The 50 Best Australian Albums of 2024

Don’t ever ask Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice to slow down. Melbourne’s local DIY legends have averaged one record per year for half a decade, and as Post-Trash noted, “each successive DSUP record is better than the last.”

This is certainly the case with Total Reality, which speeds through art-rock, new wave, post-punk, and almost every other rock subgenre you can think of in under 30 minutes.

Cosmo’s Midnight’s album title is a mandate, and one you’ll want to follow.

Aided by some great guest spots, the Sydney electronic duo’s record is packed with dancefloor-ready anthem after dancefloor-ready anthem.

Following two EPs in three years, Telenova took their time preparing their debut album, and the results speak for themselves.

Time Is a Flower is bigger, bolder, and more ambitious than anything else the art-pop trio has released, successfully expanding on their cinematic sound. The production is sleek and sophisticated, which is made more impressive by learning that Telenova self-produced the album.

Feeling stressed after releasing his last album, Drinking With My Smoking Friends, during the pandemic in 2021, Allday retreated to an olive farm in Italy to decompress. Listening to The Necklace, it’s obvious how rejuvenating this trip was for the Adelaide rapper.

His mature lyrics reflect on toxic behaviour and more, and it’s clear that Allday is also revelling in returning to rap after the indie-pop diversions of his previous LP. “With heartbreak, humour… and hooks aplenty, this is Allday operating at the top of his game,” our review praised.

Troye Sivan’s touring mate proves himself to be a star in his own right on his promising debut album. There’s plenty of tender songwriting on House With the Blue Door, Ward reflecting with honesty on childhood, family, and the quiet scars that follow us into adulthood.

Read Ward’s recent Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview here.

Singer-songwriters always mine the most difficult moments of their lives for material, and Mia Dyson is no different.

Tender Heart is a beautiful, gut-wrenching account of the physical and emotional aftermath of a near-death experience. After everything she went through, winning Best Blues & Roots Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards must have meant so much to Dyson.

One of the best bands on Melbourne’s reliable independent label Spoilsport Records, Hooper Crescent have never sounded better than they do on Essential Tremors.

Hooper Crescent’s second album is more polished (but not too polished), more experimental, and more playful than previous releases. Recalling the squirrelly art-rock of Omni (or, dare we say, Television), Hooper Crescent produce more off-kilter grooves than you’ll know what to do with.

Mashd N Kutcher’s trajectory was seemingly changed when the group’s leader, Matt James, was diagnosed with cancer (multiple myeloma) last year.

That’s what makes their new album title so powerfully pointed: LEGACY is a cathartic and triumphant musical return for MNK. It’s a “collection of dancefloor-ready bangers and beats overflowing with samples, hip-hop and life,” as we wrote in our four-star review.

Ben Lee might insist his latest album is “for the old headz,” but it’s really for power-pop fans of all ages.

Doing his best Fountains of Wayne impression, Australia’s evergreen singer-songwriter has a lot of fun on This One’s for the Old Headz, and it’s impossible not to be swept up by his joyous spirit.

Read Lee’s album breakdown here.

Illy’s seen it all in his life and career, and his seventh album is his reward. Aptly titled Good Life, Illy’s latest is a well-meaning ode to staying positive and not letting the ups and downs of life get the better of you.

“Good Life is coming from the most fully formed Illy, the artist, to date,” as he said.

Feel like you were born in the wrong decade? Winter McQuinn might have the album for you.

Just as he does while leading Melbourne’s throwback band Sunfruits, McQuinn’s solo project beautifully harks back to ’70s folk and rock. Move to the Trees is the furthest thing from pastiche, however, and these songs could well have belonged in the era of Drake and Barrett.

Pierce Brothers really put in the hard yards for their latest album. Operating a back-to-basics rollout, the indie-folk siblings undertook fan meet-and-greets, myriad live shows, and even a small busking return as they returned to their origins.

Their grassroots campaign paid off when Everything Is Bigger Than Me secured a top 20 debut on the ARIA Charts. “As an independent act in Australia, we’ve definitely had to work so hard to get our numbers over the line,” the brothers told The Music Network.

All those who insisted “Dance Monkey” was a fluke to the front, please. Now on her second album, Tones and I has more than proved she’s a bona fide pop star.

Her follow-up to 2021’s Welcome to the Madhouse enjoyed one of the biggest opening weeks for an Australian album in 2024, debuting atop the ARIA Charts in August.

Read Tones’ Rolling Stone AU/NZ Musicians on Musicians cover story here.

Parsnip, you fear, are a dying breed.

The retro Melbourne band produce shaggy, indie-pop that delights in its imperfections, and their second album – their first in five years – is wonderfully ramshackle. Behold contains singalong vocals, replayable hooks, and a gleeful insouciance that marks out Parsnip as one of one.

Kasey Chambers’ first album in six years is unaffected by that relatively long wait.

“This album is who I am,” the ARIA Hall of Fame inductee said, and Backbone is simply the work of a seasoned, world-class musician.

Read Chambers’ Rolling Stone AU/NZ Musicians on Musicians interview here.

Our four-star review of Paul Kelly’s latest album says it all.

“After examining the human condition from every conceivable angle in his music for the last 45 years, it would be understandable if Paul Kelly had nothing left in the tank. Thankfully, his 29th album proves one of Australia’s greatest living singer-songwriters still has plenty of gold left to mine.”

Ashton Irwin loves the drums, no one’s disputing that, but he gives his voice a great workout on his second solo album.

The 5 Seconds of Summer drummer has literally bled from furiously hitting his drum kit before (hence the visceral album title), but his vocals come to the fore on BLOOD ON THE DRUMS. Irwin earnestly sings each pop-rock anthem with gusto, offering “a message of resilience” to his fans.

Read Irwin’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ Musicians on Musicians interview here.

Almost two decades into their career as a duo, Angus & Julia Stone returned to their roots for their sixth album.

Cape Forestier offers fans exactly what they’ve came to love from the siblings: poetic lyrics, soul-stirring singing, and enchanting indie-folk melodies.

Amy Shark’s position as one of Australia’s very best pop singer-songwriters has long been secured, but Sunday Sadness is here just to emphasise the fact.

“[…] what places Sunday Sadness in the lead of her long-player canon is that it feels more seductive than its predecessors. From glorious guitar lines to brain-tickling production elements to her most quotable lyrics yet, Amy sounds more aware than ever of the chokehold she has over pop,” we wrote in a rare five-star review.

At this point, Pond’s impressive consistency must make other bands jealous. The psychedelic rock favourites take to their first double album as if it’s their 20th double LP, stuffing the record with fascinating ideas and inventions.

“WA band’s 10th album plays like an obscure psych-pop gem from another era,” we wrote in a four-star review.

Missy Higgins’ sort of sequel to her iconic debut album The Sound of White wasn’t even the biggest moment of her year.

The Second Act dropped two months before she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and the heartfelt confessional songwriting of her sixth studio album proves why she was worthy of such an honour.

Troy Cassar-Daley won Best Country Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards, but that’s really the norm for him now.

His sixth win in that category came for his most personal recording yet, the country great exploring grief and the full spectrum of emotions that come with loss.

Read Cassar-Daley’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview about the album here.

“Confident, breezy pop and guests including Morgan Evans shine on the Byron Bay singer-songwriter’s debut,” we wrote of Kita Alexander’s album earlier this year.

Young in Love signals that Australia has another potential global pop export in its midst, and the album earned Alexander a nomination for the prized Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist award at this year’s ARIAs.

Firmly established as one of Australia’s best live bands, The Buoys sound just as strong on record.

The Sydney outfit’s debut album is packed with punk and indie rock gems, all performed with roaring energy and enthusiasm. Lustre is the debut The Buoys always had in their locker.

We don’t just give out five-star reviews to any old act, but Lime Cordiale received one for exceeding expectations on their latest album.

“As purveyors of breezy indie-pop with subversive lyrical undertones, expectations were high for Lime Cordiale’s third effort… Paired with bouncy guitar melodies, warbly synths and spiralling horn celebrations from the multi-instrumentalists, this record feels like liberation.

“Lime Cordiale have had their sound honed for some time; but an album that can make you cry-dance in your living room is the ultimate flex,” our review praised.

Listening to an artist like Emma Russack leaves one conflicted: you like thinking that you have her intimate storytelling all to yourself, but you also wish that she had a wider audience. And Russack is an artist deserving of a much wider audience.

On her sixth album, the Melbourne indie singer-songwriter incisively ponders romantic relationships and how they warp our sense of self. “It’s about the funny experiences that happen when you’re untethered” Russack, who also performs in Snowy Band, said. “I had these awful experiences and encounters that made me also reflect on my past experiences with different people, romantic or otherwise.”

Polish Club’s first self-released album confirms that being on a label isn’t the best thing for every band.

The Sydney duo positively soar on Heavy Weight Heart, producing a collection of indie rock made for stadiums; several stomping numbers wouldn’t sound out of place on a Killers record.

“The album strikes a perfect balance between hard and soft, sincerity and boldness,” lead vocalist David Novak said, and the songs on Heavy Weight Heart will have you belting them out repeatedly.

Everyone speaks of the difficult second album, but a band’s third album can prove to be just as treacherous. Not for Middle Kids, though.

Faith Crisis Pt 1 measures up to the alternative rock outfit’s acclaimed second album, Today We’re the Greatest (2021), and earned a well-deserved nomination for Best Rock Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards.

Australia loves (or loathes?) a sharehouse, and Sycco’s debut album was inspired by her own rundown Brisbane digs.

It might have been inspired by a DIY setting, but Zorb shines through Sycco’s productive collaborations with the likes of Chrome Sparks and Flume, the end result a collection of seriously stylish indie-pop.

Read Sycco’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview about her debut here.

Accolades just follow Teenage Dads wherever they go, including winning the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist award at the 2023 ARIAs, and Majordomo will likely be lauded next year.

Teenage Dads effortlessly beat the second album blues on Majordomo. “The Mornington Peninsula indie band bring a healthy amount of youthful enthusiasm to LP 2,” we wrote in a positive review.

Almost eight long years in the making, Empire of the Sun’s fourth album was definitely worth the wait.

Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore conjure a melting pot of pop, melody, and hooks on Ask That God, a record that stands comparison with anything they’ve released together before.

Read Steele’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ Musicians on Musicians cover story here.

Thelma Plum called I’m Sorry, Now Say It Back the “big sister” of her Better in Blak, and her second album sees solid growth in songwriting and scope from her excellent debut.

The Brisbane singer-songwriter has always been a relatable lyricist and she’s on fine form here, writing with plentiful humour and self-awareness.

Read Plum’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ Musicians on Musicians interview here.

To modernise an old phrase, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and a new King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard album.

This decade is just five years old but Flight b741 is the psychedelic rock band’s 11th album in that period, a simply astounding rate. What’s even more astounding is the all-round strength of King Gizzard’s latest: they get wickedly nihilistic in the lyrics, backed by delirious, big-sounding riffs.

After seeing their previous album, 2021’s Surrender, top the ARIA Charts and win them their first Grammy (for Dance/Electronic Recording in 2022 with “Alive”), one would think that RÜFÜS DU SOL would have been feeling the pressure coming into Inhale / Exhale.

This was far from the reality, however, as the group’s Tyrone Lindqvist told us. “Winning a Grammy, I feel like has relieved a lot of pressure… It was kind of unattainable. It wasn’t even in our brains,” he said.

Lindqvist and his bandmates do indeed sound free and at ease on their latest album, showcasing why they’ve risen to become Australia’s next big stadium act.

It’s more of the same from King Stingray on their second album – which is far from a bad thing.

Making the acclaim that attached to their classic debut album seem like nothing, the NT rockers summon the goods on For the Dreams, spinning more tales of life, home, friends, and good times. Several standout tracks, particularly, “Lookin’ Out”, will be crowd favourites at Australian festivals in no time.

When your previous album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize, you’ve got to big for its follow-up.

Party Dozen fill Crime in Australia with abrasive anthems that are both visceral and danceable, exploring ideas both ridiculous and serious. Among the latter, there’s the blistering “The Big Man Upstairs”, inspired (if that’s the right word) by Queensland’s “hillbilly dictator”Joh Bjelke-Petersen and the “thirst for power that feels sadly relevant to the state of the world at the moment.”

The Sydney noise-rock duo of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone) and Jonathan Boulet (percussion) recorded, mixed, and mastered the album by themselves in their Marrickville studio, and split the album into two contrasting sides: the first half is ‘order’, offering the most digestible Party Dozen songs, while the second half is ‘disorder’, the music “becoming more unlawful, unhinged, louder, and noisier.”

As they note on their Bandcamp, 2022’s The Real Work was the first album that really got them noticed, and their latest album should increase their standing again. Because you can add another crime in Australia to the list: Party Dozen not being a bigger name in their home country.

Hiatus Kaiyote’s first album in three years features 11 tracks that highlight the band’s collaborative creativity, capturing the spontaneity of late-night jam sessions and organic instrument interactions rather than following a strict musical blueprint.

Read Hiatus Kaiyote’s track-by-track breakdown of Love Heart Cheat Code here.

Before you say anything: yes, Crowded House are included in our Australian list.

Gravity Stairs begins an impressive new chapter for the legendary pop-rock band, one that hints toward there still being plenty of interesting corners of the pop universe left for the Rolling Stone AU/NZ cover stars to explore.

Kylie’s swift follow-up to last year’s beloved Tension might not be that album’s equal, but there’s still plenty to enjoy in Tension II.

Aided by prominent guest appearances by The Blessed Madonna, Orville Peck, and more stars, Kylie, as she always does, creates dance-pop magic on her 17th studio album.

The headline for our highly positive review of Emily Wurramara’s latest album sums it up, calling it an “exhilarating mix of blues, indie, country and folk.”

“NARA does what she has always set out to do, no matter how difficult the storytelling: bring her people along for the journey,” our review concluded.

Confidence Man’s party-starting new album is so good that it got not one but two Rolling Stone reviews.

“On their truly excellent third album, Janet Planet and Sugar Bones hurtle with abandon towards the dancefloor and onto festival main stages,” gushed Rolling Stone UK, giving 3AM (LA LA LA) five stars.

Australia has a new electronic music superstar.

Can You Hear Me Dreaming? is Laura Jane Lowther’s best work as KUČKA yet, the English-born, WA producer expertly expanding on her impressive 2021 debut album Wrestling. She effortlessly merges irresistible pop hooks with gleaming electronic production, her opaque songs vibrating with glitchy twists and turns.

Australia – Melbourne in particular – is spoiled for choice when it comes to wiry and angular post-punk bands. So what makes Gut Health stand out?

Put on their debut album Stiletto for just three minutes and you’ll understand. That’s roughly how long it takes to play the thrilling opener “Uh oh”, which begins as Gut Health mean to go on: all explosive energy, excitable sprechgesang, and some of the best dance-punk hooks since the mid-2000s.

In Athina Uh Oh, they have a seriously formidable frontperson, one who recalls Life Without Building’s lively lead vocalist Sue Tompkins.

Stiletto is the type of debut album that won’t just break Gut Health out of Melbourne – it should also catapult the sextet to global renown in rock and punk circles.

That voice. That bloody voice. You’ll always remember the first time you heard Grace Cummings’ stop-you-in-your-tracks, sonorous vocals.

Already hailed as an Artist You Need to Know by Rolling Stone, Ramona is the album Cummings has been building towards for a while. Her voice is utterly commanding for 11 tracks, whether she’s belting out a rocky number or slipping into a downward ballad.

What’s left to be said about Blak music collective 3%’s powerful debut album? How many superlatives are left to use? Our five-star review says it all:

“Although covering weighty themes of reclamation, Indigenous deaths in custody and closing the gap, Kill the Dead is more than an album that is built on songs and stories of protest,” our review stated.

“It’s also a beautifully celebratory moment for Blak musicians and artists. The arrival of this album is poignant, as the Australian music space is being flooded with the talents of a new generation of Blak excellence.

“The spirit that weaves throughout this album is natural; the chemistry between the members of 3% striking for a group that has only been together a short period of time. Timing is everything, and the connection between these artists feels perfectly aligned — this is music that has never been more relevant, or needed.”

SPEED’s inclusion this high up our list has a lot to do with their story. Rising out of the inner depths of Australia’s hardcore scene, growing mainstream recognition of their talent culminated in a stunning ARIAs win in the Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Album category last month.

They won that award for their debut album, Only One Mode, a battering ram of a record that heralds SPEED as one of the most exciting hardcore bands of their generation, not just in Australia but worldwide.

It takes a special band like SPEED to break out of a scene like hardcore in the manner that they did; that they’ve achieved this feat with uncompromising beliefs makes it all the more exhilarating.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ first album in five years is a towering achievement.

Already nominated for the Australian Music Prize this year, Wild God is in with a chance of winning two Grammys (Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance). Australia is lucky to have a group of musicians like Cave and co. operating at such a high level on their 18th album.

As we wrote when in our Future of Music series earlier this year, Good Morning have a strong claim to be the most underrated Australian band of their generation.

The dreamy indie pop duo have been releasing excellent records since 2014, back when melancholic songs like “Warned You” and “Don’t Come Home Today” became sensations in indie circles.

Ten years later, Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair released Good Morning Seven, a double album that finally raised their profile in Australia and beyond.

For fans who’ve been listening since Shawcross (2014), or Glory (2016), or Basketball Breakups (2019), Good Morning Seven is the album they always knew was coming.

Parsons and Blair’s might still be DIY in spirit and execution, but their double album contains myriad polished productions, the pair displaying a Beatles-esque knack for gorgeous pop melodies. Try playing “The Worm Turns” just once; try not humming “Queen of Comedy” all day at work.

Like another stunning album this year, Cindy Lee’s instant classic Diamond Jubilee, it often sounds like the tracks on Good Morning Seven are being transmitted from another time altogether; wondrous chamber-pop from a forgotten dance hall coming to bless our chaotic modern times. (It’s a feat that The Lemon Twigs also pull off to great effect.)

As if a double album wasn’t enough, Good Morning shared another new album, The Accident, just a few weeks ago, and it could also have earned a spot in our top 50. But Good Morning Seven is the cult duo’s finest music – for now.

“Royel Otis back up the hype,” we declared in our review of PRATTS & PAIN earlier this year, and there was certainly a lot of hype surrounding the Sydney duo of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic.

Hailed as Australia’s most promising guitar-led band thanks to songs like “Oysters in My Pocket” and “Kool Aid”, Royel Otis’ long-awaited debut album contained enough propulsive, danceable indie pop that it swept the 2024 ARIA Awards, including a win in the coveted Best Group category.

Now at the level where their Like A Version cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor can go viral, the hype’s going to be even greater for their second album – whenever that may come.

Amyl and the Sniffers come out swinging wildly on “Jerkin'”, the opening track on their latest album, Cartoon Darkness.

“You’re a dumb cunt, you’re an asshole / Every time you talk, you mumble, grumbles / Need to wipe your mouth after you speak… You are ugly all day, I am hot always,” Amy Taylor scolds. (Pity whomever is receiving her derision; rather them than us.)

A lesser band would be mocked for opening an album with such aggressive self-aggrandising, but this is Amyl and the fucking Sniffers, and Taylor is the best Australian frontperson in decades – they can do and say whatever they want.

Tricky third albums have been the downfall of other big-name bands, but the Melbourne punks suffer no such problem. Despite the oft-lacerating lyrics, they sound more in control than ever on Cartoon Darkness, displaying boundless energy and fierce ambition.

Nothing is off the table lyrically, these 11 tracks taking on the climate crisis, war, the rise of AI, and the frailty of modern politics with passion and verve.

It’s not hyperbolic to say that Cartoon Darkness is the album that should cement Amyl’s standing as the pre-eminent Australian rock band of their generation.