The five albums that shaped my year.

It is officially 2025 and as my first article of the year (and ever), I have decided to present the five albums I am taking from 2024 and spending this new year with. The past few months have regularly fed us musically so it is natural to have favourites. When I thought about what this year sounded like to me, these albums appeared in my mind so here’s why I love them and you should too.

Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter 

The fun and bold Sabrina Carpenter can proudly call 2024 her year. The singer had shown the public how witty and perceptive she could be in her precedent album “emails I can’t send” but “Short n’ Sweet” has only helped the blonde woman to make her imprint on pop music. As a Sabrina fan through and through, it has been such a pleasure to see her talent finally recognised but nobody could’ve estimated the love she would receive this year. Her newest album was on everybody’s lips from the moment her single “Espresso” hit radios in April, and for good reasons. On august 23rd, at midnight, I am sat, headphones fully charged, ready to have my mind blown. Opening with a hit like “Taste”, this album could only be one of the best of the year. Sabrina had roped in the entire world with her carefully chosen singles but it is the hidden gems that made me fall in love. The country ambiance of “Coincidence” sold me immediately; “Juno’” is the perfect mix of funny lyrics and perfect melody that makes you want to get up and dance; “Lie to girls” is the underrated product of what we can call Sabrina Carpenter’s genius brain. Overall, this album has shaped my year and will evidently have even more of an impact on me once I hear it live (multiple times) in 2025. 

Found Heaven by Conan Gray 

An underrated, almost overhated, project from one of the best artists of our generation, according to me. Conan Gray has been the soundtrack of my life for the past five years, needless to say I was more than excited to hear his newest album. In full transparency, the first single “Never Ending Song” didn’t seem to catch my eye from the first few listens, but after maturing, I take back any negative comment I may have done towards this song; it is a bop, as we say. Conan Gray, through these songs, shows a growth and maturity but also an understanding of his own feelings and style, that is impossible to not appreciate. From dance songs like “Boys and Girls”, to  heartbreaking anthems like “Winner”, Conan shows his beautiful voice and range, all accompanied by 80s influences that unfortunately have gone under appreciated this year. No surprise, “Alley Rose” was one my most listened songs of the year and I encourage anybody who hasn’t heard it to stop everything they are doing and go have their life changed. 

The Secret Of Us by Gracie Abrams

I’ve followed Gracie Abrams for a while, when people still asked “who ?” when I talked about her. I’ve seen her grow into her music and deliver with heartbreaking songs that I would listen to on repeat. This year, she surprised many with “The Secret Of Us” with a completely new sound for her, something even her fans didn’t expect. She came out with some of her, objectively, best songs. I’ve listened to “That’s So True” probably a thousand times this year after playing “Risk” too much for a normal person. Bringing Taylor Swift on this album wasn’t even the best thing she did with this album. This project has skyrocketed her career and there’s so many reasons why I can say it is one of my favourite albums of the year. It is such a fun album that I got to discover over and over again over the past few months, especially with the Deluxe version which was very much needed and loved by me. I may relate less to her new songs but I am appreciating them even more than anything she’s released in the past (if that’s even possible). 

The Tortured Poets Department (The Anthology) by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift released an album in 2024 so, of course, it is on this list. Taylor has been my number one artist on Apple Music for 3 consecutive years and this one was not an exception. “The Tortured Poets Department” took a few weeks to grow on me but the moment I finally understood it, I couldn’t stop myself from listening to it every single day. The 31 tracks may scare some people away, but it’s been months since the release and I love that I still get to discover facets of this album that I haven’t had the time to focus on yet. A heartbreaking project with raw lyrics that some people might not get but probably some of her best songs can be found on there. The obvious “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me ?” And “So High School” have made their impact but I am more of a “Peter” and “The Black Dog” person. Taylor offers us a range of songs so wide that it is impossible to not find at least one song to connect to and it is why I will gladly enter 2025 with this album, knowing I still have many songs I haven’t appreciated to their full extent yet. 

Kansas Anymore by Role Model

Finishing off this list with the album that has impacted my year the most. Role Model is an artist I’ve followed for a while but nothing he has ever created will come close to this album to me. In my opinion, it is perfection. 13 songs that have made me rethink every single song I've heard this year. How did I live without this album before it came out ? We’ll never know. Role Model opens his heart with an indescribable penmanship. Opening with “Writing’s On The Wall”, Tucker Pillsbury brings you into a world that you directly want to learn more about. After that, it is masterpiece after masterpiece. Do not ask me which song is my favourite I might have a stroke trying to answer. Role Model describes heartbreak and homesickness so beautifully that I fear I might’ve entered his mind on accident. His openness about his feelings to the listeners grabs your attention and never lets you go. The sole feature on the album with the wonderful Lizzy McAlpine brings a freshness through a beautiful ballad of the two artists having a discussion we probably shouldn’t have walked in. Overall, “Kansas Anymore” is one of the most beautiful albums I’ve ever had the chance to listen to and I will spend the next decade telling whoever will listen how much I love it. 

Special mentions 

2024 was a year rich in releases and choosing only five projects was a hard task. It is why I still want to talk about a few projects that have impacted me this year.

Hit Me Hard And Soft by Billie Eilish 

Obviously couldn’t write about albums that came out this year without talking about Billie Eilish who gave us some of the songs that became the soundtrack of our lives. Without surprise, Billie and Finneas came out of the studio with a masterpiece and lives were changed with “Bird Of A Feather”, myself included. 

Live by Louis Tomlinson 

Louis Tomlinson might be one of the most under appreciated artists I know and this needs to change. He already had changed my life in 2022 when releasing “Faith In The Future” but he surprised his fans with a Live album including every song he has sung during his world tour of 2023. Each song recorded in a different city, his voice accompanied by the screams of hundreds of loving fans all over the world, Louis allows us to rediscover his songs through a new lens while making us relive some of the best moments of his tour.

Rumination As Ritual by Alessi Rose

Alessi Rose’s first EP (it’s not an album, sue me) “Rumination as Ritual” was released this summer and truly showed what I’ve known for a while : Alessi Rose has a very successful future ahead of her. Six songs which moved me all year and that will help you discover this new and upcoming artist before her second EP comes out in the beginning of the year.

Thank you for reading my first article ! I hope you enjoyed learning about which albums kept me company all year long !