My Top 10 Music Discoverys In 2024

 
This years picks were no struggle. I've pivoted away from picking up every record a band I follow releases. You accumulate a lot over the years and being fussy means avoiding acts that are spinning their wheels. This attitude freed up my time for more discovery and thanks to spotify shuffle its easier than ever to unearth new names and projects that peak your interest.

(10) Clown Core

A perfect example of bizarre internet age musicianship reveling in the obscure, toying with the deranged and masking rhythmic appeal with confronting aesthetics. Moments of magic arise from the memish presentation that often feels like an in joke.

(9) Dimmu Bongir

Another project with a comedic premise plays its stoner parody as an excuse to exercise love letters to early 90s Black Metal. Including the Symphonic scene in tone, these two records superbly resurrected the feel-tone of my most enamoured sound.

(8) Labyrinthus Stellarum

Operating within familiar terrain, Labyrinthus Stellarum's breed of cosmic, atmospheric Black Metal plays a delightful fright. Their embrace of exotic synths gives the rapturous music a curious edge whilst pummeling darkly riffs through the night skies.

(7) Sabrina Carpenter

Pop music is in a shockingly good place right now. So many acts cherry pick the best ideas of decades gone by, repackaging them with a level of aesthetic indulgence that almost surreal. As one of the biggest acts, she has the voice to meet this high bar conjuring echo's of greats like Madonna, bringing authentic country roots along too.

(6) Fogweaver

A fine discovery for the Dungeon Synth archives, a tired genre where unearthing quality feels rarer these days. Although I've only covered one record, Fogweaver has plenty more quality records with a particular flavor to indulge with.

(7) Fred Again..

My issue with House music is that I never quite find what fits me, despite loving the rhythm, aesthetics and overall concept. Fred Again.. has captured my interest with his lovecraft of personal moments bottled into beautiful songs. They explore intimacy through samples of snippets from conversations with friends, repeating the motif through ebb and flows that find gratifying swells over and over again.

(4) Willow

Children of success often carry an illusionary burden, the "bar set high" of their senior. However high Will soared with his eclipsed music career, Willow has simply smashed that idea apart. She stands apart, her own entity willing to dabble in all sorts of musical directions and finding a voice that blossoms in many directions, feeling natural and deeply expressive at every exciting turn.

(3) Rina Sawayama

At the peak of my Pop interest, Rina too plays this current game of resurrecting the past whilst casting a broader net of influences. Resulting in delightful rides across the musical landscape, rooted in Pop appeal, Rina's emotive voice and passionate lyrics reach into places I didn't expect, birthing absolute gems like To Be Alive. Its some of the most moving music I've heard in a while.

(2) Graywave

From the moment I heard this artist, it all fit together, a struggling, depressive Shoegaze venture into the dark reaches of moody Metal. Reflexively toying with indulgence and relief from personal woes, the music plays with hints of Deftones and Cocteau Twins. It's Jess's endearing voice and distraught lyrics that tie it all together, making the dense walls of engulfing of sound feel deeply personal.

(1) Spiritbox

I recall listening to Eternal Blue upon release, dismissing it in the process. How foolish! It was knowledge of seeing them live later in the year that prompted me to try again. Its baffling how the magic was locked away. After many spins it started to click. Since then I've become completely engrossed by their unique dynamic, routinely binging their best numbers, eagerly anticipating more! These are now like Metal anthems to me and I absolutely loved their live show. Can't wait to see them again in the new year!

Spiritbox "Rotoscope" (2022)

 

Succeeding their stunning debut Eternal Blue, this lively three track EP stands apart with a unique embrace of dance groove rhythms and EDM. Stepping aside from Ethereal atmospheres, two step grooves and subtle modern synths intertwine to bolster pummeling Djent guitars. Title track Rotoscope embodies this best, concluding with a burly monstrous break down to contrast its persuasive dance floor energy. 

Sew Me Up hints at heavy, guitars start with a stomp but swiftly pivot into the magic of LaPlante's voice, sailing into heavens. It too finds an outbreak of aggression, led by a rhythm section that syncopates to thuds with aesthetic satisfaction. Hysteria withdraws from these ideas somewhat, feeling like the typical track of the bunch yet ends with an utterly filthy and devastating, disgruntled song deconstructing break down.

From the outside listening in, Spiritbox achieve clear creative distinction here, a succinct snapshot of musical vision yet seemingly unfit to develop further into a full album. Its a curious approach for a Metal band, to focus on singles and individual songs. I'd originally glanced over a lengthy list of singles, assuming they were on an album so now I'm going through it all and this one turned up a couple of gems!

Rating: 5/10

Spiritbox "Spiritbox" (2017)

 

Four years prior to the brilliant Eternal Blue, then duo Spiritbox arrive fresh on this self titled debut EP showing glimmers of whats to come. Yet to figure out the nuances of their engrossing Ethereal aesthetics, singer Courtney LaPlante spearheads all melodic magic. Melding over a tempered Djent framework, she steers the dense, chunky guitars to tuneful inclinations, an elevating croon in its atmospheric strides.

These remarks speak mostly to The Mara Effect split into three parts. The other four cuts slip into genre norms. Aggressive outbursts led by frustrated shouts conjure atypical riffs. Powered forth by programmed drums, this writing sounds creatively constrained in counterpart to the shimmering sways of ghostly melody heard early on.

The Beauty Of Suffering embodies this as the sways between their two sides of expression feel detached from one another. As the rhythm section descends into a blatant borrow of Meshuggah's iconic Bleed riffs, it becomes all to obvious they are yet to mature their own identity. I'm not sure I would of heard the Spiritbox spark listening to this record first. Cast out of an evolving Djent scene, its not entirely clear what here would separate them from their peers, despite being a decent listen.

Rating: 5/10

Spiritbox "The Fear Of Fear" (2023)

 

From the outset The Fear Of Fear expresses itself as a heavier incarnation, casting aside the delicate yet persuasive balance of intricate Etheral aesthetics that graced the moody lulls of its successor Eternal Blue. In what feels like two steps back, Spiritbox trade in their originality for trendy heavy tropes and poppy song structures that are all to familiar. When leaning into aggression and brutality, the sways of exuberant Djent abuse takes hold. Slams, breakdowns and stomps arrive throttled and ferocious but tend to swallow up the intricate details other instrumentation offers from the dense lurching shadows. When LaPlante gets to salivate on the throws of her melodic contributions, the tone shifts somewhat in the direction of Bring Me The Horizon's now mercilessly copied Pop Metal blueprint. A sore disappointment.

Despite many repetitious listens, this record couldn't grab me beyond the gravity of its darkest plunges into metallic weight. Sadly, that rhythmic assault has become an all to familiar formula forayed by many bands before them. The record is split about 50/50 between this beast and its lighter side tarnished by a heavier wall of sound tone. These stints of color didn't have the sparkle heard before either, its easy melodic lines and soft ascending singing seem to drift by on cruise control, competent yet oddly forgettable. Sadly, it seems the band lost that unique character they had last time out. At least they are not repeating themselves as artists and trying new things.

Rating: 4/10

Spiritbox "Eternal Blue" (2021)

Somehow once deaf to their charm, I initially passed on Eternal Blue. Returning now a few years later, I've cracked what in retrospect seems so obvious. Music can be a mysterious beast at times but familiarity is often its remedy. Burning these songs into my consciousness, Singer Courtney LaPlante emerges the anchor. Her clean voice sails through turbulence, resolute and ascending. With a firm and graceful tone, she cuts through tensions with swooning melodies and hooks that shape up akin to Dream Pop. On the flip side, I found her throaty Hardcore leaning scream aesthetic less charming. Caught in the throws of timely aggression, its a fiery combo but whenever laid bare to its many calmer backdrops, the strained roar doesn't shape up to well.

Spiritbox's other strength is firmly rooted in aesthetic driven songwriting. Unlike other Metal bands, they are willing the dwell on calm Ethereal moods that flutter by on the wings of shimmering instrumentation, both electronic and acoustic intertwined. As a result, their aggressive Djent riffs play like a natural emergence from the climax of craftily brewed tensions. A reflexive jolt of force, less "riff" more feel. This approach lets the guitars drift in and out of focus, joining an ever morphing landscape of shadowy calms and gripping tensions that follow through on an emotive narrative.

I adore this atmospheric approach to Metal. Between the conventional surges of groove and aggression, Spiritbox shape up nightly mirages of warmth tinged in a dreamy ambiguity teetering on darkness. With a soothing voice, LePlante rescues its darkly direction, yet in another breath her pelted screams plunge us into that chaos. Exploring its ying-yang, both sides of the line are ventured, these songs brilliantly sway across. Picking a favorite among its twelve cuts is hard, a sturdy forty minutes that rarely falters. One of the best "new" Metal records I've heard for some time.

Rating: 8/10