This was welcome news for music
fans who lamented over slimmer pickings in 2020. Heck, 2021 even saw the long-awaited
return of vocal juggernaut Adele with her first album of new material in six
years. In last year’s recap, I noted that escapism was the prevailing theme—understandable
considering the unprecedented circumstances we found ourselves in with
lockdowns and mass casualties numbering in the hundreds of thousands. This
year, artists found themselves more reflective—even those who surrounded themselves
in uptempo beats—with songwriting taking center stage. Some musical veterans went
back in time on their 2021 releases—from Shirley Manson and her Garbage bandmates
who returned to the rebellious rage of earlier releases to Duran Duran who took
a stroll down memory lane on their 15th album while managing to sound fresh and
relevant. Some focused on the emotionality of stepping out of darkness and into
the light, like Yebba on her exquisite debut and Adele on her cathartic fourth
album. Yola and Valerie June each delivered gorgeous collections of folky Memphis
soul songs about love and loss and the acceptance of bygones. Surprisingly, Billie
Eilish found some bliss on her sophomore set, while—less surprisingly—Lana Del
Rey picked up right where she left off on last year’s Norman Fucking Rockwell!
and continued to musically chronicle the death of the American dream on her piercingly
perceptive 7th studio album. Even when artists like Saint Motel and Laura Mvula
expanded their music into gloriously bombastic walls of sound, it’s the lyrics that
stood out over the beats.
In any event, this year’s annual Top
10 list again held steadfast to past trends and personal penchants: Heavily
female artist skewed (7 out of 10, plus a female-fronted band) and at least one
new discovery (Yebba). Less Brits than previous years, although I still managed
to include four—Adele, Laura Mvula, Duran Duran, and Yola. Three bands make the
list; no male solo singers managed the same this year.
All that said, down to the
countdown. My favorite albums of 2021:
#10 THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE
SOUNDTRACK / Saint Motel
#9 DAWN / Yebba
#8 THE MOON AND STARS:
PRESCRIPTIONS FOR DREAMERS / Valerie June
#7 HAPPIER THAN EVER / Billie
Eilish
#6 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY
CLUB / Lana Del Rey
#5 STAND FOR MYSELF / Yola
#4 FUTURE PAST / Duran Duran
#3 30 / Adele
#2 PINK NOISE / Laura Mvula
#1 NO GODS NO MASTERS / Garbage
Honorable Mentions: No formal
ranking, but worthy of a listen or two.
·
Not Your
Muse / Celeste
·
COLLAPSED IN SUNBEAMS / Arlo Parks
·
CALIFORNIAN SOIL / London Grammar
·
JOURNEY TO YOU / The Blow Monkeys
·
ONE WAY OUT / Melissa Etheridge
·
YOUNG HEART / Birdy
·
HI / Texas
·
WELCOME TO THE MADHOUSE / Tones and I
·
PRESSURE MACHINE / The Killers
·
THE BODY REMEMBERS / Debbie Gibson
·
BLUE BANISTERS / Lana Del Rey
·
HUNTER AND THE DOG STAR / Edie Brickell &
New Bohemians
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