Each day of December this year, I’m highlighting one of my favourite albums of 2024. Counting down the list, we start with #31 on December 1st and go all the way down until we’ve reached #1 on December 31st. Today, #23 on my Album of the Year list: Vegyn – ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’.

Today’s album is a bit of an outlier: it’s the only electronic piece I’ve featured in my entire Album of the Year list. Bar Koreless, who ended up in my Top 5 most listened to artists of 2024, I’ve simply not tuned in to many artists within the electronic range this year. London producer Vegyn’s song ‘The Path Less Travelled’ made me curious enough to check out his second full-length album ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’. A portrayal of what one of the scene’s most sought after producers is capable of.

Over the years, Vegyn, son of producer Phil Tornalley (The Cure, Frances Ruffelle, Wax) has been stacking up quite some credits himself. Completing works by the likes of Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, JPEGMafia, and Shygirl, the Londoner quickly made name for himself in the international scene. I tend to find albums by producers way more interesting than those of DJ’s. It’s like listening to a portfolio, a carefully manufactured cv of a skilled musician, before having slapped some raps on top of these specific instrumentals. This goes for this album, too. ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’ feels like Vegyn highlighting some of his best works and skills.

On this album, Vegyn collaborates with some of London’s hottest upcoming talents such as rapper John Glacier, alternative singer-songwriters Ethan P. Flynn and Matt Maltese, and alt. pop artists Léa Sen and Lauren Auder. During the first half of this album, Vegyn shows off his capability of adapting to an artists expertise. Crafting varied hip-hop beats for John Glacier on both ‘A Dream Goes On Forever’ and ‘In the Front’, while Ethan P. Flynn has to deal with electro-pop influenced drum and bass. On the almost 7-minute during ‘Halo Flip’, Lauren Auder’s unique baritone vocals are accompanied by some of the best Vegyn has to offer: ambient electronic, strings, breakbeat, and subtle piano, all tapping in to Auder’s orchestral pop side. Vegyn will take the lead so that his collaborators will feel comfortable.

Halfway through the album, we get treated to some of Vegyn’s impressive solo works. The stunning ‘The Path Less Travelled’, followed up by the hit-worthy ‘Makeshift Tourniquet’. The latter standing out as being one of the most danceable songs on the album. The eclectic piece of content that is ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’ continues with a surprising, semi-acoustic song in ‘Trust’, featuring Matt Maltese, the final collaborator on this album. This calm and intimate piece feels like an intermezzo, as well as Vegyn telling his companions “Thanks, but I got it from here”, resulting in a beautifully ethereal and atmospheric final touch of this album. All in all, this album perfectly showcases Vegyn’s skills, being a big mishmash of what an up-and-coming producer has to offer. Sometimes, an album is more than entertainment. It can serve as an artists cv, and Vegyn perfectly embraced that ideology.