The Skinny's Top 50 Albums of 2018

The Skinny's Top 50 Albums of 2018

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48.

Porches - The House
January 19, 2018
Critic Score
70
21 reviews

The House, Aaron Maine's third album as Porches, is an incessantly earnest portrayal of love and regret, decay and change. It is never not self-serious as Maine's lilting voice takes a diaristic approach, singing personal songs full of longing and desire over computerised keys and synths.

47.

January 12, 2018
Critic Score
83
25 reviews

46.

August 10, 2018
Critic Score
80
17 reviews

At Weddings shows Tomberlin tapping into a tentative inner strength, creating a soothing record that ends up resisting its self-doubts and reaches out its hand.

45.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
85
27 reviews

In a Poem Unlimited lives up to its aim and its name. It’s a reflection of abuse that feels all-encompassing, and of this era. It’s a timeless gem of an album that is about as powerful as pop music can be.

44.

August 3, 2018
Critic Score
81
14 reviews

With a hint of Nanci Griffith and Conor Oberst, Amanda Shires is on fine form sounding nothing short of Presidential on To the Sunset.

43.

September 14, 2018
Critic Score
85
26 reviews

Double Negative is a magnificent and courageous record, if you’re ready for it.

42.

October 5, 2018
Critic Score
76
11 reviews

Swearin' reunite after a short time away with their best album to date. But this time they approach their usual razor-sharp riffs and pop-punk melodies with a new sense of confidence and maturity

41.

February 17, 2018
Critic Score
74
8 reviews

39.

March 2, 2018
Critic Score
72
24 reviews

Superorganism's self-titled debut album recalls the energy and fun of early-mid 00s electro indie pop but ultimately lacks in substance.

38.

October 5, 2018
Critic Score
76
24 reviews

This has been billed as his most reflective album, a chance to make connections across his musical career but there’s a quiet confidence too, delivering some of his most intricate arrangements and roaming far beyond the Americana tag that he was often filed under.

37.

May 4, 2018
Critic Score
81
30 reviews
Iceage continue to be one of the most exciting bands in music.

35.

June 8, 2018
Critic Score
79
36 reviews

On Lush, Snail Mail maestro Lindsey Jordan always has something important to say, and it’s worth listening to. Lush is a debut burst forth in full technicolour.

34.

Fatherson - Sum of All Your Parts
September 14, 2018
Critic Score
82
5 reviews

33.

January 26, 2018
Critic Score
80
10 reviews

Mostly ... Con Todo el Mundo is a celebration of what shared creativity and influence can bring – something the world needs a bit more of these days.

31.

October 5, 2018
Critic Score
82
13 reviews

Altogether, Working Class Woman is an incredibly cohesive art-house album with a perfect combination of electronic music and spoken word, and if it doesn’t punch through the roof of clubs everywhere at least Davidson will be sorted as a kick-ass life coach.

30.

April 6, 2018
Critic Score
82
6 reviews
Much as Hutchison as a songwriter, and Frightened Rabbit at their collective peak, are excellent, one of the last adjectives one would use to describe them is "fun". So what a pleasure it is to hear this new project which, while lyrically still filled with the (increasingly ageing) concerns and anxieties Hutchison is known for writing about, is musically reminiscent of all your favourite early 90s alt-rock and indie bands.

28.

June 1, 2018
Critic Score
80
26 reviews
You absolutely can hear the fingerprints of Prass' influences across these tracks, but as well as the Dusty Springfield and Karen Carpenter tones that colour her first record, there's bits of Dionne Warwick, Laura Nyro and Diana Ross. More than that though, you're hearing a songwriter who seems to know exactly what she wants to make, and has all the tools to do that. A glorious, glorious album.

27.

April 27, 2018
Critic Score
78
13 reviews

She’s always been a powerful performer, but she’s nailed the careful art of crafting an album with Lavender; its stories, themes and tunes echo each other powerfully.

25.

Martha Ffion - Sunday Best
March 9, 2018
Critic Score
80
1 review

Boasting memorable songs front to back, Sunday Best is a confident debut chock-full of understated pleasures, one that hints Martha Ffion will only get better as her career progresses.

24.

June 8, 2018
Critic Score
83
8 reviews

23.

April 6, 2018
Critic Score
79
20 reviews

Bark Your Head Off, Dog is another great Hop Along album, intimate and grand in a way only few can do.

21.

May 4, 2018
Critic Score
82
34 reviews

There’s rarely time these days to sit down and really listen to an album beginning to end, but that’s what Jon Hopkins wants you to do with Singularity, and if you can afford the just-over-an-hour-long runtime then you’ll get so much more out of this record than you thought possible.

20.

September 14, 2018
Critic Score
86
16 reviews

19.

September 21, 2018
Critic Score
86
36 reviews

A sparkling pop album that flourishes in both English and French, Chris is a supremely confident introduction to the next phase of Christine and the Queens.

18.

October 26, 2018
Critic Score
80
14 reviews

NAO assuredly ascends into the stratosphere with sophomore album Saturn, an open diary that leaves you both rooting for and absorbed in the afflictions of the angelic singer.

17.

April 13, 2018
Critic Score
84
10 reviews

Confidence Man are a band who know exactly what they want; with a fucking excellent sense of humour to boot, they shouldn't be taken too seriously. Confident Music for Confident People is littered with unexpected flourishes, comical call-and-responses and an overriding element of fun. It's surely the party of the year.

16.

August 17, 2018
Critic Score
74
12 reviews

15.

April 6, 2018
Critic Score
78
18 reviews

The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs revels in keeping you off balance; it impresses, inspires and occasionally overwhelms, but it never outstays its welcome. A fantastic statement from an endlessly evolving band shouting louder than ever.

14.

January 26, 2018
Critic Score
80
25 reviews

Dream Wife is brimming with grungey, glam melters and dreamy pop melodies that perfectly capture the enthusiasm and confidence of Dream Wife's live shows, without sounding too over-polished.

12.

May 11, 2018
Critic Score
80
38 reviews

While the fruits of their reinvention aren't always compelling here, 7 is still a solid first step heralding Beach House's next phase.

11.

August 10, 2018
Critic Score
83
7 reviews

On her second album, Scottish pianist and singer Kathryn Joseph continues to excel at both the light and the dark without ever being grey, and it's the constant exchange between pain and beauty that makes this album is a roaring success.

9.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
82
28 reviews
Indulgent? Possibly, but it works, because this record – even the longest tracks – is punchy, witty and razor sharp.

8.

May 18, 2018
Critic Score
80
41 reviews
Despite the gentle forays into new styles, the universally relatable stories are still well and present, with enough morbid humour, intricately drawn character studies and down-to-earth wisdom to keep you coming back again and again.

5.

October 26, 2018
Critic Score
88
29 reviews

4.

August 31, 2018
Critic Score
88
34 reviews

While Joy as an Act of Resistance might not flow perfectly as an album, many of its songs when taken on their own raise some serious hell.

3.

August 17, 2018
Critic Score
85
40 reviews

If Bury Me at Makeout Creek marked Mitski’s “breakthrough” and seismic shift from piano to punk rage on guitar, and Puberty 2 grappled with finding happiness in the reality of adulthood, Be the Cowboy is a new frontier.

2.

May 18, 2018
Critic Score
84
35 reviews

In its 13 tracks and just shy of 40 minutes, Wide Awake! shows perhaps the band's broadest emotional range to date with a healthy dollop of anger on display. There is rather a lot to be angry about right now, but Parquet Courts remind us to, at least, dance and have a good time, despite the impending apocalypse.

1.

March 9, 2018
Critic Score
84
28 reviews

Cocoa Sugar slaps sugary boy band choruses against tongue-twister rap, via surreal imagery borrowed from the Bible and a sprinkling of the kind of idioms your nan might use. It’s a potent mix, and their best album yet.

Original Source: https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/opinion/albums-of-the-year/the-skinnys-top-50-albums-of-2018
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