With Staff Picks our writers and editors select their favorite albums of the month. Check out the best of May below.
So much happened in May: Kendrick and Drake engaged in an entertaining-but-serious rap war; festival season is in full swing; and we celebrated post-grunge week with karaoke jams, crosswords, and a list of the best post-grunge tracks.
Luckily, the music was as memorable as ever. Billie Eilish deepened her sound with the stylish Hit Me Hard and Soft, and Vince Staples embraced a moody palette on Dark Times. We also got terrific follow up albums from Mdou Moctar, DIIV, and Shellac, whose LP To All Trains served as a gripping posthumous document of Steve Albini’s brilliance.
Listed in alphabetical order, here are the best albums of May 2024 as selected by Consequence writers and editors.
Another Michael — Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down
Another Michael are back with their second album in less than a year, and it’s filled with some of their most majestic tracks to date. Their last record felt like it could be your best friend, but this one is a little bit more fraught, like the grainy resolution of Pick Me Up’s album cover. Still, the Philadelphia band has not lost their sense of whimsy or wisdom, finding moments of wholesome beauty packed within simple phrases or evocative details. Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down is as enchanting as ever, showing that Another Michael are at the height of their powers. — Paolo Ragusa
Listen via Apple Music
Billie Eilish — HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
Billie Eilish has always been inventive, but she’s never felt more comfortable than she does on her new studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. There’s a lovely flow to the project, and more than a few notable standouts — “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” hive let me hear you!
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT overall boasts a particularly excellent vocal performance from Eilish. She’s gentle and entrancing on moments like “WILDFLOWER,” coy and playful on “LUNCH,” and explosive on “THE GREATEST” in a way that recalls “Happier Than Ever.” Together, the album is a showcase of an artist who is still very much expanding. — M. Siroky
Listen via Apple Music