Top 10 Relatives of Taylor Swift Pop Albums of 2024!

Look at my evolution in direction! My specialty in the music industry is pop music made by women who Taylor Swift inspires. Being a “relative” of Swift means that an artist tends to make their art timely to where they are in their career, tells stories, doesn’t necessarily focus on vocal strength (but still sounds good), and has a mostly female fanbase, largely overlapping with Swift’s.

1.     THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT by Taylor Swift

Despite being a die-hard swiftie, I didn’t expect to re-listen to all these albums and think this was the best.

The retrospection and made-for-fans feel are perfect for where Swift is in her career. She’s spent nearly twenty years in the overly critical public eye and uses it to her advantage.

To do this, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” features incredible vocals and productively attacks the media, “You caged me and then you called me crazy/I am what I am cause you trained me”. “Clara Bow”, the stunning reflective closer, channels a young artist – “Wide-eyed and grinning, she never tired”, as the Chicks say in “Wide Open Spaces”.

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” screams Melodrama (2017) by Lorde – an all-time favorite. “Fresh Out the Slammer” feels like an explosive, exciting summer. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” starts melancholic and unsettling. The bridge breaks out with orchestral fury.

The weak points are “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” and “The Alchemy”, both of which I find remotely cringey – “Good boy, that’s right”? No.

I guess I can’t not put Swift first on an article with her name in the title, but she’s also at an unexpected new peak and is in a new relationship after a prior one that fans grew very attached to. It’s para-social and gross, and she uses it to her advantage perfectly.

2.     eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande

This record is timely for Grande’s career, successfully experimental, tells a story, contains both explosive pop anthems and devastating ballads, and has a bonus of classic Grande vocals.

Recently, the Internet called Grande a homewrecker, as her now boyfriend had been married to someone else before he and Grande were together. She addresses how the media will choose any story of what happened and run with it in “True Story”. The track steps outside of her usual dance-pop sound. “Bye” is a breakup anthem, among fun pop songs like “Supernatural”, where she returns to similar sounds and lyrical themes of songs on her prior albums. Non-listeners might not expect how devastating Grande’s ballads are – “I Wish I Hated You” is tragic.

The transitional duo of “Saturn Returns (Interlude)” and the title track is one of the best parts of the album. Grande tries to accept the reality of her relationship in the title track after an astronomical event occurs. It plays on the theme of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (the album’s namesake), in which the two main characters repeatedly undergo treatment to forget each other but end up together anyway.

The weaker parts are the closing tracks, “Imperfect For You” and “Ordinary Things (feat Nonna)”, which are just bland.

3.     The Secret of Us by Gracie Abrams

The Secret of Us follows a similar structure to Abrams’ 2023 album Good Riddance. Love is anxiously sprinkled between heartbroken tracks in “Risk”, “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Let it Happen” but “Close to You”, the closer, doesn’t show any hesitation or fear. Neither does “Packing It Up”, the deluxe closer. “Close to You” (as well as “us.”) provides an appreciated explosive pop moment for a relatively slow album. “Risk” is a classic songwriter track – similar to the acoustic live version, just with more percussion and harmonies. “Free Now” shows incredible reflection with a guitar background and buildup to the bridge. “Normal Thing” has a similar effect with a dreamy synth background.

The only undeniable weak point on the album is “Good Luck Charlie”. It directly zooms in on Abrams’ friend and co-writer Audrey Hobert without adding much to the album. “Gave You I Gave You I” has a similar filler effect, but I love it.

The Secret of Us is a legitimate sophomore album. It adds to Abrams’ depth as an artist, breaks her further into the public eye, and develops her sound, but isn’t a groundbreaking album. It serves exactly the right purpose and excites me for whatever Abrams has next.

4.     HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish

While it may not be my album of the year, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT or Chappell Roan’s debut album from 2023 deserves the esteemed Grammy for Album of the Year.

Finneas, Eilish’s brother and producer, outdid himself. From the especially smooth three-song transition of “Skinny” to “Lunch” to “Chihiro” to the explosion of “The Greatest” to the versatility of “L’amour De Ma Vie”, the production is outstanding.

“Bittersuite” and “Blue” are also peaks with their dreaminess. I'm forever devastated I didn’t get to see Eilish on tour because the era she’s currently in is so iconic.

The only reason I didn’t put this higher is because I most love albums that tell stories, and this one is more production-based.

5.     Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter

What a year for Carpenter! She provided two songs of the summer and then dropped her album during the sweet spot between summer and fall. Despite this technically being her sixth album, she dubs it her second. After leaving her previous deal, she’s gotten to explore her artistic freedom in recent years.

The cheeky opener, “Taste” is one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a long time. “Coincidence” continues this sassy pattern with an acoustic background, feeling like it would be part of a campfire singalong. There are two overtly sexual songs on this album, the better of which is “Juno”. Despite having a less blunt title than “Bed Chem”, she is blunter than anyone could’ve expected with, “I’m so f**king horny”. “Don’t Smile” is a killer closer.

         Frankly, the album is not long or cohesive enough to have more than one weak point. It tells a story in a clunky order as if the track listing was organized based on sound. That’s perfectly reasonable but makes it feel cluttered for my listening style. The only song I’m not a huge fan of is “Dumb and Poetic”. It shares a sound with “Slim Pickins” and “Lie to Girls”. The latter does the same job as “Dumb and Poetic” but better.

         I’m very curious as to what Carpenter’s plans are for 2025, considering that her tour ends in April and the Eras Tour (which she had opened) is over.

         Going into the new year, I’m excitedly awaiting a third album from Maisie Peters, more re-records from Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan’s sophomore album, and a third album from Gracie Abrams (which she’s said could be out by December). Happy New Year!

My full top 10 ranking and a couple of my favorite lyrics from each:

1.     The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift – “It’s hell on Earth to be heavenly”, “I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing”, “I love you, it’s ruining my life”

2.     Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande – “Wish there was worse to you”, “I try to wipe my mind just so I feel less insane, rather feel painless”, “I didn’t think you’d understand me, how could you ever even try?”

3.     The Secret of Us by Gracie Abrams – “Turn me into something tragic, just for you I’ll let it happen”, “If you find yourself out, if there is a right time, chances are I’ll be here/we could share a lifeline/if you feel like falling, catch me on the way down”, “Would it have killed you to explain?”

4.     Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish – “Just wanted passion from you, just wanted what I gave you”, “Know you didn’t mean to hurt me so I kept it to myself”, “I don’t blame you, but I can’t change you”

5.     Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter – “Don’t smile because it happened, baby, cry because it’s over”, “You’re confused and I’m upset but we never talk about it”, “Just cause you act like one doesn’t make you a man”

6.     Brat by Charli XCX – “When you’re in the mirror, do you like what you see?”, “You’re surrounded by friends and I’m just wondering what they know”, “I think about it all the time, that I might run out of time”

7.     Memoir of a Sparklemuffin by Suki Waterhouse – “You’re calling me helpless? I could set you free”, “Sometimes I’m so damn nonchalant that I can’t get to what I want, that quintessential cool girl in the bar”, “Everybody thought that we’d be broken up/you never should’ve changed your ways and faded”

8.     Sugar Water by Maude Latour – “Some nights change your whole heart in a minute/we were driving and I knew that if I blinked then I would miss it”, “You made me believe in something real”, “I left the state, you never left the city”

9.     The Great Impersonator by Halsey – “I’m really not as happy as I seem”, “If there’s nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?”, “The surgeon said, ‘She had a hole in her heart but it wasn’t her fault, it was there from the start’/trying to love you through an open wound cause everything I put inside there just fell right through”

10.  Older by Lizzy McAlpine – “I’m waiting for someone who will make me say no to you”, “I wish I knew what the end is”, “Suddenly, the only thing I saw was you”