NEW YORK — (AP) — At the end of every year, when critics rush to compile their best of the year lists, great art inevitably gets overlooked. A top 10 list doesn't leave a lot of room for discovery and, in music, that sometimes means the most innovative records lose out to make room for other titles. In this list, The Associated Press attempts to rectify that.
Here are 10 of the top under-the-radar albums of the year, in no particular order, as chosen by AP Music Writer Maria Sherman.
In a just world, Portuguese-born Danish singer Erika de Casier would be one of the biggest names in pop, for her retro-futuristic R&B deeply informed by the Y2K greats of the not-so-distant past. It's hard not to hear Aaliyah or Jennifer Lopez or Janet Jackson in her breathy vocal storytelling, but her songs are not simply nostalgic. They shapeshift in the inclusion of '90s U.K. garage production ("Ex-Girlfriend" with Charli XCX collaborator Shygirl) or her creative collaborations, like on "ice" with Florida rap duo They Hate Change.
One-fourth of the rap collective Drain Gang — that's Bladee (pronounced "Blade") — and emo rap prodigy Yung Lean teamed up for the surprise release "Psykos" earlier this year, a genre-allergic, rock-infused hip-hop collection of depressive pop. It's a fatalistic record for a lost, moony generation, and it may take a few listens for these Swedes to connect. But once their music does, it sounds like a surrealist document on the current moment.
Sudanese Canadian singer Mustafa's "Dunya" (which translates from Arabic to "the world") hits like ancient folkloric tradition and sounds like poetry. (It's Mustafa The Poet, after all, though he's also scored writing credits for the likes of The Weeknd,Shawn Mendes,Camila Cabello and the Jonas Brothers.) He's said the album works to "preserve and celebrate the ordinary life in the hood," what is delicately and purposefully articulated across vignettes of love, loss and his native Toronto. "Leaving Toronto," specifically, is a tearjerker — a touching tribute to his city and his late brother, who was shot and killed last year.
Pakistani American astral folk-jazz artist Arooj Aftab is celebrated in certain circles and lacks visibility in others: She's a Grammy winner who has been nominated the past three years in a row and is up for two more in 2025. She's performed at the White House. Earlier this month, she delivered an evocative set on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," a welcomed disruption from the kinds of artists who normally grace American late-night television. But she's far from a household name, more likely to be your favorite artist's favorite artist. Whatever the case, her fourth album is a testament to her greatness. "Night Reign" combines cultures and genres for a gorgeous matrimony.
Those who declare there are no rock 'n' roll bands anymore aren't listening closely enough. Enter Austin weirdos Being Dead, whose sophomore album "Eels" is an asymmetrical collection of egg punk, Devo-worship, a recording of a bus driver who has had enough, psychedelic harmonies and various other oddball sensibilities that make them the best college radio rock band in recent history. And if that isn't enough to convince a nonbeliever, the proof is in the pudding — or in this case, the producer: Grammy winner John Congleton (St. Vincent, Tegan and Sara) took the reins on the 16-track collection. And his co-sign means something.
Detroit rapper Boldy James often works by finding a single — and singular — producer with whom he works closely for an album of distinction. This year, he’s found a partner in Kansas City producer Conductor Williams for “Across the Tracks,” a dreamy, loop-heavy record of rap excellence. It’s right there from the jump. Intro “Terms and Conditions” is stuffed with vintage, soulful sensibilities and undeniable bars. “Was taught to always be the message I bring / Pulled the sword from the stone,” he delivers in his cool monotone. “Could never compete / They know the flow is rather unique (blocks) / I kept the receipts.”
In a time where celebrity musicians strive to appear like they avoid categorization, Guatemala-born, Mexico City-based cellist Mabe Fratti lives it. Her album, "Sentir Que No Sabes" ("Feel Like You Don't Know"), thrives in the uncertainty of its title. Her inventive compositions contort her chosen instrument, as well as horns and drums and pianos, into something resembling free-form jazz. Or is it post-punk pop? Experimental electro-folk? These are never quite dissonant compositions, but they are unusual, askew. Language loses out here, and it's a wonderful thing.
It is a failure of imagination that "best of" music lists often fail to account for metal and its subgenres, despite consistently being one of the most popular musical forms the world over. But sometimes a metal album is too grand to ignore. That is the case with American death metal band Blood Incantation, whose fourth studio album "Absolute Elsewhere" stunned even the genre's most transitory listeners for its prog rock spirit, synth detouring, playful kraut teases, hardened blast beats and throat-ripping vocals. It's cinematic.
There's something in the water in Denmark. In 2024, some of the most exciting singer-songwriters hailed from the Scandinavian country: ML Buch and Clarissa Connelly, as well as de Casier. But it’s the folk and classical songs of Astrid Sonne’s “Great Doubt” that truly struck a chord with us. It answers the question: What would a classically trained composer making experimental, haunted pop music with detuned pianos and woodwinds and flutes and brass actually sound like? Great, it turns out.
The emergence of Cindy Lee has been described as the result of "anti-hype," an Internet neologism that doesn't mean much more than "limited publicity inspired intrigue." Lee — the drag alter ego of Women's Patrick Flegel, a fixture of Canadian indie rock since the early 2010s — originally released this lo-fi gem as an unmarked YouTube link. "Diamond Jubilee" resonated with avid, curious listeners — the kind undeterred by the fact that listening to this album, at one point in time, meant sitting down with all two hours and 32 minutes of it. But it's Lee's ambitious and expansive psych and garage rock that kept them coming back.
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