The year 2024 felt like a century, yet it seemingly vanished in a heartbeat. In its wake, an unrelenting surge of extraordinary records made retracing each month feel like unearthing hidden treasures. Rewind just a beat, and you might recall the hush before the downpour of anthems from icons, both old and new. Blink again, and the year has gone—leaving behind an embarrassment of riches that demands careful revaluation. And in so many ways, I truly believe right now is a golden age for the music we champion here.

Amidst all this, there was never any question about which release stood out as the best of the year: The Cure – Songs of a Lost World. As we get older, we only gain intimacy with grief, and Songs of a Lost World envelops that turmoil with an unparalleled honesty. Imagine Bloodflowers-era colliding with the ephemeral magic of the Lost Wishes cassette, culminating in the band’s best since the main album Wish (1992). In addition to more new albums, promised, that hopefully won’t take another 16 years to see the light of day, realistically, one can only hope for another epic round of touring—The Cure, after all, remain peerless on stage, outshining their contemporaries with one of the best live shows out of any band that has been as long as they have. Seriously, Robert Smith’s voice is better now than it was during the 80s.

Early in 2024 we saw Twin Tribes returning with Pendulum, their finest to date, while Molchat Doma took a determined leap from the snowy streets of Minsk to the sprawl of Los Angeles, expanding their palette with the inventive flair of Belaya Polosa. Anja Huwe resurrected her creative spark for the first time in 35 years, a glorious reemergence after Xmal Deutschland’s 1989 swansong, Devils. This year’s offering, Codes, precedes her first live performance since the band dissolved—an unmissable February date at Grauzone in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Xeno & Oaklander have done it again, leading the synth-infused post-punk revival they helped ignite two decades prior with Via Negativa (in the doorway light). Geneva Jacuzzi graced us with her most brilliant retro synth-pop incantations yet. Robert Alfons’s long-running project TR/ST brightened their already shimmering gloom with Performance, and Ultra Sunn finally landed stateside for a jubilant debut tour—underscoring why their album US kept so many dancefloors spellbound, proving they are a far more dynamic band than their previous hit “Keep Your Eyes Peeled.”

In the swirl of new releases, Normal Bias fused the avant-garde funk of Cabaret Voltaire with the melodic groove of Depeche Mode, forging one of the year’s catchiest synth records. Over in Berlin, Curses and Skelesys delivered a formidable double-punch of local post-punk brilliance, while Louse emerged seemingly from nowhere to conjure an old-school wonder.

Over in London, Night in Athens contributed one of the year’s finest darkwave gems, while Teardux, a standout newcomer from Atlanta, delivered one of the best dark synthpop debuts of the year with their Mend EP. In Wales, Plastic Estate‘s new LP, Code d’Amour, blew me away with its lush, haunting soundscapes, while Australia’s Sacred Hearts reminded us why old-school post-punk still has a timeless lure with their Siren Songs EP.

There are more albums I loved released in 2024 that I have space to include in the Best Of list, but a special shoutout goes to Kim Deal and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, who released two excellent albums, Nobody Loves Y0u More and Wild God.

Before you head off after going through our best-of list, don’t forget to save our curated Spotify playlist featuring all these incredible albums and songs. It’s the perfect way to revisit—or discover—your favorite moments from this year’s eclectic landscape. Put on your headphones, pump up the volume, and let 2024’s defining tracks carry you into 2025.

Alex’s List

1. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

2. Molchat Doma – Belaya Polosa

3. Twin Tribes – Pendulum

4. Anja Huwe – Codes

5. Xeno and Oaklander – Via Negativa (in the doorway light)

6. Kontravoid – Detachment

7. Ultra Sunn – US

8. Normal Bias – Kingdom Come

9. Curses – Another Heaven

10. Plastic Estate – Code d​Amour

11. Skelesys – Fading Echoes

12. Night In Athens – Wasted Reflektions

13. Silent Em – Real Life

14. TR/ST – Performance

15. Cold Cave – Passion Depression

16. Geneva Jacuzzi – Triple Fire

17. Ride – Interplay

18. Modern English – 1, 2, 3, 4

19. Primal Scream – Come Ahead

20. Louse – Passions Like Tar

21. Siviyex – The Mirrax Sequence

22. Gavin Friday – Ecce Homo

23. Ductape – Echo Drama

24. Poison Point – Wandering Echoes

25. Male Tears – Parad​í​sco

26. LEATHERS – Ultraviolet

27. New Wave Kill – Stitches for the Soul

28. Dancing Plague – Elogium

29. Profit Prison – Gilt

30. Occults – Rituals

EPs:

1. Teardux – Mend

2. Sacred Hearts – Siren Songs

3. Rue Oberkampf Essenz

4. The Chameleons – Where Are You?

5. The Harrow – Cinderglow

Singles

1. Harsh Symmetry – Fossil Brain

2. Ash Code – Nostalgia

3. Pol – Masks

4. A Flock of Seagulls – Some Dreams

5. Pixel Grip – STAMINA

6. Madeline Goldstein – 1996 Expectations

7. Linea Aspera – Mycelium

8. Bootblacks – When You Want

9. Actors – Object of Desire

10. Caskett Casette – Apology