The Best EPs of 2024

The prolonged play occupies an odd center floor within the music world. An EP can really feel like a glorified single with an A-side and a few tacked-on bonus tracks, however they generally play as surprisingly substantial mini-albums. Some EPs are leftovers from the artist’s final full-length, whereas others really feel like a tantalizing style of a brand new sound.

SPIN’s favourite EPs of 2024 embrace new artists on the verge, one-off collaborations between singers and producers, and among the yr’s greatest pop hits.

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25. Katseye – SIS (Mushy Is Robust)

The Ok-pop label HYBE Company got down to type a “world woman group” with Katseye, drafting six members from America, South Korea, the Philippines, and Switzerland in an audition course of detailed within the Netflix docuseries Pop Star Academy: Katseye. The group’s debut EP options songs written by established hitmakers like Ryan Tedder and Justin Tranter, and their pop radio breakthrough “Contact,” produced by Cashmere Cat, recollects the liquid drum and bass sound that caught on within the U.Ok. within the early 2000s.

24. Eric Benét – Duets

A number of the most enduring tracks in R&B troubadour Eric Benét’s profession have been collaborations with singers like Religion Evans and Tamia, so it was a sensible concept to dedicate his newest mission to duets. The gradual jam “One thing We Can Make Love To” with Tamar Braxton is an R&B radio hit, however Benét has the very best chemistry with Chanté Moore on the funky, sassy “So Distracted.”

23. Bon Iver – Sable

5 years after Bon Iver’s final full-length, Justin Vernon lastly returned in October with Sable, an EP that recollects the hushed and intimate sound of his revered 2007 debut For Emma, Perpetually In the past. A number of the songs on Sable had been within the works for a very long time, and “Issues Behind Issues Behind Issues” was debuted again in April 2020 as a part of a digital rally for Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential marketing campaign.

22. Gloss Up – Not Ya Woman: Act 1

GloRilla introduced a complete crew of Memphis ladies, often called Glitter Gang, into the music business together with her when she turned a star. Gloss Up has been persistently some of the promising of GloRilla’s associates, and the seven songs on Not Ya Woman: Act 1 show her versatility. “Baddest” is a minimalist banger with loads of boasts and punchlines, whereas she will get introspective on “Can I Vent” and unfurls a violent narrative on “Loopy Dream.”

21. Conner Smith – The Storyteller

Conner Smith grew up in Nashville and began working with among the Music Metropolis’s high songwriters as a youngster earlier than signing to Huge Machine’s Valory imprint. In 2024 alone, Smith launched his debut album and two EPs. “Religion From a Farmer” is probably the most full story music on The Storyteller, a day within the lifetime of a farmer praying for rain.  

20. Drake – 100 Gigs

In August, whereas Drake was licking his wounds from his beef with Kendrick Lamar, he launched an unorthodox knowledge dump by an Instagram web page: a 100 gigabyte obtain of unused album art work, behind-the-scenes video from excursions and studio classes, and a handful of unreleased songs. A number of weeks later, the songs from the file bundle have been launched to streaming service as an EP. Given the way in which the third verse of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” picked aside Drake’s transactional relationship with the Atlanta hip-hop scene, it’s curious that he determined to launch songs that includes 21 Savage, Younger Thug, and Latto at that second. “Housekeeping Is aware of” with Latto is the spotlight of the EP, although, and would’ve been a worthy single to observe as much as “Wealthy Child Daddy.”

19. Olivia O’Brien – In every single place I Go, There I Am

California singer-songwriter Olivia O’Brien is greatest identified for singing the hook on Gnash’s multiplatinum 2016 single “I Hate U, I Love U,” however she’s quietly constructed up a stable catalog with one solo album and a number of other EPs and mixtapes. In every single place I Go, There I Am options 4 of the type of unhappy, fairly acoustic tracks that O’Brien excels at, however the standout is the surging new wave observe that opens the EP, “Reminiscence Lane.”

18. Myles Smith – A Minute…

Myles Smith, who grew up in a Jamaican household in Luton, England, turned one among 2024’s breakout stars when his people pop smash “Stargazing” took over TikTok and ultimately pop and various radio. One of the best music on Smith’s second EP is a gradual and beautiful duet with one other delicate British singer-songwriter, James Bay, on “Waste,” however Smith has loads extra charming uptempo songs like “Wait For You” and “3am” that may most likely hold him on the radio effectively into 2025.

17. The Gaslight Anthem – Historical past Books – Brief Tales

The Gaslight Anthem’s greatest non-album observe, the restrained and delightful “Blue Denims & White T-Shirts,” was first launched on the Señor and the Queen EP in 2008. This yr, a probably even higher new recording of the music appeared on a brand new companion EP for the New Jersey punk band’s 2023 reunion album Historical past Books. Brief Tales additionally features a placing interpretation of Billie Eilish’s 2017 debut single “Ocean Eyes.”

16. Nourished by Time – Catching Chickens

Marcus Brown recorded some of the critically acclaimed albums of 2023, Nourished by Time’s Erotic Probiotic 2, in his dad and mom’ basement in Baltimore. This yr, Brown signed to XL Recordings, however his first launch with the backing of the influential British label continues to be proudly lo-fi bed room pop with vivid, elliptical lyrics.   

15. Rubbish – Lie To Me

Document Retailer Day typically brings a lot of notable EPs, and for this yr’s RSD, Rubbish launched Lie To Me, a set that pulls from the classes for the band’s 2005 album Bleed Like Me. That album’s single “Unhealthy Boyfriend” is given a brand new remix, and two beforehand unreleased outtakes are revealed, together with “Higher Not Lie To Me,” co-written by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. The EP is rounded out with a canopy of Tim Buckley’s “Track to the Siren,” patterned after This Mortal Coil’s 1984 association of the music that Rubbish recorded for a TV collection that finally didn’t use their cowl.

14. Meek Mill – Heathenism

Meek Mill is likely one of the few mainstream rap stars who’s launched nearly as many EPs as mixtapes, together with 2016’s 4/4 and 2018’s Legends of the Summer time. The Philadelphia rapper hasn’t launched a full-length solo album since 2021, however he dropped two EPs in 2024 alone. February’s Heathenism options a few of Meek’s greatest current music, together with the brooding “Occasions Like This” and maybe his greatest Future collaboration up to now, “Giving Chanel.”

13. Crack the Sky – The Baker Recordsdata

The West Virginia progressive rock band Crack the Sky’s self-titled 1975 debut is likely one of the nice cult classics of its period. This yr, the band unearthed 5 solo demos that frontman John Palumbo recorded in 1976, and fleshed them out into full band tracks that take you proper again to the band’s peak interval.

12. Phonte – Pacific Time 2

Phonte Coleman, the prodigiously proficient North Carolina rapper and singer of the teams Little Brother and the International Trade, launched 4 soulful solo tracks to tide followers over on 2019’s Pacific Time EP. This yr, Phonte returned with a sequel, an pleasant new pack of R&B jams like “5:55am” and “Run For Your Life.”  

11. They Hate Change – Want You Had been Right here…

The Tampa duo They Hate Change makes dizzyingly dense and eclectic hip-hop that they describe as “gold coast soul post-punk crunk music” on “Stunt (After I See U)” from their newest EP. The 4-minute skit that opens Want You Had been Right here… is interminably lengthy and tough to take heed to, however the 4 songs that observe signify an exhilarating step ahead from the group’s acclaimed 2022 album Lastly, New.

10. Flying Lotus – Spirit Field

Flying Lotus has been working extra within the movie and tv world these days, scoring and writing, in addition to directing a characteristic movie, Ash, due out in 2025. Maybe that’s why one of many main lights of the L.A. beat scene hasn’t launched a full-length album in 5 years. He did, nevertheless, launch 5 wonderful new songs on Spirit Field, together with the jazzy midtempo Daybreak Richard collaboration “Let Me Cook dinner.”

9. Alemeda – FK IT

Rahema Shifa Alemeda, who was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Arizona, first collaborated with TDE rapper Ab-Soul in 2022. In September, the powerhouse label introduced that they’d signed Alemeda on the identical day it launched her debut EP. If SZA’s music straddles R&B and various rock, her new labelmate Alemeda crops her toes firmly within the pop/rock world, with angsty and humorous guitar-driven songs like “I Hate Your Face” and “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows.”

8. Ella Mai – 3

British R&B star Ella Mai calls 3 “one among my favourite numbers,” and she or he and NBA star Jayson Tatum obtained matching 3 tattoos after the delivery of their first youngster in 2024. On November 3, Mai celebrated her thirtieth birthday by releasing a 3 music EP known as, you guessed it, 3. All of the tracks have been produced by her frequent collaborator DJ Mustard, together with “Certainly one of These,” which samples CeeLo Inexperienced’s 2004 hit “I’ll Be Round.”

7. Rip Van Winkle – The Grand Rapids

Like lots of Robert Pollard’s greatest information, the debut from the Guided By Voices frontman’s newest aspect mission Rip Van Winkle was cranked out in a single impressed day in an Ohio basement. A bizarre and woolly collaboration with members of Joseph Airport, the 18-minute EP options prickly post-punk guitars alongside extra sudden instrumentation like euphonium and glockenspiel. The dozen or so albums Guided By Voices has cranked out within the final 5 years have began to blur collectively, however The Grand Rapids EP stands out as a late profession spotlight.

6. Aminé – .mp3s

Portland, Oregon, rapper Aminé is greatest identified for his solely Sizzling 100 hit, 2016’s “Caroline,” however he’s a flexible expertise, and each mission he’s launched over the past decade has proven his progress as a songwriter. Throughout the 4 songs on .mp3s, Aminé effortlessly switches flows over a woozy Cardo Received Wings manufacturing on “Wingz,” trades rhymes with Smino on “Passenger Princess,” and even flirts with synth pop on the melodic “s2wik.”  

5. Wilco – Sizzling Solar Cool Shroud

In June, Wilco held its eighth Strong Sound Pageant in Massachusetts, taking part in a number of units and curating a invoice of a few of their favourite acts. The identical day the competition kicked off, the veteran Chicago band launched Sizzling Solar Cool Shroud, a cohesive and satisfying assortment of six outtakes from the classes for the band’s 2023 album Cousin.

4. Maeta – Countless Evening

Canadian producer Kaytranada is the strongest hyperlink between up to date dance music and R&B, and this yr his productions for Victoria Monet and Mariah the Scientist obtained R&B radio spins whereas his album Timeless featured collaborations with Tinashe and SiR. Kaytranada’s greatest R&B work of 2024, nevertheless, was the moody and entrancing Countless Evening, that includes seven songs he produced for Roc Nation’s ascendant quiet storm singer Maeta.

3. Hozier – Unheard

In 2023, Hozier launched Unreal Unearth, an formidable music cycle impressed by Dante’s Inferno. The next March, he launched 4 songs that didn’t match into the album’s idea, together with the suave and catchy “Too Candy,” which shortly caught on and have become the Irish singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Sizzling 100. The Unheard EP additionally included “Wildflower and Barley” that includes Canadian people singer Allison Russell, which turned a nightly spotlight of Hozier’s spring tour with Russell.

2. Amber Mark – Loosies

Hip-hop followers typically confer with the free standalone singles launched between albums as as “loosies.” So R&B singer Amber Mark’s current Loosies EP is one thing of a paradox, as a result of now that these seven tracks have been collected in a single place, they’re probably not loosies anymore. Nonetheless the self-produced “Received’t Cry” and “Sink In” are an thrilling glimpse at what Mark can do on her personal.

1. SG Lewis & Tove Lo – Warmth

Swedish pop star Tove Lo and English dance producer SG Lewis first collaborated on two of the very best tracks on her 2022 album Grime Femme. On the Warmth EP, they toy with breakbeat home on the title observe and squelchy synth pop on “Busy Woman.” Tove Lo has all the time excelled at moody alt-pop, however these 4 songs make a convincing argument that she’d be a terrific dance music diva as effectively.

To see our operating record of the highest 100 biggest rock stars of all time, click on right here.

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