Setting our sights on the biggest music stories of the 2024

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Dua Lipa, whose 2020 album Future Nostalgia produced multiple '80s and '90s pop-inspired hits, has released a new single, "Houdini," that hints at another layer of retro revival. Tyrone Lebon/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Tyrone Lebon/Courtesy of the artist

Dua Lipa, whose 2020 album Future Nostalgia produced multiple '80s and '90s pop-inspired hits, has released a new single, "Houdini," that hints at another layer of retro revival.

Tyrone Lebon/Courtesy of the artist

To ring in the new year, NPR Music's critics take over the latest episode of New Music Friday to offer predictions about the artists, genres and stories that might dominate conversations about music in 2024. Ann Powers, Rodney Carmichael and Nate Chinen join editor Jacob Ganz to discuss whether Usher's Super Bowl performance or Dua Lipa's new sound could launch these hardworking artists to new levels of ubiquity. Is it possible for either to one steal some of the spotlight that Beyoncé and Taylor Swift dominated last year?

Plus: Will the surprising rise of classical stars in mainstream movies translate to performance halls? Can country music make room for Spanish-language stars? What artists on the rise will break through into the mainstream? And, as usual, we share a list of albums you should know about that are coming out on Jan. 12.

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