So we have reached the end of another year here at AUK and the bombardment of new music has once again been relentless – we’ve been sent so much that it’s often difficult to keep up (and isn’t helped to be fair by the amount of completely off-genre material we get pitched, I think I’ve worked out how to tell a metal act now around 95% of the time, it’s a mixture of the font and key words like “brain” “death” and “black”). Still, when we have weeded out the Americana, there is just so much good stuff out there – 2024 undoubtedly contained future classics which people don’t yet know are classics. Imagine the challenge then in narrowing it down to 20, and not just chosen by one person but by 30 odd. How did we do it? Every writer selected their top 5 albums of the year and then the whole writing team voted on the longlist, some of which we shared with you yesterday. Today, we share with you numbers 20-11.
20. Michael McDermott “Lighthouse on the Shore/East Jesus”
This two-album set is such a monumental achievement. I cannot think of another artist who has produced what is in effect a double album (20 tracks in total) that is so consistently good that you race through the album and each track is your favourite at that moment in time. Most can’t compete over a single album. Searingly honest, emotionally draining, gorgeously melodic, superbly produced, wonderfully sung, stunningly arranged (all by McDermott), the album came right out of left for me as I had not heard of him before (shame, you cry – my bad). It is a veritable tour-de-force. (FA)
19. Katie Pruitt “Mantras”
It’s hard to believe there was just over four years between the release of Katie Pruitt’s debut album “Expectations” and its follow-up “Mantras”, but then that might have something to do with the fact “Expectations” was released on the 20th February 2020 and well, a whole lot has gone down in the time since. While the wait may have seemed long, it was more than worth it since “Mantras” contains all vulnerability and self-confessional charm Pruitt showcased on her debut, but with an added dose of self assurance that proves she knows exactly who she is and where she’s going as an artist. (HJ) Katie Pruitt’s sophomore album “Mantras“ has been a turntable fixture since its release. The record sees Pruitt building on themes familiar from its predecessor, but the sheer quality of the songwriting represents a big step forward from her debut. In the acid test of her live shows, they really take flight leaving the audience open-mouthed at times. I selected ‘Leading Actress’ as my track of the year due to the beauty of the writing, but it also takes the prize for the powerful yet delicate delivery. Top marks to the supporting cast as well. (RP)
18. Bess Atwell “Light Sleeper”
“Light Sleeper” is such a good album; the songs demonstrate what a good songwriter Atwell has become, and the production allows the songs (and the musicians) to shine. This is a record that I keep returning to; I reviewed it in May 2024, scoring it at 8/10, however I would score it higher if I was reviewing it now; after it has found its way underneath my skin. Atwell bares her soul on this record; the review says “Atwell’s vocal style is expressive; full of emotion, even if that doesn’t necessarily hit you on a casual listen….the emotion simply pours out of every syllable”. (PT)
17. Waxahatchee “Tigers Blood”
It’s crazy to think that “Tigers Blood” is already the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Waxahatchee aka Katie Crutchfield which received huge acclaim from critics on its release, and garnered her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, her first nomination for these awards. It’s been described as “the rarest of things: an album that feels familiar upon its surface and idiosyncratic in its details” and that her “dazzling, piercing songwriting is perfectly in tune with the band behind her.” We hope her label talk to us more in the future – for now we’re happy to accept that she deserves all the coverage she gets.
16. Ruth Moody “Wanderer”
Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Ruth Moody has a well-established and quite remarkable history. She is a founding and current member of the astonishing and inimitable The Wailin’ Jennys and has collaborated with the mighty Mark Knopfler, dueting, supporting and guesting in his band. It’s not every day that an album sweeps you off your feet and hits the spot on first listening. Nor does every album have a complete set of songs that take your breath away. Yet, here we have both. (VF)
15. The Wild Ponies “Dreamers”
Since their last album in 2017, duo Doug and Telisha Williams aka Wild Ponies have become certified foster parents, had fertility treatment, become parents to a boy and a girl and become involved in a polyamorous relationship with their partner, Laura. Here they document these events and more with inspiring words of love which touch your heart like no others in recent time. Their stories are set to rough-around-the-edges country music with melodies that are just great to listen to. (AR)
14. Secret Sisters “Mind, Man, Medicine”
Rightly once described as one of the “finest harmony duos of the 21st century” by AUK, on their fifth album The Secret Sisters produce yet more reliably heartfelt, deftly produced and engaging uncluttered country-rock ballads. But it’s the content, mainly about becoming mothers for the first time in the middle of the pandemic years that really hits the hardest. Doubt, fear and hope intertwine in its 10 tracks in a way that simultaneously captivates and unsettles – so much so that even as you find yourself wishing that Mind, Man, Medicine didn’t feel like a nailed-on reflection of our darkening times, you know you wouldn’t want to be without it, either. (AF)
13. Chuck Prophet “Wake the Dead”
Time flies. Chuck Prophet’s “Wake The Dead” neatly coincides with Green on Red’s first London show forty years ago. During those intervening decades Prophet has built a deserved reputation for his vivid songwriting that tells stories and paints pictures whether in collaboration or solo. With his blend of so many styles Prophet has been in and out of the recording studios and incessantly on the road, always maintaining his profound originality. Not for nothing does Chuck Prophet embody americana. He is certainly a fave in these AUK parts. In most of his solo releases Chuck Prophet manages to surprise, whether it is some particularly graphic character, a wild story or the eclectic musical style of his Mission Express. He has done it again. (LB)
12. Merce Lemon “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild”
After the release of her last album “Moonth” in August of 2020, Merce Lemon decided to take a step back in order to reassess her relationship with music itself outside of the industry surrounding it. It was still a time of lockdowns and uncertainty as far as live music went, but Lemon looked not just to herself, but also back to nature, and by sleeping “outside most of the summer”, learning “a lot about plants” and even getting “dirty”, she discovered that sometimes the roots that run deep underground can be the most inspiring for roots music and channelled that energy into “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild,” one of the saddest, warmest, most beautiful albums of the year. So, whether she be out on the road, or in the quiet community of Pittsburgh that she grew up in and still calls home, may inspiration continue to find her, because the world needs more artists that understand the best music comes from the ground up. (HJ)
11. Brown Horse “Reservoir”
Released way back in January, “Reservoir” is the weary sound of an American band, loading and unloading their gear out of a U-haul van nightly into a tiny venue, making just enough on the door for beer and gas money yet still delivering a discerning set of fine, unique songs. But they’re from Norwich (better than the Farmer’s Boys so says the godfather to my youngest) and have given americana listeners in the UK something to holler about. Whoever I recommend this album to instantly raves about it. Friends who have seen them live say they are worthy of the hype. (AD)
