best of Suilen's Best of 2024 (Top Albums, #1-#6) | Finished

[Mezik]

Training Season, Bye Bye, and Darkest Hour are fantastic.  

[Renzo_]

Nice graphics! 

Training Season is the best song of this era by Dua Lipa.

[Suilen]

 

The top songs will be resumed tomorrow, for now let's have a look at some songs from other years that made my 2024.

 

Татьяна Буланова - Мой сон

Ayumi Hamasaki's Loveppears at home.

Татьяна Буланова - Стая

Linda, you will always be famous.

Elle Teresa - LOVE (with Choppa Capone)

Elle Teresa - Bubble

Another daughter of Chanmina's, except she knows what she's doing.

Света - Может да, может нет

The fact that she wrote and produced it automatically makes her one of the most talented pop stars of all time.

Света - Загорелые

Света - Прости, моя любовь!

More Sveta because she's a queen.

Baby Jane - Owen Gray

She gave a bit of Ethel Cain here.

Chase Icon - Like Me

Exactly and I told her and I said ma'am.

Оля Полякова - Люли

Gaga is the American Olya Polyakova basically.

Оля Полякова - Звонила

The songwriting, whew.

Mai Kuraki - ZEROからハジメテ

J-pop gays always overlook her when she's out there serving bigger bops than the big four three or whatever.

Mai Kuraki - Unraveling Love ～少しの勇気～

These Detective Conan songs have no business sounding good.

Selena Gomez & The Scene - My Dilemma

Wait, Selener... 

LAYAH - Мастер

This song is too good to be real.

Lolahol - Spelling

Maybe Madonna should put her daughter (and Eartheater) in charge of her music idk.

Mylène Farmer - À tout jamais

Probably the best song released by a female artist that far into their career?

Yseult - NÉON ROUGE

It's so demure compared to what she released this year.

Pierre de Maere - Bel-Ami

Okay, let me put a token twink here.

Tyla - Been Thinking

Please explain to me why this isn't her Umbrella yet.

Lexie Liu - MAGICIAN

She did some magic on this song, for sure.

Елена Темникова - 2020

Is this song responsible for COVID?

Mieko Hirota - 人形の家

Japanese music vocally peaked here.

Yuki Kimura - LOVE & JOY
Yuki Kimura - Pinky Doll

These songs are like the opposites, such talent.

Shy Smith - Soaked

The song was revitalized by the video but technically released years ago.

UZA - MADA

When you name yourself after one of AKB48's few bops it surely must mean something (she changed her name earlier this year).

Душа - Моя боль

I have a soul, and it's painful, yes.

Марина Журавлева - Я не та

Making bops like this under the Soviet Union was probably considered a crime.

Astro Bunny - 深夜情歌

Crying at how good it is.

Lexxe - Greedy

Poor Tate.

DOROFEEVA - Хай пишуть

So true.

Ангина - Кому какое дело

It takes some guts to admit that you can't sing.

Maude Latour - 001

Baby, let's run...

Maude Latour - Twin Flame

'Twin Flames Universe (TFU) is an American cult run by Jeff and Shaleia Divine.' It's ok to be in a cult if you serve bops.

Lolo Zouai - pl4yg1rl

How do we unkhia her?

D&D - Love Is a Melody

TK was so pressed at her for actually having pipes unlike his other projects.

Kim Bo Hyung - FLASH ME

SPICA in general deserved better, and she deserved more budget.

Satomi Shiremori - FRIEND (feat. tomodachi)

The name of the featured artist means 'friend.' Genius.

DEAD BLONDE - Voulez-vous coucher

It's a bop if you ignore the subject matter.

Tina Moon - 虎視眈々

The most interesting Japanese artist currently.

The Deep - BAPPI

The most interesting Korean solo artist currently.

Elyanna - Sokkar

Definitely one of the best artists I discovered this year.

 

The playlist:

 

 

Edited December 21, 2024 by Suilen

[Mezik]

Are those all Ukrainian artists at the top?  

 

I always love the odd Ukrainian song that comes my way, I may explore them if so, they know how to release quality bops.  

[Suilen]

1 minute ago, Mezik said:

Are those all Ukrainian artists at the top?  

 

I always love the odd Ukrainian song that comes my way, I may explore them if so, they know how to release quality bops.  

Оля Полякова, DOROFEEVA and LAYAH are Ukrainian. The rest in Cyrillic are Russian artists that were active decades ago. Елена Темникова is an ex-SEREBRO member who had to slow down her activities after criticizing Russia.

[Mezik]

1 minute ago, Suilen said:

Оля Полякова, DOROFEEVA and LAYAH are Ukrainian. The rest in Cyrillic are Russian artists that were active decades ago. Елена Темникова is an ex-SEREBRO member who had to slow down her activities after criticizing Russia.

Let me go listen immediately and give them some good ole coins.

My mom's family fled Russia in the 30s, I'm allowed to hate 'em.

[Alldeezy]

ooo love to see all the Ukrainian/Russian artists, I listen to a lot of Ukrainian metal tho

[Album Leak]

I'm enjoying these discoveries!

The Astro Bunny song oh my I LOVE IT. 
The Deep is also really fun, listened to two songs and I'm kinda gagged!

Elle Teresa songs were not it. I'm not convinced of her CHANMINA daughterdom, at least in terms of quality!

 

The beat in the LAYAH song is absolutely insane! But I'm not sure if it's enough to carry the entire song by itself because the rest of it was eh.

 

Also you lie, THIS is where Japanese music vocally peaked. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2024 by Album Leak

[Suilen]

2 hours ago, Album Leak said:

I'm enjoying these discoveries!

The Astro Bunny song oh my I LOVE IT. 
The Deep is also really fun, listened to two songs and I'm kinda gagged!

Elle Teresa songs were not it. I'm not convinced of her CHANMINA daughterdom, at least in terms of quality!

 

The beat in the LAYAH song is absolutely insane! But I'm not sure if it's enough to carry the entire song by itself because the rest of it was eh.

 

Also you lie, THIS is where Japanese music vocally peaked. 

 

 

 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed some of them!

 

When I talk about those new rappers being Chanmina's daughters, it's more about the fact that she opened the door for them, though she does have some Chanmina-flavored tracks, which my friend clocked. She isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I don't like everything by her either, but I appreciate the fact that she works closely with Black/Afro-Asian people and has some street cred. 

 

Maybe LAYAH's song would work better with the video? It has this Twin Peaks vibe.

 

 

No shade to miss Junko, love her. It was more of a dig at the fact at some point the Japanese music industry simply stopped priotizing vocals, and while I'm used to it, it doesn't mean that I like it. I occasionally listen to artists from 60-70ss, and while the music from that time wasn't particularly interesting (if we look at female pop), the vocals were almost always on point. I blame Seiko Matsuda 'winning' against Akina Nakamori in the 80s (and maybe the fact that enka ultimately became the genre where you needed pipes) 

[Suilen]

 

 

#20. Baby Jane - You Look Like an Angel
Imagine dropping the album of the year that would keep your 5 fans fed for like 2 years and then... you just keep dropping more stuff, some of which is on par with or even better than what's on the said album. Angel is different, almost ballad-y, but I could feel her pain. I also want the one to look like an angel.

 

 

#19. Annie - The Sky is Blue
Annie has always been underrated, but she's too underrated to get a thread for her new single on this forum these days, apparently. But it's also my fault for not following every single artist I know on Spotify. Anyway. In my opinion, Annie shines the most on short-length stuff, be that droplets or minis. While the entirety of Anniemal is good, her other two albums have some fat on them. Her EPs (and singles like Antonio) have been great, though. I don't know if this single will amount to anything, but what I know is that it automatically shot into my top 20 once I discovered it. At her best, Annie exudes the essence of pop.

 

 

#18. ARTMS - Virtual Angel
My relationship with Loona is complicated. I wasn't immediately on board with the project and only became a believer with Kim Lip's solo. Everything from that point on was immaculate... until the actual debut. Favorite lost me, and while they had some moments of goodness throughout their run, I mostly wrote them off as something that was great in theory but executed poorly. Still, I supported Chuu and later other members in their struggle against Blockberry Creative because not caring about their music doesn't mean not caring about the people behind it. Now we have several post-Loona projects. I'd love to give my overview of all of them, but it's not like anyone's reading this, so let's just focus on ARTMS. I was excited about it from the start since it comprised of Odd Eye Circle aka arguably the best sub-unit of the original Loona and Haseul. Well, Heejin was a cute girl, too (my opinion became more favorable with her mini). The hype was through the roof with Odd Eye Circle's comeback, and almost nothing could go wrong. Fortunately, it didn't. Virtual Angel turned to be that song, and the album was nice. All in all, ARTMS finally delivered what I expected from the full group. Was cutting them in half necessary to achieve that? I don't know. There's a chance that they could all reunite. If they keep up the quality, then the number of the members won't matter.

 

 

#17. DALsoooobin - MUCK
Subin has tried everything: indie pop, city pop, club music... In a way, her genre-switching is one of the most underrated stories in k-pop (if you care about more than the artists that can chart). Her songs have been cute, no doubt about that. However, the one that resonated with the most was her dabbling into industrial music. For some, it might sound cheap, but what do you expect from an indie artist that barely had any success with her group? I think it reminds me of Lim Kim's Yellow. People expected her to come back with the same polished indie pop sound as Simple Mind, and she didn't give a ****. I hope Subin feels the same.

 

 

#16. Cecile Believe - Blink Twice
I remember when Cecile was just Mozart's Sister, though it wasn't particularly fondly - her albums didn't impress me. Her Cecile Believe rebranding came with better music, but I can't say I was convinced. As a writer for others, she's great, yes. On her own... In short, I didn't have any expectations set for her, so when Blink Twice came in like a hurricane, well, she had me. The EP also proved to be decent. The lesson here is not to give on artists, I suppose. One day, they may eventually deliver exactly what your heart has been craving.

 

 

#15. Maude Latour - Cursed Romantics
Why do we gravitate towards khias? Is it because the non-khias forgot how to make good music? Is it something some of us naturally do? Are khias necessary to maintain the balance? Does their underdog status make their music sound better than it actually is? These are the questions I sometimes ponder on, but I don't have any answers. I do think that Maude delivered something that isn't as omnipresent in mainstream pop as it once was. Yes, Sabrina and Chappell partially brought it this year, so running to the likes of Lolo Zouaï and Maude Latour wasn't necessary. I don't require a song's production to sound like it took $100k, so I can appreciate both. And sometimes I can appreciate an underdog more.

 

 

#14. Julia-Sophie - wishful thinking
Julia-Sophie is probably my second-best discovery this year as far as 2024 releases are concerned (more about it later). Initially, I wanted to highlight a different song, but wishful thinking kind of reflect my current mindset better.

 

 

#13. Charli xcx - Guess featuring billie eilish
Boy, don't I love when two queens who were wronged by the capitalist demon maximize their joint slay.

 

 

#12. Yseult - SUICIDE
I mean, same. To every line in the song. Real talk, though, Yseult killed it this year. Her own stuff rocked, then she was on a successful collab with Sevdaliza, and the Shygirl song also slaps. I feel like greater things are yet to come. And we can talk about her approach to naming her songs? Straight to the point.

 

 

#11. Billie Eilish - WILDFLOWER
Another Billie song, which shouldn't be surprising since she is my favorite mainstream artist as of now. Choosing my favorite song wasn't that easy, as most of them are exceptional. Why Wildflower? There's just something about the end of a (sapphic) relationship that makes it especially poignant. The vocals are on point. The production remains interesting throughout the whole song. The outro is chef's kiss. We might be seeing another song that totally nailed the outro part soon...

[JGibson]

Guess + Wildflower 

[Mezik]

Wildflower and Guess are both A-Tier tracks on their respective albums.  

 

BRAT stand alone was great -- but the Deluxe Edition adding Guess enhanced it.

[Alldeezy]

Wildflower is cute

 

[Curaga]

Yseult really killed it on Suicide. First time I heard it, it sounded like an instant classic. There is something really timeless about the instrumental, idk. I need to listen to Mental again though... The rest of the album wasn't anywhere near the same level as Suicide imo, but I should give it another shot.

 

Guess featuring billie I loved what she added to that remix. ICONIC video

[TalkThatRihanna]

Guess was such a bop

[Album Leak]

Annie released a new song?! 

And it's really freaking good! Glad she is still with us, I really loved The Streets Where I Belong from several years back!

 

I have basically stopped consuming any k-pop at this point but I did listen to Virtual Angel because it was kinda everywhere on my twitter feed for a hot minute, and I really liked it! Nothing else in DALL excited me though..

[Suilen]

 

 

#10. Madison Beer - 15 MINUTES
Madison, my poor almost-not-khia. She was close to making it with 'Make You Mine,' but the starts just didn't align for her. While '15 Minutes' was a solid follow-up, it didn't do anything for her, either. And maybe it's for the best, you know? Madison has a lot of autonomy now, and I doubt that she'll retain it upon becoming a thing. Let her keep doing these dark bops that people are demanding from other artists while not bothering to explore further. I do prefer '15 Minutes' out of the two hopefully singles to an upcoming album (as opposed to droplets), but both are great.

 

 

#9. Sevdaliza - Good Torture (with Elyanna)
Before graduating from the khia asylum (her words, not mine), Sevdaliza had dropped this low-key collab with Elyanna. Well, thanks for introducing me to her, by the way. After the Grimes collab, I would take anything as Grimes' name is a net negative these days. But it wasn't just anything. Many compare it to Sade (who herself dropped a song about her trans son this year if you are unaware), and I agree. A decent performance from both artists, abstract enough lyrics. They did something special here. If I didn't restrain myself, Alibi would also be somewhere on the list too as it was a moment no matter what anyone says. If you're that concerned about Sevdaliza's quality moving forward, then stream this ******* song.

 

 

#8. Shygirl - mute
Love Shygirl, love Lolo (Ice Cube was among my favorite songs last years), love putting gays on mute. A song after my own heart.

 

 

#7. Maggie Lindermann - hostage
I've followed Maggie ever since her transformation into a pop rock sensation, and she's always delivered. The mini from this year was quite good (we don't talk about the deluxe version), but the real star is 'hostage.' I've seen people compare it to Evanescence, Flyleaf, Linkin Park etc., and there's some truth to it. This sound is really nostalgic (the first band I consciously searched for was Evanescence after all), and I wish more artists would dabble in it. I'll give the recent Linkin Park album a cautious listen and see if they can scratch that itch.

 

 

#6. DOROFEEVA - Хартбiт
DOROFEEVA is an ex-Время и Стекло member, and they were never on my radar, so whatever she was doing solo hadn't really registered to me until we got the Ukrainian/Russian music thread, and she was among the highlighted artists. DOROFEEVA is one of the Ukrainian artists who successfully switched from Russian to Ukrainian following the Russian invasion (not everyone could do it: see Луна and LOBODA). I suppose it wasn't that difficult for her since she'd debuted 2 years prior to that and probably hadn't accumulated a strong Russian-speaking following that she'd need to appease. Anyway, her music in general is nice and bears the traces of the ongoing war. вотсап, for instance, is about a soldier's girlfriend who can't get any news from him. Хартбiт is more of a typical relationship troubles song, but it's so damn good.

 

 

#5. Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
Chappell is an artist you love to hate, and she fully intends it to be that way. I think that many people here and in general fail to see what she's trying to achieve, but it's not really my job to explain it. I mostly agree with her points, even if she sometimes doesn't use the right words. That's also part of the point. People are so used to celebrities' PR images that they absolutely can't stand when someone is being real. Some also deny that she's a lesbian/queer, and, like, did you listen to this song (not to mention Casual)? It's not the first song about comphet in existence. Chappell is standing on the shoulders of many artists before her, and she's not particularly shy about it. But how many songs about comphet entered the top 5 on the American chart? GLB is a moment for the community. And it's happening in the middle of a culture war. Let's cherish this moment while we can. PS: If you leave all the context and the subject matter aside, it's still an amazing song. But all the external factors do strengthen it. 

 

 

#4. The Deep - OPPA (feat. Ash-B)
The Deep is kinda the Korean pinkpantheress, which is ironic as pinkpantheress herself is a Koreaboo who sampled f(x) and SNSD on her songs. I don't necessarily mean the sound, though. Like pinkpantheress, The Deep mastered the art of saying a lot in under 2 minutes. Like, so much stuff is happening here, including the rap part. And it's so damn addictive. Once it was out, I immediately knew it was going to break my personal charts. Also, Ash-B should sue Charli Xbox for stealing her brat idea.

 

 

#3. Tina Moon - ANEMoNE
Moon Kana is an underground Japanese artist who was very active in the early 00s. Despite being underground in her home country, everyone in touch with the Japanese culture was aware of her because her music and fashion were the pinnacle of 'Weird Japan.' It's an interesting paradox, and you can observe it even now with some acts. I'm not sure if Tina Moon's stage name has anything to do with Moon Kana, but they have quite a lot in common. Underground, weird, plenty of potential appeal to a Western listener. Someone on last.fm described her as a child of Bjork and Sheena Ringo. Well, not quite, though I wouldn't underestimate her artistry. ANEMoNE is a song that makes you consider changing your username (which would be going from one flower to another, and it's ok. KANGA's Magnolia from last year had the same effect on me. Flowers rule). It's beautiful, it's heartbreaking, it's engaging. Miss Tina single-handedly saved Japanese music for me this year. And it's a shame that you have to go above and beyond to find a song like that because back in the day you didn't have to go much further than the Oricon chart.

 

 

#2. Baby Jane - Da Da Dum
Sometimes I hate this arbitrary divisions of year-end lists because you can't discover everything in one year. I'm pretty sure that there are things from 2024 that I haven't listened to yet that might blow everything here out of the water, but it is what it is. I'm saying this because it's 'All the Saints of Notre-Dame' that should be here. It started everything, it's a better song, it went viral for a reason. But it's from 2023. Still, DDD IS my most-listened song this year, and it's basically the second-best thing. It's the poppiest song on the album, and for all intents and purposes, this is what pop music means to me.

 

 

And finally...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#1. Nessa Barrett - DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
Only a month ago all I knew about Nessa Barrett is that she liked wishing death on her exes, which is totally a vibe, and I support her in her endeavors. I even listened to one of those songs back in 2021. However, having the right vibe isn't always enough, and I wasn't interested in her music. While searching for the albums released this year, I came across the thread for AFTERCARE here and saw a lot of posts full of praise, going as far as saying that the album would be lauded as a masterpiece if released by a more successful act. People like to exaggerate, but it's not listening to a an album would hurt me, so I gave her a chance. The album... had nice moments, I won't deny that. There's even a collab with Tonny Genesis (where is HER album, by the way?). But 'a masterpiece' wouldn't be exactly the right word for me. Then I pressed play on the final song. I listened to it once, then one more time, then again and again. She definitely laced it with something illegal. Jokes aside, let's talk about something that's been on mind. People say that music should be relatable to appeal to the audience nowadays. I call bullshit. This song is the opposite of being relatable to me. Casual sex isn't my thing, and I'm kind of judging her (not really). The song's message doesn't resonate with me, but... individual lines too, and that's what makes a great song. 'I don't want to be the one' isn't about a relationship to me, it acquires an entirely different meaning. I don't want to be the one to do the job, I don't want to be the one to clean up the mess. Something like this. Sonically, the song is a treat, and I think that everyone can acknowledge the outro is out of this world. I was actually struggling with picking the no. 1 song, so Nessa's late addition resolved the issue. There's another point that I'll expound on once the AOTY is revealed, but I'll give a sneak peek here. To me, the song of the year (decade, all time etc) isn't only about being great lyrically, sonically, thematically. It's ultimately a song that I'd want to make myself, and I definitely would love to have a DIRTY LITTLE SECRET in my 'discography.'

 

Recap:

 

Spoiler

50. Jojo Siwa - Guilty Pleasure
49. Brooke Candy - Crucify My Love
48. Zolita - Grown Up
47. Megan Thee Stallion - HISS
46. BIBI - Sugar Rush
45. Akari Takeuchi - 泣いてOVER
44. JADE - Angel of My Dreams
43. Ashley Sienna - aphrodite
42. Chelsea Wolfe - Everything Turns Blue
41. Billie Eilish - BITTERSUITE
40. Addison Rae - Aquamarine
39. Bonnie McKee - Electric Heaven
38. Rebecca Black - TRUST!
37. LEXXE - Queen of the Night
36. Erika de Casier - ooh
35. Coco & Clair Clair - My Girl
34. Jane B - One Taste
33. yeule - eko
32. Halsey - Lonely is the Muse
31. SISTAR19 - NO MORE (MA BOY)
30. JT - Okay
29. Dua Lipa - Training Season
28. RAYE - Genesis, pt. ii
27. Crystal Kay - That Girl
26. FKA Twigs - Eusexia
25. aespa - Armageddon
24. Chlöe - Boy Bye
23. Becky Hill - Darkest Hour
22. Doechii - Alter Ego (with JT)
21. LANA - Almost 20
20. Baby Jane - You Look Like an Angel
19. Annie - The Sky is Blue
18. ARTMS - Virtual Angel
17. DALsoooobin - MUCK
16. Cecile Believe - Blink Twice
15. Maude Latour - Cursed Romantics
14. Julia-Sophie - wishful thinking
13. Charli xcx - Guess featuring billie eilish
12. Yseult - SUICIDE
11. Billie Eilish - WILDFLOWER

10. Madison Beer - 15 MINUTES

9. Sevdaliza - Good Torture (with Elyanna)

8. Shygirl - mute

7. Maggie Lindermann - hostage

6. DOROFEEVA - Хартбiт

5. Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!

4. The Deep - OPPA (feat. Ash-B)

3. Tina Moon - ANEMoNE

2. Baby Jane - Da Da Dum

1. Nessa Barrett - DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

 

The Playlist:

 

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by Suilen

[JGibson]

Good Luck, Babe! 

[Alfred Bulgakov]

oh you are SO correct for Cursed Romantics. it's just pop perfection, nothing less.

[Kern]

15 Minutes in top 10  She really did something with this new direction this year. I wonder when is the album full of bops 

[Alldeezy]

15 minutes + hostage + dirty little secret

 

actually the best #1 ive seen on a best of ever since ive been on this site, im so happy to others like Nessa her music and album this year alone was truly amazing

the way im listening to that song this very moment kii

[Graves]

That #1 is pretty cool, never heard her before now.

[Renzo_]

Chappell, Nessa and Maggie

[K$Ellie]

yaassss Chase Icon  her discography is iconic

Maddie B delivered, I hope the full album is housey  Good Luck Babe in the top 5

Billie lowkey deserved top 10 with both her songs  I'm hoping Wildflower really takes off in 2025

ARTMS top 20 with their best song  glad you liked the album and OEC mini too, I feel like at this point they can't disappoint me nnn

[Maresia]

werk at you thinking ahead and creating playlists gonna be listening to the songs over the next days, hoping to find some gems!