"BRAT" - Charli XCX
Charli XCX became everyone’s favorite reference this summer, taking social media and the music charts by storm with her newest album, "BRAT." The critically acclaimed record LP has risen to new heights, embracing the lifestyle of late nights out. Though every track has a hyperpop dance tempo, the lyrics vary from upbeat to deep and genuinely insightful.
The opening song “360” instantly throws you into Charli’s viewpoint, encapsulating her persona and confidence immediately. It’s an it girl song “right to the core." However, in “I Might Say Something Stupid," Charli explores deeper themes of jealousy and insecurity. Paying a subtle homage to early 2000’s European dance music, "BRAT" revitalizes a time in pop culture when electronic music ruled the world.
The most notable aspect of this album however, should be the simultaneous portrayal of vulnerability with a “cool girl” aspect. In songs like “Club Classics” and “Von Dutch," Charli matches a killer beat with even more iconic lyrics: “It’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me." In songs like “Sympathy Is A Knife” and “Girl, Confusing," the singer opens up about relatable emotions regarding her complicated relationship with other fellow female artists in the industry.
Charli XCX manages to make listeners feel both understood and empowered, all before the album wraps at just under 45 minutes. All in all, I believe Brat holds the top place for the most dominant album of 2024. It has become a cultural movement that has held the internet hostage for an entire summer, from every day social media users to Fortune 500 companies and even presidential nominees. Now that Brat Summer has come to an end, I can’t wait to see what Brat Fall has in store for us.
- Haley Mautz
"Short n’ Sweet" - Sabrina Carpenter
From starting her career on the Disney Channel to topping the Billboard charts, Sabrina Carpenter has delivered memorable performances since day one. Her sixth studio album, "Short n’ Sweet," was released on Aug. 23, 2024, and to no one’s surprise, dominated. With chart-toppers like “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” accompanying her new releases, the album had high expectations from the start.
This album navigates breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs concerning 21st-century relationships, all within 36 minutes. Although the album may be short in length, Sabrina sweetens the deal with 12 incredibly entertaining tracks. A few of my personal favorites are “Taste,” “Slim Pickins,” and “Lie to Girls,” in addition to the previously released singles.
Every song on this album sounds different from its precursor, which is so hard to find in modern pop music in my opinion. This album is nothing short of fun, bubbly energy, similar to the singer’s stage presence.
Sabrina is known amongst her fans and the greater music community to have a less-than-serious attitude in songwriting. With lyrics such as, “ I know you're craving some fresh air, but the ceiling fan is so nice," she provides listeners with an enjoyable and lighthearted experience throughout the entire album.
I could not recommend this album enough to someone looking for a flirty and excitable mix of songs. She is the newly dubbed “Polly Pocket of pop music," and is definitely satisfying the public’s sweet tooth with this release.
- Sam Kennedy
"Bruises" – The Band Camino
The May 2024 single release by the Band Camino, "Bruises," follows the release of their 2023 studio album, "The Dark." It details the dominance and weight of several emotions felt after a relationship ends (e.g., regret, yearning, and rebirth) through an alternative indie-pop sound. Front band members, Jeffrey Jordan and Spencer Stewart, included two precursors to the song “Bruises” itself: “Someone Who’s Trying” and “Nostalgia”.
This trio delivers a rollercoaster of sensations in just 11 minutes. The underlying theme of this single’s release is what comes with love, loss, and longing. My favorite being the first of the three, “Someone Who’s Trying”. This song’s bridge and chorus sweep you into a spell for the entirety of the four minutes and 23 seconds.
The band’s ability to portray such desperation and emotional fatigue is incredibly moving through the use of heavy percussion, featherlight piano chords, and choral background vocals. A lyric that sticks out in this song is, “Can I learn to live when you know I’m dying." I think this beautifully and poetically explains a feeling that is so commonly experienced after a breakup of any capacity: moving on. For previously stated reasons and so many more, this song and the ones released with it have been in my daily shuffle since their release in mid-May.
I always find myself returning to this release, not only for its emotionally-relatable themes, but also for its ability to sonically entrance its listener.
- Sam Kennedy
“Breaking News” – flowerovlove
Flowerovlove, the musician behind the song, “a girl like me,” released a new single centered around an innocent crush and the feelings behind it. This song had a huge following on TikTok leading up to its release with its marketing saying it would be “the song of the summer.” The marketing wasn’t entirely wrong, at least in my opinion. The bouncy melody and dreamy singing perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to have a crush. It feels a lot like something that would play during a rom com.
- Mary Davis
“Salt Water Taffy” – MARIS
I found MARIS on TikTok toward the middle of summer, and her music was clearly my style when I listened to her singles from earlier this year, “The Fight” and “Julia Roberts.” This song has a wistful joy to it that was inspired by MARIS’s summer trips to the beach during her childhood. It sounds like nostalgia for the innocent years of your life that may have slipped away as you’ve gotten older. MARIS's vocals are also stunning, from her quietest falsetto to power belt, you can feel her raw emotions.
- Mary Davis
"HIT ME HARD AND SOFT" - Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish's new album, "HIT ME HARD AND SOFT," showcases a smooth yet intoxicating sound that has quickly captivated listeners. Following her multiple Grammys wins for her work on the "Barbie" movie, Eilish's latest release made a significant impact on its debut weekend. All 10 tracks from the album charted in the top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100, with "LUNCH" landing at No. 5.
The album expertly balances high and low energy, with songs like “CHIHIRO” and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” being the champions of the summer vibes. “CHIHIRO” brings a rather chill energy at first, but cleverly builds momentum up to its chorus, where the energy infuses with an angelic melody to create an out-of-body experience. The song’s climax brings forth a powerful mix of emotions that makes you feel like you’re in one of those tourism commercials with fireworks going off late at night at the beach.
Meanwhile, "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" offers a light, floating feel and a catchy hook to make it a perfect summer afternoon driving song. Its simplicity makes it an earworm that is quite hard to get out of your head once it’s in there - it currently also has the most streams out of any song on the album.
However, some of the album’s most powerful moments come from its back-to-back powerhouse ballads “WILDFLOWER” and “THE GREATEST." “WILDFLOWER” immediately slows the tempo and grasps the listener into a complicated romance story backed by beautiful vocals. The slow build mixed with her soothing voice creates a deeply immersive experience. “THE GREATEST” builds off this style perfectly, maintaining the slow tempo while allowing Billie’s vocal finesse to be shown off in great display. The waltz-like rhythm perfectly combines with its grittier feel to make it a perfect mood setter for those 3 am nights.
With its seamless mix of energetic hits and evocative ballads, "HIT ME HARD AND SOFT" is a strong contender for Album of the Year and a valuable addition to any summer playlist, offering minimal (if any) skips and maximum appeal.
- Dalton Dismukes
Hotel Fiction - Staring at the Sun
The Athens, Georgia band released their much awaited sophomore album on July 26. Hotel Fiction blends sentimental lyrics with dreamy indie rock that leads to a great listening experience. The first two tracks start off with a steady rhythm that stays at the same wavelength throughout the songs. Both “Sunrise” and “Staring at the Sun” feature a silky guitar riff that dominates the song, with the former slowly building before lead singer Jade Long belts out the final chorus in a beautiful crescendo.
“Still Frozen” is the lead single off the album and brings the first big rock flair to the album. The song is talks about a relationship that you just can’t quit no matter how hard you try. The next track, “Girl in my Head” features some great isolated harmonies from Long and guitarist Jessica Thompson. One of the standouts from this album is “Margot.” It’s a chill song that has a a real cozy vibe to it, with reverbed electric guitars, acoustic guitars and a touch of pianos to make its dreamy atmosphere. It’s the perfect song for a late night drive with a drummer.
“Next Life” is a nice change of pace from Hotel Fiction’s repertoire, with it being an acoustic folky song. The final song, “Why Do Good Things Have to End,” takes the album out on a high note with its upbeat and fast-paced piano led rock. It’s a great crowd pleaser. Overall, It’s a solid sophomore outing for Hotel Fiction that puts them in a slightly different trajectory than their debut.
Favorite tracks - “Margot” ; “Next Life” ; “Why Do Good Things Have to End”
- Logan Hurston
Childish Gambino - Bando Stone and The New World
Childish Gambino returns for the his second full length album in 2024. Earlier this summer, Gambino released his reworked version of 3.15.20, now titled Atavista, out on streaming services. He then teased a new full length project on his radio show, Gilga Radio, throughout the summer. Finally on July 19th, we got Bando Stone and The New World, Gambino’s final album under the moniker. It’s also the soundtrack for a soon to release movie of the same name staring Gambino himself. The album features plenty of sound bites from the actual film, which seems to be an apocalyptic alien survival comedy movie.
As for a final album, it serves every facet of Gambino’s fandom. It’s a complete mixed bag of different styles. It starts out with a Yeezus inspired song in “H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥.” Other songs in that vein include “Got to Be” and “A Place Where Love Goes.” Gambino goes fully into his rap roots with “Survive,” “Yoshinoya,” and “Talk My Shit,” which features Amaarae and Flo Milli. Gambino gets more introspective with “Steps Beach” and “No Excuses.” The former features Steve Lacy on guitar and the latter sees the return of frequent Gambino collaborator and Oscar winning composer Ludwig Göransson. “No Excuses” is a phenomenal composition that features well with Gambino’s high pitched voice. “Running Around” and “Real Love” feel like catchy pop hits that would play on radio today. The lead single of the album, “Lithonia,” features Gambino singing on a stadium rock/gospel inspired song about how nobody cares. Gambino even follows the trend of most modern rappers when he brings his son Legend on the track “Can You Feel Me.”
The album doesn’t have a cohesive flow, but the songs are so good on their own that it overpowers that aspect. Songs like “Dadvocate” don’t go well with the rest of the album, but stand out in their own vein, with this song sounding like a cut from Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights. Gambino also grows as a rapper, no longer rapping about women or money. Now he raps about being a dad and winning at life. Donald Glover fully has grown out of his Childish Gambino moniker and is going out on a strong note with a great final album for all of his fans.
Favorite tracks - “No Excuses” ; “Dadvocate” ; “Survive” ; “Lithonia”
- Logan Hurston
Dana and Alden - Coyote, You’re My Star
The new wave Jazz band, Dana and Alden, are back with their second album. The group previously releasing their first album, Quiet Music for Young People, in 2023. The gained notoriety from the tik toks of drummer Alden, sparking interest in their single off of that album, “Let’s go to Trader Joe’s.” Now, the group is trying to bring Jazz back to the forefront of Gen Z’s music taste.
Their new album, Coyote, You’re My Star, is a better version of their previous album, building on the strengths of Quite Music for Young People and eliminating it’s weaknesses. Alden has grown as a vocalist and really shines on the lead single of the same name. They also bring in vocalist Melanie Charles on the track “Family Garden,” which is a great orchestration that builds into a beautiful explosion of sound. The album varies from chill tunes, upbeat dance mixes, to the occasional sprawling composition that blows your mind. The album is anything but boring, with the instruments sounding extremely tight. The drums have such a pop sound to them. I love how they play with different instruments on each song and focus on putting out the best choices for each song instead of forcing an instrumental part where it doesn’t belong.
Last year, Quiet Music for Young People was one of my top 3 albums from last year, and they’ve topped that and then some with Coyote, You’re My Star. Keep an eye on Dana and Alden, they are making some phenomenal music so far.
Favorite tracks - “Paper Tiger” ; “Bourdain” ; “Family Garden” ; “PB”
- Logan Hurston
