KUALA LUMPUR, December 21 — As the curtain closes down on another year of great music, 2024 could possibly go down as one of the best years for new album releases.

From comebacks by the greats to unexpected hits and album drops, this year has it all and here are some 15 albums that have made waves in 2024.

1. Taylor Swift: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ (TTPD)

It’s undeniable that Taylor Swift is currently the hottest artist at the moment — from generating over US$1 billion (RM4.5 billion) from her highly acclaimed Eras World Tour to having a concert movie on her own tour grossing more than US$100 million at the global box office.

In the midst of all these, she dropped her 14th studio album titled The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) on April 19 which contained 16 tracks including songs such as Fortnight (featuring Post Malone) and I Can Do It with a Broken Heart.

Just two hours after her album dropped, Swift then released an expanded 31-song edition of TTPD coined as The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology which was only available for digital download and streaming.

She did eventually release the physical version of the expanded album last November 29 but it was only available to purchase at US chain-department store Target.

According to Billboard, since its release, TTPD has spent a total of 17 weeks at number 1 spot on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has sold 240,000 equivalent album units in the US alone with 80 per cent of it driven by physical album sales.

2. Charli XCX: ‘Brat’

British singer-songwriter Charli XCX sixth studio album Brat is by far the most unexpected hit album this year — its distinctive neon lime green album cover alone has turned into a global pop culture icon and even made an impression in politics as well.

This is after US presidential nominee Kamala Harris rebranded her campaign account with a lime green photo in the style of the Brat album cover while also using Charli’s 360 song in one of her TikTok videos.

The 15-track Brat album was released on June 7 and has since received seven nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards including for Album of the Year and Record of the Year for her 360 track. She also dropped a fully remixed version of Brat featuring top artists such as Billie Eilish, Lorde and Ariana Grande.

Brat was even named word of the year by the Collins English Dictionary which they defined as a "confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude” rather than simply a term for a badly-behaved child.

3. Rosé: ‘Rosie’

Blackpink’s Rosé debuted her first solo album titled Rosie which was freshly released last December 6 and it is currently sitting at third place of the Billboard 200 albums this week.

The 12-track album has sold 102,000 equivalent album units during its first week including 70,000 in physical album sales.

The album also contained the hit track APT. featuring Bruno Mars which has gone viral across social media and its official music video which premiered on October 18 was the fastest K-pop music video to reach 600 million views on YouTube within 59 days and 18 hours, according to Soompi.com.

4. Kendrick Lamar: ‘GNX’

‘MUSTARRDDD!!!’ — Hip hop fans were delighted this year as they didn’t just get to witness the biggest beef of this new era between Kendrick Lamar and Drake but also got a surprise album drop by Lamar following the aftermath of his feud with the Hotline Bling rapper.

Released last November 12, GNX has a total of 12-tracks including several features with other artists such as SZA on the Luther and Gloria tracks as well as DJ Mustard on the hit track TV Off.

The album also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 albums for the first week of December.

Aside from GNX, one of Lamar’s songs that came out from the dispute with Drake, Not Like Us also made an impact on itself by spending an unprecedented 21 weeks at the first spot on the Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart this year. It also exceeded over 900 million plays on Spotify.

5. Linkin Park: ‘From Zero’

Legendary alternative rock band Linkin Park has made a comeback this year by not just introducing a new vocalist, Emily Armstrong (previously the frontman of Dead Sara band) but also dropping a full-length album titled From Zero.

They also announced a new drummer Colin Brittain.

The new album marks the ushering of a new era for Linkin Park following the death of their late vocalist Chester Bennington back in 2017.

Aside from topping charts yet again with their hit single The Emptiness Machine from the album, Linkin Park has also collaborated with famous online battle arena video game League of Legends (LOL) in their track Heavy is the Crown.

6. Twenty One Pilots: ‘Clancy’

Grammy-winning band Twenty One Pilots known for their deep world building lores across multiple albums marks the final chapter of the multi-album narrative through their latest 13-tracks album Clancy, which was released on May 24.

The lore which began with their 2015 album Blurryface, focused on the protagonist character called Clancy whose journey stretched out across four studio albums as he tries to emancipate a fictional place called Dema which is being controlled by antagonist Blurryface.

This is also a creative take by the band to showcase the struggles of battling depression and anxiety — which is a topic that Twenty One Pilots is famously known for.

Although Clancy contains tracks relating to their lores, the album also features themes that talks about mental health issues from depression, dissociation and anxiety in several of their tracks such as Navigating, At the Risk of Feeling Dumb and Routines in the Night.

7. Bernadya: ‘Sialnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan’

Indonesian singer songwriter Bernadya is having a fantastic year as she did not just release her first full length studio album titled Sialnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan back in June but also went on to winning three categories at the recent Anugerah Muzik Indonesia (AMI).

This includes Best Singer, Best Pop Songwriter (with Petra Sihombing), and Best Pop Album.

Her album has been played over 100 million times on Spotify and the official music video for her track Untungnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan has garnered over 70 million views on YouTube since its premiere last June.

8. 53 Universe: ‘Semoga Dipermudahkan’

Malaysian hip hop collective 53 Universe’s second studio album Semoga Dipermudahkan, which was released in March this year has definitely marked their name in the local hip hop scene.

The album boasted a total of 21 tracks varying from old school hip hop tracks to RnB and modern hip hop sounds featuring other local artists such as Zynnakal, Ismail Izzani and Airliftz.

Their track PP at Bukit Tabur went viral on TikTok earlier this year and the song which samples the late 80’s singer Azman Idris’s Zuraida song has been streamed over four million times on Spotify.

9. Amir Jahari: ‘Kembali’

2024 is proving to be an important year for Kuching-born singer songwriter Amir Jahari as he was crowned champion at the 38th Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) earlier this year for his hit song Hasrat which is also the original soundtrack (OST) for the local motion picture Imaginur.

He then released his third studio album Kembali in August which contains the Hasrat track along with several others such as Ingin Pulang and Kenangan.

Hasrat had also won the best OST category at the recent Malaysia Film Festival which has seen the highly acclaimed Imaginur film bagging home seven trophies including for Best Film.

Hasrat has been streamed over 20 million times on Spotify while the official OST music video has garnered over two million views on YouTube.

10. Honourable mentions

Aside from this, here’s an additional list of artists that have dropped a full length studio album this year:

Dua Lipa — Radical Optimism

Sabrina Carpenter — Short n Sweet

Beyonce — Cowboy Carter

Ariana Grande — Eternal Sunshine

Tyler the Creator — Chromakopia

Twice — Strategy

Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft

Fugo — 99

Barasuara — Jalaran Sadrah

J. Cole — Might Delete Later