From the Intercom: The Best Albums of 2024

Haley Heynderickx – Seed of a Seed

FTI has been waiting for Haley Heynderickx sophomore album with bated breath, and I can say without exaggeration the wait has been worth it. Six years and one pandemic later, the collective need to touch grass is at an all time high and Haley is an unpretentious guide toward that virtue. Seed of a Seed is a communal, picturesque appreciation of mother nature while carrying the legacy of its older sibling, I Need to Start a Garden.

Campsite and coniferous are two words that come to mind when embarking on Heynderickx and friends’ trek in a lush, deep forest probably in a National Park somewhere. The Heynderickx band channels warm energies through the hills and valleys of the album. Playful folksy guitar rhythms, expansive cello saws, and a focused warm percussion are inviting and adventurous. The circular rhythms on “Foxglove” and “Redwoods (Anxious God)” feels like going on a hike. “Spit in the Sink” is a nocturnal, enigmatic fable about writer’s block and indecision. And there are too many references to plants, animals, signs of nature to name. 

All of these elements speak to Heynderickx’s elevated awareness of the forces that will heal us, what we should protect, and what will ultimately outlive us. Seed of a Seed is full of fortune that with a little bit of intuition, gives us a reading on our personal journeys behind or beyond.

FFO: Road trips to national parks, plants, getting lost, Masonic Lodges

Hana Vu – Romanticism

It’s fun to announce yourself, especially when you got something good. This year, Hana Vu said a lot and gave us a lot to say on Romanticism, an album freshly inscribed with adolescent milieu. And with an album cover that references Artemisia Gentileschi’s 17th century painting of Judith slaying Holofernes with Vu as Holofernes, how could you not feel all the personal drama? From her Bandcamp album page, Vu mourns her vanishing youth. “At the cusp of becoming a more capable and mature person, I feel grief for my naivete.” 

In “Look Alive”, we are introduced to Vu’s wistful thesis of salad days already eaten. “There’s no song in my heart / Like I thought there was / When I was young and I fell apart” This voice is the throughline through the road-trippy “Hammer”, the forlorn epitaphs on previous relationships on “22”, and the epic declaration of loneliness on “Care”. Vu has etched sublime ratios of narrative, performance, and certainty into an album yearning to be framed and romanticized.

FFO: Angst of getting into your 20s, feeling happy and sad, increasing the melodrama in one’s life 

NIKI – Buzz

Buzz stuck with me the entire year after listening to it. It remains a very explorative, joyful, and unique addition to NIKI’s catalog. From my review:

“NIKI and her band sound so good together. The most standout tracks on the album feature lovingly considered drums, guitar, and bass, making them just as much of a focus as anything else. Production from Tyler Chester and Ethan Gruska have developed an energy and pace that complements her clear and direct voice. This isn’t surprising considering Chester and Gruska’s work with the likes of Fiona Apple, Sara Bareilles, Phoebe Bridgers, and Madison Cunningham. As much as I love NIKI’s R&B centered tracks (which she is always welcome to return to), having the diverse instrumentation on display allows her to amplify and react. It’s salt on chocolate – balanced and sumptuous.”

You can read the rest of my review here.

FFO: Not giving a fuck about your ex, getting into rock music, new seasons of life

OK Cowgirl – Couldn’t Save Me From My Gut

Truly what more can I say about this album? While I will die happy reveling in OK Cowgirl’s spiraling and introspective Couldn’t Save Me From My Gut,  I could say just a little bit more.

A couple years ago I heard the phrase, “you are never too late.” It’s something important to internalize in your 20s so that you can gradually erase the insecurity of never catching up. Big dreams and big disappointments are inevitable, and you have to let yourself feel them fully before you can release them. When I hear the anticipation of “Little Splinters”, the fear of “Forever”, and the earnestness of “Diner Song”, I know I am not late to my little life. I become content. 

You can read my review here.

FFO: Moving to a new city, Japanese Breakfast, Larry David, learning to let life lead

ako (a子) – GENE

FFO: anything that Ako has released before (GENE is almost like a greatest hits compilation), anime openings, Super 8 films, breathy singing, ASMR-pop, being a hipster (’cause Ako is geared to blow up soon… this album is that good)

Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

FFO: Sheherazaad, Scheherazade, listening to the tides at night, jazz, carnatic music, telling people you like listening to jazz and carnatic music, relaxing on a large papasan

beabadoobee – This Is How Tomorrow Moves

FFO: Rick Rubin production, rock-oriented indie pop beabadoobee, listening to catchy hooks, California, Polaroids, getting your music recs on TikTok, Sully from Monsters Inc

Bodysync – NUTTY

FFO: the 2000s and 2010s, watching Saturday morning cartoons, memes, spending too much time on the Internet, dancing in a goofy way, going to a nightclub in a costume

Bubble Tea and Cigarettes – we should’ve killed each other

FFO: apocalyptic scenes, smoking a cigarette coolly like you’re in a movie, slowcore, talking to others at 3am, staring at the ceiling, walking around the city at night

Charli XCX – Every version of brat

FFO: good pop music, collaborating with some of the biggest names in pop, partying like it’s 2010, name-dropping your famous and hot friends to anyone who will listen, throwing up in the club but continuing to dance afterwards, both versions of coke, insomnia

Chinese American Bear – Wah!!

FFO: Mandopop, psychedelic music, Saturday Chinese school, KEXP, off-kilter indie pop, dancing dumplings, spending time at the arcade, snacks from the Asian grocery store

Ginger Root – SHINBANGUMI

FFO: city pop and funk music, collecting and watching film on VHS instead of DVD, collecting VHSes even though you don’t have a VHS player, camcorders, listening to AM/FM radio, albums with a clear artistic vision, short films, maneki-nekos

Heems – LAFANDAR

FFO: Das Racist, Lapgan, old-school hip-hop, sickkk wordplay, sickkk beats, Queens NY, Asian American hip hop, being pretty cool

HYUKOH & Sunset Rollercoaster – AAA

FFO: experimental albums from already well-established Asian music acts, solo projects from HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster, weird song titles, cross-cultural collaborations, smooth jazz, 80s new wave, psychedelia

Jacqui – Dirty Mirror Selfie

FFO: sleek R&B, Sumin, Erykah Badu, the phrase “fuck me to sleep”, chanting, improvised beats and verses, scatting, chilling after a cocktail

Kishi Bashi – Kantos

FFO: straight up city pop, disco, sparkly suits, saying the word “groovy” but in a fun, unironic way, the world music section at the record store, 80s synths and kitsch, the sparkle emoji

Lightning Bug – No Paradise

FFO: gorgeous and majestic indie pop, good music, road tripping across continents, feeling things, aura, giving severely underrated albums your flowers, butterflies, staring at paintings

Meaningful Stone – Angel Interview

FFO: shoegaze, pretending you’re in a movie, growling instrumentals, uneasiness, angel imagery, taking pictures with a broken camera, sirens, acoustic ballads, watching dramas at night with the lights off at a low volume

meg elsier – spittake

FFO: fun indie rock, white lace, hating on California, early-era Mitski, early-era SASAMI, squelching guitars, wearing veils, not being real

mui zyu – nothing or something to die for

mui zyu’s music comes from a strange place – the depths of your mind, a bizarro futuristic world, that absurdist substance growing in the dark crevices of a building long forgotten – you name it. nothing or something to die for is dark avant-pop at its best and finds the singer inadvertently scoring the makings of the strangest film that doesn’t exist. 

FFO: David Lynch, alternate realities, space age pop, red velvet movie curtains, glitches, dancing bunnies

Peter Cat Recording Co. – BETA

FFO: innovative indie rock, big bands, blown out distortion, listening to radio, time traveling, serenades, idea-heavy albums, multitudes of instruments

Sabrina Song – You Can Stay In One Spot, And I’d Love You The Same

FFO: Ok Cowgirl, Phoebe Bridgers, introspective songwriting, acoustic songs, being okay, New York, late night card games with friends, tarot card readings, hanging out with your friend group, playing with a Ouija board for the lulz

Sumin & Slom – MINISERIES 2

FFO: MINISERIES 1, Sumin and Slom’s solo work, springy R&B-pop, song titles in all caps, summer vibes, the color green, music that’s well-produced, iconic duos

thủy – wings

FFO: R&B/pop music, getting flirty, 90s R&B, eating sashimi with extra wasabi, having fun with bae, magic, taking an hour to get ready to go out, flying imagery

Tim Atlas – Enchanté

FFO: modern funk music, grooving, dancing in public, dancing at home, dancing in general, black and white films, sunset orange, having natural charm

Wallice – The Jester

FFO: songs from 1993, Radiohead and their ripoffs (her words not mine), realizing one’s potential, jack in the boxes, red hair eras à la Rihanna’s Loud, random saxophones and horns, dogs

Yuga – Love Deluxe

FFO: Mamiko Suzuki, Furui Riho, good ol’ singer-songwriter/Japanese pop with a slightly jazzy twist, slower disco tracks, whispering instead of shouting, flashing neon lights

1999 WRITE THE FUTURE – hella (˃̣̣̥╭╮˂̣̣̥) ✧ ♡ ‧º·˚

FFO: 88Rising’s roster, Warren Hue, Rich Brian, Asian hip-hop, old-school hip-hop emcees making a comeback, the year 1999, listening to the radio in the 90s, discovering new music on a mixtape, using excessive emojis

Nemahsis – Verbathim

Nick Ward – House With The Blue Door

Quiet Light – Going Nowhere

Raveena – Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain

The Crane Wives – Beyond Beyond Beyond

Various – Ayo Ke Disco: Boogie, Pop & Funk from the South China Sea (1974-88)

Various – Naya Beat Volume 2: South Asian Dance and Electronic Music 1988-1994