“Eclectic Melodies: The Harmonious Fusion of Charli XCX, Beyoncé, The Cure, and Beyond”

Upon recording her sixth album, Brat, Charli XCX believed that her edgy, abrasive dance tracks might “not resonate with many listeners”.

Ultimately, the album soared to the top of the charts, morphing into a cultural sensation. It received seven Grammy nominations, was mentioned in the US presidential election, transformed into a paint swatch, and labeled “word of the year” by Collins Dictionary.

Presently, the album has been recognized as the best new release of 2024 in a “poll of polls” assembled by BBC News.

In various year-end compilations, critics hailed Brat as “exceptional from beginning to end” and “the pop music of tomorrow“, praising the manner in which its “painfully relatable” lyrics reflected Charli’s self-doubts, apprehensions and obsessions.

In her own terms, the album represents “chaos and emotional upheaval set to a dance floor backdrop”.

“The louder you play it, the more genuine it becomes,” remarked the Los Angeles Times.

The BBC’s survey is a “super-ranking” derived from 30 year-end lists released by the globe’s most significant music publications – including NME, Rolling Stone, Spain’s Mondo Sonoro and France’s Les Inrockuptibles.

Albums were awarded points based on their rankings in each list – the top album obtained 20 points, the second album earned 19 points, and so forth.

Brat emerged as the clear victor with a tally of 486 points, nearly double that of the second-ranked album, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.

In total, critics highlighted 184 records among their favorites, ranging from The Cure’s much-anticipated return, Songs Of A Lost World, to the vibrant rap of Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal.

Here’s the complete list of the top 25.

Charli was born Emma Aitchison in Essex, UK, and has been diligently honing her pop craft for over a decade.

At the commencement of her journey, she achieved success with glittering pop hits like Fancy, I Love It, and Boom Clap – however, as time progressed, her sound evolved, becoming progressively more intense and aggressive.

Underground hits such as Vroom, Vroom and Track 10 established her as a cult icon, but as she candidly expressed on Brat: “I’ve begun reconsidering if I merit commercial success“.

With this realization, she approached 2024 with renewed determination.

“Before we had written much, she came in with a grand plan of all the topics she aimed to cover, and all the messages she intended to convey,” producer AG Cook mentioned to the BBC. “She hada genuine perspective for the album, right from the beginning.”

“Even the title Brat was considered for approximately two years,” states co-producer Finn Keane.

Launched in June, Brat evolved into the soundtrack of the summer; Charli furthered her triumph with a remix album that transformed numerous songs and incorporated a variety of guest artists, ranging from Billie Eilish and Robyn to The 1975 and Lorde.

The remix initiative was “really spontaneous and last minute,” notes Cook, “but that’s been part of the enjoyment of Brat”.

“Charli is remarkably swift and receptive to concepts,” adds Keane. “You can present her with almost any bizarre track, and she’ll promptly devise something incredibly catchy, featuring a memorable and intricate twist.

“She is just immensely musical.”

Billboard: “Charli XCX executed one of the most thrilling and culturally pivotal album launches in recent memory… And the best part? It was all on Charli’s own terms. Drawing mainly from club culture and hyperpop, Charli assimilated once-niche music spaces into the mainstream.”

The Forty Five: “In crafting a club record to stimulate the underground, she has reached the globe’s largest stages. Musically, Charli is at her zenith.”

Often mischaracterized as a country album, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is significantly more. A racial examination of the African American roots of U.S. folk music, its 27 tracks incorporate a wide range of styles from line-dancing to psychedelic rock, featuring collaborations with Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Post Malone.

The Times: “The pop hoedown track Texas Hold ‘Em remains the standout, but the acoustic guitar-led seductive tribute Bodyguard is another highlight. Will this finally earn Beyoncé her Grammy for best album?”

NME: “A showcase of ingenuity from an artist who never forgets her origins.”

The fourth studio album by Dublin’s Fontaines DC showcased the group transforming their gritty, ominous sound through a vibrant lens. The outcomes range from stadium-sized sing-along tracks (Favourite) to anxiety-inducing punk anthems (Starburster).

Allmusic: “Ultimately, they remain outstanding songwriters, capable of expressing a plethora of emotions without depending on the usual punk conventions. While the sharp edges may have softened, it has merely unveiled new and fascinating textures underneath.”

Mojo magazine: “Fontaines D.C. are now, concerning their willingness to take risks, the closest rivals to Arctic Monkeys.”

The title conveys everything. Each track on Billie Eilish’s beautiful third album refuses to remain stagnant, transitioning from soft intimacy to emotional tumult as the artist navigates the murky waters of her early twenties.

The Telegraph: “Eilish has crafted an offering that is rich, peculiar, intelligent, sorrowful, and wise enough to be compared with Joni Mitchell’s Blue. A breakup masterpiece for her cohort, and for the ages.”

The Guardian: “An album that continually surprises the listener, Hit Me Hard and Soft is evidently designed to be gradually unraveled: A daring approach in a pop landscape where audiences are often portrayed as afflicted by an attention deficit that demands immediate gratification.”

Promoted by one magazine as the “poet laureate of indie rock“, MJ Lenderman’s highlighting album is affectionate, sorrowful, and wryly humorous, inhabited by a cast of flawed, disheartened, and disappointing personas he observed throughout his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.

New York Times: “An exceptional guitarist with a sharp ear for jangly sounds, even his most pitiful characters are infused with a touch of warm-blooded humanity.”

The Line Of Best Fit: “His ability to make you care about nobodies from nowhere and their exceedingly peculiar struggles is partially due to his gift for universal compassion, but more crucially, the fact that he sings everything as if he were just held up at gunpoint by his eighth-grade bully who he later witnessed win the lottery. You empathize with situations you might not even grasp.”

Sixteen years in the making, The Cure’s 14th studio album met expectations. Composed during a time when frontman Robert Smith was grieving the loss of his mother, father, and brother, it is both somber and delicate.

In conversation with the BBC, Smith mentioned that producing the record was “enormously cathartic” in escaping the “doom and gloom” he was experiencing.

Time magazine: “It’s no overstatement that this album is shadowed by death, so it’s somewhat ironic that, musically, The Cure hasn’t exhibited this much vitality in decades.”

Pitchfork: “It feels as though this record has arrived at the right moment, providing a focused dosage of The Cure while trimming the excess that plagued their later works.”

A vast, two-hour creation of ethereal pop and psychedelia, this is among the year’s most enigmatic recordings. The CD or vinyl versions are not for sale, and it’s not accessible on Spotify or Apple Music. As of this writing, it’s solely obtainable as a continuous, ad-free stream on YouTube, or as a download from Bandcamp.

However, the seventh release by Cyndi Lee (the drag persona of rock artist Patrick Flegel) is certainly worth the effort to find – reminiscent of the lost signals from an eerie 1960s pirate radio station.

Uncut: “Cindy Lee has successfully defied nearly every trend, norm and assumption of how music should be released in today’s digital era. Equally importantly, it sounds remarkably refreshing.”

Stereogum: “Diamond Jubilee offers two hours of leisurely meandering through a lo-fi getaway, infectious to the degree of being clingy, rough yet sun-kissed to perfection.”

On her sixth album as Waxahatchee, singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield explores themes ranging from anxiety and self-doubt to her continuous battle with sobriety, delivering profound insight against a relaxed country-rock backdrop.

Pitchfork: “Her thoughts are vibrant and buzzing, and her expressions leap at you with their intensity.”

Consequence of Sound: “Crutchfield continues to evolve, both personally and musically, and we’re thankful she’s taking us along on her journey.”

Following a pivotal moment in his rap rivalry with Drake, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar celebrated his success with the unexpected release of his sixth album, GNX. Sharp and rhythmically intricate, it serves as both a scathing critique of his opponents and a heartfelt tribute to the hip-hop culture of Los Angeles.

LA Times: “Lamar is agitated about dishonesty, about individuals offering insincere praise, about fellow rappers with ‘old-fashioned flows’ taking up space with meaningless verses. Ultimately, his greatest frustration appears to stem from the thought that one might succeed in hip-hop by treating it less earnestly than he does.”

Complex: “Moreover, it’s admirable how much spotlight Kendrick shines on underground rappers from the LA scene—talented individuals who are unrefined and would likely face challenges in achieving national recognition without assistance.”

Having released six albums, former Disney actress Sabrina Carpenter has discovered a formula for success – one that moves away from the formulaic pop of her adolescent years and focuses on her sharp wit as a unique selling point.

Quick and filled with unforgettable quips, it yielded three number one hits in the UK, including the song of the year nominee, Espresso.

New York Times: “A clever, amusing, and joyfully unrelenting collection of undesirable boyfriend antics.”

Esquire: “The depth, humor, and elegance of these 12 tracks were astonishing.”

11) Tyler, The Creator – Chromokopia

12) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God

13) Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

=14) Mk.Gee – Two Star & The Dream People

=14) Jessica Pratt – Here In The Pitch

16) Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us

17) Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future

18) Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal

19) Clairo – Charm

=20) Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

=20) Nala Sinephro – Endlessness

22) English Teacher – This Could Be Texas

23) The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

24) Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk

25) Nilufer Yanya – My Method Actor

The chart was assembled from 30 “best of” reviews in the following publications: Billboard, Complex, Consequence Of Sound, Daily Mail, Dazed Magazine, Double J, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, The Forty Five, Gorilla Vs Bear, The Guardian, The Independent, LA Times, Les Inrocks, Line Of Best Fit, Mojo, Mondo Sonoro, NME, New York Times, Paste, People, Pitchfork, Pop Matters, The Skinny, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Time Magazine, and Uncut.