The 50 best albums of 2022

We said: “11:11 leans into every reason that made anyone fall in love with Pinegrove in the first place. And make no mistake, this a band that fans capital-L Love. Whether it’s Stephens Hall’s deeply relatable lyrics, cramming so many words into some songs that it sounds like an uncontrollable outburst. The trademark slashing, ripping guitars that burst out of the silence like a knife through the dark on opener ‘Habitat’. The barn burners like standout single ‘Alaska’ and the almost power-pop-esque descending chords of ‘Cyclone’. Read more…

We said: “If Ants From Up There proves anything, it’s that BC,NR are much more than the sum of their parts – returning here as a more mature post-punk jazz outfit who still pack a barrage of big ideas but who now have the space and confidence to land them with ease. If For The First Time got people talking, Ants From Up There will make them shut up and listen.” Read more…

We said: “Five years after the release of Masterpiece, Big Thief return with the record that finally earns the title – a sprawling opus of ambitious indie-folk that fizzes in a dozen different directions at once. Singing songs about potatoes and garlic bread and the eventual collapse of the universe, the band pack soft love ballads, freak-out jamborees, icicle solos and existential hoedowns into an entire afternoon of listening.” Read more…

We said: “There’s a sense throughout that Superchunk are looking for something new and different. Where most bands would reach for the fuzz pedal for elevation, instead they push an acoustic guitar, horns, some vocal harmonies or strings to the fore… Superchunk have always created albums that seemed both rooted in their time and with a life way beyond it. Wild Loneliness is no different, except that it might just be the band’s best since their 2010 return.” Read more…

We said: “It’s a brave artistic pursuit to try and find the sweet spot between the jarring, unnerving and chaotic, and the more comforting and conventional aspects of music, such as rhythm and melody. But it’s right in the centre of this Venn, pulling in two vastly different spheres closer, where Belgian-Carribbean singer Charlotte Adigéry thrives.” Read more…

We said: “Crash represents, in some ways, an ending. It’s the last album in her record deal, something that Charli has leant into, combining images of car crashes and funerals with an exaggerated popstar persona, all of which feels a little tongue-in-cheek. Whilst a chapter may be closing, it doesn’t feel as if Charli is going anywhere. What Crash tells us is that whatever her next move may be, we won’t predict it.” Read more…

We said: “Most of us spent lockdown learning to bake, home-schooling our kids or half-learning Spanish. Camp Cope learned how to become the best band they could be for themselves. In the process, they’ve made one of the most exciting albums of the year and one song that is going to absolutely slay live. Figuring things out has never sounded so good.” Read more…

We said: “Babcock’s eternal position as the helpless f*ck up isn’t going anywhere. He’s still the guy who calls your parents’ landline in the middle of the night, looking for validation, the same old “Sloppy Steffy” living out the back of his ’97 Camry, the same guy who tried to grow up on ‘Scorpion Hill’ but ended up hiding a gun in his son’s bedroom. As PUP get bigger and bigger, can Steffy stay so sloppy? You’d have to believe Babcock can find a way. At times, he even sounds proud of it.” Read more…

We said: “Arriving on a wave of expectation built on just a handful of singles, Wet Leg’s debut confirms what we all already seemed to know – turning industry buzz into a burst of joyful, painful, electric new indie that feels like it’s been stuck in our heads for months already. Finding the place where post-punk meets pop, Wet Leg trade in contradictions wherever they clash the loudest – deadpanning innuendos over wonky Bowie guitars before tackling self-loathing and anxiety with dancefloor dreampop.” Read more…

We said: “When the alien invasion starts, Jack White will bring his guitar. Arriving here with the first of two albums for 2022, Fear Of The Dawn feels more like the soundtrack to 3022 – White’s hard-driven shotgun riffs now strapped to the hood of a UFO in a frenzied squall of noise that might amount to his most ambitious record to date. What was once stripped-down for The White Stripes is now dressed-up in amp-shock psychedelia – old-fashioned bluesy garage rock with cyberpunk energy and a glint of genuine madness.” Read more…

We said: “Architecturally, it’s a carefully-constructed thing, but it helps to think of Harry’s House less in terms of construction and more in terms of home décor – room to room, the style varies, but the overall effect paints a pretty clear picture of who lives there… It all feels cohesive though, and never as if we’ve turned up at the wrong address. Harry’s House is what its title promises – an invitation into something inventive, warm, and quintessentially Styles.” Read more…

We said: “Rosalía can do it all and she wants you to know it. From the very first song on MOTOMAMI, the upbeat alternative track ‘Saoko’, she is clear to impress upon the listener that she is complex, she is multifaceted, and they won’t be able to pin her down. “I contradict myself, I transform,” she sings. “I’m all things, I transform.” And so she does, continually, bouncing from flamenco to reggaeton to piano ballads to experimental pop with ease, energy and a healthy serving of unpredictably.” Read more…

We said: “though the title seems to beckon us closer as if helping us hone this long practiced artform, by the end of its 15 tracks it feels more like being duped by a super-chill Pied Piper. The LP is some of Vile’s most blissfully stupefying work to date, not least the pearlescent ‘Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)’, which he calls “the sound of the elements around me—where I’m from, where I live, and where I’m going.”” Read more…

We said: “Only 10 songs and 40 minutes long, WE is the shortest record they’ve ever made but it never feels like it. Songs, as usual, sprawl out in all directions to become mini multi-part albums in their own right, flowing over and under each other enough to make shuffles feel like cheating. Always standing with most of their many feet in the past, Arcade Fire are aggressively old-fashioned in wanting audiences to hear their music the way people used to – WE written as a single story that demands to be read in one sitting.” Read more…

We said: “Almost everything on Everything Was Beautiful feels like it’s rocketing off to somewhere fantastical. You can almost smell the jet fumes burning off the back of ‘Best Thing You Never Had’. ‘The Mainline Song’ rattles along like the trans-American trains it’s eulogising. ‘Let It Bleed’ hovers briefly in a quiet place before suddenly exploding with a force that is genuinely shocking. Only the gorgeous country waltz ‘Crazy’ – co-written with Nikki Lane – seems content to float gently, the thrusters finally giving way to a moment of utter peace.” Read more…

We said: “Kevin Morby sometimes feels like he’s past the point of being considered a musician in any traditional sense. His songs are filled with tiny details that would stop you in a novel, yet there’s also a temptation to call them cinematic, in a Robert Altman kind of way. They feel like red rocks and timber, Laurel Canyon and New York. Deeply American but post-Americana and all that’s come to stand for.” Read more…

We said: “It’s inevitable that Phoebe Bridgers, Pillow Queens, even Camp Cope will spring to mind at various points during If I Never Know You Like This Again, but Monds-Watson has a voice that is very much their own while also relatable in their wry observations about relationships and self-doubt. ‘purgatory’ finds their ego struggling with the idea of death and non-existence – even at the age of 26, such things can weigh heavy, maybe more so in the middle of a pandemic.” Read more…

We said: “Cruel Country isn’t Wilco winding the clock back or undoing their last 25 years. There’s none of the firebrand countrified power pop of A.M. or the Stones-indebted rusted-out rockers of Being There. Cruel Country feels more like re-reading a book you loved as a teen and finding a brand-new meaning. There’s no way the Wilco of 1994 could have made a record like this. This is the sound of a band that has learned the rules, broken them, forgotten them and then written new ones from hazy memories.” Read more…

We said: “A tough and beautiful listen, even if you don’t know the backstory, Big Time pulls the melodrama of 2019’s All Mirrors back to Olsen’s alt-country roots, giving us at least half an album full of honkytonk storytelling in the dark of a dive bar. A handful of opening breakup songs ring like a last-orders bell, with the ghosts of Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette and Olsen’s old mentor Bonnie Prince Billy slow-shuffling around the dancefloor.” Read more…

We said: “The last four years have seen a remastered version of the band’s debut but no new music, making 40 oz. To Fresno easily the most anticipated record of their 14 years together. Unprecedented attention clearly suits the trio (bolstered on drums by Motion City Soundtrack’s Tony Thaxton) as this is their finest to date. Heavier than Million Dollars but every bit as catchy, it feels like the band’s mission statement brought to life.” Read more…

We said: “Prog, psych, post-rock, post punk, there’s a wealth of sub genres that could try to pigeonhole MELTS, but none feel entirely right. Even combined with all the obvious influences, it all falls short of the visceral experience that Maelstrom conjures. If the skies start burning, this will be the sound of it all coming down around us. It’s a truly inspired debut that only increases the anticipation for where this singularly unique band might go next.” Read more…

We said: “Picking up where Colour Theory left off, Sometimes, Foreverstarts off sounding exactly like the album everyone is expecting. ‘Bones’ begins soft and sweet – weaving 80s guitars and 90s dream pop through the hooks – before darkening into a lo-fi fuzz that heads the rest of the album in a whole new direction. ” Read more…

We said: “Still in school when they formed the band (and still in college when their second album, Two Of Me, was released) Friedman and Weingarten bring as much teenage energy as they do teenage apathy – with brooding SoCal harmonies softening the fuzzy noise-pop guitars on songs about longing, driving, hating, regretting and doing all the stuff Billy Corgan was too shy to sing about on ‘Hummer’. ” Read more…

We said: “Sound Of The Morning continues where its predecessor left off, without the influence of any pressure or need to shake things up. Play them consecutively, and Return‘s sleepy closing track, ‘Waiting For The Day’, blends into ‘The Sound Of The Morning’ in the way that night and day seem seamless, but look close enough and the thread is the very same nylon-stringed guitar. Its a cute detail, but goes a long way to explain the coherence in Pearson’s craft.” Read more…

We said: “These are the songs that you sing along to as if nobody is watching. The songs that force you to park any self-doubt and to not just embrace, but love the body you’re in. Lizzo has already empowered a generation of women who grew up force-fed bad body-image ideals, and here the message is clearer than ever: “screw permission, I demand to be worshiped”.” Read more…

We said: “Suddenly venturing into the outside world, complicated hookups and external responsibilities are back, and they threaten to overwhelm the world inside the narrator’s head, both literally and sonically in the form of a buzzing black cloud. A trip into Beatopia is a reminder of the journey that we’ve all been on this past year, and how hard it can be not just to find a new normal, but to revert back to the old.” Read more…

We said: “So often, people who know the end is coming say they want their funeral to be a celebration of their life, not a mourning of their death. This is exactly the former, a reminder of exactly how brilliant The Sadies were, are and will always be. Nobody wanted Dallas Good’s life to end this way and there’s no comfort in his final record being his best. But is it the best ever made by anyone? Ever? It’s so much closer to that than even Dallas probably intended.” Read more…

We said: “‘Begging For Rain’, one of the album’s standouts, sees Rogers put her vulnerable vocals and excellent lyricism centre stage… It’s a particularly poignant sound in an album that speaks so much to acceptance. Rogers puts every part of herself behind the journey that she’s on, discussing not only the transformative power of romantic love, but sexuality, friendship and wanderlust – all things that help build a stronger sense of self if we give in to what’s meant for us. ” Read more…

We said: “Some may scoff at the assumption that dance music is in need of any revival, especially from the world of pop, or even at the fact that many of us didn’t return to clubs as soon as they reopened their doors. But such is the magnetism of Bey that it doesn’t really matter, as she powers through the history of dancefloor-filling music with prowess… Perhaps we had already returned to the dancefloor, but on RENAISSANCE Beyoncé shows, like only she can, how to return again and do it right.” Read more…

We said: “So significant has Kokoroko’s profile become since 2018 that it’s almost a surprise to remember that their new album, Could We Be More, is their debut. The opening moments seem to answer its own question, as the psychedelic sway of ‘Dojo’ add a headier dimension to the more jolting feeling of recent singles… The horn trio with alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi and trombonist Richie Seivwright joining Maurice-Greay leads with pure confidence, their melodies feeling somehow intuitive, bold and incisive.” Read more…

We said: “Since their debut, Football Money, the band have been plagued by Pavement and Jonathan Richman comparisons, which feel less appropriate than ever here. Despite Gaudet’s penchant for wry observation, there’s a sincerity and energy that sets it apart from any concept of slacker rock or twee indie pop… ‘Parasite II’ calls to mind The Strokes at their poppiest and most ambitious, while Gaudet wonders who’s drinking all his beer, shrinking his clothes and spending all his money (twist: it’s him).” Read more…

We said: “When we think of reclaimed female sexuality, we usually think mainstream pop or hip-hop… Julia Jacklin’s folk-rock, art-pop musings are a world away. This is a record for those of us who grew up singing in church choirs and hanging Bible verses on our bedroom walls. Pre Pleasure is not a total shedding of inhibition, but a marriage of two truths – your upbringing is a hard thing to outrun, but pleasure always finds a way.” Read more…

We said: “Mo Troper gets mentioned so often in certain circles of the musical Twitterverse that wider acclaim felt almost worryingly inevitable. But if the man had any intention of staying low key, then he really shouldn’t have made a record like MTV. Not that this is the kind of record that propels an artist to festival headliner status. It’s more the kind of record that worms its way into every discerning listener’s collection, a Tallahassee, Alien Lanes or Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. In years to come, it’ll feel like you always owned it.” Read more…

We said: “Maximalism is the word here. Every track is jam-packed – always brilliantly, never chaotically – with homespun details, from a Chichewa monologue in opening track ‘Shadows’ to a collaboration with legendary Zamrock band W.I.T.C.H. Titled ‘Can I Live?’, it sees Sampa unpack her frustrations with fame, public reception and the Australian music industry. “I ain’t even started and I hate this sh*t,” she growls, throaty and gritty, giving way to a gospel-influenced chorus.” Read more…

We said: “For their third album, Andrew Taylor (also of Scottish indie outfit Dropkick) and Gonzalo Marcos have assembled what is easily their best set of songs to date. Their previous two records were filled with the kind of sumptuous indie pop that deserves a seat at the top table, alongside Taylor’s countrymen in Teenage Fanclub, Superstar and The Primary Five, but The Third Wave Of… is another step forwards.” Read more…

We said: “Her identity is the throughline of the album, but Sawayama’s imagination spirals off into other places. Her storytelling is excellent, a skill she has honed since SAWAYAMA to dazzling effect. ‘Send My Love To John’, the album’s quietest moment and the closest we get to an acoustic track, tells a completely fictional tale about an immigrant mother realising where she went wrong raising her queer son. Sawayama weaves the narrative to devastating effect, with gut punch lyrics.” Read more…

We said: “If you’re going to wait, you can only hope that the wait will be worth it. This one is overwhelmingly so. Nobody was clamouring for Alvvays to get any better than they already were but they have. The changes aren’t immediately obvious. The group’s core sound of endless Berocca guitars, glossy synths and Rankin’s sighing voice are blessedly intact, but there are forays in different directions that reward the band’s exploratory instincts.” Read more…

We said: “Just like the many layers of the mixtapes Eagle curated while his creative mind was still forming, Component System With The Auto Reverse is a multifaceted work that requires several plays, if not to fully grasp the several sides, styles and tones of Eagle’s takes on identity, then as way to just enjoy some of the rapper’s finest ever wordplay.” Read more…

We said: “Whatever Odell throws at each song seems to fit, and she throws plenty. ‘Cardinal Feather’ starts off like The Strokes before suddenly slowing down into a wonky country ballad that crashes into yodel yells and delicate shimmers. ‘Moments Later’ sees her lay down the guitar and push a piano into the sunshine instead – New Orleans art folk by way of Tranquillity Base Hotel And Casino… Julie Odell is unlike anyone else. And that’s sort of the whole point. Try and put her in a box and it’ll have changed before you even close the lid.” Read more…

We said: “What a way to make a comeback. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs haven’t officially been anywhere, but the nine long years since Mosquito is enough of a gap for Cool It Down to feel like a reboot – the opening seconds of ‘Spitting Off The End Of The World’ sounding like Karen O kicking the doors down all over again.” Read more…

We said: ““Don’t. Waste. Your. Time. On. Me.” Screams Black Francis, spitting the same teenaged angst that started all this three decades ago. The guitars might be thicker and heavier than they used to be, but this doesn’t sound like middle-aged music. And yet there’s refinement here too. Polish, on a rough-edged table. Tempos shift, and Surfer Rosa and Doolittle slowly give way to Indie Cindy and Beneath The Eyrie. This is the Pixies celebrating their own heritage as well as proving that they’ve still got something to say.” Read more…

We said: “The ten-a-penny YouTubers and songwriting workshoppers who claim to have the recipe for a perfect song are either charlatans or a fools. A perfect song is so ridiculously elusive and subjective, but you know it when you hear it. At the risk of hyperbole, there are three perfect songs on Rolling Golden Holy: ‘California’, ‘Someone To Weep For Me’ and ‘Fleur De Lis’, a song that holds everything that is wonderful about Anaïs Mitchell under a spotlight.” Read more…

We said: “There’s a world of pressure in the situations the band have experienced since their breakthrough in January 2020: a pandemic, motherhood, following a hugely successful second album, recovering from the abrupt halt to their momentum. Just one of those things can prove incapacitating. Here Is Everything is the sound of a band that has struggled through it all together and come out the other side stronger.” Read more…

We said: “The elegant lead singles do well to capture the drifting, daydreaming pace of The Car. Some have suggested this may be the beginning of a “post-song” era, with mainstream pop shedding its structural constraints. Maybe. Or it could be they’re just growers… Like its predecessor, The Car demands a little time to sit, a little air to breathe.” Read more…

We said: “Two years after her detour into the indie folk woods of Folklore and Evermore, Taylor Swift has made a graceful return to pop music. A month of teasing track titles and other surprises has culminated in a confident, triumphant tenth record, full of sparkly synths, shimmering dream-pop and good times. It’s lived up to the glittery silver outfit Swift wore to introduce the album to the world – and anyone who thinks the announcement dress is irrelevant is missing the point of Taylor Swift.” Read more…

We said: “Five albums in, First Aid Kit are flying out of the cage with new wings – now somehow finding an even stronger voice in a punchier pop sound that’s pitched right to the back of the biggest rooms… Palomino might reopen a lot of old wounds in its raw-cut confessional lyrics, but First Aid Kit now have what they need to heal – an album full of empowering anthems that all feel like the end credits to the best films you grew up with.” Read more…

“Dazy’s formula is simple: Goodson’s emphatic voice, a red-lining fuzz pedal and a drum machine. Occasionally an acoustic guitar will ring out through the static but, other than that, it’s a restrictive toolbox that puts the onus squarely on the songs. But those songs! Goodson is clearly a disciple of poptastic 90s alt-rock… In essence, OUTOFBODY is just one gigantic smile of a record; if your foot isn’t tapping 30 seconds in, it might be time for medical intervention.” Read more…

We said: “Héloïse Letissier doesn’t waste time in bidding his past self goodbye. Within the first few moments of Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles, he promises love and devotion to his ‘beloved’ as he waves them off, and sets about introducing the dreamy, dramatic, disco-inspired sound of Redcar, his new alter-ego… At its best, this is what Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles sounds like – an ascension into some mystical otherworld seeped in folklore and magical realism.” Read more…

We said: “For all its Enya-like iciness, the album’s highlight, ‘God Turn Me Into A Flower’ is as cathartic and regenerative as it’s titular plea. Perhaps not easy to prove on paper, but listening to And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is far from a depressing experience, such is Merring’s talent to turn the bleak into something gracefully shared with a magic touch, and a sign that there may be hope to come.” Read more…

We said: “There will be some who, after the shimmering final moments of closer ‘Give It To The Water’, will wish for something twisted, heavy or sharp. But this isn’t for them. Instead, This Is What I Mean is the sigh of a conclusion, of writing everything you meant to say but didn’t, enveloping it for good and letting it fall through a door to be found, or not, and walking on toward whatever next is to come.” Read more…