2024 saw the return of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons – whose 90s debut Dummy was a solace in my bedsit days – with her first solo album in over 20 years. As we all must, Beth faced the sands of time passing with Lives Outgrown, trailed by the singles ‘Floating on a Moment‘ and ‘Lost Changes.’

Meanwhile, Leeds band English Teacher made good on early tracks like ‘Nearly Daffodils‘ with their debut album, This Could Be Texas. Already compared to The Smiths and The Stone Roses, English Teacher blend post-punk grit with pristine melodies.

Plus, singer and lyricist Lily Fontaine has natural charm – think of The Primitives or The Sundays led by Pauline Black or even Poly Styrene. If you don’t believe me, check out ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab‘ and ‘R&B.’

Still the coolest woman in rock ‘n’ roll, Kim Deal released her first solo album, Nobody Loves You More – only forty years in the waiting.  ‘Young Lion,’ the first song in 6 years from Sade, was a heartfelt ode to her trans son. Michael Kiwanuka gave us his ‘One and Only‘, and Lana Del Rey got ‘Tough‘ with Quavo…

Published this year, Suzi Ronson’s Me and Mr Jones, an eyewitness account of the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and his Spiders from Mars, by the South London hairdresser who was there at the start; and Chris Stein’s Under a Rock, a sardonic fairytale of New York from Blondie to 911 and beyond.

And finally, in 2024 we lost Mary Weiss, who led the Shangri-Las to glory; and Françoise Hardy, voice of the nouvelle vague.