Top 10 Albums of 2020
2020 has been one hell of a decade. Depending on where you live in the world, the last 289 days have been a never-ending whirlwind of lockdowns, unemployment, and unrelenting grief. It became so tempting to crawl into a cocoon and listen/watch our nostalgic favourites and never come out. But the thing is, whether it’s more introspective like Taylor Swift’s Folklore or poppy fun because that’s what we need right now, like Kylie Minogue’s Disco, the best albums, no matter the year, will always find a way to make it into our ears.
One thing I tried doing this year was to listen to more albums (I certainly had the time), and as a result, something weird happened. For the first time since I began writing this annual top 10 list in 2015, there’s not a single metalcore album in my top 10. In fact, there’s only one repeat artist this year.
So, without further ado, here are the 10 releases that made 2020 a little better.
BARRIE - HAPPY TO BE HERE
This is technically a 2019 album (in that it was released in May 2019), but you know what, 2020 isn’t playing by the rules so neither am I! The only way I can describe this album is a psychedelic summer afternoon that’s been transformed into an exquisite musical experience, complete with lush vocals, irresistible grooving guitars, and brilliant synths. It’s simultaneously trippy and mellow, lending itself to becoming my most played album of 2020, and one that solidified Barrie as an experimental indie-pop force to be reckoned with.
Recommended Song: Darjeeling
DUA LIPA - FUTURE NOSTALGIA
I have to be honest. When Dua Lipa’s first album came out in 2017, I was not a fan, so much so that I would change the song whenever one of hers would come up in a playlist. Fast forward three years, and Future Nostalgia is a breathtakingly fun, cohesive, hard-bodied pop-funk album with a loving nod to disco that just works so well. It’s exactly the right kind of record at exactly the wrong time, in that like the album title, it makes me nostalgic for the future when we can once again gather in groups larger than two and have fun dance parties with no worries.
Recommended Song: Levitating
SPANISH LOVE SONGS - BRAVE FACES EVERYONE
Brave Faces Everyone is the third album by Spanish Love Songs, but the first I’d heard by them. As a lifelong fan of midwestern-emo, this album is an absolutely crushing, anthemic, angst filled yet energizing masterpiece. The vocals are hauntingly beautiful, the instrumentals are incredibly well put together with gorgeous guitar melodies. Hands down, this is one of the most well written emo albums from the last decade.
Recommended Song: Beachfront Property
RUEL - BRIGHT LIGHTS, RED EYES
Ruel is the only artist this year to be a repeat from 2019, and that’s for a few reasons. Building on the momentum he’s accrued over the last few years and EPs, Bright Lights, Red Eyes is hands down Ruel’s most mature collection of songs thus far. His pop sound has become incredibly polished, and those vocals are more emotionally layered as ever. This EP clearly demonstrates that there are very few 18-year olds who have the chops of this up-and-coming Aussie singer, and why he’s one of the most promising artists today. My recommendation is to not sleep on this insanely talented artist.
Recommended Song: as long as you care
LANE 8 - BRIGHTEST LIGHTS
Deep house isn’t usually a genre that I gravitate towards, but there’s something so soothing and comforting about this album. It could be that Lane 8 (real name Daniel Goldstein), said that he made “this album in the hopes that it would bring a little joy into your life in these crazy times…we are so bombarded with negative energy these days that it is sometimes easy to forget all the beautiful and positive things that happen every day…however small or seemingly insignificant, Brightest Lights is about celebrating and embracing the ups and downs of life and trying to see the world in a positive light.” I couldn’t have said it better.
Recommended Song: Road
SEVANA - BE SOMEBODY
I’m so thankful to my girlfriend for accidentally discovering Sevana and turning me onto her. This EP features modern, internationally influenced sounds that are rooted in smooth reggae beats, catchy songs, and a perfect runtime that left me wanting more Sevana.
There’s not much more I can say about this album other than you need to listen to it ASAP.
Recommended Song: Mango
KYLIE MINOGUE - DISCO
Kylie Minogue’s Disco isn’t anything revelatory. She’s made several albums and decades worth of disco-styled music, and yet, there’s still something fresh about this album in that it feels like a combination of both classic 70s disco and modern electro-pop. Unlike Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, which has quite a bit of depth behind the fun disco, this album feels paper-thin, but not in a bad way. It’s almost as if it’s exactly the kind of fun, nonsense dance music of yesteryear that we need right now.
Recommended Song: Say Something
THE LAGOONS - MIDNIGHT AFTERNOON
The Lagoons, composed of brothers Ryan and Joey Selan, have struck gold with their debut album Midnight Afternoon. The brothers’ unique blend of genres was a hit with their debut single, California, which was followed by two EPs that garnered rave reviews. As the brothers said, Midnight Afternoon is an album guided by reflection and introspection created for you to share with those you love. And I have to agree - there’s something to the soundscape that they’ve created that lends itself to quiet introspection, and wanting to share those thoughts with those around you.
Recommended Song: Falling
DINNER PARTY - ROOM FOR JOY IN A MESSED UP WORLD
To call any album a “debut” from one of the four members of Dinner Party - Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, 9th Wonder, and Robert Glasper - feels a bit disingenuous. Each member has had an illustrious career in music, both in and out of the spotlight, and each brings their own unique styling and sensibility to this album, blending jazz and R&B and hip-hop into something that’s perfect for this year that’s felt like a decade. As Glasper put it, “Dinner Party is a perfect album for a time of pandemic, police brutality, and an uncertain future. It is simultaneously escapism and protest. It’s a protest album but also not, you can listen to it and not feel like you’re watching the news.”
Recommended Song: Freeze Tag
SOCCER MOMMY - COLOR THEORY
If you were listening to the softer end of US indie in the mid-1990s, you’ll recognise what is going on with Soccer Mommy’s (the stage name of Sophie Allison) second LP, Color Theory. Allison has managed to achieve an ambiance filled with nostalgic and melancholic tunes that remind me of my childhood. And that’s no accident either. Allison, born in 1997, wanted this album to sound like her childhood, when we had translucent computers and tamogatchies instead of TikTok. It’s a touching, charming, heartfelt album spliced with chromatic flourishes and blossoming guitar riffs that make the album as a whole feel lived in and pure.
Recommended Song: circle the drain
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
These are the EPs, LPs, and re-issues, that while all were fantastic in their own rights, didn’t make it into my top 10 list this year. And again, in no particular order:
