2024 Music So Far: Featuring Willow and Alec Benjamin

Cowboy Carter by Beyonce

The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift

Rebel by Anne Wilson

Damascus by Elvie Shane

Your Day Will Come by Chanel Beads

Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa

Empathogen by Willow

The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith I would have assumed Willow would be a traditional artist of some sort, but she is never going to be accused of that.  This is her 7th studio album since 2015, when she was 15 years old.  Her influences seem to come from artists like Kate Bush, Bjork, Tori Amos, Sinead O'Connor, and FKA Twigs.  

My favorite track on the album is "Symptom of Life" which has a piano opening that screams Kate Bush, then follows the song which feels like it was structured by Tori Amos.  It's a fun and interesting album.  She's still only 23 and still growing as an artist.  It will be interesting to see what she does with her next album.  She has a very interesting voice and an obvious vocal performance talent.  

Maybe this will be the peak of her powers and if so she has created a solid album.  If you want to get the feel for where art rock is in 2024 I would say this is a good listen.  I'm going to write something up about the Apple 100 best albums list soon.  One area that is greatly underrated there is the art rock scene.  An area of music that has always been very critical to influence the next generation.  

12 Notes by Alec Benjamin

If you follow my daughter's you tube channel you would know that she is a huge Alec Benjamin fan, so I'm prejudiced to like him, especially since I'm the one who introduced him to her.  That being said this is another solid album from Benjamin and a good listen.   

The key to his music is similar to many singer songwriters, it's his lyrics.  He has an interesting and playful tone about things which I really find enjoyable to listen to.  As a singer he has a good voice and understands how to write for himself.  

If you are cleaning up the house this weekend and want an album to throw on I would say this is a good pick.  My son enjoys this album too, so it's good to find something that everyone in the family enjoys listening to while we clean.  Well not sure you can count my wife in on that, she'll tolerate it.