2020

The year of realignment

Two-thousand twenty will live in infamy, but it had its fair share of upsides. While we were stripped of normalcy, we were confronted with the reality that all of this is fragile. The best music this year wasn't the loudest or the sexiest, it was the music that reminded us that control isn't happiness, and whispered that we'd be okay all the same.

10

Hold Space For Me

Orion Sun

Orion Sun (stage name, obviously) is a one woman show who, despite putting out a gang of singles over the past few years, released 2 debut albums in 2020 - Hold Space for Me is the 2nd of these (the 1st is worth checking out too). While her voice is versatile enough for her music to grow and adapt, I also kind of hope the down-tempo indie-adjacent R&B vibe sticks around for a good while.

9

Lianne La Havas

A little odd that Lianne waited til her 3rd album to go self-titled, but it deserves the namesake. This really feels like her. Similar to Alicia in looseness of structure, but a little more jazzy like she tends to sway, this album cuts straight to the point - Lianne La Havas has one of the best voices in modern music - everything else needs to get out of the way.

8

Positions

Ariana Grande

I reluctantly admit that this is the 3rd Ariana Grande album on my list in the same number of years. Do I like her sex-fueled rampage of late? No. Do I like that a commercial-smash pop album broke my top 10? Na. But the fact of the matter is that the production is near-perfect, her voice is near-perfect, and the songs are catchier than OBJ. So here we are.

7

Limbo

Aminé

If you're new to the Oregon native that is Aminé, just know that his beat selection is *chef's kiss*. It's not that his lyrics are terribly original (although they're usually pretty funny) or that the music is super novel (although, again, these beats) it's that he truly understands presentation. He knows which pockets do and don't work, he's well spoken, great with branding, color, set design - it's kinda like if Tyler, the Creator didn't yell all the time. It's the kind of club music that you actually want to hear, if you're into that sort of thing.

6

Sleepyhead

Cavetown

No not Passion Pit. Robbie, aka Cavetown, is a boy from the UK who makes endearing songs about the things he knows: school, girls, and the uncertainty of adolescence. This little indie rock LP shows off the musicality embedded in his lineage - thoughtful arrangements and little flourishes that most artists would never consider take his sound from bedroom singer to something substantial. Altogether it just makes you feel alright.

5

It Was Good Until It Wasn't

Kehlani

Whooooof Kehlani. Let's get real here for a second. This album isn't good for you. If my priorities weren't to God and family, I'd be on whatever low road leads me to wherever she is, you know what I'm sayin? Sheesh.

4

Changes

Justin Bieber

I wanted to short change this description, just like I wanted to do the album. But the truth is, if we're being honest, that Justin Bieber has been making really good pop music for like 5 years now. Changes is, as the name implies, the story of Justin moving past the image he was placed into from childhood. I'm not saying every song's gonna touch your soul, but you will be singing along, and you shouldn't be embarrassed by that. If your daughter's gonna obsess over someone, the Biebs is a pretty good option these days.

3

Palo Alto

Thelonious Monk

If you don't really like jazz, skip this. Long story short, at the height of American racial tension, Thelonious Monk, one of the pioneers of improvised jazz, put on a concert at Palo Alto High School... because he needed the money. The janitor secretly negotiated recording it in exchange for tuning the piano. It was discovered, mastered, and released this year. If you want to hear the full story, look it up. Is the album any good? Well...

2

Color Theory

Soccer Mommy

Ever since Girlpool's Before The World Was Big a few years back I just can't shake my draw to soft indie rock - something about it's just comforting. Apparently I'm a teenage girl at heart. Anywaaaaysuh... the relative newcomer known as Soccer Mommy has that youthful mix of grit and innocence that allows you to just feel how you feel. This album was the onus for the decision that turned 2020 into the beauty that is was for our family, despite what was thrown at us.

1

What Kinda Music

Tom Misch, Yussef Dayes

Though not full blown famous in the states, if you're TinyDesk-level involved in music you've probably heard of Tom Misch. His comforting voice and jazzy guitar sets are easy to love. But this year, he teamed up with drummer extraordinaire Yussef Dayes to make something, and I don't say this lightly, truly timeless. I honestly believe you could pick up a copy of the deep, chicory, determined album that is What Kinda Music in 2058 and say "whoa". The London duo is better than the sum of their parts... and their parts are very good.

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