With more of an interest in art rock, r&b, and experimental music of all genres, I’ve put together the list of albums that not only stood out to me this past year – but that I’ve enjoyed the most. Hope you find something you like!
Album of the Year: After the Magic by Parannoul. An hour long shoegaze record that, to put it as directly as I can, feels like watching the world’s most intense meteor shower from the inside of your own breaking heart (haha). Empathy, hope, and moments of cathartic revelation can all be found in this album, similarly to looking up at the night sky after a bad day/week/year.
Other Standouts: Joanna Sternberg’s unique voice over Carole King-esq piano melodies and chords on I’ve Got Me as they recount the perils of modern queer dating; Yazmin Lacey stepping into her own with the fascinating debut soul/jazz album Voice Notes, all inspired by the London scene; and Lonnie Holley wielding radical honesty and storytelling to reveal his and so many others’ truths about growing up in America’s Jim Crow South on Oh Me Oh My, Lonnie writes with agency in a world not only seeking to erase – but completely retell his livelihood.
| Artist | Album | Label | |
| 1 | Parannoul | After the Magic |
Poclanos / Topshelf
|
| 2 | Lonnie Holley | Oh Me Oh My | Jagjaguwar |
| 3 | Joanna Sternberg | I’ve Got Me | Fat Possum |
| 4 | Yazmin Lacey | Voice Notes | Own Your Own |
| 5 | Titanic | Vidrio |
Unheard of Hope
|
| 6 | Kelela | Raven | Warp |
| 7 | ANOHNI and the Johnsons | My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross |
Secretly Canadian
|
| 8 | Mitski | The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We | Dead Oceans |
| 9 | Kara Jackson | Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? | September |
| 10 | Lana Del Rey | Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd | Interscope |
