10. - Juliana Hatfield - BloodWho the fuck is Juliana Hatfield? First contact after what seems like a long career. The songs are really interesting here, lots of details to get lost into. It’s not a throwback but an enjoyable 90s reworking, quality kept all along but peaking on Mouthful of Blood.
9. - Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey BuckinghamEven if this self-titled is the first solo record I’ve heard from him, Lindsey has slowly become one of my favorite people in music. He’s one of those do-it-alls: singer/guitarist/producer/arranger. Here he leans towards classic pop and the results are usually pleasant, sometimes breathtaking and always interesting. Glad to see him on top form after some healthissues, a divorce and Fleetwood’s sacking.
8. - C. Tangana - El MadrileñoLook, if by early April you had told me by the end of that month I’d be loving an album by a trap artist performing all kinds of (updated) ancient styles of Spanish and Latin music (flamenco, pasodoble, corridas mexicanas, bossanova, rumba, bolero, copla), with lots of surprising (to me) collaborators... I’d probably have shot myself. But everything ends up making sense, it’s a perfect symbiosis and it feels iconic. From the artwork based on classic Spanish paintings to the “persona”, to the NPR live video which is probably my favourite ever. A true Hispanic roots record, successful homage with lots of homework done, fantastic production enhancing the best elements of the old genres and the current pop, mixing both seamlessly. It found me at the crossroads and opened my mind in ways I never thought it could.
7. - Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Begginer’s MindLightness suits Sufjan quite well, this movie-related collaborative record feels less overcooked than any of his recent work.Gorgeously melodic and effortlessly tender, like a cloudier early 70s Beach Boys, they use all kinds of films as inspiration to write about some usual existential topics. The 3 first tracks are a fantastic run. Also check the cool Ghanian covert art for both record and singles.
6. - Japanese Breakfast - JubileeHer debut made my top100 of the last decade, but I didn’t connect much with the sophomore. It seems she’s quite the public character now, with a praised book, movie in the works, video game soundtrack, side projects and video directing. Jubilee is simply fantastic tbh, bigger instrumentally (horns, strings, synths, guitar solos!), happier (although quite bittersweet), much more self-assured and accomplished. Paprika acts as the introduction via a big marching fanfare, Be Sweet is the poppiest version of her strengths and ballads like Kokomo, In or Tactics are hard-to-pull highlights of the year.
5. - black midi - CavalcadeThis might be my favorite record from the Windmill scene: it’s basically a more varied but focused display of the characteristics of these young lads: talent, humor and sprouts of mad energy. Closer to prog or jazz and easier to untangle than their debut (for me anyway), where all these things were already present but only from a theoretical point of view.
4. - Lisasinson - Perdona MamáYep, this wouldn’t be this high any other year but shit happens. My ex girlfriend loved me so much she dumped me so I could enjoy this (silly, simple, teeny) record so much
3. - Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No TeethThis seemed to come out of nowhere and it’s a fucking well crafted genreless debut. Or genrefull and hyperhyphenated? post-punk, neo-soul, alt-rock, hip-hop... Really hard to pin down but I guess the closest approximation I can make of it could be a schizo project like Gorillaz, as he touches many different vibes. Some of them are just a bit out of my comfort zone but nonetheless the song nearly always wins, thanks to the versatile vocals but also to the brilliant production work. Recurring themes are racism and depression, approaching them both separately and together, adding a pinch of humour and interesting metaphors. Don’t Need You is one of the best songs of the year.
2. - Ryley Walker - Course in FableI’ve always quite liked the guy (a talented and funny fella), and his music in small doses was pleasant to me if not much else, so I didn’t really expect to get caught by a full record of his at this point in time. A good balance between accessibility and experimentation: while keeping his essence the songs are richer than ever, full of unexpected turns and production enhancements that give each song its own character but still managing to cohere onto a fantastic whole. A Lenticular Slap is more eventful than some band’s discographies, and then Axis Bent’s instrumental break… a real delight.
1. - The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here AnymoreHi Karl
3rd in a row, small tweaks each time, no need to say again how they sound but this feels like the purest distillation of it. Keeping the sense of motion, perfecting a genre that could be called cleangaze, getting lost in the rich layers of instruments like a wave of sounds massaging your brain but this time prioritizing songwriting over atmosphere. Pitchfork is spot on describing the effect the words have on this:
“The songs of the War on Drugs exist in a world between knuckle tattoos: love, hurt; home, away; (...) even though his lyrics are borderline cliché, it functions more like the shoegaze bands (...) Instead of sitting at the front of the music, Grandcuiel’s words drape over his songs like a thin film so that they essentially disappear.
But still changes, uncertainty, moving somewhere, looking for something: those are feelings that come across once more and hang together with me, only this time it ends up with what might look like some nice place to settle yourself for a while.