Top 10 Albums of 2024

Welcome to the annual top albums of the year blog post. I had fun listening, and I hope you did too.

Honorable Mention: Fear Life for a Lifetime – STONE

I discovered STONE this year. I love these Liverpool alt-rock guys. Their music reminds me of the The Snuts, Kings of Leon, and Arctic Monkeys. They feel like a breath of fresh air. It reminds me of dad rock in the best possible way. I really enjoyed this album. I would love to see them live. I also love their accents in their music. Very much.

My favorite songs are “Hotel,” “Queen,” “Save Me,” and “Save Yourself.”

Honorable Mention: Bleachers – Bleachers

This album is an honorable mention for me because I didn’t listen to it as much as I should have. I have favorite songs, but I haven’t collectively listened to the entire album enough. I love Jack Antonoff and will probably put this album on my 2025 listening list to dive into. I saw their live show in the summer, and it was incredible. One of my favorite shows I’ve seen.

My favorite songs from this album are “Modern Girl,” “I Am Right On Time,” “Self Respect,” and “We’re Gonna Know Each Other Forever.”

#10 Older – Lizzy McAlpine

To be honest, I didn’t gravitate towards this album like I did with her previous album five seconds flat. To me, it seems like some songs really outshined others on this album. There are a handful of songs I loved and then the rest I never listened to again. Maybe that’s on me. Maybe I just have to give this album a little more time to sit in my brain.

My favorites are “Vortex,” “All Falls Down,” “I Guess,” and “Drunk Running.”

“Vortex” is easily my favorite on the album. It’s the last and longest song on the album coming in just under six minutes. It’s a piano ballad with simple production. It’s not flashy or rift heavy or anything. It’s pure singer-songwriter sitting at a piano with a single spotlight.

I always scream this bridge in my car:

And you’re screaming at me, and I’m watching it fall / And I’m slamming the door and you make yourself tall / But it’s always an act and it never lasts long / ‘Cause I always come back when I need a new song / And I’m tired of this and the way that it feels / I’m not there anymore, this has never been real / We’re just awful together and awful apart / I don’t know what to do anymore

It's very soothing. It also shreds my vocal cords.

Favorite lyrics:

• Hollowed out / Tell me how to be / More like you today / More than a shell of me

  – “All Falls Down”

• Now I am sick, and / You’re probably drunk / You’re saying things, and they sound like love – “I Guess”

• Thought it’d be over by now / Thought you would leave / Thought I would come to my senses / Wish I was stronger somehow / Wish it was easy / Somewhere I lost all my senses / I wish I knew what the end is – “Older”

#9 Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter

Not only is Sabrina short and sweet, but so is this album! The first time I saw the track list I was shocked. I really like this album, but it’s not anything super special for me. This is a really fun album to put on in the background while I’m cleaning or cooking. Half the songs are under three minutes, so it feels like this album always moves fast.

The songwriters are so interesting on this to me. She has a decent number of writers on her songs with the most notable being Amy Allen (She writes with so many pop artists such as Harry Styles, Halsey, Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan, and more), Julia Michaels (singer-songwriter who also writes for Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, Hailee Steinfeld, Olivia Rodrigo, and more), Julian Bunetta (did loads of writing and producing with One Direction), and Jack Antonoff (He’s the producers of a lifetime and works with Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, and Lana Del Ray.) That’s a lot of lore in one room. Just something worth noting. These people know how to make hits.

“Espresso” set the stage for this album perfectly. Flirty one-liners make up the entirety of this album, and there are about a million of those scattered throughout “Espresso.” My personal favorite is, “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya.” Sabrina is very poetic, but since her songs are about sex, she doesn’t get taken seriously in that aspect of her career as much. But don’t get it twisted, she’s an artist.

Her wordplay is fun. Her songs are (mostly) fun. I wish it had been released earlier than late August; it’s a perfect summer album. It’s fun. It’s carefree. It’s confident. It’s sexy. My favorite songs are “Taste,” “Sharpest Tool,” and “Bed Chem.”

I’m addicted to the “Taste” music video. “Sharpest Tool” is one of the more honest songs on the album. “Bed Chem” is just fun.

Favorite lyrics:

• We never talk it through / How you guilt-tripped me to open up to you – “Sharpest Tool”

• Heartbreak is one thing / My ego’s another – “Please Please Please”

• Where art thou? Why not uponeth me? – “Bed Chem”

#8 What a Devastating Turn of Events – Rachel Chinouriri

Rachel Chinouriri is going to be the next big pop girl, mark my words. Her music is addicting. This album is addicting. Her voice is so smooth, it slides all throughout you.

I would love to see her open for Renee Rapp or Maisie Peters or Sabrina Carpenter. She’s got the skill of hiding painful lyrics into upbeat songs. Every song tells a different story, and she paints the picture so vibrantly. It’s stunning. Rachel is in the British alt-pop scene, and I’m crossing my fingers she comes to America for a tour.

This is her first full-length album. It’s pretty killer for a debut.

My favorite songs are “My Blood,” “It Is What It Is,” “All I Ever Asked,” and “What a Devastating Turn of Events.” I highly encourage anyone who loves the pop girls to give her a listen. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Favorite lyrics:

• What do I do when pain comes at a price I can’t afford? / What if I’m not worth healing? / What if I like this feeling? / Nobody seems to notice, it’s the part that I adore – “My Blood”

• Little did she know, it’d be the day that she’d die / In the kitchen, eating things that she shouldn’t / She woke up dizzy under hospital lights / Her poor mother had the shock of her life / When the doctors said they tried and couldn’t – “What a Devastating Turn of Events”

#7 Weird Faith – Madi Diaz

I remember the exact day I first heard this album. I was walking on the Olentangy River Trail by Ohio Stadium. I hadn’t really listened to Madi before this album. I found her because she was in Harry’s band for a little while, so I checked her out. She has such a distinct voice, and I’m such a sucker for that. It’s hard to categorize this album. If I had to choose one, I’d say folk, but it doesn’t really fit into any mold.

I hyper fixated on this album for about a month or two, specifically the song “Girlfriend.” It was in my top ten songs on Spotify Wrapped. It goes through the weird feeling of learning about your partners ex-partners. It’s sang directly to one of the exes, it’s kind of insane (I love it). This song is softly vindicative? Is that a thing? The line, “Not to fuck you up, but we’re so in love,” is what gives it that slighted feeling. I really enjoy singing this song in my car.

My other favorite song from this album is “Kiss The Wall.” This was another “Girlfriend” scenario. I couldn’t stop playing it. Probably because it came out at a time when I had no idea what I was doing (graduating college). It’s about appreciating where are you now, which is sometimes difficult for me. As someone who has a deep-rooted fear of wasting time, this song helped assuage that.

It gives me the same feelings that “Let It Be,” “Vienna,” and “Landslide” gives me. So, it’s important to me. The chorus gives me such a calming feeling, “I love this place, I love waiting in line / Nothing is a waste of time / Nothing is waste of time / I love this place, I love waiting in line / Nothing is a waste of time.” It reminds me to take a breath.

Other favorites from the album are “Don’t Do Me Good,” “For Months Now,” and “KFM.”

“Don’t Do Me Good” has a Kacey Musgraves feature, and their voices blend so seamlessly together. It’s a beautiful listen. When I heard “For Months Now” I immediately sent it to Zoee which in turn caused her to dive into the album. We had some really fun car rides screaming a few of the songs from this album.

Favorite lyrics:

• Don’t wanna go home alone, I just wanna know / That you can wrap around my one and only crazy – “KFM”

• Every time I try to walk away, I stay, You knew I would / I know loving you, it don’t do me good – “Don’t Do Me Good”

• And you’re not happy for me, not the way you ought to be / And I’m tired of playing down all of the good stuff – “For Months Now”

#6 Willson – Ashe

This album reminds me of Aelin Galathynius from the Throne of Glass series.

I’ve been a casual Ashe fan for a minute, but this is her first album that I was super excited for and listened all the way through. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was Ashe’s comeback album. After canceling her tour in 2023, she took a step back from music. Willson is a triumphant and gentle come back. It’s a confident album; it knows exactly what it’s supposed to be. Not the first time I’ve been jealous of an album, and it probably won’t be the last.

The title of this album is special because it’s the last installation of her “self-titled” albums. Her first album is named Ashlyn (her first name), Rae (her middle name), and Willson (her last name). I remember watching an interview and she was talking about naming this album, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to name it Willson. I’m glad she did. I think it’s a super cool concept.

Some of my favorite songs from this album are “Running Out of Time,” “Cherry Trees,” and “Castle.”

“Running Out of Time” was the first single for Ashe’s comeback. I adore this song. It was a perfect summer anthem for me. One of my favorite songs to prance around my room to. You can feel the freedom and sense of urgency Ashe felt when she wrote this. The title gives you the message of the song. It sounds like it should be an early 2000s movie (my favorite genre of music).

The epic Aelin Galathynius track on this album is “Castle.” Even the name is so fitting. If you don’t know who Aelin is, I’m begging you to read Throne of Glass, but for the sake of time I’ll give you a thesis statement on her: Princess turned Assassin turned Queen & Leader of a Rebellion. Obviously, there’s more to it than that. Bone-crushing loss, a devastating sense of self, and Rowan Whitethorn. Aelin is everything to me. She’s one of the most complicated characters I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

“Castle” is like if you scratched the surface of Aelin for three minutes and twenty seconds. The song opening with “Look at me now in my castle made of glass / Your hands are just like hammers, every touch another crack / Swing them any harder, watch my sparkling house collapse,” is frankly diabolical.

I wasn’t planning to do a side-by-side of comparison of Aelin and “Castle,” but now that I’ve started, I can’t seem stop. Maybe this will all get cut. Or maybe I’ll let you into my brain for a little while. If you’re planning on reading Throne of Glass skip the section because there will be spoilers.

The abridged version of Aelin’s backstory is that her parents are killed, and she escapes from the house. She almost drowns/freezes near the creek by her house. A man named Arobynn rescued Aelin and trained her to become an assassin. They have a weird, tension-filled relationship. He’s oddly obsessed with her (I say oddly because he’s known her since she was a child, yikes). She trusts him, and there’s a line in Assassin’s Blade where Aelin describes him as a father, lover, and brother.

The direct quote is, “He loved her like family, but he put her in the most dangerous position. He nurtured and educated her, but he obliterated her innocence the first time he made her take a life. He’s given her everything, but he’d also taken everything away.” Arobynn and Aelin’s relationship is one of the most interesting ones in the series. Anyway, Arobynn ends up betraying Aelin. And when I say betray I mean Betray capital B. Betray as in killed the man Aelin was in love with and then sent Aelin to a prison that is so harsh it normally kills people in months.

It always reminds me of the “Castle” lyrics, “Oh, you call it unrequited, while you stab me in the back / This must be love, ‘cause you decided it / But my blood is on your hands, it’s spilling all over the rug.”

The bridge also has Aelin written all over it:

Call her a “survivor” or a “victim” / Oh, where’d they get the nerve? / Keep using black-and-white on colored pages to paint the one who’s gotten hurt / But would you look at both her wings / Is she an angel or a demon? / Somebody better call the priest / Grab your pitchforks and your torches / Start the fires, grab the horses / Let’s all slay her like a beast / Go ahead and try to get me

I hope you Aelin lovers listen to this song. And I hope if you have no idea who Aelin is that you trust me on this. I probably got carried away in the Aelin of it all, but that’s a big reason why I love this album so much.

Favorite lyrics:

• I know I said I wanted this, but now I’ve come to see / That I gave you way too much of me / You locked me up and hid the key – “Castle”

• And I’m not sure if I’m in love, but it feels like freedom – “Running Out Of Time”

#5 Memoir of a Sparklemuffin – Suki Waterhouse

I discovered Suki Waterhouse when I was watching Daisy Jones and The Six. I thought she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen (I still think that, by the way). I found out that she had a music career and wasn’t just a drummer for an imaginary band.

Memoir of a Sparklemuffin is the coolest album title ever. For those wondering, a sparklemuffin is the nickname of an Australian spider. And the album cover is also everything to me. Bring back artists with fun album art. I’m tired of the same old boring picture of the artist staring longingly into the camera.

I loved Suki’s previous album, I Can’t Let Go and was excited to hear new stuff from her. It’s always so refreshing to add a new woman into my music rotation. This is the year I really dove into Suki.

This album has a dreamlike feeling about – every song feels a little hazy. If you have ever seen The Mortal Instruments movie, this album reminds me of the beginning club scene in that movie. It feels foggy and you’re left looking around wondering if anything that you just witnessed was real. And I mean that in the best way possible.

A lot of the songs have the same general feel to them. Wispy vocals, longing lyrics, the works. This album is also quite long. Lately, we’ve seen a shift of albums becoming shorter with 10-13 songs. Memoir of a Sparklemuffin comes in with 18 songs. As a long album lover, I can and do appreciate that.

Some of my favorites on this album are “Blackout Drunk,” “Nonchalant,” “To Get You,” and “OMG.” A lot of these decisions were made after seeing Suki live in December 2024. She’s an entertainer, that’s for sure. She is so great live, and I’ve been extra addicted to her since then.

Favorite lyrics from the album:

• Sometimes I wanna taste your skin / But I’m not one for giving in / ‘Cause that’s way too embarrassing, my God / Oh, I want you so bad – “Nonchalant”

• To get you, to know you / Lost every little thing / To watch you, to want you / Lost every little thing / To hold you / I had to give just about everything / To get you – “To Get You”

• You know I only tried to play your games / So you cannot forget my name / You and I are not the same / You always had it easy – “OMG”

• You act like a saint and that irritates me / I’m mentally ill and that’s why you date me / Love never lasts, but I’m gonna stay on your mind forever – “Everybody Breaks Up Anyway"

#4 Louis Tomlinson LIVE - Louis Tomlinson

If you want to know a little secret about me…. I adore a live album. Everything about it.

Can I let you in on another secret? One of the most important aspects of a successful artist is their fanbase. Artists who have fiercely loyal fanbases have longevity, the freedom to create the art they want to create, really good money at the merch stand and, from my experience, really fun and emotionally generous live shows.

Louis Tomlinson is my angel. I know that. You know that. He knows that. My parents know that. Everyone knows that. The way he treats his fans is second to none. Every mention of this live album always included words such as, “Look at what we’ve created,” and “You need me, and I need you.” There is never a “me,” but always a “we” when Louis talks.

I was so excited about Louis Tomlinson Live. It was the perfect way to remember seeing three of his shows from his 2023 summer tour. Louis’ shows are electric. From the second the band plays the first note, the atmosphere shifts. You can feel it. You can taste it. You can hear it.

 Louis said that he made his album Faith in the Future to be played live. He made it with live shows in mind, and I didn’t understand what that meant until I was sitting with my golden glitter tear after his first show in Cuyahoga Falls.

A live album is the sincerest thank you an artist can give to their fans. It’s a collaboration between you and your favorite person. It’s so cool. It cements an artist’s talent, connection, and tour forever and ever. I’m instantly transported back to that summer when I hit play on the “The Greatest.”

My favorites on the live album are “Holding On To Heartache,” “We Made It,” and “Out of My System.”

“Holding On To Heartache” is my favorite song from Faith in the Future and tied for my favorite Louis song along with “Defenceless.”  The synth-like noises (I actually don’t even know what to call them) (To be honest, I think they are bird sounds because there’s a line that goes “You should be starin’ at the sky  / Bird just passin’ by, love” but if anyone else has any interpretations I’d love to hear them) at the beginning and sprinkled throughout scratch my brain in the perfect way. During the live show, they were so prominent and when I wear headphones the beat switches from ear to ear (I love when that happens so much).

All three times I heard Louis Tomlinson sing the bridge of “Holding On To Heartache,” I clutched Retta’s hand and when I listen to the album, I can hear the exact moment I would take her hand and scream and cry and be utterly delighted while being devastated.

The bridge in question:

You know the party’s over / When you’re standin’ in an empty space alone / And time can always heal ya / If you let it make its way into your bones / Nothing’s ever easy / To be honest, I’m not easy on myself / But the second that I see ya / The space between us just comes floodin’ back

I love “We Made It” because it’s about One Direction and I live in nostalgia, okay? Plus, the lines “Meet you at your uni / Cheap drinks, drink ‘em all night / Staying out ‘til sunrise / Share a single bed and tell each other what we dream about / Things we’d never say to someone else out loud” and “Smoke something, drink something / Yeah, just like the first time / Met you at your doorstep / Remember how we tasted” reminds me so much of my first two years of college.

“Out Of My System – Live from Brisbane 30 January 2024” is everything to me, and I’m so serious. It could wake me from a coma. A direct text that I sent to Margaret Puthoff on April 26, 2024: “out of my system actually sent me straight to hell and then heaven.” The opening to it is about a minute long insanely epic shred from the band and it genuinely feels like it could be in a chase scene of a movie. It’s my favorite part of the whole entire album.

Louis’ voice is one of my favorites because it’s so distinct. It’s soft and delicate and dainty, but strong and commanding and intimate. And boy, can that man whimper into the microphone. I’m looking at you, “Written All Over Your Face.” I love him, I love this album, I love having a tangible token of my favorite experience of my life and there’s absolutely nothing I love more than live music.

Favorite lyrics:

• I called you twice but then regretted it / And changed my number / The questions that I'd asked you / "Where did it all go wrong?" / There's endless versions of the thing / That keeps me driftin' back to darkness - "Holding on to Heartache"

• So one more night, I'm gonna choose / I don't wanna face the music, but I still wanna dance with you / Let's buy some time for what we shouldn't do / I don't wanna face the music, but I still wanna dance with you - "Face the Music"

• But these high walls, they came up short / Now I stand taller than them all / These high walls never broke my soul / And I, I watched them all come fallin' down for you / Fallin' down for you - "Walls"

#3 Noah Kahan Live From Fenway Park

One day, Noah Kahan will pay for his crimes. Live From Fenway Park chewed me up and spit me out. There is no one, No One, who sings with more emotion that this mountain man. And I truly will not be taking arguments on that front.

He is the perfect person to make a live album. Especially at Fenway Park. This man bleeds New England. No chance that he was in his own body when he played Fenway. Which is why I’m so glad there’s a live album to commemorate it for him and us.

Noah Kahan makes me want to slither out of my skin. The vulnerability and honesty in his songwriting and voice makes me flinch. He is so earnest. He cries on this album. He invites his family on stage to sing “Stick Season” with him. He is a storyteller. He’s bitter. He’s so in love. He’s so in hate. You don’t even need to see him, but if you listen to this album you can hear every single emotion he’s feeling.

While this album is massively depressing, he finds ways to inject his humor into it – joking about his horrible first pitch and laughingly saying, “fuck them for that!” about the cops that laughed at him for being too high in “Forever.”

Noah is one of the songwriters I admire the most right now. He has an innate ability to describe our inner most thoughts, fears, and regrets – especially those of us from small towns. It’s rare that an artist can touch so many people in such an emotional way. And it’s so lovely when good people’s art gets appreciated.

The first time I played this live album, I was running on a treadmill and from the opening note I had full body chills and tears. The literal text I sent my friend says, “1 minute and 4 seconds into Noah Kahan’s live album and I'm crying in the gym and also have full body chills. Oh my god Orange Juice live.”

“Pain is Cold Water” was a new song that he put on the album, and it ruined my day. Who on this Earth is allowed to write the lines, “And, if love was contagious, I might be immune to it / Pain’s like cold water, your brain just gets used to it.” To go from that directly into “Maine” is something I could only imagine in my wildest dreams. But he did it.

“Orange Juice” is one of my all-time favorite Noah songs, so I was excited to see she got a spot on the album. One of his most emotional and underrated songs. I don’t know how many times I can say that you can hear every single emotion he feels. All the yearning and burning anger and debilitating sadness and guilt. He is so genuine, and it’s been a while since we’ve had a genuine, emotional songwriter who’s not afraid to write the nitty gritty about being trapped in your own mind and emotions.

The “Orange Juice” bridge live is the moment that gave me the most insane chill of my life. His voice is so healthy. The way he’s able to elongate and emphasis words, especially when he’s been on tour for literal years, is insane. He never faltered on “Are we all just crows to you now? / Are we pulling you down? / You didn’t put those bones in the ground / You didn’t put those bones in that cold, hard ground” and he changed lyrics and did three note changes. He also let the crowd take over for most of the last verse. And that’s why live albums are so beautiful. You can FEEL the crowd and the artist’s connection.

Another favorite from this album is “Your Needs, My Needs.” No chorus. No verses. Just poetry, really. It’s a poem. The way he screams “Oh, bitter-brained, always drunk / Rail-thin, Zoloft / Subtle change, shorter days / Dead-eyed, dead weight / Your life, your dreams / And your mind, and your needs / And my needs” it’s like the words are violently clawing to get out of his throat. There must be scratch marks, I’m convinced. He sings this song like a man possessed. He connects with his own music in a way that’s haunting and inspiring, which in turns lets the audience connect on that same level with him. Every singer-songwriter should thrive to make music as honest as his.

Long live live albums.

Favorite lyrics:

• Tell me, lover / Now that you made your change / Was your soul rediscovered? / Was your heart rearranged? - "Maine"

• If I could leave, I would've already left - "Paul Revere"

• Oh well, who was I? / Who was I to watch you wilt? / You ain't gotta tell me what it means / Trace the outlines of your dreams / You'll always be a flower on my skin / And the pain that I am in / It's all the same / The losing touch, the waiting game - "Your Needs, My Needs"

#2 The Secret of Us - Gracie Abrams

The Secret of Us was one of my most played albums of this year. Hence, Gracie Abrams being my second most listened to artist in my Spotify Wrapped. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since This Is What It Feels Like EP came out in 2021. I saw her open for Olivia Rodrigo in April 2022, and then again for Taylor Swift in June 2023 and November 2024.

While I adored her previous album Good Riddance, The Secret of Us felt like a breath of fresh air from Gracie. There’s more diversity in this album, devastating songs, fun songs, and a Taylor Swift feature. I mean come on, what else could you honestly ask for?

The album starts with “Felt Good About You” which is awesome because then the rest of the album describes exactly how feeling good about that person went horribly wrong, as you could probably tell by the use of the past tense of “feel” in the title. This song isn’t my favorite start to an album, but the second song, “Risk” (which was also the lead single of the album) would’ve been a fun opening to the album. I always think it’s interesting to compare the lead single to the rest of the album. It’s fun to try and guess the thought process of the artist and why they chose to promote a certain song over another.

This album reminds me of driving to my retail job I had in the summer and driving around with my windows down and crying in my bathroom while my Pilgrimrry poster stares down at me and performing a one woman show in my car and screaming along with Gracie during the bridge of “Let It Happen.” This album is a culmination of what it feels like to be a young woman. It’s full of unabashed and unapologetic behavior. It’s dramatic, simple, jealous, naïve, defeated, angry, loving, curious, delusional, and accepting.

If you asked me to pick an absolute favorite song from this album, I’d look at you and laugh. My favorite part of listening to albums on repeat is that songs will suddenly hit you at different times. For example, when this album first came out I was neutral about “Let It Happen” and “Blowing Smoke” but now, those are two of the songs I scream the loudest.

My top five songs from Spotify Wrapped included “I Knew It, I Knew You” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” so I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention those lovely lads. I wrote a whole essay on those two songs when I wrote about this album, so I’ll let you go look at that so I don’t have to ramble on again. Just know the line, “I was your entertainment from a dark place,” still haunts me every day.

The opening lyrics of “Let It Happen” being “No, I know / I’m a walking contradiction and it shows / Got a history of being in control / I’m aware that I could end up here alone” is just nasty work. The bridge makes me want to shred my vocal cords – which I do in my car every morning at 7:00 a.m. on my way to work!

You’ve turned all my skies to pouring rain / Locked me out the house again / Is this how you see me now? / I’m reeling and I might break the windows, let myself back in / Lost it for a minute there / Get my shit together, it’s whatever, but I could die / Knowing that you’re probably out somewhere / While I’m in my underwear / Eating through my feelings, I’m still reeling, but it’s fine / Oh, thank God that you’re not seeing this / I’ll spare you from everything / If you would still have me, I’ll be waiting all my life

Enough to make me gnaw and scratch at the bars of my enclosure, that’s for sure.

I was super excited for Gracie to drop the deluxe album. On the first listen “Cool” was my favorite, but now I’m constantly screaming “That’s So True,” at the top of my lungs. It was really fun to yell that bridge in Lucas Oil Stadium. This is also such a fun song to act out. Jenna and I love acting out songs, so this always kind of reminds me of us doing the most dramatic interpretation of a song that you could possibly think of, especially the line, “No, I know, I know I’ll fuck off / But I think I like her she’s so fun / Wait, I think I hate her, I’m not that evolved.” I love to be an actress with my JBH. The bridge is also just so iconic. I mean, no one is touching the line “Said that I was fine, said it from the coffin.”

There are certain songs that I don’t listen to a lot because I know that they will send me down a spiral so awful that it would be catastrophic and “Told You Things” is one of them. So, I want the record to show that I adore that song but actually cannot listen to it.

I could see myself chain smoking to “Don’t mean it, plus you’ve changed / Not much, but just enough to throw away / Fake fantasies and games / I’ve lost a year, it’s strange” and “You were in my hands, but you’re good at leaving.”

I enjoy how throughout the entire album she is singing about the most deranged, sad feelings during a relationship and then ends the album with “Packing It Up,” which is synonymous to the cliché of “Love will find you when you’re least expecting it.” It’s an interesting ending, and I’m intrigued to see if her next album will pick up from that or be a completely different concept.

In conclusion, I’m a Gracie stan forever and I feel bad for the miserable people on Twitter whose lives revolve around hating her music.

Favorite lyrics:

• I cut the rope and you fell from the tower / I let it go for my peace of mind / Bit the bullet, it didn't hurt / But I still hate the image of you kissing her / Chalk it up to "it's all for the better" - "Blowing Smoke"

• Whatever happens, I'm letting it - "Let It Happen"

• I practice speeches in private / I was impressed with my every line / I think we call that performing / That's not how I want to spend my life - "Normal Thing"

#1 The Tortured Poets Department - Taylor Swift

What am I supposed to say about this album? I don’t even know where to start. The surprise double album release. The track list. The track 5. The shade. This album is That Diva.

I’ll be honest, the first listen of the first few songs was not my favorite. I’ll also be the first to admit that this album takes multiple listens to wrap your head around the lyrics. It wasn’t until we got to “So Long, London,” that I knew this album was going to do irreparable damage.

“So Long, London,” is a fitting tribute to her relationship, especially when you look at other songs that are about the same relationship such as “You’re Losing Me,” “loml,” and “The Black Dog.” Every time I listen, the lyrics still sting the same way they did during the first listen. It’s a death march (and I’d say the same thing about “loml”), that throws knife after knife. Lines from this song make my breath catch in my throat are, but not limited to:

• And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free

• And you say I abandoned the ship / But I was going down with it / My white-knuckle dying grip / Holding tight to your quiet resentment and / My friends said it isn’t right to be scared / Every day of a love affair / Every breath feels like rarest air

• And I’m just getting color back into my face / I’m just mad as hell ‘cause I loved this place

  
  

After looking back at these lyrics it’s so evident that I love a lyric that starts with “and” which makes sense because if you know me, you know I love to start a sentence with “And.”

The track list for this album is truly unreal to me. I’m finding it hard to narrow down the songs I want to talk about. But here are my other indisputable favorites from the album: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “loml,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” “The Black Dog,” “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” I Hate It Here,” “The Bolter,” and “The Manuscript.” Out of 31 songs, I feel like I narrowed that down pretty well.

I’ve talked ad nauseum about “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “The Black Dog,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” on my post about the TTPD album. So, I’ll refrain on this one. But let me tell you what song needs to be talked about. Loml. On my previous post I also talked about how “loml” was an honorary mention. Oh boy. “loml” is now at my very top. She is one step below “Cornelia Street – Live From Paris.” It is that serious to me. It was also my number one song on my Spotify Wrapped, and I listened to it 211 times.

Four minutes and thirty-seven seconds of the most religious and gut-wrenching experience of a lifetime. Every single word is chosen with a careful hesitance. Taylor’s voice in this song is unlike anything I’ve ever heard from her. It’s quiet and reserved and devastating and resigned. I can feel the sadness being squeezed out of her wrung-out body just by her cadence. I’ve always been the most impressed by songs that I can feel the artists pouring every part of themselves into. And if no one else will say this I will – “loml” is one of her most lyrically stunning songs. I encourage you all to lay down, put your headphones on, close your eyes, and listen to this song.

I don’t even know which lines to choose as my favorites. They are all so intricate and detailed and fantastical – dreamlike, but in the worst way possible. A nightmare one might even say.

Some of my favorite lines (I can’t wait to see how long this list gets):

• I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed

• Still alive, killing time at the cemetery / Never quite buried

• You cinephile, in black and white / All those plot twists and dynamite

• When your impressionist paintings of Heaven turned out to be fakes / Well, you took me to hell, too

• But I felt a hole like this / Never before, and ever since

• Dancing phantoms on the terrace / Are they second-hand embarrassed / That I can’t get out of bed? / Cause something counterfeit’s dead

• OH, WHAT A VALIANT ROAR / WHAT A BLAND GOODBYE

• The coward claimed he was a lion / I’m combing through the braids of lies / “I’ll never leave” … / “Never mind” / Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire / Your arson’s match your somber eyes

  
  

A stunning piece or work. A career highlight. A devastating tribute. This song is biblical to me.

We got “The Bolter” as one of our surprise songs for Indy Night 3 and it was so fitting. I adore “The Bolter.” And then she mashed it with my sweet angelic baby “Cornelia Street.” I’m not here to speak on that at this time, but I need to put it down in writing that that mash-up changed the basic wiring in my brain.

"The Bolter" is like if I could express any of my thoughts in spoken word. Because as I was leaving, it really did feel like breathing and also freedom. This song almost feels too personal for me to even dissect. Sure, “loml” is devastating and wretched, but “The Bolter”? That’s when it gets personal.

This song makes me want to stand on a cliff and wade through a stream and climb a tree and buy a one-way flight. It reminds me of seeing my breath in the winter and watching my brother fall through the ice at Kendrick Woods and sitting on a fire escape and an old dusty used bookstore and the local pub and a sunny sky and Retiro Park in Madrid.

The lines, “A curious child, ever reviled / By everyone except her own father” make me feel like I’m six years old rolling around in the dirt and playing in the crick outside my grandparents’ house. It makes me feel messy and alive and like I should be shouting it while I’m running through an open field, yanno? I guess what I’m trying to say is that the song feels like Me. And I think that’s pretty cool (and intimidating).

My favorite lines from “The Bolter”:

• With a quite bewitching face / Splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless / Excellent fun ‘til you get to know her

• That’s when she sees the littlest leaks / Down in the floorboard / And she just knows / She must bolt

• And she’s laughing drawin’ aces / But, none of it changin’ / That the chariot is waitin’ / Hearts are hers for the breaking / There’s escape in escaping

• Ended with the slam of a door / But she’s got the best stories / You can be sure / That as she was leaving / It felt like freedom

  
  

The Tortured Poets Department, I love you. To wrap this baby up, here are some of my other favorite lyrics from this blessed double album:

• I’ll tell you something right now / I’d rather burn my whole life down / Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning / I’ll tell you something about my good name / It’s mine alone to disgrace / I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing / God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what’s best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see - “But Daddy I Love Him”

• Beauty is a beast that roars / Down on all fours / Demanding more / Only when your girlish glow / Flickers just so / Do they let you know / It’s hell on earth to be heavenly / Them’s the brakes / They don’t come gently – “Clara Bow”

• I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools / I switched plans and lovers and outfits and rules / All to outrun my desertion of you / And you just watched it – “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”

• Say it once again with feeling / How the death rattle breathing / Silenced as the soul was leaving / The deflation of our dreaming / Leaving me bereft and reeling / My beloved ghost and me / Sitting in a tree / D-Y-I-N-G – “How Did It End”

• When they found a better planet / Only the gentle survived / I dreamed about it in the dark / The night I felt like I might die – “I Hate It Here”

• I’m lonely, but I’m good / I’m bitter, but I swear I’m fine / I’ll save all my romanticism for my inner life / And I’ll get lost on purpose / This place made me feel worthless / Lucid dreams like electricity, the current flies through me / And in my fantasies I rise above it – “I Hate It Here”

• And the years passed / Like scenes of a show / The professor said to write you know / Lookin’ backwards / Might be the only way to move forward / Then the actors / Were hitting their marks / And the slow dance / Was alight with the sparks / And the tears fell / In synchronicity with the score / And at last / She knew what the agony had been for –  “The Manuscript”

There you have it. Happy listening. Cheers to the music that we let into our lives <3