The Top 10 Spanish Albums of 2024, the Year of Carolina Durante and Alcalá Norte

The surge of guitar pop and rock has been one of the striking trends this year, now reflected in this review, which also showcases other stylistic lines: electronic, neo-folk, experimentation... We review the top 10 national albums of the year.

'Big wave', by Joana Serrat

A tumultuous album, heavy with layers of guitars that drive an emotional ‘big wave’. Moving away from the ‘Americana’ sound imagery, the singer and guitarist from Vic shakes and comforts with a vibrant songbook for times of crisis.

'Maestro Espada', by Maestro Espada

A revival of traditional heritage, in this debut by the Hernández brothers, who explore the folklore of the Murcian orchard and delve into seguidillas, boleros, and parrandas with feeling, liturgy, and an avant-garde spirit led by Raúl Refree.

'La juventud', by Kokoschka

Veterans (visionaries?) of a now high-valued guitar pop, these Navarrese captivate with their overwhelming melodic gift, singing about the froth of days and nights with their vocal duo and outward-looking views to fanfare and krautrock.

'Nostàlgia Airlines', by Maria Jaume

A daring leap by the Mallorcan, transitioning from singer-songwriter to ‘clubber’ diva without selling her soul to the devil. Still sounding like Maria Jaume, just as melancholic (with views to an unexperienced pre-touristic past), and now wrapped in ‘beats’.

'Balla la masurca!', by Guillem Gisbert

A solo debut that takes Manel’s pattern to adventurous ports in pop songs with intricate tendencies, managing troubadour resonances with ‘minimal’ electronics and looking both towards the avant-garde and the spirit of the student musical group.

'¡Ahora!', by Biznaga

Punk ethics ablaze in an album that is the soundtrack of systemic collapse. With angry diatribes against gentrification, labor exploitation, and the invisible hand of the market. Cathartic, yet with a pop pulse, and anthems unmasked.

'Bodhiria', by Judeline

Judeline is Lara Fernández from Jerez, and ‘Bodhiria’ is the gateway to an Andalusian dream made of sinuous electronic pop in touch with Latin folklore tracks, misty R’n’B, and nods to Arabic, Hebrew, and Romani cultures. A tantalizing blockbuster.

'És pregunta', by Tarta Relena

The duo of prodigies: Marta Torrella and Helena Ros intertwine their voices with surgical electronic treatments in a songbook made of ancient stories and legends, with the common link of a tragic fate. A mirror of yesterday and forever.

'Alcalá Norte', by Alcalá Norte

From the crossroads of post-punk heritage and the swagger of neighborhood rock comes this overwhelming and cheeky debut, carrying its own mystique (that Ciudad Lineal) and with loads of social acidity. Hard to resist its simple and combative ‘canon life’.

'Choose Your Own Adventure', by Carolina Durante

More guitars at the top of the podium. Punk anger and pop dynamics, urgency, emotional twists, tight textures, and an accusatory lyrical background, in the name of a generation chaining crises without seeing the end of the tunnel. Songs in ‘sink or swim’ mode that move by invoking their self-proclaimed ‘vitalist nihilism’.