best of Golden Hour ☆ Top 10 of 2024 - Albums, Songs, & more!

[Golden Hour]

Hello and welcome all to...

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Golden Hour's Top 10 of 2024 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

 

 

What a year for music (and pop culture) 2024 was! With so many artists releasing, it was crazy to even attempt to narrow down these lists. A year of putting artists both known and new on the map, so many beautiful releases went under the radar. I hope that sharing my favorites may lead some people down a path to discovering new music, or remembering some of your favorites you may have forgotten along the way.

 

I'll begin my countdown by posting a few albums each day, followed by my favorite songs of the year.

After that, I'll wrap it up with a little Golden Hour 2024 Recap. That list will cover honorable mentions that just missed the list, as well as some of my favorite artists of the year, subgenre favorites, etc.

 

I haven't done one of these since 2017, so please bare with me and I look forward to discussing some of the great music that this year gave us! 

 

Let's get started with my #10 and #9 albums.

[Golden Hour]

To kick us off, we're heading back to April of 2024...

 

 

10.

Don't Forget Me 

Maggie Rogers

 

 

 

While this may be one of the worst album covers (and titles) of the year - don't let that fool you. Maggie Rogers' 3rd studio album is a return to what made us all fall in love with her on 2019's Heard It In a Past Life – a redirection back on track from 2022's Surrender (which was by no means bad... but it just didn't hit?). 

 

Released in the early spring of this year, this album perfectly evokes that feeling of a chilly, dewy morning in April. Laid back yet so beautiful, I found myself returning to this album for early morning drives, cleaning the house on a Sunday, or an afternoon walk to get coffee– and that is one the staples of a really great album to me.

 

My highlights from this album are: "I Still Do," "The Kill," and "So Sick of Dreaming" - the latter having one of my favorite moments in the album during its bridge (albeit a bit corny).

 

 

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And following Ms. Margaret we have...

 

 

9.

My Light, My Destroyer

Cassandra Jenkins

 

 

I can already see the "who?" comments (and let me warn you now, there will be a lot of those from this album list ) but if you're unfamiliar, let me put you on. Cassandra Jenkins is someone I found by accident on a day where every song was really hitting back in 2022. Her lyricism and overall style is so beautiful to me, something that I put on when I'm alone, driving home late at night or when I take myself to get a peaceful overlook of the city up in Laurel Canyon. Her vibes are immaculate and if you're a fan of Lana, Fiona Apple, Mitski– this is someone you should definitely have on your radar. 

 

My highlights from this album are: "Omakase," "Only One," and "Aurora, IL".

 

 

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I'll be back tomorrow for #8 and #7! 

 

[Mr. Blue_Shirt]

Kind of shocked that I enjoy DGM as much as I thought I would; maybe my expectations were low even back then dd

 

I've seen a lot of Cassandra's album on a lot of year-end lists this year, so I might have to check it out

[Kern]

C,XOXO better be top 3 at least 

Edited December 20, 2024 by Kern

[Golden Hour]

On 12/19/2024 at 10:26 PM, Mr. Blue_Shirt said:

Kind of shocked that I enjoy DGM as much as I thought I would; maybe my expectations were low even back then dd

 

I've seen a lot of Cassandra's album on a lot of year-end lists this year, so I might have to check it out

It definitely doesn't reach the heights of HIIAPL, but I think it shows some promising future for Maggie where I was kind of thinking she had peaked early on. And yes!! You should definitely tap into Cassandra, glad to hear she's making her rounds this year.

 

20 hours ago, Kern said:

C,XOXO better be top 3 at least 

No spoilers but...

[Ace Reject]

Girl?