As per usual, with few exceptions, I didn't really start digging into new albums from the year until close to the end of the year...it's a bad habit. Anyway, I wasn't expecting to feel this way, but I feel comfortable in saying that this was the strongest overall year for music since the behemoth that was 2016.
I also want to say that it was a pretty amazing year for female artists in particular - thirteen of the artists behind my top twenty albums are either female solo artists, or groups that have women front-and-center.
As always, I like to write, so hopefully somebody reads.
1. ABBA - Voyage
Call me a sap, but the combination of their trademark infectious pop hooks and melodies combined with nostalgia for the group and the event-like feel of their first new music in forty years is too much to top for me. This record just puts a stupid grin on my face.
Highlights: "When You Danced With Me", "Don't Shut Me Down", "Just A Notion", "Keep An Eye On Dan", "No Doubt About It", "Ode To Freedom"
2. Torres - Thirstier
Torres is on a role. Her last record topped my list in 2020, and this one is #2 in 2021. Some killer pop-rock tunes here. This record is more dense instrumentally than her last couple records, a little more lushly produced, but it works. She sings with so much conviction. One of the most unique voices(in the literal sense) out there right now. I have no idea why she isn't bigger.
Highlights: "Are You Sleepwalking", "Don't Go Puttin Wishes In My Head", "Drive Me", "Big Leap", "Hug From A Dinosaur", "Thirstier"
3. The Killers - Pressure Machine
I really hadn't listened to more than maybe one or two Killer songs since Hot Fuss, because I only ever heard at-best tepid things about their work, and a narrative that they were simply one of those bands that could never live up to their seminal debut. But some of you were singing this record's praises in the Killers thread, saying it was their best in a long time and so forth, so I gave it a try, and wow. This record is so fucking good. It's nothing like Hot Fuss, and that's part of why it's so good; the more mature, contemplative nature of this record stands in contrast to the brash energy of the debut. Whereas they played like they were invincible on Hot Fuss, here they play like they are painfully aware of their mortality.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that the title track is one of my songs of the year; the chorus melody hits me right in the gut, and the lyrics are so vivid.
Highlights: "Pressure Machine", "West Hills" and the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration "Runaway Horses"
4. Pearl Charles - Magic Mirror
This is a Random Music Thread recommendation for me, as I'd never heard of Pearl before you guys started hyping her. I love this record. What stands out to me the most is her voice; it's got such a smooth, velvet quality to it. I was also struck by her technique - it never really felt like she was reaching. There's been a ton of great female-driven music in 2021, but I feel that Pearl, vocally speaking, is a cut above the rest.
I also like the diversity of sound throughout the record and its handful of SOTY-worthy tracks.
Highlights: The beautiful balladic title track, the ABBA-homage dance single "Only For Tonight", and the breezy "Sweet Sunshine Wine" are my favorites.
5. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
Another RMT rec. I'd never listened any of her work before you all started talking about it. So, my opinion of this album is actually a bit odd; I think half of it is so, so good, and the other half is a bit meh. But the half that I like is so good that it manages to put the record this high on its own.
"Tactics" is a SOTY candidate for me. That melody, her delivery, I mean.
The opener, "Paprika", is also top-notch, with its propulsive rhythm and brass/string sections.
"Kokomo, IN" and "In Hell", with their chill, mellow vibes, are further highlights.
Finally, the closer "Posing For Cars" is fantastic, starting as an acoustic number and building into very lush instrumental crescendo.
Those five are the stronger half, imo. I'm actually less excited about some of the tracks chosen as singles - "Be Sweet", "Posing In Bondage", and "Savage Good Boy". "Be Sweet" is ok.
"Savage Good Boy" does have that guitar(I think it's guitar?) solo at the end, and "Slide Tackle" has that horn section the end, and I do enjoy those moments; but in general I feel like the album sags in the middle.
But man, those five tracks are so good, they alone earn the album a spot this high.
Highlights: "Tactics", "Paparika", "Kokomo, IN", "In Hell", "Posing For Cars"
6. Tori Amos - Ocean To Ocean
In 2020, Alanis Morissette put out an album that I promoted around here, and nobody cared. I feel like this record is going to fill the 'veteran album no one else will care about' slot on my 2021 list.
I hadn't listened to anything Tori's done in 20 years probably, but I saw some reviews stating that this was her best in a long while(somewhat similar to the Killers in that respect), so I decided to give it a whirl because I love her 90s work and always respected the hell out of her. It did not disappoint.
She apparently wrote and recorded the whole thing during lockdown; it somehow sounds exactly like Tori and nothing like Tori at the same time. She makes more use of instruments outside the piano, but that trademark eeriness/gloominess is still there. Anyway, please give it a chance.
Highlights include "Swim To New York State", "Ocean To Ocean", "29 Years", and the closer "Birthday Baby", as well as the single "Speaking With Trees".
7. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage
I still haven't listened to the bulk of Cave's considerable body of work, but with the constant praise heaped around here, I have gotten into his records from the past decade - Push The Sky Away, Skeleton Tree, Ghosteen - so I was excited to see what this new record would be like. I was not disappointed.
TBH, I think I like it better than Ghosteen; that record had some great stuff on it, but I found this one a bit easier to get into, maybe a little more accessible, a little more streamlined. The juxtaposition of Cave's voice and Ellis's musical compositions is breathtaking, haunting even, at times.
"Lavender" is the best track on the album for me; other highlights include "Carnage", "White Elephant", "Albuquerque", "Balcony Man"...it's all good.
8. The Weather Station - Ignorance
Another RMT rec. Again, never heard of this group, but great record. Speaking of Tori Amos, something about this record reminds me of her and other female singer/songwriters of the 90s - Sarah McLachlan is another one. These songs stay with you.
Highlights include "Separated"(my personal favorite, what a hook), "Trust", "Tried To Tell You", and "Parking Lot".
9. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
So, this is the record a lot of you have been flipping out about all year. It's really pretty good...the ambient jazz thing works very well. A perfect record for a rainy day. I like it a lot...I guess I just don't think it's an absolute masterpiece like some of you do. I think it falls off a bit after the first four tracks.
About "Hard Drive" in particular...I don't care for the spoken word stuff here all that much so, while it's really good outside of that, I don't rank it as highly as others. In fact, I think "Crosshairs" and "Michelangelo" are better...they contain probably the two best guitar solos of the year.
Highlights: "Crosshairs", "Michelangelo", "New Bikini", "Hard Drive"
10. Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight
Look, I know the Foos aren't very popular around here, but I dug this record. It's really good. They embrace a little more "color" than usual in their music of late, they experiment with some psychedelic and dance sounds, and I just think it's a really fresh look for them and one of the best rock records of the year - a lean one with no fat, clocking in at only 36 minutes. You guys should give it a chance.
Highlights: "Making A Fire", "Shame Shame", "Medicine At Midnight", "Holding Poison", "Chasing Birds", and "Love Dies Young".
11. Lorde - Solar Power
This wasn't really what I was expecting from Lorde - it's a much brighter record than her last one, "Melodrama", which was a pretty dark, introspective affair. I enjoy it a lot though. The only real reason it doesn't rate higher is that it doesn't feel especially original.
There was some talk when it first came out that it seems like a lot of young female artists do these 'summer vibes' kind of records; then someone pointed out that the end of the title track bore some melodic resemblance to Primal Scream's "Loaded", which I can't not hear now.
Then I noticed a vocal melody in "Stoned At The Nail Salon" - "cause all the beautiful girls they wiill fade like the roses" that is note for note the same as Lana Del Rey's "hope is a dangerous thing for women like me to have"(my favorite song from that album). A google search shows that others noticed this too. Not necessarily saying she did it on purpose.
So I really did like this record a lot - it's an easy record to listen to, a real feel-good summer record - but these things knocked it down a bit.
Highlights: "Solar Power", "California Girls", "Stoned At The Nail Salon", "Fallen Fruit", "Leader Of A New Regime", "Mood Ring"
12. Sufjan Stevens - A Beginner's Mind
A real bounce-back after the disappointing "The Ascension". I enjoyed this a lot...it does all kind of blend together, but that's ok because the general sound is so buoyant and uplifting - it's honestly a more positive vibe than a lot of Sufjan's recent work - like, I love Carrie & Lowell, but it's not exactly a happy record.
Highlights: "Lady Macbeth In Chains", "Back To Oz", "Olympus", "Fictional California", "Lacrimae"
13. Robert Plant and Alison Krause - Raise The Roof
Plant and Krause made a record called "Raising Sands" back in 2007 that got a lot of attention; they've made another one and I felt like it deserved shout out. It's all covers of old blues numbers, but Plant and Krause are so good - both legends, total pros - and their voices compliment each other so well, that they really make them their own, so I wanted to give it some love. It's a really earthy sounding record; in a time when autotune and other technologies can make certain artists sound overly-robotic, this music sounds utterly human.
Highlights: The singles "Can't Let Go" and "Searching For My Love" hit it out of the park, the opener "Quattro(World Drifts In)", the closer ""Somebody Was Watching Over Me", and also "The Price Of Love" and "High And Lonesome"
14. War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore
One of my fundamental issues with WOD is that there's a sameness that permeates their records - it's often difficult to distinguish one track from another from another. This record isn't really any different in that regard. But it's still a really solid rock album that I can listen to from front to back without skipping anything, and that's not a small thing. Even if I can't remember which track was which afterward.
Highlights: "Harmonia's Dream", "I Don't Wanna Wait", "I Don't Live Here Anymore", "Occasional Rain"
15. Black Country New Road - For The First Time
Another new artist for me; one I was particularly curious about because I'm always intrigued by groups described as "prog". I very much enjoyed the music on this record, and the opening instrumental is one of my SOTY - it manages to be prog with some jazz flavoring; there's this insistent rhythm, but then horn/guitar/whatever it is flourishes just float on top of it. Great stuff.
All of the tracks are good though...when there's no voice. I said "I very much enjoyed the music on this record", because the music is great when the guy isn't singing...it's mostly spoken-word type stuff and it doesn't work well for me, it just feels like it's interrupting the music. It's honestly why this record didn't get higher than this for me. I still really like the music though.
Highlights: "Instrumental", "Opus"
16. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
It is difficult to impress me when it comes to hip-hip; I respect it as an artform and enjoy it a lot when it's done at a high level(Tupac, Eminem, Kendrick, Beasties, Jay Z, Public Enemy, etc), but it's not my top genre, and to me mediocre hip-hop is much worse than mediocre rock or whatever, so it takes a bit for hip-hop to make an impression with me. This record was hyped more than any other hip-hop record this year, and to my ears, I get it. This is probably the most I've enjoyed a hip-hop record since TPAB(not that I listen to so many hip-hop records).
The most impressive thing to me is not the rapping itself but the musical backings. They are diverse and rich and they grab you before she ever opens her mouth from the ominous bass and choral vocals in "Introvert", to the strings in "I Love You, I Hate You"(that remind me of award show music at some points), to the African sounds of "Fear No Man", it's impressive.
Highlights include "Introvert", "I Love You, I Hate You", "Standing Ovation", "Protect My Energy", and "Fear No Man".
This is an immaculately-produced album.
17. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha
Yet another new artist for me. This is a mellow, chill-out album if I've ever heard one, but she's got personality and a real vibe going. She's so young too! Someone to keep an eye on. TBH, if I spent a little more time with this one, it might rise a little more.
Highlights include "Better Distractions", "Sometimes", "In A Good Way", "Cheers", and "A Stranger".
18. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions
19. Lucy Dacus - Home Video
Gonna talk about these together since they have an association with each other.
I think both of them and Bridgers are exciting up-and-coming artists; there's some pretty raw, verbose songwriting going on here. I find myself nonetheless not connecting with them emotionally as much as I want to. That said there are some definite highlights:
"Hardline", "Crying Wolf", "Favor", and "Song In E"(beautiful, probably my favorite on either album) for Baker; and "Cartwheel", "Thumbs", "Going, Going, Gone", and "Triple Dog Dare" for Dacus.
20. Jonsi - Obsidian
A solo effort from the Sigur Ros frontman...it's really an album of ambient music, so you have to be in the mood, but if you're into that kind of thing, it's a pretty relaxing, comforting, and very cohesive listen.
. 
