2024 Yearly Roundup
4th December 2024 (republished on Neocities: 13th March 2026)
In 2024 and 2025, I did some short write-ups for my close friends about albums and songs I particularly liked and had things to say about. So far, I've been doing them every November-December around the same time that Spotify Wrapped comes out. This is a cleaned-up version of my 2024 roundup!
Albums
The Happy Star - Lexie Liu (2022)
I've been listening to songs from Lexie Liu's previous EP, GONE GOLD (which is also excellent), for a couple of years now, but I finally gave The Happy Star a proper listen to in around October-November of 2024. It's a very interesting work that spans a lot of different genres. The songs are apparently inspired by tarot cards, such as the Wheel of Fortune (FORTUNA), the High Priestess (MIRA), and the Devil (DIABLO). She also sings in Mandarin, English, and Spanish on this album, which as a language liker, endears me to it very much! My picks are MAGICIAN, MIRA, RRR, and 3.14159. The whole album is good though!
how i'm feeling now - Charli xcx (2020)
Brat was my top album this year in a surprise to no one, but there's probably nothing I can say about Brat that hasn't already been said. HIFN, on the other hand, is the other no-features hyperpop Charli album and I'm mentioning it now because think if you liked Brat you should give it a try (if you haven't already! I think it's gained popularity since I originally wrote this). It's a pandemic album with a slightly different vibe and in some ways it feels more vulnerable, but at the same time pink diamond goes harder than anything on Brat lol. Songs I love in particular are party 4 u (easily my fav from this album), c2.0, and the aforementioned pink diamond.
Flow - Onew (2024)
Meanwhile in SHINee World, we got solid solo albums from all the members in 2024, but I have to say I think I like Onew's the most! He came back with Flow after a long health-related hiatus and a change in record labels and I really feel like he's come into his own on this EP and it's a joy to see as a long-time fan tbh. Very cute and fun and chill.
Songs
Some honourable mentions that were not part of the albums above or Brat but I still loved:
- 愛人錯過 (Somewhere in time) - AccuseFive
- Always Wondered - Donatachi (feat. harvest)
- Overnight - Maggie Rogers
- Gone - Charli xcx (feat. Christine and the Queens)
- Never Need Me - Rachel Chinouriri
DJ Mixes
Ummm I just kinda want to shout out the fact that Apple Music has DJ stuff on it even if no one cares but me. This is very cool because I found out that it's easy for me to work and vibe to music that seamlessly transitions. I am possibly the world's biggest fan of Donatachi's DJ mixes but there are other cool ones too, I just need to find a good way to identify which ones have my brand of annoying electronic music in them.
Here's the ones I was listening to most this year: