Top 10 Albums 2021
Introduction
The year 2021 is coming to an end, and what a year it’s been! What personally started out terribly ended up like one of the best yet. Through the ups and downs, but especially the downs I lost sight of music. They say that feeling numb towards the things you normally love is an indicator that you’re in a bad place. I think I started to feel disconnected from the old music I listened to. My inner state didn’t match anymore with the art I was letting into my life. The music I was consuming was anti my development. A trend like that can only go on for so long.
Normally I keep a close track on album releases. I’d follow release blogs, read reviews and actively looking out for the freshest and hottest releases of the moment. This year I took a more passive approach. Being off social media put me out of touch with the artists I loved and followed. Instead, I let fate, or rather the Spotify algorithms, bring me whatever it had in store for me. I’m sure that I’ve missed quite a bunch of a really good albums, but so be it. This scarcity of new music has pushed me to dive deeper into a handful of projects, allowing me to find more meaning and beauty in them.
Continue reading to discover my top 10 albums of 2021. Find the playlist with the best tracks, neatly selected to guide you directly to the gems, down below!
P.S. I’d love to hear about your top 10 list of 2021. You can reach out here, or through Instagram and Facebook. Have fun with it and a happy new year!
TOP 10 AOTY 2021
#10. Bob’s Son - R.A.P. Ferreira
“Ruby Yacht 4 ever ‘n ever ‘n ever, think about it!” R.A.P. Ferreira, FKA as Milo, aka Scallops Hotel… Whatever pseudonym the Wisconson art rapper uses, his songs can be described as poetry on beats. Not quite rap, not quite slam. Bob’s Son explores what it is to be an outlaw, artist, or poet. Rory’s cryptic messages make his music anything but straightforward. Listening can be hard at times, but is well worth the effort.
On this release we see Ferreira let go of any preconceived notion of music, and truly embracing the artistic freedom of an outlaw, artist, poet. More power to that, I say!
#9. Sling - Clairo
Clairo is as fragile as ever. With Sling she portrays a story of unease in this world. She feel invisible in ‘Blouse’, estranged in ‘Bambi’, and abandoned in ‘Management’. Her vocal performances are soft, just what we’ve grown to expect from her. This album is nothing new sonic-wise, but any release from Clairo is always notable.
#8. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (SIMBI) - Little Simz
In your face, bars, beats, delivery, production. Little Simz delves deep into her introversion and tries to lay bare how she manoeuvres around in a world expecting the opposite. The album opens with an absolute banger instrumental announcing the arrival of someone with a story to tell. Simz drops in shortly after and spits fire for the rest of the hour-long album. The album has three interludes of spoken-word self-help explorations. These nicely break the pace, and make space for moments of clear lyrical listening.
Simz follows no one, except her own intuition, and that gives her a unique story to tell! SIMBI establishes itself as one of the strongest hip-hop albums of the year.
#7. Glow - Alice Phoebe Lou
“You didn’t teach me, I taught myself through you.” Now that’s a line to open an album full of love songs! Lou jumps between yearning love and running away from it. Her vocals are soft and soothing, which carry the message loud and clear. Glow radiates a love energy I thought modern love albums had lost. There’s nothing corny or overplayed on this album. Alice Poebe Lou is one of my best musical discoveries this year.
#6. Heals Me - JMSN
JMSN returns from his 2018 Velvet with a groovy, yet delicate record. Heals Me touches on themes of, well, healing. Throughout the tracklist we hear JMSN finding the way to full self-acceptance. The majority of the album he tackles topics of resistance, like uniting body and mind, living with his choices, and the crippling expectations from fans and lovers. In the end he returns to unity and love on ‘Secret Garden’ and ‘Heals Me’.
#5. Promises - Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
I don’t even know how to describe this masterpiece. Promises has reoccurring elements, that make it about impossible to make a distinction between the tracks. The album needs time and space to come to its full right. There are no lyrics, except for some humming every once in a while. This instrumental album makes me feel like I’m floating. It’s complex and layered, causing me to find a new listening path throughout every spin.
#4. Inside (The Songs) - Bo Burnham
Three months. That’s how long I’ve been obsessed with comedian Bo Burnham’s Inside. His latest Netflix special is a work of genius, but I mostly got hooked by the music. He describes his tunes as silly songs, and that’s truly what they are. Despite the jokes and gags, this album is one hell of a trip. Every track leads to particular joke, yet it’s never predictable how it’s going to get there. The songs about Jeff ‘Bezos’ are as stupid as they are amazing. Inside (The Songs) also tackles heavier topics like Bo’s difficulties with panic attacks, depression, performance pressure, and feelings of abandonment. Despite the sometimes appalling lyrics, I found myself singing the whole album word per word. It’s silly, stupid, catchy, and straight-out genius. Sue me for putting this so high on my list!
#3. The Turning Wheel - Spellling
My revelation of the year is for sure Spellling. With The Turning Wheel she brings an absolute monster of a record to the scene. Her vocal performances are enchanting, the lyrics poetic, and the beats bring the stories to life. Spellling’s music reminds me of witches singing Christmas carols, and I mean that in the most positive sense possible!
#2. Take Tsubo - L‘impératrice
French, funk, fire! L’impératrice blew me away. Tako Tsubo is one of the most complete albums released this year. The beats are snappy and smooth, and support Flore’s enchanting vocals perfectly. I love that the lyrics are mostly in French. Tracks like ‘Voodoo?’ and ‘Peur des Filles’ could release the tightest hips. This album can be played from front to back without any skips!
#1. Friends That Break Your Heart - James Blake
Every once in a while you cross paths with an album that sounds like it was written just for you. FTBYH by James Blake is one of those. The three leading singles, ‘Life Is Not The Same’, ‘Famous Last Words’ and ‘Say What You Will’ were direct hits. It was scary how close the lyrics came to my life. In a year where I distanced myself from my supposed friends, I felt disconnected from my past. Self-doubt came up naturally, so I had to look for a new way to establish myself. For the longest of times I felt very isolated in my path. Hearing James sings about the same struggles was monumental.
Blake’s honesty and openness is unparalleled. He makes music for himself, and that includes talking about the hardest and darkest parts of himself. I’ve learnt to define good poetry when “the most personal experience is transposed to the most universal fact.” FTBYH was there for me when I needed it the most. Its deep introspective moments and god-like production quality put it above everything else that’s been released this year.
