Spring is in the air, and with it comes a new top 10 lineup! And it seems our listeners did some spring cleaning and brought in a ton of brand new additions!
Want to hear something specific on air? Feel free to call WDIY's studio line with a request at 610-694-8100 x1 or leave your picks on our Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, or Threads pages.
#10
Madeleine Peyroux
Let’s Walk
Just One Recording
June 28, 2024
Similarly to some of the other albums featured this month, this one isn’t even released yet and is already making waves. The critically-acclaimed jazz singer, songwriter, and interpreter Madeleine Peyroux is releasing her first album in six years by the end of June. This is also her ninth album overall, and the first album in which she co-wrote every song with longtime collaborator Jon Herington. Lyrically, a lot of the record seems to be driven by the sudden social upheaval that stemmed from 2020; her more serious tracks deal with everything from the murder of George Floyd to sexual assault and her own emotional grapplings with it all. However, she also includes more lighthearted moments in the record as well, all culminating in the most widely varied and yet sonically cohesive album in her repertoire.
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#9
Old 97s
American Primitive
Virgin Music Group
April 5, 2024
For this alt-country band’s 13th studio album, the group decided to team up with producer Tucker Martine to celebrate three decades as a musical band of brothers, and they came in hot with zero pre-production leading up to the creation of the record. They chained themselves as prisoners to the present and let the spirit of improvisation take over, their musical instincts leading the way. The result was a similar music tonality that longtime fans will find familiar and comforting while also banging out songs in record short time. Nothing overstays its welcome, but it still breaks the door down and shakes things up before it goes. They embraced the spirit of rock-and-roll and opted to be big, loud, and messy. Beyond the musicality, the lyricism demands a similar presence; they ponder life and death and relationships and futility of life, but never take themselves too seriously. Their rough-around-the-edges approach is a breath of fresh air for many people exhausted with an over-rehearsed and overthought sound.
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#8
Lizz Wright
Shadow
Blues & Greens Records
April 12, 2024
Lizz Wright is spending 2024 forging her own path with her debut studio recording on her label Blues & Greens Records. Shadow contains five original songs as well as her recorded covers by Cole Porter, Toshi Reagon, Sandy Denny, Candi Staton, and more. Lizz joined forces with producer Chris Bruce on the backside of the pandemic with the full intent of pushing both of their skills to the limit. Her newest work is an unpresuming production exploring grief and treasuring lost love, and while the tone of the album can be intense and sad, the fundamental overarching vibe is resilience and optimism. The album title being Shadow was purposefully chosen to demonstrate a darkness in her life without it being too dark; her ultimate goal was to paint a picture of a door left open and a world left to explore despite hardships. One of her main inspirations was the passing of her beloved grandmother after her watching her struggle from afar with dementia during the pandemic lockdown.
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#7
Aoife O’Donovan
All My Friends
Yep Roc Records
March 22, 2024
Fresh off the heels of Women’s History Month, American singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan’s released her first self-produced LP inspired by the passage of the 19th amendment. At a time where the rifts in the ever-evolving landscape of women’s rights are felt greater than ever, O’Donovan artfully draws on speeches and letters by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt. She comes out the other end with a new list of original songs that marry together the modern perspective and her own experiences as a woman and mother. The project originated from a commission by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019 and turned into what O’Donovan refers to as a “song burst.” All in all, All My Friends wrestles with questions of what has, and maybe more importantly, what hasn’t changed for American women in the 100 years since gaining the right to vote.
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#6
Lake Street Dive
Good Together
Fantasy Records
June 21, 2024
We may have to wait for the full album, but this American multi-genre powerhouse has announced their eighth full-length album and blessed us with the release of the title track. The inspiration for the newest record comes from the current widespread social upheaval, which in and of itself provides multiple different avenues of inspiration. But instead of looking at how tumultuous things are, they have chosen the path of “joyful rebellion.” They looked at the pain and rage and divisiveness running the world currently and instead chose to remain uplifting, upbeat, and optimistic for change. They say joy itself is an act of rebellion in the faces of things and groups who would rather you be miserable, and Lake Street Dive wore that motto like a badge of honor when approaching their next body of work. They also adopted a bold new look to their songwriting process, bringing on Grammy-winning producer Mike Elizondo early on and everyone contributing and collaborating together in the same room. They rendezvoused at drummer and vocalist Mike Calabrese’s Vermont home for the whole process. They’re touring off of the new album throughout the summer and fall just before the release on what they have dubbed their biggest tour yet, inviting out everyone to celebrate rebellion with them.
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#5
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Live in London
Alligator Records
January 5. 2024
Heralded as the next best thing in blues, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram gave us his first live album at the very beginning of 2024. This blues guitar sensation has had fans clamoring for more since his mid-2021 release of 662. For his live recording, the young legend brought his quartet to The Garage in London for an absolutely electric crowd. He exemplified his masterful control over his music while still being spontaneous and wild. At 16 songs and 109 minutes long, many fans would probably consider this show their dream setlist. And for anyone unlucky enough to have not attended in person, we now can have it in our hands to enjoy over and over again.
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#4
Taj Mahal
Live at the Church in Tulsa
Lightning Rod
March 8, 2024
It’s only fitting that the 81-year-old legend put together his 10-track live album in a church with the way he can command a group of people akin to a god. His gospel is his music and this setlist, his accompanying band of equally talented musicians are his legion of angels, and his church is, well, a church in a city steeped in Black musical history. Recorded live at “The Church,” famed studio-turned-venue of the late Leon Russell, who is a defining influence and personal friend of Taj Mahal, the album in a way is a celebration of the impact of Russell, the cultural weight of the city of Tulsa, and making a landmark moment in Taj’s seven decade career. It intends to accomplish a lot and does so in the most nonchalant way. Taj continues to be the cornerstone of roots music and one of the most influential musicians of his generation with fans.
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#3
Khruangbin
A LA SALA
Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories
April 5, 2024
The title of the record is straight from a pivotal memory out of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa’s childhood. Meaning “to the room,” in Spanish, she used to rally her family together with that one simple phrase. In a way, she’s also now calling the band back together and the fanbase back together as well. The 12 songs were crafted out of long-forgotten shreds of recordings and long-winded lyrical ramblings, forcing them to finish a lot of what they had started previously. They’re back to the basics with their fourth studio album, working exclusively with longtime engineer Steve Christensen and featuring minimal overdubs and stripped-back instrumentals. After a decade of working together, they’re using this moment as a way to collect themselves in the calm before the storm before they launch headfirst into their bright future. What that future holds is yet to be seen, but for now, they’re taking a moment to refine their skills and work on their familial bonds, to create something that might seem out of bounds to some and perfectly on track for their true fans.
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#2
Beyoncé
Cowboy Carter
Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records
March 29, 2024
No one is immune to the buzz of the Beyhive, and can you blame us when it sounds like this? When you’ve been in the game for this long and been this high up on the pop roster at the same time, it’s only fair you start spreading out and seeing what else you can do. A concept album, Cowboy Carter is the second in line of an album trinity following Renaissance in 2022. The concept behind the concept album is a musical narrative of Americana culture and history, specifically through the lens of the Black experience and through Black cultural trailblazers. While it’s understood and archived as a country album, it also displays traits of blues, folk, rock and roll, pop, rhythm and blues, bluegrass, and more. And beyond all of those genres, it reads as an opera classic with the dynamic and emotional lyricism. From a storytelling angle, the album is presented as a radio broadcast by a fictitious station called "KNTRY Radio Texas", with a celebrity cast of disc jockeys (and maybe they’ll come spin at WDIY one day). Accompanied by even more celebrity friends in the background and a few lesser-known Black country stars on the mics, the album overall ignited discussions on Black musicians within country music, boosted the listenership of country radio in general, and increased the popularity of Western wear and culture.
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#1
The Black Keys
Ohio Players
Easy Eye Sound
April 5, 2024
After a five-year hiatus, The Black Keys have decided to compensate for their time gone by releasing four albums in under half a decade. Their 12th studio album overall got its name from the legendary Dayton, Ohio, funk band of the same name. This is also potentially their most collaborative album yet, featuring work from their close friends such as Dan “The Automator'' Nakamura, Beck, Noel Gallagher, and Greg Kurstin, among others. The inspiration for the new record came from The Keys saying they wanted to recreate the feel of their “record hangs,” DJ parties they’ve thrown in the past to blow off steam and gauge new material in front of a live audience. There’s tangible influence from multiple decades within the songs, almost as if a peak into what the band would have been if formed in a different time period, but it all cohesively blends together to demonstrate a rich working career of over 20 years. Many are already regarding this as their best LP to date.
