Header picture: Haley Dahl from Sloppy Jane taken by Walter Wlodarczyk, 2019.

You wonder if the article is going well. In any case, you’ve decided is the last you’re writing for that magazine. ‘Faye did say it sounded a good idea to start on your own, grab a more stable job, and then you can think in moving’, you ponder. Your thoughts wander, your speaker is playing a song full of abrasive guitars and pummeling drums. You can’t concentrate. You realize your feet are moving rapidly, your fingers using your legs as percussions. You get up. She was coming any minute now. You remember she showed you the band that you’re listening to. ‘You need to tell her’ you say to yourself. The connection through music you’ve had with her is outstanding and, at the very least you’re happy to founding someone that actually listens to your ramblings about the post-punk revival, how jazz is inherently free, and how Latin music is badly represented in the world. You are still optimistic. You manage to write a few lines more. The music stopped. ‘It never actually does’ you think. The doorbell rings.

Further showcasing the bulk of music 2021 was able to grant us, I decided to create an additonal list with albums I appreciated or enjoyed less than the first 25, but wanted to recommend nonetheless. Whether I revisited them after just one listen when they were released or, like Low’s album, actually just listened in December, these records are definitely worth your time. And the best part is, it is still not all. Happy 2022.

30 by Adele

Greatly influenced by her divorce and the raising up of her child amid emotional turmoil, Adele’s 4th album 30 (6 years after 25) is definitely her best effort to date. Thanks to the sheer power of her performances, the devastating personal recounts she lives through each of these tracks, and the fact that it’s her most adventurous record. It is not flawless but it is one of the most arresting pop albums of the year.

Glow by Alice Phoebe Lou

Like viewed through a retro-looking glass, Alice Phoebe Lou’s 3rd album Glow is a collection of sweet, indie-rock, and folk tracks that sound like being crafted in a bedroom but with a festival in mind. Lou’s hopeful views on love and how it shapes around her and the people recieveing her affections, give life to her songs and you are only left wanting her to tell you more.

Collapsed in Sunbeams by Arlo Parks

Arlo Parks sunlit melodies and jazzy instrumentation are inevitably inviting on her great debut Collapsed in Sunbeams. Nonetheless, the album presents a versatile artist, one that conveys emotion and vulnerability in glowing ways through her voice, her words and her music which, despite its gentleness, has groove to spare.

Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish

Although never reaching the heights of her thrilling debut, Billie Eilish’s second album, Happier Than Ever is a thoughtful and smooth immersion into her own self. The songs are looser and gentler, with many acoustic ballads expressing her views about people’s opinions on her body, her artistry, and her public persona. Eilish uses this record to get into terms with her pop star life and at the same time, she adds to her particular pop shade a record that, at the very least, is a solid showcase of her songwriting and unquestionable talents.

An Overview on Phenomenal Nature by Cassandra Jenkins

Cassandra Jenkins conjures backgrounds of unbelievable beauty, all to surround her musings on humanity, her reflections turning inwards and outwards depending on the state of her vision. The melodies and jazz-influenced folky instrumentation on An Overview on Phenomenal Nature are an important addition to create an evocative and ebbing piece of work, all the more amazing being only Jenkins’ second album.

New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning

One of the most celebrated rock debuts of the year, Dry Cleaning’s New Long Leg is a post-punk effort full of twangy guitars and punchy bass-lines that create an engaging instrumental background for the star of the show: Florence Shaw’s dry contralto and her almost spoken-word vocals. The result is kind of surreal, adding also Shaw’s unattached ramblings, and although being somewhat uneven, is still an outstanding breakthrough.

HEY WHAT by Low

After being regarded as an influential act in the slowcore subgenre of alternative rock, Low’s Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk (who disregard the genre placement) have crafted records in the latter part of their career full of sonic landscapes of utterly arresting music. Noise is channeled, voices are prioritized and backgrounds are painted in full color in the mind-blowing production of HEY WHAT, Low’s 13th record, an astounding example of soundcraft as musical expression.

Sound Ancestors by Madlib

The legendary hip-hop producer Madlib sounds free on Sound Ancestors. The first release in his main artistic name in a long while, the record is a collection of his best chops, combining samples, excellently produced beats, and finding several great melodies in unexpected forms. Mixed, engineered and arranged by Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, Sound Ancestors is also freshly organic which makes it all the more entracing.

Nurture by Porter Robinson

Porter Robinson engages in festival ready rhythms, shiny synths and affecting processed vocals to craft an electro pop record with a unique bedroom sheen to it, and Nurture’s combination of sweet instrumental balladry and electronic tracks bursting with emotion is succesful. Nurture excels in being as interesting as it is moving and is all the more impressive that Robinson managed to record this feel-good album with such care taking in account our global situation. And for that, it is an actual escape.

Drama by Rodrigo Amarante

The Brazilian singer-songwriter’s only second solo album, Drama, is of course full of bossanova bliss, portrayed by an artist that has courted indie-rock and collaborated with many different musicians across the musical spectrum. With considerably more instrumentation than its predecessor, 2013’s Cavalo, the album presents Amarante embracing the fruitful rhythms of his country with panache.

An Evening with Silk Sonic by Silk Sonic

A sound that leans very much into 70s soul and R&B, that nonetheless sounds fresh and fun. The pairing of Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak, both luminaries of their genres, is a successful one. Bright, full of heart, and with great performances from both artists that showcase an outstanding chemistry, An Evening with Silk Sonic is an energetic, enjoyable, and promising debut for the duo.

Madison by Sloppy Jane

“Recorded at Lost World Caverns” reads the cover of this album. Haley Dahl manages to live up to the ambition of creating a chamber pop album in such an environment thanks to her vivid songwriting and penchant for melodrama. Her melodies on Madison are bright, her lyrics tend to be quirky, her voice harnesses the natural echo of the improvised studio and glides through the record with magnificence. With the help of choruses and strings, Madison is quite an experience and showcases Dahl’s talent to create something unique and challenging sacrificing a few things in the process. Arguably my favorite album in this list.

TYRON by slowthai

A rather short two-part album, slowthai’s second LP, TYRON, is a double-sided reflection on his place and role in the world he so heavily criticized in his debut. Equal parts his piercing grime rap and deeper musings surrounded by colorful beats, TYRON is a commendable effort that turns inwards deeper and with help of eclectic features adds texture to slowthai’s work, one of the most exciting rappers right now.

Bright Green Field by Squid

Astoundingly abrasive, especially in the way Squid ends songs in noisy, extended codas (sometimes to its detriment), Bright Green Field is still catchy post-punk rendered through the intention of a forceful band with nothing to lose. It is also incredibly ambitious, being their debut, and showcases the unique talent of Squid, that joins the new surge of post-punk in their own terms.

Distractions by Tindersticks

The thirteenth studio album by the evocative chamber pop band from Nottingham, Distractions, is a further exercise in the band’s late career tendency of gentle soul and groovy late-night balladry. The croony baritone of Stuart A. Staples, looms over the subdued instrumentals and innocuous basslines of this short record that includes three covers, creating an atmosphere that has become quintessential Tindersticks.