For the entire year, we write about some of the heaviest, most insane music on the planet. But that’s not all we listen to, because who can listen to the same style of music all the time? Here are 10 of our favorite non-metal releases from 2024, presented alphabetically.

THE CURE, “Songs of a Lost World” (Fiction): It’s not just in metal where older bands are finding the fire and inspiration to make great music again. Goth legends the Cure dropped “Songs of a Lost World,” their 14th record, right on the cusp of what became a dark autumn in America. It’s slower, mournful, and channeled, one of their best albums in a long, long time, and one I’d put in the top half of their catalog. Opening the record and first song “Alone” with, “This is the end of every song that we sing,” felt like a final curtain, but luckily it’s not. The record also peaks on “A Fragile Thing”; the more up-tempo “Drone:Nodrone”; and epic closer “Endsong” that parts the waves of gloom into a fiery burst of emotion. Just hearing how great the band sounds almost is worth the admission price alone, but the great songwriting really pulls everything together. (Nov. 1)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.thecure.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://thecure.lnk.to/SongsOfALostWorld

For more on the band, go here: https://www.fictionrecords.co.uk/

IDLES, “Tangk” (Partisan): First, the Pitchfork review for this record is a disgrace. Talk about missing the point entirely. Here on “Tangk” the Brit rock band gets into softer sounds and more experimentation, with the theme of letting love permeate our surroundings standing out. But the barbs are here too, and if anything this record expands their palette and makes the future limitless. Plus, vocalist Joe Talbot remains a firebreather, even if he weaves in a little more sentimentality. “Gift Horse” is a jolt of electricity; “POP POP POP” leans more toward nighttime numbness; “Roy” chimes and echoes while giving static electricity; and highlight “Hall & Oates” celebrates love and friendship among male friends in as exuberant and celebratory manner possible. The chorus of, “I love my man! I love! My man! I love my man,” is the statement we need more of in a toxic society. (Feb. 16)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.idlesband.com/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://shopus.idlesband.com/

Or here (UK): https://shop.idlesband.com/

For more on the band, go here: https://partisanrecords.com/

MERCE LEMON, “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild” (Darling): Pittsburgh’s Merce Lemon is a bit of a throwback, in that her music situates into Midwestern dust, country twang (not the stadium-ruining kind), and blunt emotion. “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild” shows Lemon’s growth as an artist has hit an early apex, and I have to admit the strains of Magnolia Electric Co.-style stomp in some of the songs made this an easy one for me to love. “Backyard Lover” shows vulnerability and mourning and ends in scorn with her cries of, “You fucking liar”; “”Foolish and Fast” is one of the biggest ear worms of the year (it was my top song on Spotify); “Crow” is a an acoustic folk track that dig into your heart; and the title track shows some experimentation and dreamy waves amid her raw playing. My favorite non-metal record of the year. (Sept. 27)

For more on the band, go here: https://mercelemon.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.darlingrecordings.com/store

For more on the band, go here: https://www.darlingrecordings.com/

MANNEQUIN PUSSY, “I Got Heaven”: Taking on a Mannequin Pussy album is almost like hearing an record completed by three different bands all working toward the same cause. There’s so much variety in what they do, and they can go from getting your blood flowing with an edgy pop rock gem (“Loud Bark”) to peeling your flesh off with a spoon (“OK? OK! OK? OK!”). Vocalist/guitarist Marisa “Missy” Dabice is one of the most enigmatic people to front a band in a long time. She could spark a revolution if she so cared to do so. The rest of the band knocks it out of the park with her on the great title track that has some of the more memorable lyrics this year; the more gentle but rousing “Nothing Like”; the ’90s alternative rock push of “Softly”; and body-bruising punk of “Aching.” Glad to see this band blowing up.  (March 1)

For more on the band, go here: https://mannequinpussy.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://epitaph.store/?ffm=FFM_90212db9f5ebd842463c7b229b6e4daf

For more on the band, go here: https://www.epitaph.com/

MIDWIFE, “No Depression in Heaven” (The Flenser): Madeline Johnston is the sole creator behind Midwife, the mostly guitar-and-vocals-driven music she has created over three full-length records, her latest being “No Depression in Heaven.” If you’re familiar with her music, there won’t be much of a musical adjustment to make here, so there’s a bit of comfort. Her soft, vocals-into-telephone-receiver approach is just as haunting as ever on tracks including immersive opener “Rock n Roll Never Forgets” that is prime dreamgaze; “Autoluminescent” that has guitars lapping, dark words raining down, melodies and emotions gliding into the shadows; “Better off Alone” that breezes but also gives an uneasy feeling in the gut; while  and the title track that brings the record to a close, the guitars shimmering lullaby style, hushed singing and looped calls of, “Crying,” getting into your psyche. (Sept. 6)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/hvnmtl/

To buy the album, go here: https://nowflensing.com/collections/midwife

For more on the label, go here: https://nowflensing.com/

THE SMILE, “Wall of Eyes” (XL): A band containing the formative tissue of Radiohead (Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood) along with an accomplished drummer in his own right (Tom Skinner) never was here to fill the shoes of one of the world’s largest rock bands. Sure, there are some hints of Radiohead here, but what you get from this band and their second album “Wall of Eyes” (their third “Cutouts” arrived in October!) is jazzier, easier, breezier, but just as dark and foreboding. Admittedly, the opening title track does wash in some of the same terrain as Radiohead’s last few records, as does “Teleharmonic,” but in more of a parallel universe kind of way. “Read the Room” can sound borderline threatening, what with its jangly guitar lines; “I Quit” quivers in a medicine head kind of way; and “Bending Hectic” runs the experimental gamut, making your aching brain see stars before the spirited gusts at the end. (Jan. 26)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.thesmiletheband.com/music

To buy the album, go here: https://shopusa.xlrecordings.com/wall-of-eyes

For more on the band, go here: https://shopusa.xlrecordings.com/

ST VINCENT, “All Born Screaming” (Total Pleasure): I was a little worried about where Annie Clark was going after 2021’s “Daddy’s Home,” a record that sunk like an anchor for me. “Masseduction” before that was … fine. But “All Born Screaming” is a sort of rebirth. I have no qualms over Clark’s sonic exploration, and this hardly is a back-to-basics record for her, but it feels more at home. Clark sounds revitalized here, holding on to the new colors she applied the past half decade and spinning that into a sound more like her first few records. Lots of highlights here from opener: “Hell Is Near” is soft but direct; “Broken Man” is a little jerkier and stranger, but it works; “Violent Times” is the standout to me, a noiry puncher with horns and her sweltering voice melting metal over bone; and “So Many Planets” is reggae-influenced but also cosmic, a playful track that suits Clark’s personality ideally. Oh, and she shreds a little more. (April 26)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/St.Vincent/

To buy the album, go here: https://ilovestvincent.com/collections/all-born-screaming

ULVER, “Liminal Animals” (House of Mythology): Ulver initially cast a large shadow over the black metal world, but that was forever ago, and their electronics and synth rock nearly has eclipsed their original work. “Liminal Animals” is a late-year release, and a vital one as the world seems to have lost all sense, and the idea of not repeating history has become laughable. On this record, you can dance in the darkness to your own demise on grimy “Ghost Entry”; lament our crumbling world on “A City in the Skies,” especially with the refrain of, “What are they thinking? What is going on?” a simple yet razor-sharp warning; “Hollywood Babylon” that’s as pointed a rebuke of American gun culture as one is to find; and the epic closer “Helian,” with a recitation of the Georg Trakl poem of the same name that is a dirge for fallen friend and former member Tore Ylvisaker . (Nov. 29)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/ulverofficial/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://houseofmythology.indiemerch.com/pre-orders

Or here (U.K.): https://store.houseofmythology.com/

Or here (E.U.): https://en.houseofmythology.spkr.media/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.houseofmythology.com/

CHELSEA WOLFE, “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” (Loma Vista): We’ve long loved Chelsea Wolfe at this site, and if she releases new music, there’s a really good chance it’s going to end up on this annual feature. Her seventh record “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” is another bold reinvention, one that was formed on the basis of her present self reaching out to her past version and what she envisions for future in order to grow, change, and attain guidance. Hence the title. “Whispers in the Echo Chamber” and “House of Self-Undoing” make the optimal opening one-two punch for the record and sets the murky stage; “Tunnel Lights” feels like traveling at night, in the cold, your mind wandering and contemplating; “Unseen World” pulses and spits rhythmic codes; and closer “Dusk” is gothic heat bathed in noise as Wolfe calls, “Angels, vampires, one breathes life unto the other, branded, baptized by your love and by your hunger.” (Feb. 9)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/cchelseawwolfe/

For more on the label, go here: https://i.chelseawolfe.com/SROTSROTS

To buy the album, go here: https://www.lomavistarecordings.com/

ZOMBI, “Direct Inject” (Relapse): Zombi’s synth rock always delves deep into the cosmic and returns with chilling sci-fi wonders that should be staples of B movie culture everywhere. Here on their seventh record “Direct Inject,” they move even deeper into the clouds as the duo of Steve Moore and Anthony Paterra continue to add more rock attitude into their fascinating dreamscape. The opening title track sounds like it could have emerged from Rush’s laboratories in the early 80s. But it’s more sinister. “So Mote It Be” has a similar vibe, leaving bruising as the keys jettison you into alien dreams; “Kamichi & Sandy” easily could have rolled out four decades ago and not been out of place, and it still sounds vital now; while “Insurmountable Odds” adds a chilling element, making it feel like a UFO is hovering overhead, ready to take you aboard. Relish the journey into new galaxies. (March 22)

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/ZombiBand/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/zombi-direct-inject

For more on the label, go here: https://www.relapse.com/