This has been a great year for new releases, specifically by women. Back in June, I did a countdown of my eight favorite new albums by the ‘Ladies of 2024,’ and that was before Sabrina Carpenter dropped the great Short n’ Sweet.

But as good as the year has been, it might have saved the best for last — albums by my two current favorite artists, Miranda Lambert and Lana Del Rey. I say “might” because Del Rey’s promised album doesn’t have a release date yet (and maybe it won’t be any good, though I doubt that).

As for Lambert, her ninth solo studio album, Postcards from Texas, came out last month and is every bit as good as I’d hoped.

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