Every year-end roundup is going to be biased, personal, flawed, and colored by what the judge went through that year. This list certainly is. But to my mind, these are some of the albums that defined the Greek music scene in 2024. They’re albums that encapsulate what was going on, what we were listening to, what we were dancing to, and what 2024 was, at least on an auditory level.
Marina Satti – P.O.P.
Love it or hate it, Marina Satti’s turbo-pop album P.O.P was inescapable this year. Powered first by the Eurovision submission “ZARI’ (or “Dice” in English) and released in full at the start of the summer, the album hit the top of the charts not just in Greece, but even internationally for a moment. Satti’s tightly-spun combinations of Greek traditional music, interpolated with reggaeton beats, Balkan pop synths, careening vocals and meme-ready catchphrases are undeniable. She her references carefully, studiously, but never loses sight of the fun of pop music. Even her most mish-mashed experimental pieces seem to end up as radio favorites. The album is a dance-ready collection of very welcome earworms.
LEX – G.T.K.
LEX has achieved a popularity that goes beyond cult status. He packs out Greece’s largest stadiums, and is regularly lauded as the greatest Greek rapper of all time. His lyrics about the daily suffocation of the economic crisis and its aftermath, plus the broader woes of Greek society, calcified the frustrations of a generation with measured flow. His latest album was hotly anticipated, with what seemed like the entire Greek internet staying up late for the midnight drop, and it did not disappoint. LEX has come a long way since his first album, released 10 years ago, but G.T.K. was both a homecoming in terms of themes and a reluctant victory lap by a rapper at the peak of his fame. G.T.K (an acronym for the Greek phrase meaning “For The Culture”) is mostly played over urgently melancholic piano melodies and crammed with a story-teller’s critique of what it means to be part of the “worst generation.”
Nalyssa Green – Polu kali sta parti (“Very Good At Parties”)
This upbeat, searching electronic album explores both the joy of good parties and the more vulnerable moments in between. Having released the album to a lot of buzz, Green shows off some of the most interesting parts of the Greek techno landscape. With songs that could provide a full soundtrack from the dance floor to the early-morning metro ride home, Green shifts from pulsing whispers to ethereal layered vocals. Her lyrics explore the moments of melancholy mixed in with the everyday, the ways a party or island escape can also feel suffocating at times, and the ways that joy can sometimes open up into existential questions.
Mazoha – Sti Chora Ton Nekron (“In the Land of the Dead”)
Bandcamp.com/Mazoha
Greece’s obsession with New Wave and punk did not end in the 80s, and Mazoha is one of the best purveyors of that sound today. His latest album is an urgent run through the issues that sit heavy on your chest – death, family, love, disappointment, and obligation. Some of the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek, inviting you in on the joke, but the guitar riffs are very serious. With songs that synth up dark critiques of Greek society, and choruses that scream the pain of heartbreak or failed relationships, this album is a salve for wounds that don’t heal quickly.
Khirki – Kykeonas (“Cyclone”)
Bandcamp.com/ Khirki
Greece has a lot of metal bands, (more per capita than most of Europe,) and even more metal heads. Khirki delivers all the metal standards of big heavy guitar lines, driving high hat and soaring vocals, but with Balkan folk melodies and references carefully woven in. They even have that Greek metal favorite: a clarino solo wailing through one of the choruses. This is their second album, and the first time they released a song with Greek lyrics in amongst the English. Kykeonas is precisely written and spotlights the band’s fine-tuned skills, with each song delivering a specific arc.
Usurum – Matia Kameres (Camera Eyes)
This Greek indie-pop album takes the syncopated drums, looping vocals, guitar and distorted synth that have long been the standards of indie rock, and somehow keeps them fresh. Their lyrics are sparse, with one or two poetic stanzas serving as the center of a song, leaving the band room to distort the words and phrasing, and to circle in different instrumentals. Usurum has found a way to hit listeners with some truly doleful lines, without being precious, and sometimes even making it fun.
