Music & Films for
Common People
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YOUNG ENOUGH
Charly Bliss
25
Young Enough is the collition of bubble gum pop with dirty garage rock, as if Carly Rae Jepsen was the lead vocalist of Japandroids. Is the angsty teen rock done right, with powerful guitars and lyrics that fluctuate between the states of tenderness and ecstasy.
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Best tracks: Capacity, Hard to Believe, Young Enough.
MISS UNIVERSE
Nilüfer Yanya
24
After teasing us for years with several good singles, Nilüfer Yanya's debut came to fulfill the promises made by those previous efforts. Miss Universe goes deeper in Yanya's rock inclinations, but keeps the soul pop intimacy that made us fell in love with her.
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Best tracks: In your Head, Heat Rises, Baby Blu.
LEGACY! LEGACY!
Jamila Woods
23
A homage to twelve of her heroes and heroines, Legacy! Legacy! finds Woods stepping in the shoes of the people she admires, trying to write from their eyes and wit. The result is a poetic tribute that explores fragmented identities and the influence between artists.
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Best tracks: Zora, Baldwin, Giovanni.
EVERYTHING NOT SAVED WILL BE LOST (PART 2)
Foals
22
One of the most consistent rock bands nowadays, still failing to give us a bad record, Foals released two strong albums this year. While they can work together, it is the second part that stands better on its own, with better pieces to show all their skills as rock musicians.
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Best tracks: Black Bull, Like Lightning, The Runner.
TITANIC RISING
Weyes Blood
21
Taking a lot of risks in her edgy experimentations, Natalie Mering crafts a beautiful baroque pop album, full of atmospheres and textures. The pristine production, that is immaculate in the details, reflects an artist full of ideas that is fearless in testing new waters to navigate.
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Best tracks: Andromeda, Everyday, Movies.
PONY
Orville Peck
20
By subverting the idea of the macho cowboy and giving it a queer approach, Peck is able to offer something new to country music. Filled with nostalgia for 60's music, Pony is incredibly tender and seductive and allows Peck's sexy deep voice to shine.
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Best Tracks: Dead of Night, Turn to Hate, Winds Change.
ON THE LINE
Jenny Lewis
19
If her music has always been a nice addition to the country rock playlist, it is finally with On the Line that Lewis becomes a central figure of the genre. Solid lyricism around heavy topics like grief and addiction delivered with confidence and framed by potent guitars.
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Best tracks: Red Bull and Hennessy, Wasted Youth, Rabbit Hole.
PATIENCE
Mannequin Pussy
18
Mannequin Pussy's third album is the one that finally brings them to public recognition of their vibrant urgent dirty rock sound. In Patience, the band achieves a great balance between wanting to set the world in flames and showing a personal vulnerable side.
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Best tracks: Drunk II, Who You Are, Cream.
PURPLE MOUNTAINS
Purple Mountains
17
Just less than a month after releasing his brilliant first solo album as Purple Mountains, David Berman decided to end his life. The record is his testament and his farewell letter, a heavy nihilistic view of life, but a necessary gaze for the rest of us to appreciate life.
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Best tracks: All my Happiness is Gone, Snow is Falling in Manhattan, Darkness and Cold.
FATHER OF THE BRIDE
Vampire Weekend
16
Although Vampire Weekend's fourth record feels like the weakest one in their catalogue, Father of the Bride is still quite a solid indie rock album plagued with the usual witty songwriting, some moments of true pure genius and a few very welcome experimentations.
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Best Tracks: Harmony Hall, Sympathy, This Life
I, I
Bon Iver
15
Justin Vernon keeps experimenting with the possibilities of sound, crafting complex sonic installations rather than songs. Possibly his least immediate work to date, i, i plays with the contradiction of creating electronic folk music, giving himself many licenses to break rules.
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Best tracks: Hey Ma, Naeem, iMi
THE PRACTICE OF LOVE
Jenny Hval
14
If a few years ago an electropop album by Jenny Hval was something unthinkable, she takes the challenge and gifts us with an ambitious project that embraces danceable music but adapts it to Hval's avant-garde thinking to broaden the limits of art towards the pop.
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Best tracks: Ashes to Ashes, Accident, High Alice.
CUZ I LOVE YOU
Lizzo
13
Empowering, full of confidence and unapologetically cool, Cuz I Love You is an exciting and surprising album from beginning to end. Lizzo creates a thrilling experience and shows the world how fabulous she is, a great love letter to herself and her charisma.
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Best tracks: Juice, Boys, Cuz I Love You.
GHOSTEEN
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
12
A hearthbreaking exploration of his own grief and how the memory of his late son keeps haunting him, Ghosteen is a masterful way to turn pain into art. Going for an ethereal sound with a soft instrumentation and hazy back chorus, the result is as sad as it is soothing.
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Best tracks: Ghosteen, Waiting for You, Spinning Song
CRUSHING
Julia Jacklin
11
With a delicate instrumentation and clever songwriting, Jacklin crafts a sophisticated and mature piece about having to leave somebody that you love in order to find yourself. A very personal album that understands how less can be much more when dealing with intimacy.
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Best tracks: Body, Don't Know How to Keep Loving You, Pressure to Party.