The Best Country Music Albums of 2024

Thomas Rhett - About A Woman

In his 2024 interview with Holler, Thomas Rhett described his latest album as “the most freeing record” he’s ever created, and this refreshing sense of joy and playfulness fizzles throughout each track.

Until now, Rhett's finest songwriting has been only ever been peppered through his records, coming to the fore on his sweet, rose-tinted declarations of love to his wife, Lauren, such as ’Die a Happy Man’ and ‘Look What God Gave Her’. The fact he has written and dedicated the entire album towards her is what makes About a Woman his most cohesive and consistent record since 2015's Tangled Up.

Rhett's sincerity guides every turn as he dips his brush into a rich palette of styles, resulting in a captivating project that comes across as unmistakably authentic to the artist, while still offering an experimental surprise or two along the way.

From the sleek, pop-infused opener, ‘Fool’, to the soulful, adoring ‘Somethin’ Bout a Woman’, there’s a distinct sense that Thomas Rhett has woven a piece of himself into the DNA of each track. His willingness to draw from R&B, Pop and EDM helps to give About a Woman a fuller, warmer sound that makes the record stand out in a modern country landscape, one that tends to favour sparser, more stripped-back arrangements.

It gives the album a comforting, cosy ambience that mirrors the uplifting tone of the narrative, and cements Rhett as the flag-bearer of feel-good, wholesome country music - a quality that has been overshadowed of late by the rise of doleful, DIY Bloke-Folk.

- Maxim Mower

Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene

Ever the contrarian, Zach Bryan confessed that he sought to give his fifth studio album, The Great American Bar Scene, a production style that would put off his country listeners.

He's going to have to try a little harder if he’s going to succeed in turning fans away, with this latest body of work consolidating him as one of the generation's biggest country artists on the planet.

While The Great American Bar Scene has not reached the charting heights of his self-titled album, he manages to create an even greater sense of intimacy and vulnerability by bringing a level of specificity and intricacy to his storytelling that few other artists can match. For the majority of the project, the deeply personal and often conversational tone of Bryan's delivery makes you feel like you're sat across from him in one of the titular dives he so reveres, as he regales you with his hazy, early-hours thoughts. As with any Zach Bryan album, there's darkness and weight, but just like that tiny, misty, stained-glass window that every bar seems to have, there's a chink of light and hope that filters through the project.

Everything you need to know about this project is condensed into the opening poem, ‘Lucky Enough’, during which Bryan champions the small, subtle pleasures of life, whether it’s enjoying a night in a run-down watering hole or embracing the comfort of a rural hideaway.

Veering away from the raucous earworms of American Heartbreak and the ethereal, folk-leaning ambience of Boys of Faith, The Great American Bar Scene crackles with gravitas, and confirms Bryan's status as one of the most evocative lyricists in the game.

- MM

Read Gemma Donanhoe's full review of The Great American Bar Scene here.

Fancy Hagood - American Spirit

During a 2015 performance of his underrated pop gem, 'Boys Like You', on Dancing with the Stars, Fancy Hagood looked confidently into the camera and, with a decisive wink, blew a kiss of glitter confetti into the air.

Since that moment, Hagood has always succeeded in giving his audience the sparkle they've craved. With his chameleonic voice, Hagood has dabbled in various genres over the years, but with 2024's American Spirit, he's developed his own modern country sound. It's a sound that honors the past while being open to the present, just like Hagood himself.

The collection is a sheer act of resiliency, detailing his healing journey as a queer man. While deeply personal, it never shuns away but maintains a communal nature. It has much to do with the assured collaborations on the record, like the rollicking 'Isn't That Life' featuring Michelle Branch and the rambunctious 'The Chase' featuring the Watkins Family Hour.

Right from the start, though, with the astounding opener 'Ever Really Ready,' it's clear that this is Hagood's story and his alone. When he wisely asks, "Do you ever wonder if every broken heart's just an open door?" we already know the answer. Hagood has fearlessly opened it for us.

- Soda Canter

Kaitlin Butts - Roadrunner!

Kaitlin Butts firmly established herself as one of country music's greatest modern-day outliers with this year's most ingenious concept album, Roadrunner!

Leaning into her lifelong love of musical theatre, she dreamed up a reimagining of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and made a traditional country record unlike any other you’ll hear.

Conceived after a pandemic rewatch of the film, the result was a candidly autobiographical concept album centred around a budding romance between cowboy Curly and farm girl Laurey in the early 1900s, all made contemporary under Butts' playful feminist lens.

With covers of Sonny Bono's 'Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)' and Kesha's 'Hunt You Down' squeezed in alongside quirky originals and cuts of the original musical, Roadrunner! wore its delightfully camp heart on its fringed sleeve and danced its way into our dull daily lives like a red dirt Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Truly inspired.

- Jof Owen

Lizzie No - Halfsies

Halfsies, the third album from harpist and guitarist Lizzie No, is a defiant protest album.

It explores the relationship between individuality and belonging, as it follows the turbulent journey of its central character, Miss Freedomland, as she searches for relief from the depths of despair and an escape from the frightening realities of life in modern America.

Loaded up with dismay and outrage, the songs on Halfsies feel like descendants of protest folk singers like Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez, all while drawing from the spiritual folk stylings of Odetta, the upside-down guitar picking of Elizabeth Cotton and the soulful calm of Joan Armatrading.

Lizzie No's powerful, unwavering voice manages to combine a bleak recognition of the way things are, with a gentle hope for the way they could be.

In times like these, we need records like Halfsies more than ever.

- JO

Read Soda Canter's full review of Lizzie No's Halfsies here.

Laci Kaye Booth - The Loneliest Girl In The World

A lesson in confessional country, The Loneliest Girl In The World demonstrates just how brutal Laci Kaye Booth is willing to be with her own heart, reserving none of it for herself as she offers its darkest moments up to us, the listener.

From romantic devastations to career setbacks, Booth approaches each topic with a voice as mournfully blurred at the edges as her carefully chosen aesthetic, all capped by honest, heartfelt storytelling and a permanent thrum of sadness.

Listeners in the midst of young adulthood will commiserate, whilst those who barely remember their twenties will find themselves transported back to the heartbreak and loneliness of simply getting by.

A truly beautiful country victory, this record’s timeless appeal should deservedly bring Booth mainstream success.

- Holly Smith

Read Alli Patton's full review of Laci Kaye Booth's The Loneliest Girl in the World here.

Adeem The Artist - Anniversary

Anniversary is an undeniable masterclass in songwriting and musicianship.

As a critical storyteller, Adeem the Artist continues to prove that they have the unique ability to blend classic and contemporary stylings to produce cohesive, superb results.

However, what sets this collection apart from the rest of their catalogue is that instead of creating broadly, they bravely turn inward to explore the themes of existence through the celebratory lens of their wedding anniversary.

The results are deeply felt and often magnificent. Take a moment or ten to listen to the tender glory of 'Rotations' or the fiery protest of 'Nightmare' and try not to walk away grateful for their willingness to risk it all to tell the wholehearted truth.

In a world that continuously tries to diminish the existence of the queer community, Adeem the Artist, with their beautiful family alongside them, continues to stand tall to find ways to unite instead of divide, to share instead of shield.

With Anniversary, they succeed at all of the above. Now that's something to celebrate.

- SC

Read Soda Canter's full review of Adeem The Artist's Anniversary here.

Emily Nenni - Drive and Cry

Released in May of 2024, Drive & Cry found Emily Nenni revving up the Mustang, leaving the ranch behind and hitting downtown Broadway, all in search of a Honky Tonk or two that's still worth wearing your shit-kickin' boots to.

But this ain't just some party record. From the kindly bar etiquette of 'Get To Know Ya' to the tender vulnerability of 'Set On The Steps', Nenni emboldens her songs with a wit and sensitivity that makes her sophomore effort one of the richest, most well-rounded releases of the year.

With Drive & Cry, Nenni affirms her place as one of the sharpest and most contemporary Country & Western songwriters in town.

- Ross Jones

Read Holly Smith's review of Emily Nenni's Drive & Cry here.

Jackson Dean - On The Back of My Dreams

September 2024 welcomed a significant number of major releases. Amongst artists such as George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Midland, Luke Bryan and Billy Strings, Jackson Dean delivered one of the most substantial collections of the year in On The Back of My Dreams.

Tallying thirteen songs and artfully toeing the lines of country and Southern Rock, On The Back Of My Dreams is a celebratory graduation for the 24-year-old artist. Dean delivers one-two punches like ‘Daddy Raised,’ ‘Another Century’ and ‘Free,’ all while sharing sincere musings on growing up, growing old, falling in love and chasing your dreams, all in no particular order.

Sophomore albums can be a notoriously challenging hurdle for burgeoning artists, but Jackson Dean’s effort here is nothing short of a triumph.

- Lydia Farthing

Benjamin Tod - Shooting Star

Benjamin Tod’s 2024 solo release, Shooting Star, was a marked departure for the Kentucky-based singer-songwriter.

The usual sombre bluegrass and desolate folk that rattles throughout his lone work and the music of his side project, Lost Dog Street Band, was virtually nonexistent on this dazzling honky tonk record.

His fourth solo studio effort and the follow-up to 2022’s Songs I Swore I’d Never Sing, Shooting Star transports Tod not only to his native Nashville but straight down memory lane, taking several pages from the storied country songbook and drawing inspiration from the music that informed him years ago.

The 10-track album is a triumph, offering standouts such as the strutting and honest ‘I Ain’t The Man’ and the sweeping duet with Sierra Ferrell, ‘One Last Time’. Overall, Shooting Star is a brilliant contribution to country music and a remarkable addition to Tod’s catalogue.

- Alli Patton

Riley Green - Don't Mind If I Do

When Riley Green announced he’d be releasing his third project in the space of a year, critics instinctively reached for their wittiest put-downs, expecting to malign Don’t Mind If I Do as a symptom of favouring quantity over quality.

However, they were dealt a welcome surprise when the album dropped in October, with Riley offering up a variegated tapestry of ambiences, storylines and sounds across an equally enduring album.

While the Alabaman loves to raise a Coors Light to his Southern roots, as he does effectively on ‘Turnin’ Dirt’ and ‘Way Out Here’, Green is at his most striking when he’s penning weathered ballads by himself. That's epitomised by the record’s two best offerings, ‘Jesus Saves’ and the title-track, the latter of which features a stirring contribution from his ‘You Look Like You Love Me’ partner-in-crime, Ella Langley.

Don’t Mind If I Do will go down as the album that completed Riley’s evolution into one of country music’s leading figures.

- MM

Read Alli Patton's full review of Don't Mind If I Do here.

Koe Wetzel - 9 Lives

Koe Wetzel's 9 Lives found the country-grunge ruffian taking a break from his beloved wild man ways, providing a well-rounded look at the artist away from his usual party anthems and white powder-fueled narratives.

Throughout the album, he sinks into himself to search his depths, cresting with a long-stifled vulnerability and an oft-masked melancholy in hand. The self-deprecating 'Damn Near Normal', the shadowy 'Sweet Dreams' and the contemplative 'Last Outlaw Alive' shine on a record that thrives in its exposure to honesty.

Equal parts outrageous and vulnerable, swaggering yet subdued, the entire album offered some much-anticipated depth we've craved from the Texan, resulting in a record that's even more gratifying to fall in love with.

- AP

Read Alli Patton's full review of Koe Wetzel's 9 Lives here.

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

Waxahatchee's 2024 album Tigers Blood is one of Katie Crutchfield's most confident and assured pieces of work to date.

Dizzyingly vulnerable and dazzlingly intimate, Tigers Blood is a staggering release, full of heart, wisdom and freedom found throughout songs such as the bewitching '3 Sisters', the triumphant 'Burns Out at Midnight' and the shattering '365'.

Tigers Blood flows with an otherworldliness, brightened with a thrilling sense of renewal and softened by the gorgeous mundanity of the every day all at once.

While at moments abstract, the album provides a crisp snapshot of Waxahatchee at this watery moment in time.

- AP

Read Alli Patton's full review of Waxahatchee's Tigers Blood here.

Ernest - Nashville, Tennessee

"Legalise country music". That was the rallying cry of Ernest's album/manifesto, Nashville, Tennessee, packaged with a mock political run for office, declaring 'Ernest for Mayor'.

Confident but ultimately without hubris, the album veers from classic country to '90s rock and rap with a dash of '80s synths, singling him out as one of the most musically flexible artists working in Nashville today.

The power of a good running mate is always key, and with duets that woo, like 'Why Dallas?' with Lukas Nelson and Lainey Wilson's 'Would If I Could,' he showcases his reverence and skill in producing smooth, timeless country that leaves a mark.

Polished, slick and ambitiously versatile; Ernest gets our vote.

- HS

Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter

On her 1970 debut album Color Me Country, Linda Martell delivers the spunky Fred Burch penned, 'You're Crying Boy, Crying,' with passionate conviction, singing, "You're like a little flower with no sun / I was your sunshine once, but that's over now."

It's hard not to celebrate Martell's return when feeling the rays of her bright features on Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter. The genre-expanding album finds Martell, a black country music pioneer, receiving overdue acknowledgement for her contributions to the genre. She is among several artists, past and present, honored by Beyonce's strategic hands.

This profound maneuvering should come as no surprise. For over a decade, Beyonce has acted as a radical conductor, resetting the cultural zeitgeist with each swift movement of her baton as she introduces her next symphony.

The meticulously crafted, fully immersive listening experience celebrates the artistry, joy and considerable pain of country music, all while challenging the listener. Not since Lemonade has an album caused such a reactive commotion, and whether you love it or hate it, all that matters is you will have an opinion.

Listen closely to the chilling opener 'Ameriican Requiem' and try not to have your mind opened to observation. Start snapping with 'Ya Ya' and attempt not to feel the remarkable imprints of Tina Turner and Linda Martell. Try not to understand the agony of sacrifice with each chord strike of '16 Carriages'.

Cowboy Carter represents the power of boundary-less country music, guided by the fierce commitment of an artist in a league of their own.

- SC

Read Alli Patton's full review of Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter here.

Maggie Antone - Rhinestoned

Maggie Antone's debut studio album, Rhinestoned, was everything we've spent the last couple of years hoping it would be.

From the swaggering thumbs-in-belt-loops '70s country disco-shuffle of 'Johnny Moonshine' to gently strummed Gen Z slacker girl anthems like 'Everyone But You' and 'Suburban Outlaw', the newly crowned country queen of sad takes the recipes of previous generations of women in country and makes them feel refreshingly contemporary for a chronically online audience.

With ten perfectly realised country songs about the less flattering bits of falling in love with someone - the bad break-ups, self-doubt and toxic relationships - Rhinestoned feels both cleverly youth conversant and completely classic at the same time.

- JO

Post Malone - F-1 Trillion (Long Bed)

Without a doubt the most keenly anticipated country album of 2024, Post Malone’s debut foray into the genre has been a long time coming.

First teased back in 2015 with a tweet reading, “WHEN I TURN 30 IM BECOMING A COUNTRY/FOLK SINGER”, Malone decided to treat us a year earlier than he predicted, with the audaciously titled F-1Trillion dropping in August 2024.

Post shrugged off any accusations of jumping on the country bandwagon by fully immersing himself in Nashville’s world, the end-product a sprawling, whistle-stop tour through virtually every country sub-genre you can think of.

With his captivating vibrato and his ear for a killer hook gluing the expansive record together, there isn't really any other album that could have bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings, Americana trailblazer Sierra Ferrell and ‘70s and ‘80s country icon Hank Williams Jr. featured alongside contemporary country figureheads such as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson.

While the main body of F-1Trillion is one big celebration, the nine solo cuts tagged onto the Long Bed deluxe allow Malone to really showcase his songwriting versatility, with the bearded maverick launching into full Western Swing mode on the irresistible autobiographical finale, ‘Back to Texas’.

Even if you take the dizzyingly star-studded guest-list and the seismic hits - such as six-week Hot 100 No. 1 and Billboard’s Official Song of the Summer, ‘I Had Some Help’ with Morgan Wallen - out of the equation, the beauty of F-1Trillion lies in the fact that, at its heart, it’s one long love letter to country music.

- MM

Read Holly Smith's full review of F-1Trillion here.

Ella Langley - hungover

At this point, you may have heard the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of Ella Langley and Riley Green's smash hit 'You Look Like You Love Me'.

A song with the charm and catchiness to continue its momentum far into 2025, it has introduced Langley to a crossover audience only afforded to a few country artists, even with the genre's incomparable popularity today.

With her debut album, Langley proves that this initial success isn't sheer luck of the moment, but evidence of her audacious musical talents.

Hungover is a smoldering record where Langley's undeniably singular and assured voice tells stories of joy, pain and heartbreak. Using her voice as a conduit, she expertly jumps from style to style, retaining and centring her instrument's power. From the rock-thumping 'nicotine' to the spiked 'girl who drank wine' and back to the neo-traditional 'paint the town blue,' Langley is razor sharp, possesses a keen sense of self and is unwilling to relent.

It's one of the best major label debuts from a female country artist in recent history, eliciting the excitement reminiscent of the early careers of Miranda Lambert and Shania Twain.

- SC

Read Soda Canter's full review of Ella Langley's Hungover here.

Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers

Following the release of her debut album in 2021, Sierra Ferrell's sophomore release, Trail of Flowers, has been a Long Time Coming.

Thankfully, it was more than worth the wait. Trail of Flowers is a bold breath of fresh, technicolour air, Ferrell stirring all of the wonderfully playful styles she is an expert of into a record that's somehow more cohesive, captivating and universally empathetic than her first.

How Ferrell managed to coalesce the warm-hearted affirmations of 'Lighthouse' and 'I'll Come Off The Mountain' with the teeth-bared, swirling majesty of 'Fox Hunt' is anyone's guess, but that's just the wonder of Sierra Ferrell - none of us will understand how she does it, but we'll pray she never stops.

- RJ

Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy

It’s a rare artist who can release 13 albums in nine years and remain perfectly ripe, yet Charley Crockett manages it on $10 Cowboy, which rightfully marked a career milestone by earning him his first Grammy nomination.

As ever, the Crockett lore sits front and centre on this unmistakably cool record; the travelling troubadour who bares the incomparable legitimacy of skills hewn on street corners as he busked his way through America and beyond.

Crockett weaves stories that are both simple and complex, faceless and timeless; the time spent truly immersed in the fabric of the stories and places he sings sharpens the edges on this slice-of-life observation on modern-day America.

Like Crockett, the tales never quite fully reveal their hand, but that’s part of the experience. When it sounds this good, it doesn’t matter either way.

- HS

Read Holly Smith's review of Charley Crockett's $10 Cowboy here.

The Red Clay Strays - Made By These Moments

The Red Clay Strays’ rise as one of the most promising bands to emerge in the country music scene in years has been nothing short of mythical. Their sophomore album, Made By These Moments, brings it all to life.

An expansive beast that sweeps the gamut of Southern Rock, gospel and soul, RCS blend genres into a sound that’s as recognisable as it is fresh.

Their musical synchronicity is demonstrated on a track like ‘Ramblin’’, which elevates their frenetic energy from honky tonk standard to electric symphony. This was a skill confirmed with the release of their first live album, which demonstrated just how skilfully they can translate the polish of their studio output into their live shows.

Made By These Moments is a superb documentation of what makes the Alabama band exciting; a musicality so intimate that it can’t help but sweep you along with it.

- HS

Read Holly Smith's full review of The Red Clay Strays' Made By These Moments here.

Kelsea Ballerini - Patterns

Kelsea Ballerini has made her way into Holler's Albums of the Year for the second consecutive year, and this one feels self-explanatory.

If you've listened to PATTERNS, released in late October to much-deserved fanfare, it's nearly impossible to believe that Ballerini isn't at her very best with this project.

Reflective, empowering, introspective and unabashedly honest, it's a 15-song collection that will become a defining chapter of the Tennessee native's storied career.

As we noted in our review, "In a year when a lot of the albums released by country's big hitters have landed like bloops, Kelsea Ballerini has smashed it out of the park with a country pop grand slam".

- LF

Read Jof Owen's full review of Kelsea Ballerini's Patterns here.

Johnny Blue Skies - Passage Du Desir

This year, Sturgill Simpson traded in his government name for the shiny new moniker Johnny Blue Skies, under which he released Passage Du Desir.

The eight-track album and clean slate ushered in a new era for the widely celebrated country crooner, an age that finds him shrugging preconceived notions and shedding the things that no longer served him.

Passage Du Desir offered ease and comfort to fans grieving what they deemed lost, as Simpson introduced them to the light-hearted, titular character Mr. Blue Skies on songs like the warped ‘Mint Tea’ and the shuffling ‘Scooter Blues’. The album still packs the Sturgill punch, too, especially with the sobering ‘Jupiter’s Faerie’ and the contemplative ‘Who I Am’, finding the artist untethered and, therefore, refreshed.

Passage Du Desir is a true musical conquest, a triumphant debut for Johnny Blue Skies and a pure magnum opus from Sturgill Simpson.

- AP

Read Soda Canter's full review of Johnny Blue Skies' Passage Du Desir here.

Megan Moroney - Am I Okay?

Everybody's favourite Georgia Girl has ascended to her throne as the newest country queen with her sophomore album, Am I Okay?.

Taking us all on a hard relatable pleasure cruise through the hook ups, break-ups and sometimes toxic relationships that women have with men, producer and collaborator Kristian Bush adds a touch of Olivia Rodrigo’s peppy punk pop to Moroney's peculiarly contemporary brand of classic country.

Beginning in an uncharacteristically good place, her distinctive down-to-earth humour and raspy conversational charm was put to work as the romantic comedy turned to tragedy as the album unfolds.

"Her songs capture all the best and worst bits about being in love in the same way that Nora Ephron films or Dolly Alderton books do", we wrote in our review of the album back in July. "Unflinchingly honest, often hilarious and delightfully self-deprecating. Heartbreak might not be gendered, but when Megan Moroney sings about it, it always feels like she's singing about a distinctly female experience of it".

Megan Moroney holds the kind of place in country music that Bridget Jones’ Diary, the Barbie movie and bottles of rosé hold in pop culture at large. Men might enjoy it, but ostensibly this is something that's been created by a woman, for women and about women.

- JO

Read Jof Owen's full review of Megan Moroney's Am I Okay? here.

Zach Top - Cold Beer & Country Music

Zach Top isn't the savior of country music. He IS country music.

You can compare him to all the greats of the ‘80s and ‘90s - Whitley, Jackson, Strait, whoever - but nothing can take away from the fact that Zach Top is already one of the finest contemporary songwriters and performers of traditional country music of our generation, and that's proven with his sophomore album, Cold Beer & Country Music.

'Dirt Turns To Gold', 'There's The Sun' and 'Use Me' are three of the most heart-wrenching and simply beautiful country songs we've heard this century, while 'I Never Lie' reminds us just why we love the damn genre in the first place, observing country's complex understanding of human emotions and succinctly channelling them into a narrative that's sympathetic, acutely clever and downright cool in equal measure.

Zach Top has captured lightning in a bottle with Cold Beer & Country Music, and that lightning could scorch the path for the genre for the decade to come.

- RJ

Read Soda Canter's full review of Zach Top's Cold Beer & Country Music.