Staff Picks: 10 Best Country Albums of 2024 

Jelly Roll seemed ubiquitous in 2024, but he still let his music speak the loudest. With his follow-up to his country breakthrough, last year’s Whitsitt Chapel, Jelly Roll debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts for the first time, and deservedly so. While a number of country artists have been open about their mental struggles, few have written about them with such raw, visceral candor — and in doing so, Jelly Roll is changing the contours of what great country music can be, whether it be taking listeners inside a 12-step meeting on “Winning Streak” or addressing the deceptiveness of people, places and things on the swampy “Liar,” or delivering a crushing mid-tempo track about anxiety and depression that ultimately ends in optimism with hit single “I Am Not Okay.” His gritty vocals always ring true — and, if nothing else, Beautifully Broken aims to show we are never alone, even when we feel our most lonesome. — MELINDA NEWMAN

Postcards From Texas marked Lambert’s 10th studio album, but also her first since signing with Republic Records (in conjunction with Big Loud). Thus, Postcards marked a creative revival for Lambert, who revisited and lauded her Lone Star State roots on the project. The album’s 14 songs finds Lambert and her collaborators traversing everything from love songs (“January Heart”), post-heartbreak musings (“I Hate Love Songs”) and defiant missives (“B–ch on the Sauce,” “Alimony”) to languid collabs (“Santa Fe” with Parker McCollum), zany story songs (“Armadillo”) and even a David Allan Coe cover that she deftly makes her own (“Living on the Run”). This is Lambert establishing once again that she makes music on her own terms, and she’s clearly having fun following where her creativity takes her. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

This is Bryan’s fifth full album in five years, and there seems to be no end to his creative wellspring. He continues his economical ways, relying primarily on acoustic-guitar led, stripped-down tunes that often hone in on little moments that become big ones. Bryan, who gets assists here from veteran stars John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen, knows the devil is in the details — and he can turn a phrase that tells a whole story in a few lines, like on the percussive “28,” when he declares ““Took twenty-eight years of blood pumpin’ through me/ To feel loved on my own birthday” or on “Bass Boat,” when he heartbreakingly admits that “even with my baby sitting next to me/I’m a self-sabotaging suicide machine.” Confessional and raw and relatable. — M.N.

Washington native Top has garnered considerable acclaim since the release of his debut country album Cold Beer & Country Music earlier this year, thanks to his breakthrough songs, “Sounds Like the Radio” (which indeed sounds torn straight from country radio in the ’90s) and its successor, the steel guitar-laden “I Never Lie.” Over the past few years, country music has seen a surge of artists — primarily newcomers — with a neo-traditional bent, and Top is among those at the forefront of that wave. On this album, he worked with fellow songwriters including Carson Chamberlain, Wyatt McCubbin and Mark Nesler, and together, they crafted a cohesive, no-skips album where every track holds its own, whether acoustic-leaning tracks like “There’s the Sun,” barn burners like “Ain’t a Heartbreak,” or aching ballads such as “Use Me.” Topping all of it is Top’s smooth twang, which makes every track sound effortless. — J.N.

Launched via a commercial during the 2024 Super Bowl with the release of the stomping “Texas Hold ‘Em” and contemplative “16 Carriages,” Cowboy Carter reflected on Beyoncé’s country roots growing up in Houston as well as the backlash she felt after playing the 2016 CMA Awards. Unlike that experience, Carter made an all-encompassing work where all are welcome, from legends like Dolly Parton (Bey also remade “Jolene”), Willie Nelson and Linda Martell (the first Black woman to ever play the Grand Ole Opry) to new Black country artists, including Shaboozey, Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer and Reyna Roberts. The music was as wide-ranging as the guests, with country inflections on many of the songs, but also touches of soul, pop and rap. Not surprisingly, country radio didn’t embrace the album, but fans and Grammy voters did: “Texas Hold ‘Em” became the first song by a Black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and she received a 2024-best 11 Grammy noms. It’s a cultural statement and a reclamation of Black artists’ essential role in creating country music, as much as a musical milestone. — M.N.

Alabama group Red Clay Strays saw a Billboard chart breakthrough last year with its song “Wondering Why,” but this five-person band has been making music together for the past several years. Following the song’s success, the group teamed with producer Dave Cobb for the full-fledged studio album Made By These Moments, which showcases its superb mesh of retro country, soulful blues-tinged numbers, searing, hard-charging rock, and Sun Records-era rockabilly moments. The album is a top-to-bottom musical gem worth repeated listens, from the freewheeling “Ramblin’” to songs that aim straight at complex emotions surrounding an array of struggles, and from spiritual battles to wrestling with self-worth, as on “Devil in My Ear” and “God Does.” Throughout all of it, lead singer Brandon Coleman’s commanding, thunderously soulful rumble of a voice is undeniable, as is the group’s hard-fought, tightly-woven sound. — J.N.

On his first new solo studio album in 14 years, Johnson — one of country music’s most gifted songwriters — dug deep, recording 30 songs over three weeks at Cash Cabin (the set is the first in a number of albums in the Cash Cabin Series) Johnny and June would undoubtedly approve of the musicality and emotional depth of 12 songs on Gasoline, which draw on the finality  of loss on the poignant “One More Time,” pay tribute to those who have died in the line of duty on “21 Guns” (Johnson is an ex-Marine) and “Sober,” which chronicles Johnson’s own journey giving up alcohol. Johnson, a two-time CMA winner for song of the year, connects modern country with his songwriting heroes of the past — Haggard, Kristofferson, Nelson — in a way that feels warm and inviting. — M.N.

Last year, Cody Johnson issued his album Leather, which included the hits “The Painter” and “Dirt Cheap,” as well as sterling album cuts including the title track and the Jelly Roll collaboration “Whiskey Bent.” With each album Johnson releases, the Texan further cements his reputation for putting together albums featuring neo-traditional country gems, with elite songcraft and relatable storylines — all shot through with steel guitars, fiddle, and Johnson’s undeniably country voice. He continues that aim on the deluxe edition of Leather, which features a mix of songs that Johnson helped write as well as many outside cuts, making for a dynamic project that includes the sweeping story arc of “The Fall,” the tender father-daughter ode “C’mon Cowgirl,” the moody “How Do You Sleep at Night?” and a tip of the hat to determined spirits on “Mustang.”

Though much of the time, Johnson’s voice lets the song take center stage, leaning more conversational than dynamo, the power and control in his voice are on display when he goes note for note with one of country music’s most formidable vocal talents, Carrie Underwood, on the soaring ballad “I’m Gonna Love You.” While other country artists increasingly weave pop, rock and hip-hop into their music, Johnson stakes his claim on remaining solidly country — and with his skill in the genre, giving his fans exactly what they’ve come to expect is a winning move. — J.N.

Wilson’s follow-up to her CMA and ACM- Award-winning Bell Bottom Country blazes with the confidence of an artist who has fully come into her own. The pulsating title track, written with The Heart Wranglers (the sobriquet given the songwriting team of her, Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson) tries to explain what her life has been like the last few years, while she reflects on love with the sultry “4x4xU” and genial “Counting Chickens,” breakups on the heartfelt “Broken Hearts Still Beat,” and life on the road with the exhilarating breakneck pace of “Hang Tight Honey.” While many of her colleagues are happy to straddle pop and country, Wilson shows she is keeping it 100% country, and is happy to lead in that lane. — M.N.

Earlier this year, musical and genre chameleon Post Malone topped the Billboard 200 chart with his foray into country music with F-1 Trillion. The album is a sturdy blend of star power and songcraft, thanks to collaborations with a bevy of country artists including Dolly Parton (“Have the Heart”), Morgan Wallen (“I Had Some Help”), Brad Paisley (“Goes Without Saying”), and many others. But he also turns in tender solo ballads (“Yours”) and the album gets elevated with its Long Bed edition, which features a slate of solo country songs from Post Malone — and arguably his best performances on the project, wrapping in songs in a range of country and country-adjacent styles, including Western swing and honky-tonk, on songs such as “Who Needs You” and “Back to Texas.” Taken together, the album proves Post as an ardent student of the genre, but also a singular talent in his own right. — J.N.