According to review aggregator site Metacritic, the best-rated albums of 2024 so far are ‘Cowboy Carter’ by Beyoncé, ‘Iechyd Da’ by Bill Ryder-Jones and ‘This Could Be Texas’ by English Teacher. Metacritic curates a diverse group of highly respected music critics and assigns scores to their reviews. The website then takes the weighted average of those scores, resulting in their Metascore. In a five-star review of ‘Cowboy Carter’, NME writes: “It’s an undeniable thrill to see [Beyoncé] swing so big on a project that dares her to be so intimate and vocal-focused.” While with ‘Iechyd Da’, NME shared: “Ambitious, cinematic and hugely affecting, folky follow-up ‘Iechyd Da’ is in many ways the album Ryder-Jones has threatened to make since 2013 breakthrough ‘A Bad Wind Blows in my Heart’.” Finally, with their debut LP, English Teacher provides everything you want from a debut.
Other artists who made it to the top ten are Mannequin Pussy with ‘I Got Heaven’, Waxahatchee’s ‘Tigers Blood’, St. Vincent’s ‘All Born Screaming’, Vampire Weekend’s ‘Only God Was Above Us’, Brittany Howard’s ‘What Now’, Kali Uchis’ ‘Orquídeas’, and Hurray for the Riff Raff’s ‘The Past Is Still Alive’. The website aggregates reviews of TV, film, books, and music, then gives them an average score. These scores are assigned by a diverse group of highly respected critics, and the website then takes the weighted average of those scores, resulting in their Metascore.
Speaking about English Teacher’s album, NME said: “Here are a band already dealing in brilliance, though – who dare to dream and have it pay off.” It seems that English Teacher make it a lot more interesting being stuck down here on Earth. They provide an original and excellent debut that offers an adventure in sound and words and a remarkable statement.
In other music news, the first trailer for ‘Mufasa’ – the prequel to 2019’s ‘The Lion King’ – has been released. The trailer confirms that Beyoncé and Donald Glover will be back
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