Here we are again!
It was tough, but I chose 10 albums I love that defined my year. Take it all with a grain of salt- these are my (completely subjective) favorite albums of 2019.
Top Ten Albums of 2019 (in no particular order)
THANK U, NEXT, by Ariana Grande
My 2019 could pretty easily be summed up by Ariana from Jan-June and Taylor from July-Dec. Thanks for framing my year, ladies.
Truly, this album is a masterwork. Sure, Ari’s vocals were best showcased on her earlier albums and it’s looking like we’ll never get back to that prime diva era, but she’s making muuuuusic and she has things to SAY and I’m here for it. You know the hits, now try “NASA” (the best song on the album), “in my head,” and “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.”
FREE SPIRIT, by Khalid
At the start of the year the words “Who is Khalid? Is this DJ Khaled’s other moniker?” escaped my lips. I’m so embarrassed. Khalid’s Free Spirit bowled me over this year and was on near constant repeat. Sensual, warm, infectiously rhythmic with deep textures I cannot get enough of. You know “Talk” from the near endless radio play, so check out “Twenty One,” “Free Spirit,” “Outta My Head” featuring John Mayer, and “Right Back.”
GIRL, by Maren Morris
We got a lot of Maren this year, including her all-female collaboration The Highwomen (which is entirely different from this solo record and a really refreshing throwback to peak Parton-era country). As Spotify recently reminded me, Maren’s debut album HERO was my top in 2016, so I was highly anticipating this release. And it delivered! Despite her forays into top-40 pop (“The Middle”), Maren gives us a true country album here and she belts her way through it with gusto. The standouts are the title track “GIRL,” “The Feels,” “Make Out With Me,” and “The Bones.”
DEDICATED, by Carly Rae Jepson
I am a sucker for Carly Rae Jepson. She’s…. Everything. How does she craft such perfect pop confections? HOW DOES SHE DO IT? Toggling between lovesick and lovelorn, Carly gives us a slightly more mature look at infatuation and all its accompanying side-affects. The bops abound here. Check out “No Drug Like Me,” “Now That I’ve Found You,” (the song you’ve heard on all the Target commercials) “Want You In My Room,” and “The Sound.”
DRAX PROJECT, by Drax Project
I feel like this is the guilty pleasure item on my list this year, but I need to own it and proclaim my love for it. I saw Drax Project, a pop band consisting of four young Kiwis, play a small show at Soho House this summer, and I was hooked. That night they debuted a new song they hadn’t yet recorded called “All This Time” which included a bass thumping sax solo that had my jaw on the floor (I know this sounds ridiculous- just listen to it really loud and get back to me). This debut album is a lot of fun. Other faves are “Only Us,” and “Prefer.”
BETTY, by Betty Who
I saw Betty Who in concert twice this year- and the second time she pointed and smiled at me from the stage, so basically my life is complete. I’ve never been to a more FUN concert- you must see her live. And her dancers are hot (this is a relevant point to make). 90’s pop flavored, every track on this album will make you want to dance and smile and fall in love. Faves include “Old Me,” “Do With It,” “Between You and Me,” and the N’Sync lookalike “The One.”
SUCKER PUNCH, by Sigrid
The Elle Fanning movie “Teen Spirit” first introduced me to Sigrid (have you seen this movie? Worth the watch), the 23 year old Norwegian hybrid of Robyn and Carly Rae 😍. On a road trip to Arches National Park, my brother played the whole album and I was immediately SAD I had not LISTENED TO IT EARLIER. I’ve never heard an album that delivered straight infectious bops for the first five tracks. Like, DANCE PARTY amazing for the first five. How?! Picking faves is near impossible on this album but I’m narrowing my picks to “Mine Right Now,” “Don’t Feel Like Crying,” “Never Mine,” and the piano finale, “Dynamite.”
SATURN, by Nao
This is a late 2018 entry, but I’m going to claim some kind of outrageous Grammy deadlines for this one. This album got a lot of mileage in 2019, so it counts for me.
Dang. This is the smoothest, grooviest, best make-out album I can imagine. That’s all I have to say. Check out the aching “Another Lifetime,” haunting “Orbit,” and the final luscious track, “A Life Like This.”
WASTELAND, BABY! by Hozier
I was not a huge Hozier fan before this album, but this crooning collection of rumbly baritone folk-rock (folk-rock? What is genre is this?) had me swooning. The first half of the album is the best, in my opinion. The strongest recommendation I can make to you is this: close your eyes in a quiet place and listen to “Movement” as loudly as possible. If you don’t have a physical reaction at minute 2:46, you might be dead inside. Next tracks: “Almost (Sweet Music)” and “To Noise Making (Sing).”
LOVER, by Taylor Swift
Am I a millennial white cis woman in America? Of course this album made this list. Reputation grew to be a favorite album of mine, and I was unsure if a return to sugar coated pop was something I wanted from Taylor at this point. Thankfully, I was delighted to discover Lover as nuanced, layered, beautiful, and mature. Also, I have definitely cried actual tears on more than one occasion listening to the title track. You know the radio hits, now listen to “Cruel Summer,” “The Man,” “I Think He Knows,” and “Death by A Thousand Cuts.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS- songs I cannot get enough of.
“Gone,” Charlie XCX and Christine and the Queens.
When we got to the bridge- I was sure I knew where this track was headed BUT I WAS SO WRONG!
“Call My Name,” I’m With Her
Best listened to on continuous loop.
“How Do You Sleep,” Sam Smith
The video really did me in.
“Dancing with a Stranger” Sam Smith, Normani, CHEAT CODES remix.
Will a Sam Smith 2020 album make my list next year? Yes.