Top Albums 2021

Cancellations, and caution about COVID meant that 2021 was once again a year when my opinions on albums were shaped largely by home listening rather than live experiences. The exception to this being Wolf Alice: an amazing gig at a small venue undoubtedly influenced the second placed album on this list. There was little doubt in my mind though that The Weather Station would be my favourite of the year. It was selected for my enjoyment of its music, but its message about climate change is urgent and timely. As ever, these are personal, but heartfelt choices.

1) The Weather Station Ignorance

2) Wolf Alice Blue Weekend

3) Cassandra Jenkins An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

4) The War on Drugs I Don't Live Here Anymore

5) Still Corners The Last Exit

6) London Grammar Californian Soil

7) Sarah Jarosz Blue Heron Suite

8) Torres Thirstier

9) Lord Huron Long Lost

10) Lump Animal

11) Israel Nash Topaz

12) Allison Russell Outside Child

13) Brandi Carlisle In These Silent Days

14) Hiss Golden Messenger Quietly Blowing It

15) Valerie June The Moon and Stars

16) Lucy Dacus Home Video

17) St. Vincent Daddy's Home

18) Sons of Kemet Back To The Future

19) Efterklang Windflowers

20) The Staves Good Woman

Honourable Mentions

• Art School Girlfriend Is It Light Where You Are
• Black Country New Road For The First Time
• Celeste Not Your Muse
• Julien Baker Little Oblivians
• Laura Stevenson Self-titled
• Lorde Solar Power
• Low Hey What
• Nubyian Twist Freedom Fables
• Vijay Iyer Uneasy
• Watchhouse Self Titled (formerly Mandolin Orange)

Top Albums 2020

This selection is always a personal one: it's never been an attempt to summarise the 'greatest' or most critically acclaimed contemporary music of the past year. Yet after such a catastrophic 2020 for humanity, and an even more disastrous one for the arts, this list feels even more subjective and personal than normal. Torres was the final artist I experienced before the start of the lockdown, and Smoke Fairies' fine album evokes happy memories from the more innocent, now rose tinted days at the start of the year. My natural bias towards Americana is strengthened this year by regret at a visit to the US being curtailed after a few days by the closing of borders in March; hence the inclusion of the likes of Courtney Marie Andrews, Waxahatchee, Other Lives, Jonathan Wilson and Steep Canyon Rangers in my top twenty. The inclusion of Canadian artists such as Grimes, Caribou, and Braids may also have a subconscious link to my sense of loss at being unable to visit my favourite country for the first time in many years. However, the most obvious influence of the current situation is the inclusion of live albums from The War on Drugs, Israel Nash, and Hiss Golden Messenger. I now realise though its absence how essential live music is for mental health, national culture life, and for the necessary expression of a crucial part of being human. Such documents give hope that gradually happier times may start to return in 2021.

1) Grimes Miss Anthropocene

2) The War on Drugs Live Drugs

3) Courtney Marie Andrews Old Flowers

4) Waxahatchee Saint Cloud

5) Other Lives For Their Love

6) GoGo Penguin Self-titled

7) Sufjan Stevens The Ascension

8) Laura Marling Song for Our Daughter

9) Caribou Suddenly

10) Austra HiRUDiN

11) Torres Silver Tongue

12) Lapsley Through Water

13) Jonsi Shiver

14) Jonathan Wilson Dixie Blur

15) Rose Cousins Bravado

16) Smoke Fairies Darkness Brings the Wonders Home

17) Israel Nash Across the Water

18) Hiss Golden Messenger Forward, Children

19) Steep Canyon Rangers Arm in Arm

20) Braids Shadow Offering

21) The Dead Tongues Transmigation Blues

22) Frazey Ford U kin B the Sun

23) Bonnie Light Horseman self-titled

24) Nadia Reid Out of My Province

25) Sea Wolf Through A Dark Wood

26) King Hannah Tell Me Your Mind and I'll Tell You Mine

27) Porridge Radio Every Bad

28) Fenne Lily Breach

29) Tunng Presents Dead Club

30) The Weeknd After Hours