10. Poeji – Nant
Mongolian singer Enji’s debut collaboration with German jazz drummer Simon Popp is a masterclass in vocal range and control. Largely wordless and laden with reverb, Enji’s intricate vocalisations span everything from the percussive whispers of sharp breath on Akin to yearning, drawn-out phrases on Cathedral and the sprightly rhythms of Ybbs. Popp, meanwhile, accompanies with melodic drum textures, including interlocking patterns on toms and tuned percussion. Recording almost entirely in single, improvised takes, Enji and Popp produce a remarkably expansive and imaginative sound from just two instruments, sitting somewhere between enveloping ambience and spiritual improvisation.
9. DJ Love – Budots World (Reloaded)
Originating in the bustling urban sprawl of Davao City in the southern Philippines, budots is the lo-fi dance genre that took TikTok by storm in 2024 thanks to the fiendishly catchy track Emergency Budots. Since the early 00s, Davao’s DJ Love has been putting his own spin on the genre, combining signature bouncing rhythms with intense melodies that sound like the passing wail of a police siren. His debut album, Budots World (Reloaded), is a joyous celebration of his sound comprising car horn samples, insistent rhythms and trance and techno influences that nudge the genre forwards.
8. Ganavya – Daughter of a Temple
Indian classical vocalist Ganavya has had a breakthrough year, releasing two albums in 2024 to showcase the emotive capacity of her acrobatic voice. The first record, Like the Sky, I’ve Been Too Quiet, featured production from jazz saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings to create a breathy journey into downtempo quietude. On the second album, Daughter of a Temple, Ganavya soars from gentle ambience to stirring takes on spiritual staples. Lusciously embellished versions of Hindu spirituals Prema Muditha and Om Namah Shivaya enhance the clarity of her keening lines, while a four-part reimagining of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme suite harnesses the power of communal harmony to touch something deeper than song.
South African trombonist and composer Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O swaps the tender joyousness of his previous records for a darker introspection on True Story. From the rain-spattered atmospherics and piano dirge of opener Memory Is the Weapon to the sparse groove and yearning, vibrato-laden vocals of Global Warning and shards of sampled shouts playing over rattling percussion on Name It Later, Tree-O’s palette is as compelling as it is unsettling. Brief glimpses of light come from the uplifting harmonies of Baby Ngimanzi Wuthando and the propulsive funk groove of MaBrrrrrrrrr, but the moving True Story largely dwells in downbeat energy. Read the full review
On her fifth album, Grammy-winning singer Arooj Aftab shifts away from the quiet intensity that previously characterised her work, producing nine tracks that pair the husky warmth of her voice with mercurial and moody soundscapes. Plaintive jazz piano and finger-picked folk guitar interweave on Na Gul, while Raat Ki Rani approaches the dancefloor with its combination of horn fanfares and shuffling percussion, and Bolo Na descends into darkness on the back of sludgy bass. Throughout, Aftab’s powerful voice anchors each composition, gliding languorously over shifting sounds to embody the night-time settings that provided inspiration for this music. Read the full review
On Native American singer Joe Rainey’s latest project, he employs powerful vocals alongside fellow Indigenous singer Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings and producer S Carey to produce a spirited blend of tradition and electronic intensity. At their best when they sing full-throated and freeform without lyrics, Rainey and Jennings blaze brightly amid the ambient melodics and dulcimer strings of opener Franklin Warrior, as well as interweaving syncopated vocalisations over the thunderous kick drums of SGC, pushing each other into a cacophony of soulful self-expression. Read the full review
The debut solo album from Kenyan metalhead Martin Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, is a relentless listening experience comprising 13 quickfire tracks that weld shuddering trap rhythms to industrial techno, sludge metal and doom. Kanja’s indefatigable voice is the real star here, leaping from guttural growls to yelps, screams and everything other than simple melody. It’s a loud, brash display of power that cuts through accompanying instrumentation of warped kick drums and distorted guitar, providing a sound bed of almost overwhelming chaos that, if you can stick with it for long enough, coheres to convey a strange sense of liberation. Read the full review
Los Angeles saxophonist Sam Gendel coaxes a whisper-soft sound from his soprano on this tender duet record with Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento. Perfectly accompanying Nascimento’s muscular finger-picking with breathy melodies, The Room is virtuosic in its blend of technical complexity and moving impact. Tracks such as Poeira and Kewere feature busy, cyclical guitar rhythms which Gendel meets with the warm punctuation of his instrumental tone, interlocking improvisations to produce songs that are layered and imaginative. Drawing the listener in with an intimate quietude while also playing through expansive ideas, The Room is a record showcasing two musicians at the height of their powers. Read the full review
At 82 years old, Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento’s debut album with jazz composer Esperanza Spalding is a testament to the enduring power of the mature voice. Across 16 tracks, the pair reimagine compositions from Nascimento’s catalogue, such as 1969’s Outubro and 1972’s Cais, and the singer’s newly developed vibrato tone lends yearning emotion to these decades-old compositions. New tracks such as the downtempo unison duet on Saci leave space for the cracks and fissures in his delivery to provide masses of feeling. An intergenerational triumph, carefully orchestrated by Spalding, that highlights how the vulnerable changes wrought by age can often produce affecting inspiration. Read the full review
A posthumous release that subverts the usual trend for hastily pieced-together collections of offcuts, Chain of Light is a remarkable discovery. Formed of four recordings made in 1990, on the cusp of Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s crossover success with fusion record Mustt Mustt, he is in full-throated command of the qawwali tradition. Standards of his repertoire such as Ya Allah Ya Rehman showcase sweeping syllabics over the locked-in groove of his family band Party, but it’s the previously unrecorded Ya Gaus Ya Meeran that truly surprises. Over nine minutes of shifting rhythms, Khan anchors us in his counterpoint and longing cries, cementing his status as one of music’s great voices. Read the full review