These are the music highlights of the year

Of course: Taylor Swift, the person, the world tour, the phenomenon, looms over everything in 2024. But the year had a lot more to offer musically than the “Eras Tour”, which was attended by millions: The Cure released an album again after 16 years, Eminem called out “The Death Of Slim Shady”, and Linkin Park reinvented themselves , which made a certain Emily Armstrong become world famous practically overnight… And that wasn’t all.

The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

Gray on grey, wet and cold and just winter dreariness everywhere? – How nice! Because The Cure provides the perfect soundtrack. 16 years after “4:13 Dream” (2008), the British band around Robert Smith has finally released a new record. And what a. 49 minutes of masterful dark pop spread across eight songs: “Songs Of A Lost World” is exactly the epic marvel many were hoping for. Not just any new album from some famous band, but a musical happening.

The majority of the recording of “Songs Of A Lost World” was already completed in 2019, but The Cure still held off this long-awaited music for another five years. And then in the opening title “Alone” it takes well over three minutes until Robert Smith sings his first lines: “This is the end of every song we sing…” That’s how the whole record works. It’s always about the transience of things and the end of the world, but The Cure are in no hurry. Each title is extensively celebrated in its own right, without there being a single real hit. And then this antithesis to everything that usually “worked” in pop ended with a ten-minute “final song” – it couldn’t get any bigger than that.

What’s most remarkable, however, is the fact that The Cure and Robert Smith still sound essentially the same as they did in the early ’80s, the unique dark wave vibe of their sound having remained intact over the years. “Songs Of A Lost World” (written, composed and arranged solely by Robert Smith) is available in various configurations alongside the regular version. In addition to several vinyl editions (including a “half-speed master”), this also includes a double cassette and a deluxe set with the original album, instrumental CD and an atmospheric Dolby Atmos mix in Blu-ray audio. Format. And the best news at the end: bandleader Robert Smith has announced two more works that will be released soon.

By the way: The cultural broadcaster ARTE is dedicating an evening to The Cure on Friday, January 17th – among other things, the documentary “Disintegration – An Album. A band. One Generation” broadcast.

Linkin Park – From Zero

Talking about Linkin Park in recent years has always been a look into the past. With the tragic death of singer Chester Bennington in 2017, the end of the band seemed inevitable. But now suddenly there is a future again: Linkin Park wants a real restart in 2024 – and, big surprise, with a woman at the microphone. The skepticism was initially great…

“Emily Armstrong” was one of the most searched names on Google at the beginning of September. Born in Los Angeles in 1986, the blonde with the powerful voice was only known to insiders until recently. Among other things, Armstrong was part of the founding group of the band Dead Sara, which also provided backing vocals for the Hole album “Nobody’s Daughter” a few years ago. Now she is the new one at Linkin Park, as the front woman she will be at the front of the stage next to Mike Shinoda. The first impressions and performances were furious, tickets for the 2025 world tour are selling rapidly. The album came out in November.

“From Zero” begins with a choral intro. The following ten songs should meet the expectations of loyal fans: Despite the female vocals, Linkin Park still sound like Linkin Park. In the powerful songs like “Cut The Bridge” or “Heavy Is The Crown”, Mike Shinoda’s rap passages and Emily Armstrong’s singing parts alternate in the tried and tested way. Halfway through (at the beginning of the sixth track “Casuality”) the California native gets to prove how well she has mastered growling.

“Before we were Linkin Park, our first band name was Xero,” remembers Shinoda: “The album title refers both to this time when we take our first steps as nobodys and to the journey we are embarking on now. “ Sonically and emotionally it’s about past, present and future – we stay true to our typical sound, but everything is new and full of life.

Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

Beyoncé Knowles has won 32 Grammys, sold over 200 million records and has long been considered one of the most influential people in the music world. “Queen B,” as fans like to call her, no longer has to prove anything to anyone. When a door is slammed in her face, she takes a run and kicks it down: After being told years ago that she didn’t belong in the US country scene as an R’n’B and pop singer, she publishes in This year, in response, a whole album in which she intensively explores the country’s African-American roots.

The native Texan is said to have worked on “Cowboy Carter” for around five years – an ambitious but varied major work with a running time of almost 80 minutes, which is presented in the style of a traditional southern radio show. Between guitar and fiddle, between carriage songs and a new version of “Jolene” (with a greeting from Dolly Parton), the 43-year-old delves deep into the world of western music and Americana. Numerous young country stars from the Black community are helping her with this. The artist emphasizes: “This is not a country album. This is a Beyoncé album.” Nothing should be taken away from anyone, nothing should be reinvented. Rather, a few things should be set straight here – and the way Beyoncé did it, hardly anyone could ignore it this year.

Ayliva – With love

She is currently one of the most successful artists in the country: After Ayliva landed at number one in the charts with her album “Schwarzes Herz” in 2023, she achieved the feat just a few months later with the successor. The Berlin singer also climbed to the top of the German charts in the final year with “In Liebe” – at just 26 years old.

With the album single “Lieb mich” Ayliva reached first place in the German single charts for the third time. The most successful track on the record is “Wunder,” which the musician released together with Apache 207 and which also topped the charts. It was the first German-language song and the first non-Christmas song to reach over two million views in one day on German Spotify. The hit also reached over 24 million streams on YouTube, where Ayliva was honored in the “Artist of the Year” category for the second time in a row.

The fact that Ayliva, who comes from the Ruhr area, is the current shooting star par excellence, is also shown this year by the MTV Europe Music Awards, where she was named best German act. Another honor: In the new “The Voice Kids” season, the musician will sit in the red chair as a coach. On the way up she seems unstoppable.

Charli XCX – Brat

A brutal stomping beat and synth sounds that sound more like a chainsaw than a keyboard: Charli explore. Twelve years later, long established as an influential pop innovator, the British singer and songwriter released her sixth album in June: “Brat” (German: “Brat”). Rolling Stone and other magazines just named it album of the year 2024.

“Brat” is designed as an entertaining club record with which Charli XCX celebrates her own musical roots. As a teenager, she gained her first experiences as a musician at illegal raves in London; she wanted to bring the spirit of that time into the here and now with new songs. And these 15 bangers are pretty radical (apart from a few quieter numbers) and others are wild: the stylistic boundaries lie somewhere between hyperpop and electronica, and with each piece you want to turn it up a little louder. Charli XCX describes Brat as her “most aggressive” album to date. But for those who can handle a bit, it’s one thing above all else: a really fun record!

In the USA, the album sparked a viral lifestyle trend: “Brat Summer”. Even presidential candidate Kamala Harris jumped on the bandwagon and established the aesthetic of the album cover (black font on a bright green background) for her campaign. Charli XCX then also crowned the politician “Brat”.

Eminem – The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)

“Hello, my name is (what), my name is (who), my name is… Slim Shady!” – With the single “My Name Is” in 1999, Eminem laid the foundation for an exemplary hip-hop career. A slim white boy from Detroit who became the most commercially successful rapper of all time, thanks in part to Slim Shady. Last May, the spectacular announcement, accompanied by a fictional obituary: Eminem will “bury” his alter ego with a new album: “The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)”.

Lots of humor, some provocations, a lot of references to the past (“Guess who’s back?”): The first two singles “Houdini” and “Tobey” clearly show that Eminem is serious about this supposedly final tribute to the character, without that he probably wouldn’t be number one in the business today. The 52-year-old has packed a whopping 19 songs (including those produced by Eminem’s former supporter Dr. Dre) on his twelfth long player.

Shortly before its release, Eminem emphasized that “The Death Of Slim Shady” was a concept album and should be listened to in the correct order. If you haven’t done this yet and want to know whether – and how – Slim Shady is actually given the “coup de grace” here, you’ll have to take some time (64 minutes).

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

Regardless of whether you are a so-called “Swifty” or simply a person who is occasionally online: Almost everyone has been confronted with the name Taylor Swift at least once in the past twelve months. While at the beginning of the year it was primarily her relationship with football star Travis Kelce, which the now 35-year-old sometimes had his own columns in online news formats, since April 19th at the latest her music has finally been in the foreground again: with “The Tortured Poets Department” (“TTPD” for short), the 14-time Grammy winner released her eleventh studio album, which includes an incredible 31 songs.

The all rather quiet pop numbers talk about heartache and falling in love and are stylistically reminiscent of Lana Del Rey. “All my Mornings are Mondays Stuck in an Endless February,” it says in “Fortnight”, a song with the American singer and rapper Post Malone, which Taylor Swift also chose as her first single. Taylor Swift also collaborated with indie rock band Florence and The Machine on the song “Florida!!!” Her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn and her alleged ex-boyfriend Matty Healy did not mention Swift by name on the album, although fans still claim to have recognized the latter in a song lyric. Instead, Swift dedicated a song to probably the first It girl, Clara Bow (1905-1965). Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and American rock musician Patti Smith are also mentioned in the title track.

After its release, “The Tortured Poets Department” reached number one in the charts almost worldwide. Forbes magazine crowned Taylor Swift the richest musician in the world with an estimated fortune of $1.6 billion, not least thanks to her “Eras Tour,” which ended at the beginning of December.