Here's the Music Observer round up of standout albums of 2022.
To me, 2022 felt like an album year more than anything else. As well as some great singles, there seemed to be a great outpouring of beautifully curated material over the past 12 months - what a gift for us music lovers. Of course, this made the task of putting together this shortlist difficult, but it was a good kind of difficult ...
THE MUSIC OBSERVER 10: ALBUMS
For me, a good album is a well-curated collection of great songs which tells a complete, coherent story. It needs to work as a straight-through play, keeping your attention throughout. These are the 10 which did that for me, more than any others, during 2022. As with last year, I've also included some "Honourable mentions". (Note: These are not ranked, but are in alphabetical order by artist name.)
Looking Glass - Alela Diane I was already a fan of Alela’s haunting vocals and crystalline songwriting, and then this album came along. The opener, ‘Paloma’, is a highlight for me, but so is the next track, ‘Howling Wind’. Those two songs are particularly high peaks in a soaring mountain-range of quality. Because this is a record which feels like a true work of craftsmanship - gently carved from a seam of precious stone and brought into radiant life.
The stories told on 'Looking Glass' are often personal and revealing, which makes the music even more compelling. It’s a record which demands attention, and tends to get it - you’ll look up from what you’re doing to engage with Alela’s art. That’s the mark of something special.
[Listen here. Read my previous thoughts on the artist here]
Rubik’s Cube - Dictator Having longed for an EP for ages, what a treat to get a full album from these awesome Scottish alt artists. It’s a record packed with diverse sounds, epitomising the ethos of Dictator.
The title track is a bouncy, funky and intriguing song, based around a very well-chosen metaphor.
Another standout is a new song, 'Lullaby': a beautiful and moving, 2-minute song based around a simple 4-note piano riff and Michael Campbell's utterly compelling vocals. This song is part of a sub-theme of the album which presents a very honest and captivating theme of parenthood; this only serves to cement the relatability of this band - it feels genuine and enriching. As does the playout to end track 'Fin', which morphs into what I like to call "bar-room sing-along" style ...
[Listen here. Read my previous thoughts on the band here]
Palomino - First Aid Kit Released late in the year, this album encapsulates the sound and philosophy of First Aid Kit. It feels a little lighter and more positive than 2018's 'Ruins', a break-up album, and also just so natural and … right.
While rooted in country/folk borderlands, 'Palomino' has a very nice scope of speeds and intonations. There’s also an uncanny feeling of familiarity - the songs hit home perfectly and sound timeless and warmly nostalgic, particularly the upbeat opener ‘Out of my Head’ and the gently lilting, stolidly Country & Western ‘Turning Onto You’. That ability to create something new and yet instantly part of the genre's narrative is First Aid Kit's genius.
[Listen here. Read my thoughts on the band here]
Druids & Bards - Holy Coves These Welsh alt-rockers have produced a solid, relatable record: at times fuzzy, meaty and gruff; at others tender, reflective and resonant. The record feels live and alive, and is jam packed with energy and attitude.
From the clamorous, sing-along, rabble-rousing 'Away We Go', right through to the acoustic-guitar-based, emotive anthem 'Taste The Wine', 'Druids And Bards' delivers a lesson in how to do albums properly. And the songs - taken individually - are great works in their own right. Take 'Grey', for example: it has melancholic overtones but hopeful undertones, and it's performed with full passion. Listen for the slight crack in Scott Marsden voice as he sings “Only she can pull me through, she soothes everything around me. Let go and feel again, cos everything is hopeless when you’re grey.” Also enjoy the brilliant use of chord progressions to lift the spirits – this song is a genuine masterpiece.
[Listen here, and read my full thoughts about this album on the The Songbird website here]
The Spur - Joan Shelley Joan is another US artist producing consistently beautiful music, centred on exquisite, melodious, finger-picking and effortlessly pure vocals. This album was released in June and exudes a rich kind of midsummer vibe; but in winter it works too - it somehow morphs into something immensely comforting and hopeful.
Listening to this album - which has been very carefully and expertly produced - is an immersive experience, with some wonderful dramatic peaks (such as title track ‘The Spur’), and by the time the record fades out with ‘Completely’, you may just have forgotten space and time exists.
[Listen here, read my thoughts on Joan's Tiny Desk performance here, and be sure to check out her back catalogue, too]
Now & Then - Josienne Clarke An album of covers but done so well and with such sensitivity. It brilliantly showcases Josienne’s often mysterious vocal style; it's deeply folk-influenced at times, and at others entirely contemporary, but it always feels rooted and steeped in landscape and history.
There’s a brilliant, stark, maturely-conceived cover of Radiohead’s ‘Nude’ and an exquisite version of ‘Time Has Told Me’ by Nick Drake. These both come through as original works of art in their own right, respectful of the originals but absolutely true to Josienne and our current times.
[Listen here]
Dirt Femme - Tove Lo That's two Swedish entries in this year's top ten (and the other band - First Aid Kit - also feature on this album). Tove Lo has made an album which I rate very highly indeed: it's incredibly rich and gratifying and a record which I feel will have longevity, partly because there are so many subtle touches sprinkled across it. Some of these are in the production details, and others are marks of a very accomplished songwriter.
Two standouts are 'Grapefruit', with its message of body positivity bedded on a relentlessly present, gorgeously pulsing synth backing, and featuring a brilliant use of pitch bends in the later playout; and ‘How Long’, which starts with a genius touch: a hesitant, accelerating series of descending notes of an open chord, which then launches - in a strikingly elastic way - into the song proper. It’s a microcosm of the album as a whole, and of Lo’s approach to her art.
[Listen here and read more of my thoughts on this album, here]
Proud Disturber of the Peace - William the Conqueror Yes, WTC makes it to my top 10 albums again! Two solid and immensely listenable albums in 2 years ain’t bad, and you get the sense that Ruarri Joseph still has vast swathes of top quality material waiting to be unleashed. He is a master storyteller with plenty of stories to tell, and he's put together a great band to help him tell them.
WTC's music is almost tangibly rich - crunchy, filling and satisfying. This album starts with the captivatingly urgent pace of ‘In My Dreams’ and progresses without let-up through the deep richness of ‘Tend to the Thorns’. The remainder is entrancing and masterful without exception.
[Listen here. Read my previous thoughts on the artist here, and on one of the band’s live performances here]
Feed The Flowers Nightmares - Wyldest With another exceedingly well-curated record, this prolific artist continues her musical explorations, and her relentless, positive progression. It's an album where she truly finds her voice.
It starts with the dark, dusky brooding sounds of ‘Everytime You’ll Be Mine', a song which brings a certain intimacy, and a feeling of privilege to be witnessing Wyldest's outpouring and sharing of emotions.
And the entire work is centred around the title track 'Feed The Flowers Nightmares’: a careful song – delicate, slow and subtle, giving pride of place to Wyldest as vocalist. Shut your eyes and be immersed, the song invites you.
From there, there's a lovely sense of the theme being carried on - look out for ‘Lucid Lately’ which appears with a kind of chilliness in the opening piano notes and develops into another very well-rounded and pristine kind of song.
[Image credit: Christina Taylor. Listen here, and read more of my thoughts on this album here]
Is It’s All in my Head - Yumi And The Weather I was a latecomer to YATW, and so glad I discovered them. This record is stunning, moving seamlessly and coherently from the fuzzy punk of the opening song 'Imagine' to the mellow, dusky shoegaze of close-out track 'Night Walk'. On the way, you’re taken on a journey through all kinds of temperature and colour. It's a diverse record, but with a strong feeling of consistency also - that's the paradox which makes an album great in my books.
[Listen here, and read more of my thoughts on this album here]
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Even In Jest - cheerbleederz A great debut album from this London-based indie-punk trio, it exemplifies the expression of bravery and modesty and resonates with a certain kind of honest energy.
Songs From Planet Earth - Deux Furieuses A record with a lovely dark resonance, a balanced lo-fi punk aesthetic and a powerful but pleasingly subtle anti-establishment message. [Listen here]
NO THANK YOU - Little Simz This was a surprise album release in mid-December, and it's an absolute banger. Favourite track - 'Gorilla' - I love with a passion that sense of overblown majesty, with huge orchestral sounds and an immensely satisfying beat. Combine that with Simz' confident vocals, and her clever, poetic, witty writing and you've got an instant classic. That goes for the rest of the album too, although there's plenty of variation of vibes, too. [Listen here]
Formentera - Metric Opening with the almost too awesome 'Doomscroller', this album sets a high bar for epic song-writing and largely reaches that bar consistently. It’s an immersive and exciting listen. [Listen here]
Leave The Light On - Pillow Queens This is the second studio album from PQ. It’s great, with a typically languid yet punchy sensibility. It feels like a seamless but evolved follow up to the band’s 2020 debut. [Listen here]
Sometimes, Forever - Soccer Mommy A surprisingly powerful, deep album, delivered with chillingly laidback vigour. Watch out for ‘Darkness Forever’, which acts as the centrepiece track. [Listen here]
Midnights - Taylor Swift This really is a great pop album, and you can feel Taylor’s absolute independence coming through in every word. Despite its heavy rotation on mainstream radio, ‘Anti-Hero’ sounds fresh every time and ‘Maroon’ is an underrated piece of quality song-writing. [Listen here]
Feel free to get in touch and let me know your thoughts on this years picks!