2021: The Year in Music

With the global pandemic that defined 2020 continuing on largely unabated in 2021 with surges and variants throwing monkey wrenches into the entertainment industry once again despite the availability of vaccines, music artists resumed a steadier release schedule than the year prior. Even as some artists resumed playing live dates while others postponed shows yet again over fears of rising infection rates, most resigned themselves to releasing their new music even if supporting it with a tour wasn’t a guaranteed source of income in 2021.

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