Album of the Year 2022
Comments (7)
Here are my top 10 albums of 2022! Gentle reminder I released an album of my own this year, called Performance of a Lifetime, if you like my recommendations then my album might be up your alley as well! Enough with the self promo, let's get into things:
#10 Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING
An unrelenting and cinematic end to Backxwash's industrial hip hop trilogy that explores self identity, expressing unresolved anger, and finding catharsis in the process
Killer beats, killer performances, killer sample choices, it's pretty fantastic!
Favourite Songs:
VIBANDA
NYAMA
MUKAZI
"In the land of the corpses of men
How hot can you get
Without forming a sweat
The jolting brung
By the molten of flesh
Convulsing strung
In the chorus of death"
An unrelenting and cinematic end to Backxwash's industrial hip hop trilogy that explores self identity, expressing unresolved anger, and finding catharsis in the process
Killer beats, killer performances, killer sample choices, it's pretty fantastic!
Favourite Songs:
VIBANDA
NYAMA
MUKAZI
"In the land of the corpses of men
How hot can you get
Without forming a sweat
The jolting brung
By the molten of flesh
Convulsing strung
In the chorus of death"
#9 Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B
A fantastically creative and well produced debut that is as beautiful as it is fun, this album proves Jockstrap as one of the upcoming bands with the most potential
If this is where we start, I can only imagine where they go from here!
Favourite Songs:
Greatest Hits
What's It All About?
Concrete Over Water
"That wonderful night you give to me
You treat me to
Once in a blue moon
I wish you'd just touch me
Yet I still sit and wait
Yeah, I think we’d be great together"
A fantastically creative and well produced debut that is as beautiful as it is fun, this album proves Jockstrap as one of the upcoming bands with the most potential
If this is where we start, I can only imagine where they go from here!
Favourite Songs:
Greatest Hits
What's It All About?
Concrete Over Water
"That wonderful night you give to me
You treat me to
Once in a blue moon
I wish you'd just touch me
Yet I still sit and wait
Yeah, I think we’d be great together"
#8 Weyes Blood - And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
On this exceedingly gorgeous project Weyes Blood captures our hearts and attention with yet another beautifully arranged baroque pop project. With so much attention to detail, and a voice like hers, it's hard not to be immersed into the tragically lush world she paints
Favourite Songs:
Children of the Empire
Grapevine
God Turn Me Into A Flower
"Shining across the freeway late at night
Start to drift over the line
And it hits me for the first time
Now we're just two cars passing by"
On this exceedingly gorgeous project Weyes Blood captures our hearts and attention with yet another beautifully arranged baroque pop project. With so much attention to detail, and a voice like hers, it's hard not to be immersed into the tragically lush world she paints
Favourite Songs:
Children of the Empire
Grapevine
God Turn Me Into A Flower
"Shining across the freeway late at night
Start to drift over the line
And it hits me for the first time
Now we're just two cars passing by"
#7 Alvvays - Blue Rev
As comforting as it is energetic, as dejected as it is genuine, Alvvays' follow up to Antisocialites feels fresh but familiar. Molly's lyricism is as sharp as ever, and the album really shines when she flexes her vocals. It captures the nostalgic feeling of young adulthood and only leaves me wanting more. Probably my most listened to album this year
Favourite Songs:
Easy On Your Own?
Tile By Tile
Belinda Says
"Evеr lay back and watch the sunrise?
Ever hеar violins in your mind?
You know it's only wind outside"
As comforting as it is energetic, as dejected as it is genuine, Alvvays' follow up to Antisocialites feels fresh but familiar. Molly's lyricism is as sharp as ever, and the album really shines when she flexes her vocals. It captures the nostalgic feeling of young adulthood and only leaves me wanting more. Probably my most listened to album this year
Favourite Songs:
Easy On Your Own?
Tile By Tile
Belinda Says
"Evеr lay back and watch the sunrise?
Ever hеar violins in your mind?
You know it's only wind outside"
#6 Kilo Kish - AMERICAN GURL
Kilo Kish delivers banger after banger on this retrofuturistic electropop project, making sharp critiques of contemporary consumerist culture, and it's all wrapped up in an arcade game aesthetic.
Great performances, great production, great hooks, great concepts, this project is wildly consistent, and is absolutely brilliant at it's best
Favourite Songs:
AMERICAN GURL
ON THE OUTSIDE (JUSTIN'S SONG)
INTELLIGENT DESIGN"
"Congeniality is a basis for content
Peddling narcissism wrapped in self-love and progress
You want it, I got it
This soul is a bargain
America: the land of pretty people and monsters"
Kilo Kish delivers banger after banger on this retrofuturistic electropop project, making sharp critiques of contemporary consumerist culture, and it's all wrapped up in an arcade game aesthetic.
Great performances, great production, great hooks, great concepts, this project is wildly consistent, and is absolutely brilliant at it's best
Favourite Songs:
AMERICAN GURL
ON THE OUTSIDE (JUSTIN'S SONG)
INTELLIGENT DESIGN"
"Congeniality is a basis for content
Peddling narcissism wrapped in self-love and progress
You want it, I got it
This soul is a bargain
America: the land of pretty people and monsters"
#5 Beyoncé - RENAISSANCE
Beyoncé pays homage to black queer club and ballroom culture with this extravagant and immaculately produced house inspired dance pop experience. She just exudes this aura of power, it's so cunt
Just about everything is in it's proper place, this is a fully executed vision at an artist at the top of her game and it's just a thrill to listen to
Favourite Songs:
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM
PURE/HONEY
SUMMER RENAISSANCE
"Category is: Bey"
Beyoncé pays homage to black queer club and ballroom culture with this extravagant and immaculately produced house inspired dance pop experience. She just exudes this aura of power, it's so cunt
Just about everything is in it's proper place, this is a fully executed vision at an artist at the top of her game and it's just a thrill to listen to
Favourite Songs:
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM
PURE/HONEY
SUMMER RENAISSANCE
"Category is: Bey"
#4 Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
Ambitious, grand, and gorgeously intricate, Natural Brown Prom Queen jumps from one great idea to another effortlessly. The production on here is insane! On top of everything Brittney is such a charismatic narrator and killer multi-instrumentalist. This record is a celebration of self, a declaration of confidence, and a brilliant one at that
Favourite Songs:
Home Maker
NBPM (Topless)
Freakalizer
"I be seein' things, I be seein' things
You know what I mean
It's so hard to be judged by all of the TV screens
Get that camera out my face 'cause they be lady things
I'm a natural, natural brown prom queen"
Ambitious, grand, and gorgeously intricate, Natural Brown Prom Queen jumps from one great idea to another effortlessly. The production on here is insane! On top of everything Brittney is such a charismatic narrator and killer multi-instrumentalist. This record is a celebration of self, a declaration of confidence, and a brilliant one at that
Favourite Songs:
Home Maker
NBPM (Topless)
Freakalizer
"I be seein' things, I be seein' things
You know what I mean
It's so hard to be judged by all of the TV screens
Get that camera out my face 'cause they be lady things
I'm a natural, natural brown prom queen"
#3 Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Kendrick breaks his silence with an exploration of generational pain on this cinematic journey of a double album.
His meditations on the cycle of abuse, self help, and addressing his own moral shortcomings are genuinely challenging, and in my opinion, very necessary to hear. Wonderfully ambitious concepts and instrumentals, there are so many genius ideas at play here, all presented in an amazing and artistically dense vision.
Favourite Songs:
United in Grief
We Cry Together
Mother I Sober
"I realized, true love's not saving face
But unconditional
When will you let me go?
I trust you'll find independence
If not, then all is forgiven
Sorry I didn't save the world, my friend
I was too busy building mine again"
Kendrick breaks his silence with an exploration of generational pain on this cinematic journey of a double album.
His meditations on the cycle of abuse, self help, and addressing his own moral shortcomings are genuinely challenging, and in my opinion, very necessary to hear. Wonderfully ambitious concepts and instrumentals, there are so many genius ideas at play here, all presented in an amazing and artistically dense vision.
Favourite Songs:
United in Grief
We Cry Together
Mother I Sober
"I realized, true love's not saving face
But unconditional
When will you let me go?
I trust you'll find independence
If not, then all is forgiven
Sorry I didn't save the world, my friend
I was too busy building mine again"
#2 Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
Black Country, New Road blew me AWAY with this record. They turned me from a hater to a fan by the sheer brilliance of this project, lmao. Here, we get the tragic and emotive anthems of a young man trapped in the throes of unrequited love, sung along to these grand and ornate instrumentals. It communicates these senses of forlorn adolescent shame, overwhelming blind desire, and toxic codependency so effectively, I've been obsessed since I first heard the last 2 minutes of Basketball Shoes (which ascended my mind and body, and is probably the best section of any song all year)
Favourite Songs:
Concorde
The Place Where He Inserted The Blade
Basketball Shoes
"But for less than a moment
We share the same sky
And then Isaac will suffer
Concorde will fly"
Black Country, New Road blew me AWAY with this record. They turned me from a hater to a fan by the sheer brilliance of this project, lmao. Here, we get the tragic and emotive anthems of a young man trapped in the throes of unrequited love, sung along to these grand and ornate instrumentals. It communicates these senses of forlorn adolescent shame, overwhelming blind desire, and toxic codependency so effectively, I've been obsessed since I first heard the last 2 minutes of Basketball Shoes (which ascended my mind and body, and is probably the best section of any song all year)
Favourite Songs:
Concorde
The Place Where He Inserted The Blade
Basketball Shoes
"But for less than a moment
We share the same sky
And then Isaac will suffer
Concorde will fly"
#1 black midi - Hellfire
Dear god this thing is a masterpiece. The instrumentation is batshit insane, the vocal performances are phenomenal, and the storytelling is gripping. This album is firing on all cylinders and hits pretty much every mark, it's honestly hard to find something not to rave about. It tells eight fantastical stories of evil manifesting on earth, all with different characters and scenarios, all brilliantly told as if you were listening to showtunes from hell.
This thing is so hellish, so devious, so ingenious, I love how theatrical and tongue-in-cheek it is. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about the level of skill displayed here. Far and away my album of the year, and one of my favourite albums of all time
Favourite Songs:
Sugar/Tzu
Still
27 Questions
"To sign away eternity with one stroke
A blind greedy hoax, the joke of all jokes
And I'll tell you for free,
It wasn't like a pig's squeal!"
And that's all! For the longest time I thought this year was pretty disappointing music-wise, considering how many of my all time favourite artists released their worst project (Alex Cameron, Father John Misty), but looking back on this top 10, there are a lot of really heavy hitters here. I may have been let down with a lot of albums this year but the ones that went above and beyond really did the damn thing.
Thank you for reading!
Dear god this thing is a masterpiece. The instrumentation is batshit insane, the vocal performances are phenomenal, and the storytelling is gripping. This album is firing on all cylinders and hits pretty much every mark, it's honestly hard to find something not to rave about. It tells eight fantastical stories of evil manifesting on earth, all with different characters and scenarios, all brilliantly told as if you were listening to showtunes from hell.
This thing is so hellish, so devious, so ingenious, I love how theatrical and tongue-in-cheek it is. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about the level of skill displayed here. Far and away my album of the year, and one of my favourite albums of all time
Favourite Songs:
Sugar/Tzu
Still
27 Questions
"To sign away eternity with one stroke
A blind greedy hoax, the joke of all jokes
And I'll tell you for free,
It wasn't like a pig's squeal!"
And that's all! For the longest time I thought this year was pretty disappointing music-wise, considering how many of my all time favourite artists released their worst project (Alex Cameron, Father John Misty), but looking back on this top 10, there are a lot of really heavy hitters here. I may have been let down with a lot of albums this year but the ones that went above and beyond really did the damn thing.
Thank you for reading!
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11mo
Excellent list! Great picks, happy to see many in my Top 10 wind up here, especially Backxwash, BC,NR, and black midi. Great write ups as well, thank you for sharing!
11mo
Natural Brown Prom Queen & AMERICAN GURL (I'd been wanting to hear the latter for a while, but I kept forgetting)
11mo
Aside from 2 I'm not familiar with, I agree with everything in the Top 10.
All favourites of mine as well.
All favourites of mine as well.
