The Tennessean's picks for Top Nashville Albums of 2024: Jack White, Post Malone, more
2024 wasn't just another year in Nashville. This rotation around the sun brought a slate of historic albums from Music City stars across all genres.
Jack White brought a rumbling rumpus of rock 'n' roll with "No Name," Beyoncé channeled her inner cowgirl on "Cowboy Carter," and Kacey Musgraves traveled deep into her whimsical, reflective inner well on "Deeper Well." And these records just scratch the surface of this year's impressive releases.
We've compiled our top albums for 2024. Read on to see our picks for the records you should play on repeat as this year closes out.
Jack White, 'No Name'
Jack White released his rumbling, tumultuous garage rock album "No Name" on July 19 — a record that quickly became a fan favorite. The Nashville alternative artists' new record is 13 tracks of pure, unadulterated rock 'n' roll.
"No Name" includes hits like "That's How I'm Feeling," "Old Scratch Blues" and "Archbishop Harold Holmes." "What's the Rumpus?" and "It's Rough on Rats (If You're Asking)" are two of the record's other standouts.
The album snagged a 2025 Grammy Award Nomination earlier this month for Best Rock Album and will be competing alongside The Black Crowes, Fontaines D.C., Green Day, Idles, Pearl Jam and The Rolling Stones for the honor.
— Audrey Gibbs
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, 'Cowboy Carter'
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is known for her record-breaking, genre-bending music and "Cowboy Carter," which she first announced during a surprise Super Bowl commercial in February, makes no distinction. Since releasing the eighth studio album March 29, Beyoncé has broken many records and made history on multiple fronts.
Not only this, the cultural-shifting project also put a huge spotlight on Black country artists and the genre's roots.
The chart-topping album received 11 nods at the 2025 Grammy Awards, making it the most nominated album by a female artist and Beyoncé the most nominated artist of all time with 99 career nods. "Cowboy Carter" garnered five nominations in the country and American roots music field, which is more country nods than any other artist this year.
— Caché McClay
Cody Johnson, 'Leather (the deluxe edition)'
Cody Johnson followed up a critically acclaimed 13-track 2023 album that romanticized every aspect of his artistic humanity with a 12-track release deliciously as country as cornbread.
Johnson's rise over the past half-decade was built on songs that toiled in vibes that allowed country traditionalists who last turned on their radios when Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson songs crept into heavy rotation a decade ago on terrestrial radio to stand up and cheer. In the second half of "Leather," those vibes are there, plus Carrie Underwood power-ballad duets ("I'm Gonna Love You") and a redoubling of his interests in all facets of the genre also revive themselves. It's a standout.
— Marcus K. Dowling
Taylor Swift, "The Tortured Poets Department"
In the midst of a global tour, Taylor Swift released her eleventh era studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department." The double album of 31 tracks dropped on April 19 sending fans into a frenzy. Behind the scenes and away from public ear, the superstar and her dancers added a section to the Eras Tour for year two. She debuted the new performance in Paris, France.
Post Malone and Florence and the Machine are two contributors on the break-up album for "Fortnight" and "Florida!!!" respectively. One of the catchiest bridges in Swift's discography which could serve as a break-up monologue is heard in "Smallest Man Who Ever Lived." Fans allege most of the tracks to be about Swift's relationship to 1975's frontman Matty Healy.
She broke the one billion stream record on Spotify within five days, produced two music videos for "Fortnight" and "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" and received five Grammy nominations.
— Bryan West
Cage The Elephant, 'Neon Pill'
Nashville alternative band Cage The Elephant dropped their sixth studio album “Neon Pill” in May. The gritty, raw indie rock record walks the line between reality and illusion, care-free thrashing rock and reflective melancholy tunes.
The Kentucky-bred band, known for songs “Cigarette Daydreams” and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked," only continued their reign as rock greats with "Neon Pill."
The 12-track record is a surprisingly vulnerable work, written by frontman Matt Shultz as he fought medication-induced psychosis and edited as he recovered in 2023. Standouts “Neon Pill” and “Good Time” are the album’s runaway hits.
The band was also nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance for the record's title track.
— Audrey Gibbs
Post Malone, 'F-1 Trillion'
Contemplate pop superstar Post Malone's duets-laden and Aug. 2024-released country debut album as the double-album-sized "B-side" to ERNEST's April-released "A-side" of sorts, "Nashville, Tennessee."
That's over 50 songs worth of material, representing the unprecedented songwriting machine Music City is evolving into. Malone's a seamless collaborator who feels like he has been waiting his whole life to sing songs featuring Paul Franklin's pedal steel guitar and soulful grooves. Get him paired with Americana and country's reigning female Artist and Entertainer of the Year in Sierra Ferrell and Lainey Wilson, respectively and a true country fan emerges.
— Marcus K. Dowling
Lakeview 'Lakeview'
Not familiar with country rockers Lakeview? One listen to "Home Team" from their debut self-titled album pretty much sums up the level of energy and musical prowess the duo is capable of. 'Lakeview' the album It's part rock anthem, part headbanger and part earworm. Lakeview the band is a modern-day Nickelback in all the right ways. The guitar-driven chords make it rock, but the harmonies of the duo, Jesse Denaro and Luke Healy and themes of heartbreak and polished production skew new country,
The album is also chock full of well-written lyrics such as "Wrong Side of the Track," written about a breakup that has forever tainted the favorite song: "Every time this song comes on / I scream and yell and I punch the dash / It strikes your memory like a match / Never thought anyone could ruin a song for me / How'd you end up on the wrong side of the track / Every station that comes on just brings you back."
— Melonee Hurt
Kaitlin Butts, 'Roadrunner'
Oklahoma native Kaitlin Butts sang about the musical "Oklahoma" on a career-redefining album that, by the time she sings "You Ain't Got To Die (To Be Dead To Me)," the line between country and Americana has become the tightrope she's dancing along while wearing timeless chain stitch apparel.
Butts finally has a record not so much defined by darkness but rather by the slyest of ironic winks at irrepressible glee. That's conveyed by using everything from Cher covers to lyrical reimaginings of Rogers and Hammerstein to showcase her truth's approachable honesty. For not just Butts — but for popular music's acceptance of the modern definition of country's core artistry — this is a cornerstone album.
— Marcus K. Dowling
George Strait, 'Cowboys and Dreamers'
The King of Country Music being a septuagenarian would seem to imply that George Strait would be ready to dust off his saddle and trot into the sunset. Anyone who thinks that clearly don't know George Strait. He's a Texas-born artist who benefits from being able to interpret his peerless influences in every genre into an iconic sound.
After four decades in music, the meeting of the minds that occurred when Strait's peak-era collaborators and modern song crafters (best highlighted by the Hall of Fame and award-winning father-daughter tandem of Dean and Jessie Jo Dillon) join forces is stunning. From the title track to songs like “I Wish I Could Say” and “MIA Down in MIA,” Strait's iconic catalog feels timelessly refreshed.
— Marcus K. Dowling
Soccer Mommy, "Evergreen"
Soccer Mommy dropped "Evergreen," her fourth studio album, on Oct. 25. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, born Sophie Allison, poured her heart out on her latest indie rock record, capturing her grieving process after a personal loss.
"Evergreen" is a morose, yet hopeful, 11-track album. A lyric-forward alternative rock record, "Evergreen" showcases Allison's siren-like voice through simple melodies. The music is equally as captivating as Allison's voice, but the words she's singing truly take center stage on this album.
The record's standouts include "Lost," "Some Sunny Day," "Salt in Wound" and "Anchor."
— Audrey Gibbs
Luna Halo 'The End is the Beginning'
Writing and recording an album is hard enough when the band is actively writing and recording. But to come out of a breakup that happened years ago, reassemble while managing four separate musical careers, write and record some of the group's best music yet is quite a feat. However, one that proved easy for Nashville rockers Luna Halo.
The members stayed friends beyond the band and when an opportunity arose to create the first new Luna Halo music in nearly a decade, front man Nathan Barlowe and his brother Cary got busy writing. The result is "The End is the Beginning," a seven-song EP with up-tempo hits like "Hollywood Faded" and the passionate "Feed Your Feelings."
Now we've just got to get these four in the same place long enough for a long-overdue Luna Halo live show.
— Melonee Hurt
Kacey Musgraves, 'Deeper Well'
Country singer Kacey Musgraves released her sixth studio album "Deeper Well" in March. In 14 folksy tracks, Musgraves reflects on her inner peace, working to navigate love and process lost love, and her connection to nature.
Some may say this album is closer to alternative folk-pop than country, even though "Deeper Well" is nominated for three Grammy Awards in country categories.
The album dives into Irish melodies, thought-provoking, intimate lyrical storytelling and dreamy, sparkling refrains. Albums like this continue to blend genres, draw more fans to country and folk music, and move listeners to their core.
Check out standouts "The Architect," "Lonely Millionaire" and "Deeper Well."
— Audrey Gibbs
Koe Wetzel '9 Lives'
Texas-born country rocker Koe Wetzel is about as real as a musician can get. His lyrics are honest ("One drink, one pill, one hit, one line / I'm good, that's it, I swear, we're fine") and he brings that authentic version of himself to this record by staying true to who he is and maybe even blurring genre lines more than he has in the past.
"9 Lives" features a Wetzel's take on rapper XXXTentacion's “Depression & Obsession” the single "High Road" featuring Jessie Murph and a bonus track called "Sweet Dreams." All in all the body of work on "9 Lives" represents Wetzel's best work yet and signals there's much more to come.
— Melonee Hurt
The Tennessean's music team is comprised of Marcus K. Dowling, Audrey Gibbs, Melonee Hurt, Caché McClay and Bryan West.