painful, electro-pop ballad “So I.” She describes her deepest fears of adulthood and self-identity on the slow-paced “I might say something stupid” and “I think about it all the time.” However, Charli XCX reminds fans that she is, and forever will be, a “partygirl” at heart with the album’s electric, pulsating, hedonistic closer, “365.” 

Where the word ‘brat’ used to be interpreted negatively, Charli XCX changed its definition to describe someone who flaunts confidence and independence with ease. After gracefully straddling the most mainstream and underground sides of pop music for years, the visionary is finally able to twist the two into one. By merging candid songwriting with futuristic rave-like instrumentations, BRAT cements itself as one of the most diverse and eclectic pop records in recent years, sure to hold something in store for anyone who comes across it. 

Best Tracks:

• Sympathy is a knife
• Talk talk
• Von dutch
• Everything is romantic
• So I
• Girl, so confusing
• I think about it all the time
• 365

Beyoncé is no stranger to adversity; just look at the outrage she received from the public with 2016’s  “Formation” and its subsequent Super Bowl performance. Thankfully, the superstar does not allow obstacles to slow her down. Instead, she uses them to emphasize the importance of whatever message she is trying to send to the culture. In this nature, when Beyoncé announced she was going country, she was met with a horde of racist remarks claiming she had no place in the genre. Ironically, that was exactly the response she hoped to elicit. 

COWBOY CARTER serves as the follow-up to 2022’s RENAISSANCE and the second installment of Beyoncé’s new three-act project. Where RENAISSANCE uplifted queer people of color through an ecstatic catharsis of house and club music, COWBOY CARTER sees the Houston-native return to her country roots in order to highlight the important role black musicians have played in the genre’s history. “Now is the time to face the wind” Beyoncé proclaims on the triumphant opening track, “AMERICAN REQUIIEM,” as the record takes a more emotionally challenging journey in which she discusses the challenges of fame and motherhood, falling in and out of love, and the search for her own American identity. The album also features covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” (titled “BLACKBIIRD” on the album) and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” in order to further drive the album’s themes and narrative. Rising black country artists Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts join Beyoncé on the Beatles cover, which is famously written about black women during the American civil rights movement.

However, the album doesn’t simply limit itself to country music. Beyoncé and her collaborators draw from all sorts of genres including gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and jersey club to create a unifying record that challenges the boundaries of country music. After all, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?” chuckles Linda Martell on the funk-infused melodic rap song “SPAGHETTII.” As Beyoncé herself stated on Instagram, “This ain’t a country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album.” 

COWBOY CARTER is a record that succeeds in honoring the black musical outlaws who have been silenced throughout the years with a majestic, meticulously crafted tribute that is long overdue. The Grammys have notoriously snubbed Beyoncé for Album of the Year throughout the years; could 2025 finally be the year they fix their wrongs?

Best Tracks:

• AMERIICAN REQUIEM
• 16 CARRIAGES
• BODYGUARD
• DAUGHTER
• SPAGHETTII
• II MOST WANTED 
• YA YA
• II HANDS II HEAVEN
• SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN