The Finest Music of 2024 So Far

Pitchfork’s editors are already thinking about what albums have left the biggest impressions and will land a coveted spot on our year-end list. So we’re spotlighting some of the 2024’s most outstanding releases to date by rounding up albums that have earned high scores and Best New Music designations with a quick list of RIYLs (that’s Recommended If You Like) and links to our coverage.

Unlike our year-end lists, this one is organized in reverse chronological order. To help you keep track of the year’s best music, we’ll be updating it periodically throughout the remainder of 2024.

(All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, however, Pitchfork may earn an affiliate commission.)

May

RIYL: Sweeping mountain vistas; pranayama; staring at the sky and watching the clouds drift by; kankyō ongaku; mushroom foraging; sound baths; Laraaji; wildflower bouquets

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

RIYL: Smoking a blunt on the stoop with your crew; Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name; drinking eight glasses of water a day; completing your nighttime skincare routine; giving yourself grace even when it’s hard

RIYL: Samples incorporated into the lyrics of the song; being a rap veteran at 28; gothic grandeur; sparking blunts; kissing yourself in the mirror; Tierra Whack with the Twista flow; the undying influence of Scarface

Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

RIYL: Left-handed guitars; fractal patterns; pyrotechnics; environmental justice; rolling dunes; classic rock; crows; fuzzboxes; Frantz Fanon; righteous fury

RIYL: Cosmic threads; a stitch in time; black cats; following the muse; flea markets; Joanna Newsom; analog tape; 27-minute albums; unexplained weather phenomena; liquid mercury

April

RIYL: Fraternity; twangy Pinegrove; tiny Modest Mouse songs; Richard Linklater movies; lone-star indie; Southern vowels; catching up with an old friend

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