Favorite Albums of 2021
The following is a collection of my favorite albums from this past year. 2021 was the sequel to 2020. Surprises and resolutions, conflicts and confrontations. It was a year of retreat but also great discoveries. Much of the music I fell in love with this year follows that up and down roller coaster map and ultimately resulted in a deep breath and large self-reflection. Each album stood out to me for their craft in the album as a whole. They are listed by their release date.
I want to thank everyone who has supported Music Stream Dreams since its inception a couple of years ago and especially supported last year's album list and playlist. Thank you to all the people in my life who continuously introduce me to new music and broaden my knowledge and interests.
Please continue to stay safe, healthy, and work towards finding the happiness you all deserve. Take time for yourself. Take time for your health.
McCartney III; McCartney III Imagined
by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney is back with McCartney III, the followup to his 1980 album, McCartney II. It was originally released at the end of 2020 and was reimagined with a wide range of features and collaborations including Dominic Fike, Khruangbin, St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, and Anderson .Paak. The original release starts with a guitar-heavy song that leads into a chipper pop ballad. The songs showcase a fun laid-back version of McCartney who is intent on making music for the sake of music. Songs like Pretty Boys and The Kiss of Venus hold their own on both the original and the remixed versions.
Standout Songs: (McCartney III) Long Tailed Winter Bird, Pretty Boys, Women And Wives, Lavatory Lil, Slidin’, The Kiss of Venus, Deep Down; (McCartney III Imagined) The Kiss of Venus, Pretty Boys, Deep Down, Seize The Day, Long Tailed Winter Bird, When Winter Comes
Magic Mirror
by Pearl Charles
Pearl Charles comes in swinging with Only For Tonight, inspired by ABBA’s Mamma Mia soundtrack. This song is the height of the album’s upbeat energy as it begins the saga of love followed by the stages of heartbreak, sadness, forgiveness of others and self, and eventual building back up. The songs beautifully follow this roadmap and show Pearl Charles’ maturing from her previous albums.
Stand Out Songs: Only For Tonight, Imposter, Don’t Feel Like Myself, Magic Mirror, All the Way, Take Your Time, Sweet Sunshine Wine
Drunk Tank Pink
by shame
British post-punk has been on the rise over the past few years. Shame’s sophomore album brings punching guitars, moving drums and bass, and punk-esq whaling vocals. Many of the album's songs can be categorized as the purgatory between being a child without responsibilities and the new barring parameters that come with adulthood. I don't think this is my favorite post-punk album of this year (there are a handful this year), but it stands out in the space that the instrumentals take up and the longer and more thoughtful songs.
Standout Songs: Alphabet, Nigel Hitter, March Day, Water in the Well, Snow Day, Human, for a Minute, Station Wagon
Overstand
by Apifera
Stones Throw Records is most notable for some of its alternative and genre-pushing hip hop, rap, and R&B musicians. Over the past few years the label has been expanding, pushing those genres more with the musicians and bands they sign. Apifera’s debut album, Overstand, is jazz by definition, yet the free-flowing nature of many of the songs can find parallels in the samples of hip hop and rap. While a four person jazz band is nothing new, the set up of two keys/synth players and a drummer and bassist takes on new territory, as the keys are able to create a dialogue more commonly found in a more classical jazz band set up. Fast moving drums and bass shine on songs like The Pit & The Beggar, while more traditional style jazz drums and bass support both key players.
Standout Songs: Lake Vu, Enek Hamaguro, The Pit & the Beggar, Notre Damn, Iris One, Four Green Yellows, Pulse 420
A Common Turn
by Anna B Savage
The debut album by UK-based singer/songwriter Anna B Savage is a delicate and crafted listening experience full of opera and open mic night at a coffee bar. The songs on this album are a collection of brutally honest and introspection most of which deals with physical and romantic relationships with others. What strikes me most about this album is how well the instrumentations support the distinguishable voice of Anna and how they also match the mood of the lyrics. There is careful consideration to every second of this album and it should be listened to similarly, with careful ears and open hearts.
Standout Songs: Corncrakes, Dead Pursuits, BedStuy, Baby Grand, Two, A Common Turn, Chelsea Hotel #3, One
For the First Time
by Black Country, New Road
The second post-punk band in this year’s list, Black Country, New Road came out of the gate swinging on their debut album. The album pushes rock and punk into new places. Each song carves its own path and charts its own course. The band’s drums, bass, and guitars work so well together, creating soundscapes in themselves. Then with the added horns, strings, keyboards, and the show-stopping vocals and lyrics help each song soar in their own right. This debut album groves and strides forward into worlds of its own. That being said, there are still places and lands unknown that this band and its vocals can go, which we will hopefully see on their upcoming album coming out next year.
Standout Songs: Instrumental, Athens, France, Science Fair, Track X, Opus
5 Songs For The Dysphoric
by Lauren Auder
After coming out as transgender and beginning her transition, Auder released this deeply personal and introspective album, which shows the beauty and complexity of before and during transition. The EP’s sounds combine influences of pop, alternative rock, and electronic genres. These influences are skillfully brought together to create a deeply emotional sound that supports lyrics dealing with gender dysphoria, intimacy, being open and opening oneself to others, and opening up to oneself. This album is by all means an autobiographical account of her identity and transition and should be listened to with the care and warmth that she shows herself in life and in the making of this EP. 5 Songs For The Dysphoric is a much needed step and a beautiful prelude to her upcoming debut album.
Standout Songs: Animal, Heathen, Unseen
Wait for Me
by Snowpoet
What can be described as folk jazz, Wait for Me is a 12 song LP that takes the listener on a journey of love, reflection, and accepting oneself as they are. Many of the songs on this album, like The Wheel and Burn Bright, provide warmth and comfort similar to that of being wrapped in a fleece blanket next to a fire on a snowy, stormy winter’s day. Yet, this album generally presents something more of a late winter and early spring feel with songs like A Chance to Hear the Rain and Wool Cotton Lace & Snow. Overall, Lauren Kinsella’s vocals shine while being perched above the many instruments and hypnotic drum beats by Chris Hyson.
Standout Songs: Roots, The Wheel, A Chance to Hear the Rain, Sky Thinking, With You, Burn Bright, Floating Practice, Wool Cotton Lace & Snow
Sad Night Dynamite
by Sad Night Dynamite
Inspired by the likes of Gorillaz and the creativity of Kanye West, Sad Night Dynamite came out of left field with their self-titled debut album. With their careful attention to beat making, the British duo is then able to add some ghostly early Gorillaz-like vocals on top. Some of the songs on the album, like Skully, could almost be played at a 1 AM rave in a foggy graveyard. Creepy, haunted, and spooky are good description words for the highly thoughtful and stylized production of this album.
Standout Songs: Icy Violence, Killshot, Mountain Jack, Krunk, Skully, Smoke Hole
The American Negro
by Adrian Younge
Poetry, spoken word, and expressive jazz are brought together in an album that might be far better categorized as art, a true and full expression of an idea and/or being. With this album, Younge stands firmly on his pedestal and preaches his mind, body, and soul. Speaking truth to power about what it means to be black in America, what it means to love oneself, and support others within the black community all while scoring a jazz band and vocals to uplift the message and meaning. The album starts and ends with spoken word messages, bookends to songs and poems that are consistent and tell a story that can be seen in the album’s cover art.
Standout Songs: Revisionist History, The American Negro, Revolutionize, Dying on the Run, Disadvantaged Without a Title, Mama (You Will Make It), Margaret Garner, The Death March, Black Lives Matter, George Stinney Jr.
Obviously
by Lake Street Dive
2021’s Obviously took Lake Street Dive to new heights for the band. The widespread playing of Hypotheticals launched the band into new general mass popularity. Although this album doesn’t feel different in sound or style from previous albums, Obviously rocks and allowed the band to gain much deserved notoriety. The band’s well-crafted pop style, a mix of jazz with R&B and rock, is superbly showcased in songs like Hypotheticals and Lackluster Love. Lake Street Dive’s rise to success has been an authentic dedication to the craft of music and this album shows the payoff years of work and iteration has.
Standout Songs: Hypotheticals, Hush Money, Same Old News, Making Do, Nobody’s Stopping You Now, Lackluster Love, Feels Like the Last Time
The Moon and the Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
by Valerie June
The iconic and distinguishable voice of Valerie June returns with her third album diving head first into spirituality, love, loss, and the act of remembrance. Her music continues to develop the creative blending of Folk, Soul, Americana, and Indie Rock. This album sees some of her more raw lyrics, almost as if taken directly out of a diary or notebook. The instrumentation throughout the album shifts from large instrumentation, on You And I, to coffee house open mic night, on Colors, and shows a range of influences and ideas. The album’s final track, Starlight Ethereal Silence, combines bird whistles, flutes, auxiliary percussion, and more to encapsulate the spirituality of the album and of June herself in an ambient soundscape.
Standout Songs: Stay, You And I, Colors, Call Me A Fool, Fallin’, Two Roads
WE ARE
by Jon Batiste
The electric, soulful, and evermore thoughtful musician that is Jon Batiste creates an album that drives with purpose and stands tall with power. Pulling in many of his genre and cultural influences, WE ARE is a testament to using one's voice to express emotions and standing up for oneself. Many of these songs recall chapters in Batiste’s life from loss of innocence to overcoming racial barriers in the music industry. The most important theme across this album is best understood by a small font size message on the album’s cover: “dedicated to the dreamers, seers, griots and truth tellers who refuse to let us fully descend into madness.”
Standout Songs: WE ARE, CRY, I NEED YOU, BOY HOOD, MOVEMENT 11’, ADULTHOOD, FREEDOM, UNTIL
Green to Gold
by The Antlers
The new chapter in an ever growing discography by Brooklyn-based, folk-inspired, indie rock band Antlers is a breath of fresh air compared to their previous albums. Where previously their music left the listener with feelings of shadows and ghostliness, this album feels like someone finally threw open the shutters of an old house in the middle of an abandoned farm. Air and light enter each song and a sigh of relief is sound. The instrumentals and vocals do not skip a beat at affirming this new and much welcomed vibe.
Standout Songs: Strawflower, Wheels Roll Home, Solstice, Stubborn Man, Green to Gold, Porchlight
Yeti Season
by El Michels Affair
A kaleidoscope for the ears is a great way to explain the psychedelic and transient instrumentals. Leon Michels, famed producer, takes his passion project to new heights with this album and the many features from Piya Malik. The album brings in Middle Eastern and Turkish influences with the effects on the guitars and use of trumpets throughout the album. If you’re looking for something new and somewhere out in left field give this album a listen.
Standout Songs:Unathi, Ala Vida, Fazed Out, Murkit Gem, Dhuann, Silver Lining, Zaharila
ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE
by BROCKHAMPTON
After 2019’s GINGER, largely seen as one of BROCKHAMPTON’s lesser received albums, the new space that ROADRUNNER travels to and explores is a welcomed change by fans and critics. Songs like DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY resurface some remnants of the band’s SATURATION trilogy era that brought the group their initial success. This album is loaded with features that perfectly blend into the whole sound of the group. The album touches on a multitude of issues that are personal to each member. There isn’t a track on this album that doesn’t wear its emotions on its sleeves, and I think that’s what makes this album so powerful.
Standout Songs: BUZZCUT, CHAIN ON, COUNT ON ME, THE LIGHT, WINDOWS, OLD NEWS, WHEN I BALL, DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY, DEAR LORD, THE LIGHT PT. II
Dirty Honey
by Dirty Honey
In their official debut self-titled album, Dirty Honey packs heat, some southern blues, and a lot of rock. With a sound on par with some classic AC/DC and Led Zeppelin the album can barely contain the large and boasting sound that is made for large stages and packed houses. Each song has a life of its own but comes together to create a whole and complete package. The album ends with Another Last Time which is a rock ballad through and through with a sound that is soft and dense like an evening fog and lyrics that fill the heart with love and soul.
Standout Songs: California Dreamin’, Tied Up, Gypsy, Another Last Time
Bright Green Fields
by Squid
The third post-punk album on this year’s list is probably the most interesting and integrated album of them all. What blows my mind everytime I listen to this album is that each song is so different from one another, yet they blend from one to the next. The whole album could be listened to as one long song which I think is why it makes this album so strong, the concept is present in every nook and cranny on this album, everything is thorough and considered. All of that aside, Bright Green Fields delivers beyond expectations for their debut album. Instrumentals turn from hard rock and krautrock to droning and almost ambient rock. The singing seamlessly blends in the instrumentals almost becoming an instrument themself. Each song on this album is a unique cinematic movie and paves ways for a vast and expansive possible future as a band.
Standout Songs: G.S.K., Narrator, Paddling, Documentary Filmmaker, 2010, Peel St., Global Groove, Pamphlets
Delta Kream
by The Black Keys
The Black Keys return with a new album by returning to their roots and inspiration, blues rock. The album is spacious, each song sounding like it was recorded in an empty music hall where the only thing filling the whole room was the sound of the guitar, bass, and ever driving drums. With each passing song, the album seems to sink deeper and deeper into the Mississippi River Delta. At points at the end of the album it seems to sink so deep that some of the rhythms feel derivative of earlier songs. Although this isn’t their best album and is nowhere near the best albums of the year, it stands out in its honesty, openness, and warmth of sound and soul.
Standout Songs: Crawling Kingsnake, Poor Boy a Long Way From Home, Stay All Night, Going Down South, Do the Romp, Sad Days, Lonely Nights
Daddy’s Home
by St. Vincent
Coming back from her 2017 MASSEDUCATION album, St. Vincent (Annie Clark) returns with another unapologetic, jolting, and grooving album. Daddy’s Home takes inspiration from Clark’s childhood influences like Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder, and leaves traces of Pink Floyd and Sly and The Family Stone woven throughout the album. Promiscuous and kinky can describe half of the album, while reflective and introspective on one’s childhood can be found on the other half. Jack Antonoff of Bleachers and Fun. had a heavy hand on the production of this album and a few other major female pop albums this year. This isn’t the first time we have heard influences from the 70s and 80s resurfaced and reinterpreted in recent years by musicians across the genre spectrum. What is unique about this album is the length at which it goes to sound authentic instrumentally but new and unique lyrically.
Standout Songs: Pay Your Way In Pain, Down And Out Downtown, Daddy’s Home, Live In The Dream, The Melting Of The Sun, Down, My Baby Wants A Baby, ...At The Holiday Party
Outside Child
by Allison Russell
Allison Russell’s Debut solo album is folk through and through. After years of making music with her husband in the band Birds of Chicago and a show stopping collaboration Songs of Our Native Daughters, Russell begins to tell us the story of her life. From childhood trauma that is clearly expressed on 4th Day Prayer to the recovery and the power of taking one’s life back in Little Rebirth, each song’s widely varied instrumentation ebbs and flows with the raw emotional power of each song.
Standout Songs: Nightflyer, Persephone, 4th Day Prayer, The Runner, The Hunters, All Of The Women, Joyful M***********s
Cavalcade
by black midi
I was a curious listener to black midi when this album first came out. Then I saw them perform live. I thought this album was good before, and I now see it as great. The writing and scoring of this album is masterful with twists and turns every second of the album. What stands out to me is that, in comparison to their previous album, they seemed to have turned up the saturation on all they do. By that I mean their pretty and orchestrated songs are prettier and more orchestrated, their chaotic and hard songs are more chaotic and go harder. Where for some bands this might be a challenge and come off poorly, black midi makes it an art and expresses the moods and tones in extremely masterful ways across the whole album. Between the previous three bands and black midi, the current British post-punk scene is carving out worlds no one knew existed or dared to explore.
Standout Songs: John L, Marlene Dietrich, Slow, Dethroned, Ascending Forths
Xardinal Coffee
by EXUM
The pipeline from professional athlete to musician has been attempted many times, but none has felt as authentic and genuine as EXUM’s transition from the NFL to a debut album. The transition from sports to music came after a near death experience during a small operation. After the scare they reassessed their life and decided to go head first into music, what they have wanted to do since a young age. This debut album covers many influences and genres; from the club banger Arrest The Dancer to the rock and R&B infused pop song Dark Kept Secret.
Standout Songs Dark Kept Secret, Bad Chick Bad Dude,:The Brotherhood of Traveling Raf, Arrest The Dancer, Muffin Years in Lydian
Path of Wellness
by Sleater-Kinney
The highly experienced and punk all around Sleater-Kinney return with their tenth full length LP, their first ever self-produced album. The song Worry With You features some of the most killer guitar riffs on the album and features some of the coolest and wildest lyrics in a rock love ballad. Complex Female Characters is a serious ode to the experience of women who play important roles in our lives and culture. Throughout the whole album the instrumentals and vocals are so tight that when performed live it shows the skill of both Brownstein and Tucker by being able to perform to the same level of refinement as the studio recordings.
Standout Songs: Path of Wellness, High In The Grass, Worry With You, Shadow Town, Favorite Neighbor, No Knives, Complex Female Characters, Down The Line, Bring Mercy
Butterfly 3000
by King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
The everworking Australian rock band King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard released their 18th album in less than nine years. This album is a wild joining of a kaleidoscope and a dream where you’re floating above the clouds. Almost all of this album is so upbeat, light, and spatially surrounding that it's easy and sometimes nice to get lost in the world of it and forget about some of the darker aspects of the world in which we physically inhabit. It's easy to listen to this album almost as one whole song, as instrumental licks loop from one song to the next. Some of my favorite moments that King Gizzard has ever created are found on this album as vocals and guitars delicately layer themselves into the hypnotic loops.
Standout Songs: Yours, Shanghai, Dreams, Interior People, Black Hot Soup, Ya Love
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
by Tyler, the Creator
The much anticipated new album from Tyler, the Creator does not disappoint. Following the success and critically acclaimed IGOR, Tyler tapped the talented DJ Drama to help him not only produce the album but help him find the voice and sound all of his previous work has been leading to. Tyler brings back his distinguished rapping and combines it with the incredible instrumental and looping talent he has mastered over the past few albums. I don’t think many fans and critics saw this sound coming from Tyler, but after everyone hearing this album I don’t think anyone is complaining. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST stands out in Tyler’s discography because it’s apparent that this is the album he wanted to make. He brings with him the maturity and experiences he has accrued in his more than decade solo career.
Standout Songs: CORSO, LEMONHEAD, WUSYANAME, LUMBERJACK, HOT WIND BLOWS, RUNITUP, SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE, MOMMA TALK, RISE!, JUGGERNAUT, WILSHIRE, SAFARI
Mood Valiant
by Hiatus Kaiyote
The Australian neo-soul and funk-jazz band returned this year with their third full length album, Mood Valiant. The album is a real divergence in sound and energy from their breakthrough album Choose Your Weapon. The reception of this album could be categorized as not what fans were expecting but what they needed. Songs like Stone or Lavender and Red Room show love and compassion while Songs like All The Words We Don’t Say shows energy and introspection. The change in music, general overall introspection, and the long delay between albums is all due in part to the lead singer’s battle with breast cancer, a battle that the singer says changed her whole outlook and approach to life and music. If there is one thing that this album can be whittled down to, one lesson or idea, it is that the relationships we have with those in our lives are so much more important than we can ever comprehend and express.
Standout Songs: Slip into Something Soft, And We Go Gentle, Get Sun, All the Words We Don’t Say, Rose Water, Red Room, Sparkle Tape Break Up, Stone or Lavender
It Won't Always Be Like This
by inhaler
There is something vaguely familiar upon first listen to inhaler’s debut album, yet something so rich and new. Maybe it's a bit of late 2010’s boyband or possibly the longer almost repetitive choruses that echo that of mid-career U2. Although the Irish roots are similar to U2 and some vocal and guitar sounds feel familiar, there feels to be a genuine aspect to every second of it that comes from a place deeper than just the music. The nervousness, angst, and subliminal optimism throughout this album brings a driving, beat heavy rock album to life.
Standout Songs: It Won’t Always Be Like This, My Honest Face, Slide Out The Window, A Night On The Floor, My King Will Be Kind, Totally
Hotel Surrender
by Chet Faker
Australian electronic musician Chet Faker returns with his second album, under the name Chet Faker, after seven years since his breakout debut album. After a long hiatus he returned last year releasing two albums under the name Nick Murphy. One album was composed of ambient piano tracks and the other a pop downtempo album titled Run Fast Sleep Naked. The craftsmanship that evolved in his two albums in 2020 showed up in the instrumentations and vocals that Chet Faker presents. Compared to his 2014 debut, this album exists in a whole new plane where the lyrics have a deeper and more personal meaning and the instrumentations take a more supporting role. Much of the punching grooves and polished beats that made the Chet Faker name so popular before find a new home in this album where they show up in a sense of love and not needing to prove themselves.
Standout Songs: Oh Me Oh My, Low, Get High, Whatever Tomorrow, It’s Not You, Peace of Mind, In Too Far
Sling
by Clairo
The sophomore album from Clairo, who led the way with bedroom indie rock in the mid 2010s, is possibly the start of a divergence from the sound that allowed her to rise to the level of fame that her debut EP and album gave her. This is due largely in part to Jack Antonoff being a co-writer and co-producer throughout the album. The harder and more rock inspired sounding instrumentations throughout are credited to Antonoff bringing a new sound to Clairo’s voice and lyrics and can be best heard on the songs Amoeba and Zinnias. Antonoff aside, Clairo didn’t disappoint in delivering the personal, soft, and articulate lyrics she became known for last decade. This album feels like a week long vacation at a lake house in the forest, where at the beginning of the week the lake is frozen and snow blankets the ground but throughout the week the sun comes out and slowly thaws the landscape to the point that when you’re leaving the house seven days later, there is promise of a beautiful spring just up ahead.
Standout Songs: It Won’t Always Be Like This, My Honest Face, Slide Out The Window, A Night On The Floor, My King Will Be Kind, Totally
Welcome 2 America
by Prince
The first album of new music released by Prince’s Estate. Originally recorded in 2010, this album is full of social commentary around technology, race, sex, and drugs. It is unknown why this album was put on the shelf and never released while he was alive, but maybe because of this being a posthumous release, the messages in it seem clearer, feel more important, and somehow connect to the times we are in right now, in which technology companies and big data watch over us and race is a major conversation in our country’s discourse. Prince and his always outstanding band and collaborators put forth groves, funk, and some jazz to create an album that will probably deserve more love and listens than it will ever get.
Standout Songs: Welcome 2 America, Born 2 Die, 1000 Light Years From Here, Hot Summer, Same Page, Different Book, 1010 (Rin Tin TIn), One Day We Will All B Free
Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
by Bleachers
This album might only have Bruce Springsteen featured on one song but his influence is featured throughout the whole album. Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers works perfectly into his ever growing production and writing credits. Springsteen is featured on Chinatown, a song that along with a few others feels pulled right out of the beginning of his career with Greeting From Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle. Antonoff’s knack for pop music and producing fuses perfectly with his love for rock. The album’s organic instrumental and downtempo bookends feel off compared to the rest of the album, but every song in between makes up for them in exponential ways with summer rock hits like How Dare You Want More and Stop Making This Hurt that will undoubtedly be played for decades to come.
Standout Songs: Chinatown, How Dare You Want More, Big Life, Stop Making This Hurt, Strange Behavior
What Box?
by Terry Presume
The intersection of rap, R&B, and rock have been done before, But Terry Presume’s unique sounding vocals and lyrical flows bring a fresh new sound. This debut EP from Presume grooves and pushes forward during each second of the six songs. Each song has a very different instrumentation sound and vibe than the others. None of This Alone can trace influences to mid 2010s electronic music by the likes of Kygo and Marshmello while Zaza and Some Runtz can be traced to rock from the early 2000s like Beck. Overall this EP is a fun prelude to hopefully a fruitful and vast sounding career to come from Terry Presumes.
Standout Songs: Chinatown, How Dare You Want More, Big Life, Stop Making This Hurt, Strange Behavior
Stand For Myself
by Yola
There is a superstition that most breakout musicians' sophomore albums will be a flop for a number of reasons. However, Yola and her powerful voice and sound defies all of the expectations with one of the most standout vocals of this year. Yola brings soul, pop, country, and folk together to create dreamy songs like the opening track and powerful fighting spirited calls to action like the closing track. Yola’s diversity in aesthetics and ability to bend and fuse genres produces one of the most fun albums to listen to this year.
Standout Songs: Barely Alive, Dancing Away in Tears, Diamond Studded Shoes, Be My Friend, Starlight, Now You’re Here, Whatever You Want, Break The Bough, Like A Photograph, Stand For Myself
Ekundayo Inversions
by El Michels Affair meets Laim Bailey
This remix album fuses together two different and unique sounds into a new soundscape. Liam Bailey’s 2020 album Ekundayo is remixed by El Michels Affair. The remixes on this album bring new songs, new takes on songs, and just more common styled remixes. Both artists worked together to remix this album into a laid back and subliminal experience. What shines the most on this album is El Michels Affair’s range in that their process of looping and building can translate itself into reggae music heard on this album, Turkish inspired music heard on their 2021 album Yeti Season, and hip hop and rap heard on their two albums covering and reinterpreting Wu-Tang Clan’s music.
Standout Songs: Conquer & Divide, Angel Face, Walk With Me, No One Else, I Love NY, Awkward, Faded
Solar Power
by Lorde
The long awaited and highly anticipated third album from this Australian indie pop singer finally has arrived. Lorde’s return was kicked off with one of the most exciting singles in a long time, Solar Power, which brought with it light of a new energy and style. The fourth album that Jack Antonoff helped produce in this year's list, Solar Power is a long walk on the beach during the first or final days of summer. There is a feeling of reflecting on the past while also looking towards the future but never losing focus on the present moment. For many fans, including myself, this album delivered, met, and surpassed the expectations that were had as we all awaited four years to see this album and all of its glory.
Standout Songs: The Path, Solar Power, Stoned at the Nail Salon, Fallen Fruit, Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen is All), Mood Ring
Mother
by Cleo Sol
Put on some of your softest and comfiest clothes, curl up on the couch with a nice warm tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and let the songs from this album embrace you and hold you. Cleo Sol, a part of the critically acclaimed group Sault whose 2021 album was only available for a limited time, leaves listeners with the permanence of a caring, listening, and grateful mother. She performs her emotions and experiences with the utmost care and delicacy in the use of instrumentals and sings like silk and slow-falling feathers. This album details the transformative power that new motherhood brought to the singer at the beginning of 2021.
Standout Songs: Don’t Let Me Fall, Promises, Heart Full of Love, Build Me Up, Sunshine, 23, One Day, Know That You Are Loved
Hot Sass
by Liz Cooper
When this album first came out, the song Motorcycle was all that I found to be interesting. However after seeing Liz Cooper perform live, both on a large stage and acoustically, every song on this album feels like a work of art, a painting that takes years to complete, a drawing where every line has purpose and meaning. Hot Sass is made of music Liz Cooper wrote and recorded after she moved to Brooklyn, New York. She talks about how this album is about maturing, new found independence, and honestly. These things manifest themselves in all crevices of this album. From honest and open lyrics, to exploring new sounds and aesthetics, and a very well crafted and thorough instrumentation.
Standout Songs: Slice of Life, Heart Shaped Candy, Motorcycle, Feeling Good, Lucky Charm, Getting Closer, Fragile Lips, My Oh My
Dawn
by Yebba
Another debut album and another long awaited album, Yebba first rose to mass popularity after her feature on Sam Smith’s 2017 album titled The Thrill of It All. Since then she's popped up on other songs here and there and released a couple of singles. Now she has arrived with Dawn, bringing with her love and comfort, and expertly produced by Mark Ronson. The love is sad at times, as the loss of her mother finds itself in many of the songs like How Many Years and October Sky. In other songs, like Boomerang, we see Yebba let loose and have fun while showing off her vocal talent. This album is a great introduction to Yebba where she is willing to show off her vocals, lyrics, and aesthetic diversity.
Standout Songs: Stand, Boomerang, All I Ever Wanted, Far Away, October Sky, Louie Bag, Distance
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
by Injury Reserve
The second official full length album comes after over a year of the pandemic, a tumultuous year in America in terms of social and political events, and the premature death of one of the trio’s members. It’s interesting to learn that this album was finished almost entirely before all of the events of the past couple of years because of how emotionally and aesthetically timely it is now. Much of the instrumentals are dark and cryptic in nature with heavy rapping and lyrics which are hard to call just that; instead they sound more like monologues, spoken word, and shouting. The emotional toll you can hear and feel on each of these songs pushes the album and the listener to a point of indescribable mental inception.
Standout Songs: Outside, Superman That, Smoke Don’t Clear, Wild Wild West, Postpostpartum, Knees, Bye Storm
Local Valley
by Jose Gonzalez
The hypnotic vocals and guitar of Jose Gonzalez made a triumphant return with soothing and tranquil undertones. Through his use of singing in Spanish, English and Swedish, Gonzalez continuously explores more existential questions of life and death and current state of humanity. There is something really sublime hidden in the gentle strumming of the guitar and the faint sound of birds chirping. There is always something in Gonzalez’s albums that makes them so captivating and an unexpected but a welcomed surprise when they are released into the world.
Standout Songs: El Invento, Visions, Horizons, Head On, Lasso In, Swing, Line of Fire
Montero
by Lil Nas X
There isn’t much I can say about Lil Nas X and Montero that already hasn’t been said. This album earned its place as NPR Music’s number one album of 2021. Lil Nas X has taken the industry and culture by storm. His hard work, honestly, and self expression is just a fraction of what makes him and this album such a standout album. My one criticism of this album is that I don’t think the features were used to their full advantage. But I also don't think this album, or Lil Nas X for that matter, need features and judging by who he featured and how, I think he knew this too.
Standout Songs: MONTERO, INDUSTRY BABY, THATS WHAT I WANT, SCOOP, ONE OF ME, LOST IN THE CITADEL, SUN GOES DOWN, VOID, LIFE AFTER SALEM
In Heaven
by Strand of Oaks
Strand of Oaks’ newest album is a push past the territory of indie rock to somewhere between southern rock and arena rock. Death, the afterlife, and the astrological world of life find themselves as common themes across this album. The sound of this album and songs like Somewhere in Chicago and Sister Saturn have drawn me to this album time and time again. But I am always left with a bit of puzzlement as this album feels a bit like an unfinished puzzle. Not unfinished in a way of sound or quality, both of which feel extremely finished, but instead as in the themes and topics covered in the lyrics, which feel as if they haven’t yet reached their resolution point.
Standout Songs: Galacticana, Easter, Hurry, Horses at Night, Somewhere in Chicago, Sunbathers, Sister Saturn
gelato
by boylife
Gold is hard to strike when so much music and variation is being produced, but gold was only a stop on the way to the gem that is the debut album gelato by boylife. This album is best read as a self-portrait of the musician himself, Ryan Yoo. Each song perfectly captures moments, emotions, and memories of himself in his relationship with himself and significant others. Yoo’s vocals are clean, crisp, and carry with them the warmth and chills of experience. This album is a smooth and gentle rollercoaster, no loops or tight turns, but fast and wind in your hair nonetheless. I highly recommend everyone listens to this album at least once.
Standout Songs: hey, church, dio, amphetamine, superpretty, lush, baddreams
My Morning Jacket
by My Morning Jacket
23 years as a band, eight albums, and a six year hiatus, My Morning Jacket returned with not only their ninth album but their self-titled album. This album is not a new step as some might think, but instead feels like a whole new introduction to the band, a reestablishing of themselves. Yet for many longtime fans of the band, this album is like welcoming home your child after they went on a long trip. Something has changed about the band, a new energy invigorates, but deep down it's the same band it's always been, just now with new experiences and life lived added to the mix. A handful of the songs on this album are some of my favorite overall performances of the year. With whaling guitars that are Pink Floyd-like, at times it's more something out of the 2010s alt rock scene. My favorite part of this album is that My Morning Jacket knows exactly the space they’ve carved out for themselves over their decades long career, and they masterfully fill up that space on every second of this album.
Standout Songs: Love Love Love, In Color, Least Expected, Never In The Real World, Lucky To Be Alive, Out Of Range, Pt. 2, I Never Could Get Enough
LP!
by JPEGMAFIA
JPEGMAFIA is a ball of energy and with each song and project that he drops there are so many sharp turns that listeners can never anticipate. Many of the songs on this album are so sharp and shoot in all directions with many different rhythms and samplings, that when he raps over each of them there is no telling where he will go. There are no rules and no boundaries that he follows, instead he creates in the purest sense of the word. There is just so much in every second of this album, and yet it's cohesive as one whole project.
Standout Songs: TRUST!, DIRTY!, WHAT KIND OF RAPPIN’ IS THIS?, THOT’S PRAYER!, REBOUND!, OG!, DAM! DAM! DAM!, BMT!, CUTIE PIE!, BALD!
I Don’t Live Here Anymore
by The War on Drugs
This newest album from The War on Drugs picks up where the last one, A Deeper Understanding, left off. The previous album’s sorry and despair seem to have been understood and overcome. The opener, Living Proof, is the first glimpse of hope and it leads into Harmonia’s Dream with the very pertinent line, “Sometimes forward is the only way back.” From there the album grows and swells with new life only to find itself back where we all start. With songs like Rings Around My Father’s Eyes and Occasional Rain there is a sense of being better without losing perspective of how things used to be, currently are, and one day can be. This album is the growth and development we all hope to achieve after our own personal hardships in our lives.
Standout Songs: Living Proof, Harmonia’s Dream, Change, I Don’t Wanna Wait, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, Wasted, Rings Around My Father’s Eyes
The Future
by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
After last year’s solo album And It’s Still Alright, which was one of my favorites of 2020, Nathaniel Rateliff returns with the grand and warm sounding backing band The Night Sweats. What’s unique about the larger story between the album from 2020 and The Future is it shows the incredible power of growth one can have. The band as a whole finds inspirational sounds from Motown to Bob Dylan to Van Morrison. If Rateliff’s 2020 album was the pain of finding yourself in a hole, this album is the adventure and knowledge learned after standing up and finding your way out of it.
Standout Songs: The Future, Survivor, Something Ain’t Right, Love Me Till I’m Gone, What If I, I’m On Your Side, Love Don’t
An Evening With Silk Sonic
by Silk Sonic
There aren’t too many things you see or hear where you can see the creator had fun every second of the way during the process. This collaboration between Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars is one of those rare occasions. Not only is this album made in a retro soul and funk homage, but it also feels like an album both musicians wanted to make and did so genuinely. Having Bootsy Collins there along the way only made the album that much more authentically groovy, as if it came right out of the 70s and 80s. This album is bursting with energy, life, and positive vibes and is begging to be listened to while strutting down the middle of the street.
Standout Songs: Leave The Door Open, Fly As Me, After Last Night, Smokin Out The Window, 777, Skate
30
by Adele
It’s been six year since Adele last released an album. Six years is a long time to experience life. Everything from love, marriage, divorce, raising a child, being single, and the struggles we’ve all felt during the past two years living through a pandemic. These experiences are the colorful fabrics that Adele and her collaborators expertly and tenderly quilt together to make 30. The emotional range that Adele showcases throughout the album is some of the most vulnerable she’s ever been. The three song run that is Cry Your Heart Out, Oh My God, and Can I Get It are some of the poppiest songs on this album, yet Easy On Me is the most streamed song. Is it the emotional vulnerability in Adele’s music that brings us to be sympathetic and empathetic to her, or is her music a device that allows listeners the opportunity to look back on one’s own experiences and be vulnerable to ourselves? Whatever it is that allowed this album to be such a success, it is welcomed and matches the effort and energy Adele put into this masterful album.
Standout Songs: Easy On Me, My Little Love, Cry Your Heart Out, Oh My God, Can I Get It, I Drink Wine, Hold On, Love Is A Game