With just over a week left until we say farewell to 2020, we’re continuing our recap of the year that was. Today, we’re exploring the albums that moved us, made us cry, gave us goosebumps and made us feel alive. Let us take you through our album highlights below.
Willie J Healey – Twin Heavy
Willie J Healey this year followed up his noteworthy debut record People and Their Dogs with his incredible sophomore LP Twin Heavy. His debut album was good, but his second is brilliant. On Twin Heavy, he hits his stride as a songwriter, reaffirming the fact that major labels can get it very wrong. The album is quirky and charming, yet reflective and poignant. Through the course of twelve unforgettable tracks, Healey invites listeners into another world. Twin Heavy is a timeless LP that will continue to be talked about for years to come.
Sorry – 925
There’s no defining Sorry — their sound is whatever they want it to be. 925 is a bubbling cauldron swirling with intoxicating and peculiar ingredients that they’ve concocted themselves. The album could easily appear as the soundtrack to a shadowy and mysterious film noir. 925 is without a doubt one of the most eclectic, unique and innovative releases of 2020.
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Her first album in almost a decade, Fetch The Bolt Cutters is gut-wrenching, devastating, intriguing and an instant masterpiece. Apple is witty, candid and honest and no track on the record deserves to be skipped.
Porridge Radio – Every Bad
Porridge Radio’s Every Bad is an initiation into the mind of Dana Margolin. It’s an emotional and fearless album that’s best described in terms of the evocative nature of water — at times, there are moments of calm, reminiscent of tender waves gliding towards the shore, but then there are moments of chaos and destruction, where the waves feel like a tsunami.
Sports Team – Deep Down Happy
Sports Team’s highly anticipated debut album Deep Down Happy is an ode to growing up and combating mundanity. The release isn’t just a collection of spirited and energetic songs made to weave into their riotous live shows, it’s much more than that. They present an immersing collection of songs that are relatable to anyone attempting to navigate life in their 20s.
Miiesha – Nyaaringu
On her impressive debut offering Nyaaringu, Miiesha blends soulful R&B with reflections of her home, family, life and identity. It’s a powerful and all-consuming body of work by an artist on the rise.
Katy J Pearson – Return
In a year that’s been as chaotic as 2020, it’s albums like Katy J Pearson’s mesmerising debut Return that makes it feel like things might end up okay. Pearson is a special kind of songwriter — her music possesses the power to make you forget about your surroundings and instead transport you to a daydream that you wish would never end.
Crack Cloud – Pain Olympics
Vancouver collective Crack Cloud’s debut Pain Olympics is one of the most striking and thought-provoking releases of recent years. Throughout the album, they touch on some very grave topics, and it’s hard to look away — it’s startling, eye-opening and tragic in the most beautiful way possible.
More noteworthy albums:
Pottery – Welcome to Bobby’s Motel
Choir Boy – Gathering Swans
Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
Tiña – Positive Mental Health Music
Moses Sumney – græ
Georgia – Seeking Thrills
Happyness – Floatr
Deeper – Auto-Pain
Megan Thee Stallion – Good News
Thundercat – It Is What It Is
