As a lover of all things pop-culture, it hasn’t gone unnoticed to me that 2024 has been an insane year for new music by some of our favorite pop icons! With so many different albums, singles, and deluxe releases already (and more scheduled releases on the way) 2024 is looking like quite a year for pop music.
In case you’ve been out of the loop, or maybe you’re just not into the pop music scene, I’m here to break down my top 5 releases of 2024 thus far! (Note: This list is in chronological order based on release date, not by rating!!)
- Eternal Sunshine- Ariana Grande
Released on March 8th, this highly anticipated album by the one and only Ariana Grande, did not disappoint. After a nearly 4 year hiatus, Miss Grande came back better than ever, with an equally heartbreaking and inspiring 13 track album that perfectly depicts her emotions from this past year. Her beautifully stacked vocals shine through the iconic synth pop sound as she sings about her life through metaphors of the sun, saturn, the moon and the stars. The best comeback!
- GUTS (spilled)- Olivia Rodrigo
A deluxe version of her sophomore album “GUTS”, Olivia Rodrigo released “GUTS (spilled)” on March 22nd. This edition includes 5 bonus tracks: “obsessed”, “girl i’ve always been”, “scared of my guitar”, “stranger”, and “so american”. With a mix of ballads and bangers, this was the perfect way for Olivia to gift us with a bit more of her music while she continues the GUTS world tour! These songs perfectly tie this era up with a bow, as Olivia gains closure on the relationship she’s written about in both of her albums and even teases her new relationship in the final track, “so american”. Maybe one of my favorite deluxe editions of an album!
- Cowboy Carter- Beyoncé
Queen B released her latest album on March 29th with a whole new sound! Probably the most surprising of all the album drops this year, Beyoncé gave us her version of a country pop album that depicts a journey through a reinvention of Americana. These songs highlight the overlooked contributions of Black pioneers to American musical and cultural history. Naturally her vocals are magical and this exciting new sound is absolutely iconic!
- Older- Lizzy Mcalpine
On April 5th we were gifted with “Older”, singer-songwriter Lizzy Mcalpine’s third studio album. Lizzy’s insane song writing skills did not come to play in this bitter-sweet story about getting older and ending a relationship. While her sound in this album is much slower compared to her previous album ”five seconds flat”, Lizzy shows how she has matured as an artist which perfectly aligns with the albums themes of getting older!
- Espresso- Sabrina Carpenter
The most recent piece of pop perfection was released on April 11th by none other than Sabrina Carpenter! Her newest single, “Espresso” dropped just in time for her spectacular Coachella set this past weekend. This first tease of a possible new era of music, mixes a funky pop beat with Sabrina’s typical lyrics of self-love, as she compares herself to a shot of espresso. It’s a perfect hype song as we enter into the summer season!
These are only a few of the iconic music releases this year— and we’re only in April! There are so many more releases to come as the year continues. Specifically I’m most excited for Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album “The Tortured Poets Department” (April 19th) and Billie Eilish’s third studio album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” (May 17th). I think it’s safe to say 2024 is the year of Pop!!