by Chris McGinty
I’m sure I will connect with new music again at some point in my existence, but it’s the last couple of years that don’t impress me much. That one’s new, right? 1997? New enough, I guess. I know that I didn’t listen to very much new music this year, because this wasn’t my first thought for a blog post, but after starting four others that all became too big to write in one sitting, I got to thinking, “What can I write that doesn’t require theme and connection and expertise, but is rather just a small sampling of songs with a loose thread tying them together?” Easy. The four songs released in 2024 that I managed to hear and enjoy. Ok, there were a few more, but without repeating artists and sticking to the ones that stood out, here are the four.
Dua Lipa – Houdini
Let’s already start with an issue. The single for “Houdini” was released in November of 2023, but the album (“Radical Optimism”) was released in 2024. This kind of thing has screwed me over in trivia a number of times. I was once playing a board game, and I said that “Hotel California” by The Eagles came out in 1977. If you look at the charts, I was right. If you consider that the game was asking about the album, not the single, then I was completely wrong… by three weeks. So I’m going to include this Dua Lipa track here in lieu of a single like “Training Season,” which is good and actually came out in 2024, but didn’t catch my attention the same way “Houdini” did.
The Dandy Warhols – I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem
There are groups that I like an awful lot, but I haven’t truly made the deep dive yet. The Dandy Warhols caught my attention with “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia.” I have listened to many other tracks by them since, but just not enough. In February, I saw that there was a new track, and it was notable because they used AI to create their video and because Slash performs the lead guitar for parts of the song. They also did a song with Debbie Harry. It was good, but not as satisfying as “I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem.”
Billy Morrison – Crack Cocaine
I had no idea who Billy Morrison was before this year. He’s played with Billy Idol (after and sometimes along side Steve Stevens) and with The Cult (as a touring musician), so maybe if I’d gone down a rabbit hole I might have got to him eventually. Oh, he’s married to Jennifer Morrison (but not the one from “House MD”). The most direct way for me to hear of him was the way I heard of him, because he did a song with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals… and Steve Stevens. He’s there too. The song is blues rock, which is fine. I think that it works because of Ozzy though.
The Cure – Alone
The Cure hasn’t made a whole lot of music over the last 20 years. There was the 2004 eponymous album, which I liked a lot. Then there was “4:13 Dream” in 2008, which I didn’t know existed until this year. Either way, it was sixteen years between albums. The Cure formed in 1976, released their first single in 1978, and their first album in 1979. No matter how you do the math, “Bloodflowers” was released in the first half of their career, making 11 studio albums in the first half of their career and 3 studio albums in the second half. It was a surprise that they released anything. I have also heard “A Fragile Thing.” It may be a better song than “Alone,” but I love the sprawling three and a half minutes of instrumental bliss that is distinctly The Cure that “Alone” offers up.
