Charli, Tyla, Shania, Ariana: This One Is Clearly Best
Last Friday, July 24, was one of the busiest release days of the pop year: Charli xcx, Tyla and Shania Twain all dropped new albums at once, and a week later, on July 31, Ariana Grande adds her own. Streaming makes it dangerously easy to hear the single, shrug, and move on without ever meeting the artist. So before the takes fly, here is where to start with each of the four, using the records that made them.
Charli xcx
Her new album follows the record that turned a color into a whole summer. If you somehow missed it, BRAT is the door: brash, sweaty, self-aware club-pop that reset the culture in 2024. Play it loud before you decide whether the follow-up delivers.
Tyla
The South African star's second album expands the amapiano-pop blend she broke out with. Start with her self-titled debut, the Grammy-winning set built around the hit that put her everywhere. It is the foundation the new one builds on.
Shania Twain
Her new record is pitched as a return to her roots, and the roots are worth knowing. Come On Over is one of the best-selling albums by any woman in history, the country-pop crossover that rewrote the rulebook. Start there and the new one makes sense.
Ariana Grande
Her album lands this Friday, July 31, on her own label. The best on-ramps are recent: eternal sunshine is her most cohesive statement, and thank u, next is the one that turned heartbreak into a victory lap. Cue them up before the new one drops and you will hear what she is reacting to.
So which one is clearly best? If you only start one this weekend, make it BRAT. Tyla's debut is the sleekest, Shania's Come On Over is the biggest-selling, Ariana's recent run is the most emotionally exposed. But BRAT is the one that reset a whole genre and a whole summer, the rare pop album that changed what other pop sounded like after it. Start there, then work outward. An artist is more than their newest single, and thirty minutes with the record that made them is the difference between hearing a song and getting an artist.
