couldn’t be anything but a cheeky wink. On Bill Callahan’s 2013 album Dream River, he compared finding love to mastering flight, registering his surprise at the ease of it all. BBT Read the full review. The gauzy synths of “Borderline” attempt to hide loneliness, and “Breathe Deeper” is a funkified sigh of relief. There’s not much between the 1975’s Matty Healy and the creations of Naoise Dolan and Sally Rooney: across the band’s fourth album, Healy is acutely aware of his flaws, satirising and shrugging at his ego, his horniness, his political flakiness – and, yes, his overwhelming self-awareness. 21 Savage matches Boomin by subtly experimenting with his own delivery — making his menacing, mid-pitched drawl looser and occasionally more melodic. While her debut was charged with drinking tropes and her sophomore effort (2017’s, focuses on the more vulnerable stories of touring life: being away from home, surviving relationships and the anxiety of stillness. Guest stars from across the Black Atlantic – Skepta and Ella Mai from the UK, HER from the US, Damian Marley and Projexx from Jamaica – create the sense of a diasporic dialogue, where reggae, dancehall, rap and Afro-swing seamlessly and sensually intertwine. The Dublin band’s second album is so evocative, and produced in such a way you can feel the echo and space in a room, that it conjures a sense-memory of what gigs were once like: the jostling that glee turns into slam-dancing, the “mm” of agreement when a ballad ends. LS. Kate Solomon Read more. BBT. A little bit of Nashville and Southern rock seems to have been good for her soul. But on her third LP, , Price veers closer to classic rock and away from the honky-tonk that once echoed through the Nashville songwriter’s music. – L.S. His two subsequent albums set their gaze on an ever-widening horizon, and on the strikingly pared-back Gold Record he appoints himself universal co-pilot, inviting you on to his wavelength. Ware’s fourth album was highly flammable. A year of cancelled tour dates allowed Swift to make an album without having to consider the nosebleed seats. The album’s fiery message, bombastic beats and sharp humor offered both a musical reprieve and the soundtrack for a moment that needed one. –. BBT Read the full review. Our Love was Caribou’s most commercially successful album to date, even landing a Grammy nomination. adheres to the unwritten sequel rule. Let’s just hope he doesn’t leave us waiting another five years for the next chapter. The first thing that hits you is the quality of the songwriting and production; then the message of the song falls like a feather, not a brick. After disaffected candour swept literature, many critics asked whether self-awareness had gone too far in fiction. The recent craze for bedroom pop had a further boost this year as so many of us were increasingly confined to our bedrooms, although there’s a sneaking suspicion this term can undersell the ambition of these (often female) artists. Perfume Genius and Dua Lipa had us dancing in our homes, Thundercat and Angelica Garcia dug deep to reach new heights, and long-running acts like the Strokes, AC/DC, and Stephen Malkmus reminded us that rock isn't dead. It takes a good 20 minutes to offer its first bout of release (the flirtatious boogie of Shellfish Mademoiselle), priming the pumps for Murphy to enter her formidable euphoric stride: industrial funk trailing seedy lounge fantasies, pizzicato strings and screaming disco house. With, , the Canadian composer/DJ finally emerged with what may be the warmest, most empathetic electronic album of 2020. Like a sky laced with pastel cirrus, it is effervescent and awe-inspiring. When it does, it’s not to recalibrate the fractured relationships with helpless lovers and fathers, but in more fleeting escapes: the tender country hum of Graceland Too narrates a story taking MDMA, looking at the moon and driving to Graceland, finding salvation in the illusion. –, Grief springs eternal for My Dying Bride — and it’s never been more personal than on, which revolves around the cancer diagnosis of vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe’s daughter. Ammar Kalia Read more. This list only includes new albums receiving at least 15 reviews from professional critics (though you'll find a quick list of the top albums with a smaller number of reviews at the end of the gallery.). This is horrorcore hip-hop, but deadly serious rather than cartoonish, an apocalyptic world filled with blood, petrol, drugs and rust where “core snap like yolk, floor crack like joke / More cat eye opens, sky racked like coat”. Bunny has surely lived up to the album title, particularly since he’s already released two more albums since YHLQMDLG. Yet this is not weary resignation: for an artist who has been in constant metamorphosis, such acceptance feels revelatory. The often very funny Gomez excels at nimble vocal kiss-offs, which she layers into satisfyingly percussive patterns: the chorus of People You Know seems to fold in on itself like origami; you’d expect Vulnerable to burst into gaudy EDM, but it pares back to Gomez caressing every syllable of the word, as if putting her own seams on show. The second of these 20-plus-minute pieces, Lovelock, turns anxious and distracted, before Further closes the set out with one of their most purely gorgeous compositions, a lush rainmaking groove anchored around a two-note organ motif. , Margo Price has often been positioned in outlaw country, flanked by comparisons to Bobbie Gentry and Loretta Lynn. With more space for Frank Delgado’s shadowy synths and Sergio Vega’s melodic bass, the band’s dynamic shifts have never been more satisfying — like on “Pompeji,” where clean guitars and crooning give way to a flood of distortion. Unlike sequels that double down on the original’s tropes. LS Read the full review. In collaboration with a supreme court of rap producers including The-Dream, the Alchemist, Hit-Boy and No ID (plus curveballs James Blake and Khruangbin), Jay’s production is astounding, with dial-scrolling samples from Vashti Bunyan, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, John Williams’ Valley of the Dolls soundtrack and Louis Farrakhan. BBT Read the review. 15. © 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. “Disco revival” is hardly a novel concept in pop music, but it takes a certain kind of star to make it feel fresh again. Dead bodies are largely swapped out for more bands and women, as homicides are in the rearview. Price is at her most stunning on the gospel-tinged confessional “Prisoner of the Highway,” in which she reflects on the cost of being an artist on the road while in love and starting a family. Marching through tracks with a “mind on a mission on the road to perdition”, the rap duo leave a wake of flame streaked across each one. The guitars on “April Ha Ha” are abrasive and hypnotic, hurtling the listener into darkness. This year was an exercise in being dressed up with nowhere to go, but Jessie Ware edged us toward the dance floor anyway with her mirrorball-blessed fourth album, started her career in dance music, Ware swapping power ballads for beats isn’t a totally unexpected side-step. –, Blockbuster movie sequels typically raise the stakes to go bigger than the original, and 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’s. It’s best listened to on vinyl or iTunes, as the album is presented as one continuous piece of music, so ads or artificial track breaks can kill the vibe. The 50 Best Albums of 2020 So Far Including Bob Dylan, Lil Uzi Vert, Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa, and more. Most of the lyrics are unintelligible, except for when Domenic Palermo defeatedly sings, “Isn’t it strange / Watching people / Try and outrun rain?” – D.C. 25. “Describe” is fuzzy dream-pop country, while “On the Floor” is funk-washed grind, complete with organ notes straight out of the Maytals. Brooklyn firefighter/rapper Ka dispenses grizzled advice like a clever veteran who never needs to raise his voice to earn attention. Metacritic User Poll: Vote for the Best of 2020! Where Moses Sumney’s debut, Aromanticism, was a forlorn testimony to vulnerability, Græ brings in the whole mess of living itself: from the playful oppositions of its track titles – Jill/Jack, Neither/Nor – to Sumney’s genre-splicing between R&B, folk, jazz and ambient electronics, Græ inhabits his swaying moods and transmutes his wranglings with identity into music without losing its sense of precarity. The polar opposite of her hyper-saturated album Art Angels (2015), it sailed a Stygian tide as Boucher navigated the possibility of redemption and destruction, the latter embodied by mockingly catchy choruses that seethed through the murk, contrasting her muted, forlorn verses. Every moment is memorable, from the fun piano and hopeful lyricism on “Shameika” to the playful vocals and clever wordplay on “Rack of His.” Though the album easily could’ve gotten lost amid pandemic madness, fans clung to it throughout quarantine. After securing his place in reggaetón, Bad Bunny shifted the goalpost to a more global outlook with his second solo album, YHLQMDLG (which stands for “Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana” and translates as “I Do Whatever I Want”). Most of the lyrics are unintelligible, except for when Domenic Palermo defeatedly sings, “Isn’t it strange / Watching people / Try and outrun rain?” –, Long Island siblings Brian and Michael D’Addario were born in the late ‘90s but have mastered the ornate, melodic sound of ‘70s rock so well that they’ve earned the approval of, Ascendant Houston psych-funk trio Khruangbin finally spoke up on, their most lyrically-driven LP yet. In contrast to that dreamlike haze was KeiyaA’s clarity of thought. By sampling, editing and chopping together his own recordings, and folding in various collaborators, including his teenage daughter Ruby, he gives it an impulsively impressionist feel. You can identify the collectivism that also charged up the Black Lives Matter movement this year in these songs of solidarity, hope, pain and catharsis, filled as they are with chants and swelling vocal harmonies; the anonymity of the group’s members itself suggests a goal bigger than any one individual. There are frequent pleas for better communication and reciprocity, likely to comfort anyone gaslighted into thinking, “Is it just me?” But when the connection works, it really works, as evinced by the numerous rapturous slow jams. But the response to. LS Read the full review. Megaton Sword - Blood Hails Steel (Dying Victims Productions) The singer lands more sure-footed than ever with her fifth solo album. But Bea Kristi still makes the record feel innately hers, penning deeply personal lyrics about mental health struggles, difficult past relationships and finding love with her longtime boyfriend. From Selena Gomez's 'Rare' to The Weeknd's 'After Hours' to Phoebe Bridgers' 'Punisher,' these are 20 of the best albums released in 2020. It was bleak, touching on addiction and death, yet carried a sense of triumph. More than simply disco literate, it is also a wonderfully meta exposition of Kylie’s pop identity, how she has embodied hope and joy and lived in service of the perfect pop song – its own bid for immortality. No one’s ever accused Samuel T. Herring of being unfeeling, and the Future Islands frontman lets his emotions fly on the band’s sixth LP. Yet Folklore found a moment of stillness in the turmoil, turning even the darkest musings into something sparkling and beautiful. Calling on heavyweights like industry favorite Jeff Bhasker and mega-producer Stuart Price, Lipa found escapism through dance-friendly jams. Here are the 50 best albums of a year unlike any we can remember. “‘angry white guy’ music in a purely reactive mode.” What he created instead is a luxuriant deep house odyssey, percolating and humming with drones, bells, murmuring voices, twinkling piano and even some live saxophone. The Best Indie Albums Of 2020. by: UPROXX Music Twitter December 4, 2020. There’s been a loose school of electronic producers to emerge in recent years including Objekt, Laurel Halo, Call Super and Minor Science, who, informed by jazz, dub, techno, jungle and ambient, create a kind of maximal minimalism: richly detailed productions that nevertheless drape elegantly. When she sings, the effect is of catching someone unwittingly mumbling along to Janet Jackson through their headphones; her quicksilver vocal intimacy allows for flirtation and hurt to flicker through like electrical surges. The guitarist with jazz-rockers Tortoise, who has released numerous solo records and played sideman to Meshell Ndegeocello, Makaya McCraven and more, was in personal and crowdpleasing form on this LP, which breezes between funk, hip-hop rhythms and cosmic jazz in honour of his mother (named in the title). She yearns for something more, feels frustrated by a lover who’d rather microdose than indulge – plus she knows that even desire fulfilled simply seeds more desire: “There’s nothing left for us to gain,” she cries against the chill wind of Kingdom of Ends, the nihilistic second track. A voracious hunger seethes through Murphy’s most club-facing record. On the exquisite Key West (Philosopher Pirate), he’s an old rogue hymning the last of his life at the far end of America, afternoon beer palpably in hand. Best music of 2020 Folk music. He blends his bleeding-heart baritone with delicate synth washes and New Order-worthy bass lines, compelling us with sheer charisma to consider the weight of each word as he delves into heady topics like body dysmorphia, romantic refuse and self-worth. It was more than worth the four-year wait, offering a reason to believe in a year where there weren’t many options. Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist approach their art like athletes, forever strengthening muscle and refining their respective forms. How I’m Feeling Now was awash with static interference, a familiar sound to anyone who’s battled through video calling in 2020 – but it also mirrored an interior conflict between signal and noise, distraction and fulfilment. “’Cause you are a question that I thought I could solve,” she sings. But this album was made following the death of Bruner’s close friend, rapper Mac Miller; its telescoping focus and subaquatic funk perfectly mirrored the tides of grief. Frustrated by its absence this year, the self-professed workaholic made an album of sugary obliteration that signalled her fierce hunger for the highs: “I’m so BORED,” she spat on Anthems, a bratty shriek to scare off disassociation. Reflective closer “One More Hour” perfectly caps the album, drifting listeners through various stages of Parker’s journey of time and love. LS Read more. Recorded on both sides of the pandemic, the group’s layered fourth record offers the warmth of a tweed sweater — best exemplified by “Can I Believe You,” the delicate “Young Man’s Game” and the bittersweet tribute to Richard Swift, David Berman and others on “Sunblind.” In a year that’s felt like a long winter, has brought a meditative sense of acceptance. The title of Charli XCX’s lockdown album might be read as business as usual: she is, after all, our most hyper-present and reactive pop star, one obsessed with stimulation. While her debut was charged with drinking tropes and her sophomore effort (2017’s All American Made) steeped in political consciousness, Rumors focuses on the more vulnerable stories of touring life: being away from home, surviving relationships and the anxiety of stillness. Filled with a lifetime’s worth of compassion, Fetch the Bolt Cutters isn’t just the album of 2020 but a future classic, a rare combination of innovation and profound deep feeling. A A We made it. She sang with an intimacy that conveyed the real-time growth of thoughts from instinct to decision, her hurt at the hands of bad men and racists calcifying into defiance. The rapper had already been stretching out into the role of a Bruno Mars-ish funk singer, and here he tries that out at a lower tempo, seeming to really enjoy letting his voice reach for longer notes or more fragile types of song: psychedelic balladry, indie-folk, white soul. After securing his place in reggaetón, Bad Bunny shifted the goalpost to a more global outlook with his second solo album, (which stands for “Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana” and translates as “I Do Whatever I Want”). Yet Heavy Light made good on both halves of its name, contrasting those crushingly depressing perspectives with loose, sun-streaked funk and soul and strutting choruses – the sound of people in a room, finding hope where they can. Pantha Du Prince - Conference of Trees [Modern Recordings] Best albums of 2020: (Credit: Getty Images) Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Beatrice Dillon is another, whose sense of rhythm is so trim, balletic and playful. 2 on the Billboard 200, but it’s also a creative leap for reggaetón itself. In essence, it’s been the band’s ultimate challenge for decades: seamlessly melding their arty atmospherics and eight-string metal intensity. Snaith’s plaintive voice, reminiscent of Arthur Russell, contrasted soulful samples to particular effect on Home, as if contrasting reality and desire. – D.K. But keeping still forced Charli to actually sit with her feelings – a much harder job than simply acting on them – and her fourth album contains moments of dawning horror at what that stillness revealed. along the way), but he never strays too far from the soulful, house-inspired pop songcraft he’s mastered on these past two albums. The 30 Best Albums of 2020. December 22, 2020. Reflective closer “One More Hour” perfectly caps the album, drifting listeners through various stages of Parker’s journey of time and love. But there are so many particular musical voices across these songs, such as the witheringly hilarious woman on You Know It Ain’t, that it’s never monolithic but rather a collection of personalities. But Grande’s horniness has been part of her artistic identity for years – on Positions, it offered a safe retreat from headlines about heartbreak and tragedy. BBT, The Atlanta rapper-producer power duo follow their hit 2016 tape with another trap masterclass. To the end of a year that has already gone down in infamy as one of the weirdest (and worst) in decades. L.A.’s bassist extraordinaire has done it all — hardcore, yacht rock, jazz, soul, you name it. – Josh Chesler. Both sides combined gorgeously on Re-Wild, where frost seemed to sprawl forth from Owens’ voice as she recognised “the power in me”. He even eases off down to the blues joint for a couple of classic 12-bar stomps, though at a geriatric pace. First published on Tue 1 Dec 2020 06.00 GMT. He’s an evangelist for marriage, even with its wrinkles; a Zen advocate for finding everyday transcendence in neighbourly interactions and breakfast rituals; resistant to dogma – his horror at the young male protest singer he sees on a late-night talk show is hilarious – and open to connection wherever he might find it.