In the age of mega-popstars and complex, years-long album rollouts, it seems that the music industry is totally dominated by huge record labels. And yet, 2024 has proved that indie music is stronger than ever. Here are four of the best independently released albums from this past year.
BAÑO MARIA – CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso
3/5 Falcons
When Argentine hip-hop duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso’s jazzy, effusive Tiny Desk concert went viral in early October, many netizens felt the studio version of BAÑO MARIA was too sanitized and electronic by comparison. But BAÑO MARIA does not lack for sonic flair. Borrowing from trap, funk, the American underground rap scene, and various Latin musical traditions, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso’s first album is nonetheless outrageously original. The record lays bare the pair’s biting and ridiculous sense of humor, most notably in ‘EL ÚNICO’, in which each complains to the other about an unfaithful lover who turns out to be the same woman. This album isn’t highbrow, but it’s fun, intelligent, sleek, and promises many more great things to come.
Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker
4/5 Falcons
Lenker returns with another otherworldly album, replete with her signature poetic lyricism and raw, emotional musicality. Bright Future, although not as striking upon first listen as her 2020 album songs, presents a more mature, well-adjusted Lenker who navigates life’s many joys and sorrows with stoicism, no longer haunted by the heartbreak that inhabits her past music. The album gives the impression of a living-room jam session–indeed, it was recorded analog, with no splicing–and Lenker’s voice is ephemeral; at times gentle and sweet, at times bellowing. Bright Future also has a country twang absent from her previous output, a product, perhaps, of her latest work with the band Big Thief. Lyrically, it deals with grief, acceptance, rage, and family life. It’s a new direction for Lenker that’s masterfully conceived, if not quite as dazzling as some of her other projects.
Fine Art – KNEECAP
3.5/5 Falcons
KNEECAP is, on paper, entirely unexpected–Irish rap? But the trio has made themselves impossible to ignore. With their riotous anti-British activism, inflammatory lyrics, and fierce political messaging, they have amassed hordes of fans, which they only semi-jokingly dub “Fenians.” The act consists of producer DJ Próvaí and MCs Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara, who trade off witty bars in English and Irish about life as West Belfast gangsters. Fine Art is reminiscent of the East-Coast sound of A Tribe Called Quest and their Native Tongues collective, but it also has a distinctly Euro techno influence–a buzzing, rave-inspired, deeply conscious record for today’s Ireland.
#RICHAXXHAITIAN – Mach-Hommy
4/5 Falcons
Haitian-American rapper Mach-Hommy, known for his elusiveness and large body of work (much of which exists only on vinyl), has made a name for himself as a leader of today’s jazz rap scene. A founder of the Griselda label, Mach-Hommy now releases albums independently and his latest is a testament to his innovative approach to the genre. #RICHAXXHAITIAN is certainly less minimalist than his earlier material; beautifully lush and meticulously abstract, it features guest appearances from KAYTRANADA, saxophonist Sam Gendel, Black Thought, and Conductor Williams, among others. The record is, from front to back, a refined sonic landscape that serves as a fitting final installment to Mach-Hommy’s ongoing pentalogy project.
This article also appears in our January 2025 print edition.
