Main Street Recommends

We may only be just over a month into 2024, but we’ve already been blessed with some seriously good music. If the remainder of the year keeps the same energy, 2024 is shaping up to be a big year for music. 

Albums

Green Day released their 14th studio album Saviors on January 19. The album calls back to Green Day’s heyday, circa their American Idiot album in 2004. Not shying away from making biting social commentary in the way that they have in previous years, Green Day seems to reconnect with their roots on Saviors. Pitchfork stated that “According to its creators, Saviors is the final installment in a trilogy that began with 1994’s breakout Dookie and 2004’s mainstream-conquering American Idiot.” 

Ashley and Thorunn have been waiting (not so patiently) for Gabby Barrett to release her new album. On February 1, they were in luck. Chapter & Verse is the second studio album from Barrett, a country music singer based out of Nashville, TN. The album is heavily inspired by Barrett’s faith, as well as her family. Multiple songs on the album are about her husband, fellow country music artist Cade Foehner, and their children. The track “Dance Like No One’s Watching” was written by Luke Combs about being a father to a daughter. When he discovered that his wife was expecting a boy, he gave the song to Barrett to record instead, as she had just given birth to a daughter. Combs also lends background vocals to the song.

Singles 

Billy Joel released his first original song in 17 years, “Turn the Lights Back On.” The piano man himself also performed the single at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 4. In an interview prior to the performance, Billy explained why he hasn’t released any new music in almost two decades, “A lot of people have asked me, ‘Why’d you stop writing?’ Because I didn’t want to. Some people, maybe they have a great time with it. I kind of suffer with songwriting.’” 

Also for country music fans, Sierra Ferrell released the single “Dollar Bill Bar” on January 17. The release comes ahead of the country/jazz/folk artist’s new album Trail of Flowers, due to be released in March. Bolstering her newly released single, she also made her national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 18. 

For fans of rap, Megan Thee Stallion released “Hiss” from her upcoming third studio album. It was released as the second single from the album. The song was met with praise for her scathing lyricism and flow, and it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200, the latter of which made her the first female rapper to debut atop the chart. The song also drew significant media coverage due to the sheer number of other celebrities that Megan “disses” on the track, including Tory Lanez – who shot Megan in the foot in 2020 – as well as Drake, her ex-boyfriend Pardison Fontaine, and fellow rapper Nicki Minaj.

Looking ahead, we’ve got new albums confirmed from artists across different genres including Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Kacey Musgraves, Justin Timberlake, Judas Priest, Lenny Kravitz, Sum 41, Sheryl Crow, and many more. We’ve also got new music, not necessarily confirmed, but likely coming from the likes of Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, Lana Del Rey, and more.