Another year is almost over and it’s the traditional time to reflect back on what musical treats have nourished us over the last twelve months. 

2024 has been a strong year for women in mainstream music, from Taylor Swift’s epic Eras tour to some stunning breakthrough pop performers like Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter. In country music Lainey Wilson won the coveted Entertainer of the Year award and there was also awards for newcomers Ella Langley and Megan Moroney in the genre too. None of these artists appear on my personal lists but I have been heartened by their success.

In terms of my own listening, I always veer towards comforting, introspective, poetic indie and Americana, adding some soft soul and folk with an occasional blast of epic pop or barnstorming country tunes for good measure. This year gave me much sustenance with the return of some of my all-time favourites, alongside a few newer artists who helped me through. 

Some of these tracks may have been released in 2023 but I count any song on an album released this year for this list. I have also included only one song per artist (excluding collaborations). 

Earlier this month I went to see the wonderful The Last Dinner Party play live in Glasgow. The all girl band have a young, fashionable, mainly female crowd and play music that is thrillingly orchestral, dramatic and fun. Being in a crowd like that is heartening and a privilege. The band seem to really care about their audience too, raising money for local food bank charities on each night of the tour. 

However thanks to their overuse of strobe lighting effects I left the show with a headache, feeling irritated to the point of anger. 

Last week Bright Eyes cancelled their entire tour for the rest of the year, citing issues with Conor Oberst’s vocal health as the reason. While a few fans might have been disappointed, most actually breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone who has seen Conor on stage in the last few years knows that performing live has become seriously detrimental to his physical and mental health. The most alarming moment on this aborted tour was him struggling so much he was talking about killing himself, his own songs becoming so physically painful to perform. 

Jane’s Addiction fans witnessed an unraveling of a different sort on their tour last month. After a series of troubled shows where Perry Farrell was drinking copious amounts of wine and failing to follow along with the songs, the band appeared to be on the brink. Instead of cancelling the tour they kept going and, as everyone will have probably seen, this ended up in Farrell assaulting guitarist Dave Navarro on stage, effectively ending the band. 

What both of these incidents have in common is that these men are obviously on the edge – suffering with likely mental health, addiction, physical issues or a combination of all three. They have been forced by circumstance to play live for fans to make money, to fulfil obligations or because they don’t know what else to do with their lives at this point. They have been pushed to the brink because of their jobs and they’re just a snapshot of a wider music industry unraveling due to the pressures of touring right now.