The 21 Best Albums of 2021
Every year that I've released a Top 10 Albums post, I've included the caveat that there is so, so much good music out there that it's almost unfair to ask me to try and listen to all of them. With that in mind, I hope you know this is not a definitive list of the best music of the year, but rather the top 2021 albums of those I actually listened to. I was even more proactive this year than I have been in some years past-- in fact, this is the most on top of new music I've been in quite some time, I think --but personal biases tend to win the day. So, as always, it's a strange mixture of artists/bands I already liked with some critically acclaimed albums I proactively sought out after reading about them. If you see an album you loved excluded from this list, it's more likely that I just didn't get around to them than it is that I didn't enjoy it.
I must confess, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the music scene this year. Perhaps some of this is an expectations game; considering the names attached to the projects that were coming out this year, I had high hopes for one of the strongest years in a long time. But ultimately, while 2021 was high on quantity-- there were a lot of albums I really liked --it was low on quality-- there were no albums I truly loved, at least to the point of wanting to listen, and re-listen, and re-listen, etc. That being said, I seem to make this gripe about the lack of great albums annually, only to change my mind about that the more I listened to them. Case in point: I got in a spirited debate with a friend last year about how much better 2019's music was than 2020's, and now at the end of this year, I find myself nostalgic for many of 2020's releases. So I am once again asking you to watch this space for a change of mind, is I guess what I'm saying.
Enough rambling; to the list! First, a rundown of the 11 albums that may have made my 21 in '21, but just narrowly missed out on the Top 10 (these are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked):
Back Of My Mind // H.E.R.
The Battle At Garden's Gate // Greta Van Fleet
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST // Tyler, the Creator
Chemtrails Over The Country Club // Lana del Rey
Daddy's Home // St. Vincent
Friends That Break Your Heart // James Blake
Heaux Tales // Jazmine Sullivan
The Off-Season // J. Cole
Pressure Machine // The Killers
Solar Power // Lorde
10. DONDA // Kanye West
I wrote this about DONDA back in September:
"[The album's] failure to match the hype especially frustrates me because, quite honestly, despite some of my harsh comments indicating the contrary, this is still a good album! Sonically, it combines the music of Yeezus and Jesus Is King, a fascinating and mostly effective fusion of church organ and prog-rock. For as much filler content as there is, too, there are also very BAD parts. I wouldn't go so far as to say "no skips," but there aren't many."
Read the full review here.
Three must-listens: "Jesus Lord", "Believe What I Say", "Hurricane"
9. An Evening With Silk Sonic // Silk Sonic
It may sound needlessly high-maintenance, but my only complaint about this album is that it's not an instant classic. Don't get me wrong, it's really good, but how could it not be? Bruno Mars is one of the smoothest crooners out there today, and Anderson .Paak is a generational talent. The sum of their parts may not necessarily equal anything better than their respective, individual bests but it did yield a tight half hour of smooth, high-energy funk and soul.
Three must-listens: "Smokin Out The Window, "Leave The Door Open", "777"
8. SOUR // Olivia Rodrigo
I wrote this about SOUR back in June:
"Not to play into the 'create fake rivalries between female artists' trope, but simply for the sake of comparison, I don’t find SOUR necessarily groundbreaking the way I did the debut releases from fellow teen sensations Lorde and Billie Eilish. . . But! I refuse to blame Olivia Rodrigo for her own hype, especially when the hype is not unwarranted. This is a very good— 8/10 at the very least —album from a young artist who clearly has a seriously impressive songwriting future ahead of her."
Read the full review here.
Three must-listens: "jealousy, jealousy", "deja vu", "hope ur ok"
7. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert // Little Simz
For the second straight year, I must give a hat-tip to my friend Josh for pointing me to an outstanding rap release I likely would have otherwise missed. The fourth studio album from British rapper Little Simz is hard-hitting and grand, and yet personal and genuine at the same time. It's a touch bloated at 19 tracks, but as a body of work it's easily among the most impressive of the year.
Three must-listens: "Introvert", "Point And Kill", "Gems"
6. Collapsed In Sunbeams // Arlo Parks
One thing I am thankful for from 2021 is how many artists I was exposed to for the first time, and chief among them is Arlo Parks, who to my delight is a nominee for Best New Artist at next year's Grammys. The debut album from the British singer is a part indie-folk, part R&B, atmospheric journey through vulnerable storytelling in the midst of a troubling global context. The album as a whole is pretty one-note, but you won't have a smoother listen this year.
Three must-listens: "Eugene", "Collapsed In Sunbeams", "Black Dog"
5. star-crossed // Kacey Musgraves
Three years ago to the day, I named Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour my #1 album of 2021, a momentous occasion for a man that has spent so long hating on Country music. Musgraves' follow-up from that Grammy-winning album, a 'divorce album' where the predecessor was a 'honeymoon album,' doesn't land quite as well as this time, with a couple songs guilty of overproduction and laborious lyricism. That said, it turns out Kacey is every bit as adept at wrestling gorgeous and catchy songs out of sadness and anger as she was at doing it out of love and happiness.
Three must-listens: "camera roll", "breadwinner", "cherry blossom"
4. 30 // Adele
Speaking of divorce albums... Adele made it hilariously clear that's what would be at the heart of her much-anticipated release, 30. One of those big names that I referenced at the start of this piece was Adele's; she's one of the biggest stars on the planet, and has stayed fairly low-key in the years following her last album 25 and its ensuing radio and Grammy domination, so naturally people were on pins and needles for this release. 30, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Adele at her most mature and eloquent, as she deconstructs a failing marriage and its ramifications. It lacks the tracklist full of radio-ready bangers each album before has featured, which makes me think it won't be beloved by her fans the way 21 and 25 is and was. But as an entire album, it's probably her most cohesive work yet.
Three must-listens: "My Little Love", "Love Is A Game", "Cry Your Heart Out"
3. Happier Than Ever // Billie Eilish
Nobody has had quite the iron grasp on the music industry the last few years the way Billie Eilish has. Her debut album two years ago won pretty much every major Grammy imaginable, and launched her massive popularity worldwide. Despite not having an album in 2020, she stayed at the forefront with the early singles from this album, as well as her surprise Grammy win in March for Record of the Year. Then at the end of July, she dropped studio album #2. This may sound like a lazy attempt to just double-dip on analysis from Adele, but it's true for both: Happier Than Ever doesn't have as many strong radio singles as its predecessor did, but actually might be the stronger album as a whole.
Three must-listens: "GOLDWING", "Happier Than Ever", "Getting Older"
2. MONTERO // Li'l Nas X
Many skeptics assumed that Li'l Nas X was a one-trick pony after the wild popularity of his goofy single "Old Town Road," and I'll confess, I was one of them. This year, though, he proved all haters wrong in a major way; lead single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," with its unabashedly queer themes and music video, took the nation by storm much in the way "Old Town Road" did, albeit for a much different reason. Summer release "Industry Baby" also reached #1 on the charts, and it was clear that Li'l Nas X's forthcoming debut album had star potential. Sure enough, MONTERO not only sold well, reaching #2 on the charts, it's downright good. The 'no skips' label gets thrown around too much, and is an oversimplified barometer of an album's quality, but really this album has no skips. Nas is indisputably a brilliant Internet presence, but I think he's proven by now how deft he is as a musician now. MONTERO is equal parts emotional and hilarious, brash and insecure, and he slides effortlessly between rap, punk rock, and emotional pop.
Three must-listens: "INDUSTRY BABY", "DOLLA SIGN SLIME", "SUN GOES DOWN"
1. Long Lost // Lord Huron
I don't know what it was about Lord Huron's latest album that hit me the way it did, but Long Lost felt like a balm to listen to in the midst of the last couple years. I think I'd been primed for it already, though; one thing that happened during intense quarantining last year was I rediscovered my love of indie-folk, the kind of music that so thoroughly dominated my music tastes nearly a decade ago. Long Lost felt like a throwback (it seems weird to use that word to describe my high-school days, but in the words of Billie Eilish, "I'm getting older") to the golden days of indie music, when Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, and The Head and the Heart, to name just a few, were pumping out these sorts of beautiful, acoustic evocative albums regularly. Each and every one of its tracks is original and intriguing, and it's often expansive yet never anything but introspective. The album ends with a fourteen minute wordless soundscape, and the fact that it somehow it doesn't feel the least bit pretentious but rather a natural extension of the tone set by all preceding tracks speaks to just how much peace and relaxation a record like this can bring.
Three must-listens: "Long Lost", "What Do It Mean", "Twenty Long Years"
If you're interested, please see my Best of 2021 playlist linked here! It features tracks from nearly every album referenced in this article plus some standalone, and includes two each from the Top 10.
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