The 50 Best Albums of 2021

Well, here we are.

In a futile attempt to rank with the editorial giants of Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, or the aggregator titans of Album Of The Year and Metacritic, I have once again put myself through the ringer to give you something only I probably care about. Yay?

You know the score by now. 50 fantastic albums, all released this year, ranked by only one metric: little ol’ me. So since there’s no team of professionals behind this, I am automatically exempt from any lack of due diligence or journalistic practice because that’s definitely how it works xoxo.

Anyway, let’s get started!

50. CARNAGE — Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Dropping all the way back in February, this is the first collaborative effort from these titans for years — and it probably caused a few pissed pants. All for very good reason, though, because these two know exactly how the hell to do so.

CARNAGE is full of epic instrumentals from Ellis that carry you upwards to the skies and hard-hitting, gut-punching lyrics from Cave that bring you crashing back down. If you fancy subjecting yourself to overwhelming walls of instrumentation and deep, fearful shrieks of despair, look no bloody further.

49. …And Again Into The Light — Panopticon

Black Metal has a muddy reputation and a very dodgy origin story. And genre purists will argue that it should stay rooted in that history and remain completely unmoved from its problematic past. Thankfully though, enough people think none of that fucking matters — and Black Metal has continued to thrive in much more respectable iterations since it started branching out.

One particular iteration where it kicks fucking ass is Austin Lunn’s Panopticon. Their latest record, …And Again Into The Light draws from the Deep South-borne Appalachian folk influences of the state of Kentucky and its neighbours, and then BLOWS THEM TO ABSOLUTE SMITHEREENS with pummelling guitars, wretched screeches and walls of horrifying, atmospheric noise. Cathartic as fuck.

48. Black To The Future — Sons Of Kemet

Shabaka Hutchings strikes again. One of the most prolific saxophonists in modern jazz, and perhaps the most influential British jazz musician of the last five years, Hutchings’ output is consistently captivating.

Black To The Future is his return to Sons of Kemet, the critically-acclaimed jazzy afrobeat foursome composed of simply a saxophone, a tuba and two drummers. Bookended by two incredible spoken word performances by Joshua Idehen and filled with a range of head-bopping, thumping numbers that you can’t sit still to, this album throws you into the air and spins you like pizza dough.

47. Lei Line Eon — Iglooghost

There aren’t many electronic producers who know mixing better than Seamus Malliagh of Iglooghost. But more than that, there aren’t many that can make an electronic soundscape so rich, crisp and decadent too.

Throw in some unrelenting unpredictability and a beautiful backdrop of Chinese Lei instrumentation, and you get a stupefying sound collage that carries you from one state of being to the next. Lei Line Eon submerges you in a sea of exquisite low-end drones and wubs, then brings you back up for air with gorgeous Lei melodies and embellishments.

46. Black Encyclopedia of the Air — Moor Mother

The maddeningly-prolific Moor Mother is playing a constant game of hopscotch with different influences and genres, and I can’t get enough of every venture. Her stern, wisened drawl compliments every soundscape she attempts, and each record she releases makes an unforgettable stamp in the experimental hip hop scene.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air delivers on that promise once again, though for different reasons. With a more subtle and — dare say it — accessible approach this time, Moor Mother switches tone but retains every ounce of her conviction. She pitches her messages as lamentations on the seemingly-impossible fight against oppression and discrimination, but makes stronger statements than ever in doing so. Is there anything she can’t do?

45. L.W. — King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Bit of context from a massive Gizz nut: L.W. is the other side of the coin to 2020’s K.G., and is the second half to King Gizzard’s self-initialised microtonal double album, K.G.L.W. It’s a sound they’re revisiting after 2017’s critical darling Flying Microtonal Banana.

It’s arguably not the first time the eclectic band have gone back to a genre they’ve tried before, as both Nonagon Infinity & I’m In Your Mind Fuzz both go for the garage psych sound Australia is very well known for.

ANYWAY, enough flexing. Both instalments aren’t quite as enthralling as 2017’s FMB, but L.W. is a better attempt at it. The songs roll together a lot smoother and the standout singles are so much groovier and evocative of the sound they’ve nailed so often beforehand.

44. Haram — Armand Hammer, The Alchemist

One of the most adaptable and consistent hip-hop producers teams up with two of the best of hip-hop’s underground scene for this dark, menacing record.

The Alchemist’s beats are sludgy and clunky, as are Armand Hammer’s flows. Unsettling imagery and gruesome scenes are depicted in a smorgasbord of horridity. Yet the heartbeat keeps pumping and the sounds keep enveloping you in a face-scrunching trance throughout.

43. A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals — Sweet Trip

Who doesn’t like a strong session of good ol’ fashioned knob twisting? Sweet Trip certainly relished in the opportunity on this record, that’s for sure. The enigmatic left-of-field twosome rarely release albums together, but when they do, it’s to make a mammoth statement.

Featuring the group’s third genre shift in as many albums, A Tiny House… is Sweet Trip’s venture into psychedelia. They’re just as disjointed and glitchy as ever, but this time they’ve washed their sound in a large vat of iridescent acid, weaving you through a record that will leave your eyes staring in opposite directions afterwards. Enjoy the ride!

42. Interstice — Knoll

The Grindcore geyser may be drying up, but it still gives a healthy spurt now and again (sincerest apologies for the analogy). Knoll’s Interstice has your usual descriptors associated with an album of this ilk: pummelling, harsh and razor sharp, though it’s still a breath of fresh air in a time much more heavily dominated by metalcore (which is obviously great, but just currently a growingly saturated scene).

Full of hellish guitar slashing in disorientating time signatures, this record will perpetually push and pull you in all directions at once. And it won’t let up until you either submit or die.

41. Jubilee — Japanese Breakfast

“However hard they try, indie pop will never die.”

— Max Beckett, December 2021

40. The Hill, The Light, The Ghost — Haiku Salut

Everyone has a little thirst for the ambient, even if they don’t quite know it yet. So I’m very proud to introduce the latest Haiku Salut record, which is sure to quench that subconscious desire in one soft swoop.

As usual, the minimalist, melancholy electronica triplet lay the pillowy mat over the harsh weeds, and invite you to lie down and gaze up at the darkening sky as it peppers itself with stars over the course of the night. The perfect soundtrack to the quiet.

39. CRAWLER — IDLES

These fellas just know how to write an impassioned, aggressive, thunderous banger, don’t they? CRAWLER once again has a bunch of those (after all, it wouldn’t be an IDLES album without them), but it also marks the band’s first overt venture into the experimental and non-formulaic.

We should have come to expect this after hearing about legendary Hip Hop producer Kenny Beats’ involvement in this record. And it certainly delivered — the trudging wallop of a single, Car Crash, being my personal favourite example. With toes dipped in early post-punk all the way to noise rock, the gang continues to show it can expertly nail a number of sounds. And I’m bloody glad I got to hear them.

38. Heaux Tales — Jasmine Sullivan

Though issued as an EP back in January, Jasmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales has had such a deep impact on the industry that it’s gained more critical merits than most albums in 2021. So much so, in fact, that most music publications have treated it as an album too — hence its rightful appearance here.

Sullivan’s assertive, authoritative voice shines through on every track, somersaulting around the record’s ultra-smooth RnB instrumentation boldly and assuredly. Hers is the perfect voice to convey the project’s strong running theme, which graces the various facets of feminism and female empowerment, especially when it comes to sexual liberation.

Heaux Tales a deserved winner of all it’s being recognised for this year. There aren’t many projects that a) present such a clear window into the real-life impact of humanity’s historic gender imbalance and b) show exactly how women are determined to fight that imbalance in every walk of their lives.

37. Fatigue — L’Rain

There’s something so utterly addictive about the particular psychedelic/neo-soul sound that’s bubbling up from the underground right now. We heard it last year with Yves Tumor’s sublime Heaven To A Tortured Mind (my №2 album of 2020), and this year we’re experiencing it again with the sultry, cloudy plunge pool that is Fatigue.

With stunning singles like Suck Teeth and Two Face, both of which envelop you in a fever dream of haziness, and the pulsing track sequencing that gives you a short interlude between every full track, you won’t know what hit you until it’s over.

36. Talk Memory — BADBADNOTGOOD

The jazzy bois that just don’t miss have hit another home run here. Drawing from sub-genres that have all graced the jazz zeitgeist at some point in the last 100 years, the band takes you on a series of winding, arresting paths that once again leave you dazed, dizzied and desperate for more.

From absolutely cracking singles such as the monstrous Signal From The Noise and the delicate Beside April, to the meditative and cerebral deep cuts, you’ll lose yourself countless times in this gem.

35. 28 — S280F

When ugly is the whole point.

Don’t expect to find much joy in an album like this — I just love it because I’m weird and I kind of crave being disgusted by horrible things. But don’t get me wrong, it’s still a thoroughly entertaining…thing (it’s an hour-long progression of gruesome electronic noises that ebb and flow in intensity, so I’ve honestly idea what to call it really). It’s just probably not for you if you listen to music to actually, y’know, enjoy yourself.

Just keep that in mind. I fucking love it, anyway.

34. Bright Green Field — Squid

Brighton-based-post-punk-but-also-kind-of-kraut-rock newcomers, Squid, absolutely lit up the rock scene back in January with lead single Narrator, a hammering eight-minute assault on the senses with potentially one of the best musical crescendos of the decade so far.

And as the release date of their debut album drew closer, similarly enthralling pieces like Paddling and Pamphlets built up so much hype that by the time it eventually dropped, music fans were salivating like starving dogs.

The end product wasn’t the greatest album of the year (nor even the greatest British post-punk album of the year), but the David Byrne-esque charisma of lead singer/drummer Ollie Judge and the consistently hard-hitting, groovy instrumentation all the way through certainly concocted a vibey nugget in many brains this year.

33. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST — Tyler, The Creator

I think people are still dealing with the critical whiplash that Tyler’s music experienced between his albums Cherry Bomb and Flower Boy. The instant switch to a much more sincere, introspective approach, and the vastly different (and more meaningful) output from that point, reinvented Tyler in the eyes of both fans and detractors.

With CMIYGL, the eccentric rapper continues his incredible creative streak with another batch of rich, eclectic instrumentals, addictive hooks, profound messages and killer features. At times he reprises his older, grimier sound (like on absolute banger LUMBERJACK), and at others he tops up his ever-growing pile of heavenly, sultry Hip Hop ‘ballads’ — both of which come across impactful and effortlessly good.

Whatever you’re doing right now, Tyler, please keep it the fuck up.

32. Juno — Remi Wolf

Attitude can go a long bloody way in music. If the personality an artist embodies is bodacious and infectious enough, it can excel their music to unbelievable (and very re-playable) heights. We see that extremely clearly in Remi Wolf on her incredible record Juno.

Punchy poppy electronic beats accentuate all of her powerful and hilarious remarks, which address a myriad of topics from bigoted older generations to sexual liberty to the all-too-familiar Millennial-Zoomer ‘cusper’ identity crisis. In a nutshell, this album finds a way to be relatable with every unique ride it takes you along for.

Watch out for Remi Wolf — she’ll be dominating the pop scene by the mid-decade.

31. HEY WHAT — Low

Well this record just sounds incredible. It must be so goddamn difficult to inject an album with so much noise and abrasion, and still have the vocals and melody shine through so strongly. Low absolutely finessed the sound on HEY WHAT — a heart-breaking introspective scrutinisation of the band’s own psyche.

Prepare for your brain to be overwhelmed and short-circuited by sheer tidal waves of shrieking drones and heavily-vocoded vocals, to the point that everything your cognition can handle is taken over by glitching code. Just as our lord intended.

30. Downfall of the Neon Youth — Parannoul, Asian Glow, sonhos tomam conta

Everything about Downfall of the Neon Youth screams dystopia, from the (admittedly on-the-nose) name, to the ominous urban landscape of the cover art, to the desperate, pained, yearning tracks that have been split-up over the three Emo/Shoegaze/RYM darlings.

Whether Parannoul, Asian Glow or sonhos tomam conta take the lead, the message is clear and the music evokes so much passion and unrequited love for life’s pleasures.

Awash with layer upon layer of melancholy guitar and sorrowful vocals, the trio know exactly who their audience are, and they have rightfully made this record a piece of golden treasure for the underground scene that adores them so much. Though don’t worry if you’re an outsider — you’ll certainly find a lot to be amazed by too.

29. Smiling with No Teeth — Genesis Owusu

This is some of the most forward-thinking RnB you’ll hear all year. Owusu dexterously darts between genres and constantly switches up his cadence, taking on multiple forms to communicate his various assertions on — and experiences with — racial stereotyping and institutional discrimination in Western culture.

Styles flip from neo-soul to hardcore Hip Hop to experimental rock and more, with moods flowing from joyous to upbeat to scarily intense — all while Owusu adopts various personas and perspectives to effectively project his pieces to the world.

It’s eclectic, earnest and downright riveting.

28. New Long Leg — Dry Cleaning

British Post Punk absolutely commanded the first half of 2021. Turns out, people somewhat unsurprisingly can’t get enough of witty, half-spoken English commentary set to the backdrop of crisp, punchy instrumentation. And Dry Cleaning’s New Long Leg was just another example of the sheer quality of the U.K.’s prolific rock output this year.

With a vocal delivery this uncharismatic and monotonous, the only way to add colour to the performance has to be in the cadence and the content — and of course, lead…speaker?…Florence Shaw met that brief perfectly. Hilarious takes and memorable soundbites litter this record, and they sit perfectly among the band’s prominent, hard-hitting compositions.

27. Oxidized — Frontierer

Oh my fucking god, this shat me out a brand-new person. This kind of music deserves to be played in the prison cells of humanity’s worst criminals, at full volume, on a 24/7 loop.

Every time you think Oxidized needs to take it easy, it just cranks up the intensity even further. It raises your heart rate to dangerous levels, teases you with some respite, and then just body slams you even harder before you even get a chance to breathe.

It’s so unrelenting that it could almost be passed off as a gimmick that’s just designed to abuse you. But I see real merit in the music here. It’s mixed impeccably for how much tuneless noise there constantly is, and the pacing & sequencing seems curated perfectly for the effect it intends to have. Be careful, I guess?

26. volcanic bird enemy and the voiced concern — Lil Ugly Mane

Considering Lil Ugly Mane’s trademark monotonous, unphased vocal delivery, this album is immensely colourful. It lacks any sort of sonic cohesion, but as we often find, if an album makes absolutely no attempt to in the first place, that can sometimes work in a record’s favour. And I certainly think it does here.

Listening to this record is like spinning a tombola on a musical bingo night — the only regular theme of which is the bored announcer who reads over each song in the same regular cadence as they often do. And not to knock LUM’s voice too much, either — he can still write a killer melody that worms its way into your cortex as easily as an Ariana Grande hook (see: into a life).

This LP is just extremely intriguing, and it sets a very unique tone that you can’t quite shake off afterwards. Though maybe that’s because album track styrofoam evokes basically the exact same the same ’30s ballroom jazz sound as The Caretaker’s Everywhere At The End Of Time, which by this point has caused a permanent open wound on my battered soul.

25. Mercurial World — Magdalena Bay

It’s great to see synthpop so alive and well, still. While modern pillars of the genre — like your Carlys, Grimeses and Confidence Men — are still bouncing about, their efforts have fallen on ageing ears in the last couple of years. So it’s incredibly exciting to see Magdalena Bay pierce through the veil this year with Mercurial World.

Featuring some of the catchiest and most crack-like singles of the year, such as You Lose!, Chaeri and the instant classic Secrets (Your Fire), this album suits any setting (yes, including funerals), lifts any mood (yes, including yours) and will make a lot of year-end lists for 2021 (yes, including mine).

24. KicK iii — Arca

If anyone was going to release four full-length albums in four straight days this year, I’m not sure many people would be surprised to learn that it’d be Arca. And while all four (KICK ii, KicK iii, kick iiii and kiCK iiiii), carry a similarly brutal deconstructed club sound, there was a clear standout pick of the bunch in KicK iii.

Brimming with crushing, distorted anvils of sound that pound you from every goddamn direction, and intercut with commanding, head-banging rap delivery (for the times it’s actually in a time signature that you can head-bang along to), this record is another highlight of 2021 that’s purely memorable for how relentlessly it abuses your ears.

23. Henki — Richard Dawson, Circle

The most wholesome man in medieval-tinged folk rock has returned! And this time, he’s backed by the amazingly proficient progressive rock band Circle, for a series of adorably niche, detailed, enthralling stories about…plants :)

Of course he has. But understandably, they’re not always just about particular plants, or just plants in general for that matter. They follow the interesting/tragic/exciting lives of people who, at some point in their travels, demise or both, encounter them as part of their larger tale.

But you won’t always be able to follow these tellings to a granular level — you’ll often instead be pleasantly distracted by the incredibly varied influences that Circle pull from for each track (whether that be Medieval Folk, jazz rock or whatever the hell else), and Dawson’s trademark, shrill upper register, which could jump out at you at any point.

Essentially, this record is the most unsurprisingly wild ride of the year. So do me a favour and spin it pls.

22. Afrique Victime — Mdou Moctar

The fucking guitar tones on this album my god 😍😍😍

Afrique Victime is an absolute masterclass in psychedelic/assouf rock from Tuareg musician Mdou Moctar. Throughout this LP, he and his band take you down the twisting, winding roads of the sandy Saharan plains at a steady, chugging pace, overwhelming you with disorientating guitar solos, face scrunching bass melodies and impassioned vocal refrains.

It’s just such an easy record to whack on and vibe to. Every track just graces you with the most awesome electric and acoustic guitar melodies that drop you straight in the middle of a jam session taking place in a Malian oasis. What an enlightening, heart-warming record.

21. Animal — LUMP

The dynamic duo of Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay strike even harder on LUMP’s sophomore album, Animal. While the group’s debut effort had a charming, intriguing, wondrous sound to it, the record didn’t quite have the infectious quality it’d need to have much staying power. This one certainly does, though.

Leaning much heavier on more accessible pop and indie rock influences, but still maintaining their recognisable brand of enigmatic mysticism, this album is both esoteric and irresistible. Marling’s quirky lyrical content and Lindsay’s left-field production blend perfectly once again, but this time on songs you can’t wait to listen to over and over.

Keep your ear out for singles Climb Every Wall, Animal and We Cannot Resist in particular. It feels so great to bop along to music this weird.

20. Cavalcade — black midi

The super-ultra-mega-talented group of ex-BRIT School boys have spent their entire existence so far defying convention. Straying from the usual career path of the world-famous performing arts college’s alumni (Adele, Winehouse, Jessie J, Leona Lewis, the Kooks, etc), black midi initially took the underground by storm, and have now built up one of the most robust reputations in experimental rock / the BBC Radio 6 scene.

The band’s debut album, while wildly frantic, frenzied and disjointed (and one of the best albums of 2019), didn’t extend its palette of rock music much further than the genre’s traditional instrumental makeup. Cavalcade, on the other hand, plunges straight into progressive and jazz rock — continuing their odd time signatures and eccentric vocal delivery, but instead with a much wider creative gamut. It adds colour, flamboyance and a whole new plane to experience the band on.

Slow and John L are some of the best songs of 2021 too.

19. Space 1.8 — Nala Sinephro

Here’s a bit of an under-appreciated gem from 2021: this thoroughly gorgeous avant-garde jazz record from Nala Sinephro. Space is what it calls itself, and space is what it is. A warm, quiet, secluded space filled exclusively with intangible flutters of enchanted feeling.

Sinephro does an excellent job of marrying traditional jazz grooves with the sparse, but essential, use of electronic and ambient instrumentation, which helps to string out each piece into a haze of wonder. Sometimes the haze turns a little more red as the music intensifies, sometimes more blue as it mellows back out again. But the space doesn’t change. It’s the only space you’ll ever want to be in. Imma shut the fuck up about space now.

18. Flora Fauna — Billie Marten

Switching her primary weapon from acoustic guitar to bass guitar on this record, Billie Marten did just enough to make her third full-length record (at just 22 years old…) distinguished from her previous albums, but still very true to her artistic flair.

I feel like I’ll always adore Billie’s music. Since her 2016 debut Writing of Blues and Yellows — yes, released when she was only 17, what the actual fuck 🙂 — I’ve come to love her songwriting to pieces. It sounds so delicate and vulnerable, yet carries such a wise, omniscient outlook.

Her unfathomable ability to write such memorable melodies and song structures astounds me, and every LP always makes me feel like I’m being led, handheld, into the prettiest English meadow. Such spectacular stuff.

17. Daddy’s Home — St. Vincent

Overt musical appreciations or emulations of a particular era are often cast away as copycats or cosplays, and not taken seriously as wholly original pieces of art. At times, that’s rightfully so (*cough* Greta Van Fleet *cough*). But St. Vincent’s revival of the early ’70s on Daddy’s Home thankfully steers well clear of that accusation.

To me, constraining yourself to the musical capabilities of that time and creating something that would have sat perfectly amongst its peers, is a reputable challenge in and of itself. And I’m convinced this would have absolutely stood the test of time to this day if St. Vincent had a time machine and actually did so.

With her masterful guitar work and sultry vocals that could fluster anybody on the planet, tied in with the unexpectedly killer work from Jack Antonoff as producer, Daddy’s Home is an absolute joy to spin. For added effect, throw it on a turntable, sit down cross-legged on a psychedelic rug, put on some tinny over-ear headphones, close your eyes and let the ’70s drown you.

16. Inside (The Songs) — Bo Burnham

Bo Burnham’s Inside, the Netflix special that dropped in early summer, had a profound effect on me (and pretty much every other young Millennial I know too). It’s fascinating to see something that, for the most part, appeals so deeply and entirely to a particular subset of a generation, yet is noticeably more hit-and-miss with most other ages. But since this is my list, you’re getting it this high up. Don’t care.

To be completely honest, I wanted to put this a lot higher. But to judge it as an album, and not the Netflix special as a whole, means I have to remove some of the fundamental reasons why I love it so much.

Look, just watch Inside on Netflix. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen and heard, period. Then you can play this album whenever or however you like.

15. The Turning Wheel — Spellling

What an absolute epic. Spellling absolutely outdid herself with this positively gargantuan piece of music. After a painstaking process of crowdfunding and musician sourcing, the Californian musician seems to have ticked every single instrumental box you could possibly tick on The Turning Wheel.

If you’re thinking of albums that spare no expense in giving you the most immersive, unforgettable experience possible, this album should be right at the top of your list. Every track has been curated to the most granular of musical details, in order to transport you as far away from where you are as possible.

Little Deer is one of the most stunning songs of the year. Boys At School could be converted into an entire novel. Title track Turning Wheel places a busy 17th century country fayre all around you. And so deep cuts take you someplace else. What an otherworldly experience it was, listening to this for the first time.

14. By The Time I Get To Phoenix — Injury Reserve

It’s very rare that an album can consistently elicit the same specific emotion, track-after-track, throughout the entire runtime. The entire record nails this singular feeling — a hybrid of lost / heartbroken / frightened (for want of better keywords)—and approaches that one state from a myriad of different angles.

Whether it’s through the soul-crushing grief of Knees, the dystopic disorientation of Wild Wild West or the absolute head-fuckery of Smoke Don’t Clear, this album is an overdose of unintelligible nothingness that will leave your cognition muddied for hours after listening to it. Until you’ve experienced it enough times to fully comprehend it, anyway.

RIP Groggs.

13. GLOW ON — Turnstile

This is some of the most fun you’ll have listening to an album this year. Pretty much every single track on this release from proficient post-hardcore lads Turnstile will get you up on your feet, jerking every limb in every direction and yelling along to some of the most addictive hooks of the year.

It’s almost as if Turnstile have stumbled across a secret formula that has told them how to make a song as catchy and enjoyable as possible. Even people who would normally consider this kind of music ‘too heavy’ will find some immense love for the constant grooves, thumps and singalong choruses that this album endlessly spurts out. It’s just so goddamn entertaining.

I can’t fucking wait to watch this band live next year and experience these songs amongst people who love them as much as me (that dickhead Omicron depending).

12. LP! (OFFLINE) — JPEGMAFIA

Due to a couple of sample clearance issues (and probably more general issues with making an independent record suitable for streaming), the absolute tour-de-force that is JPEGMAFIA released two different versions of his latest album, LP!. And although the version available on Spotify/Apple Music largely consists of the same tracks, it’s the LP! (OFFLINE) version (which I listened to on Bandcamp) that represents Peggy’s true idea of the album. Just to mention, too — every single thing you hear on this record was produced (or sampled) by him. No one else.

Anyway, enough context. Essentially, this record hits the fucking spot. We get the usual unpredictable song structures, odd soundscapes and obscure samples that Peggy is known for, but this time his rapping and vocal delivery is so much stronger. It’s like we’re getting the energy from his first album Veteran with the musical palette of his second AMHAC, and it’s led to JPEGMAFIA’s best… LP…yet.

I could listen to this album a hundred times and still forget 90% of what happens in it. It’s just one continuous curveball. Peggy disappears and reappears from somewhere completely unexpected, and the beats incessantly misdirect you until you just have to give up trying to process it. So just enjoy the battering.

11. Private Reasons — Bruno Pernadas

Goodness me, this album is one big blessing. Bruno Pernadas has swiftly built a name for himself as a reliable provider of the loveliest, most extraordinarily divine music to set the exact mood needed for any friendly gathering, road trip or nature hike.

The album starts a little more conventionally than it ends, front-loaded with progressive Latin pop tunes such as Lafeta Uti, as well as more psychedelic and electronic numbers like Little Season I and the wonderful Theme Vision. However, from about Little Season II, a much more prominent string presence emerges as it shifts towards a more acoustic and ‘chamber’-influenced direction. And that’s where we really see the mixture shine.

Infectious grooves blend dextrously with rich orchestral movements, and each instrument is allowed its own moment to graciously flutter around every track. It’s like sitting in a rainforest clearing being delicately massaged by pretty birds.

10. Vulture Prince — Arooj Aftab

Well well well, if it isn’t one of the most cleansing pieces of music I’ve heard all year.

I’ve seen hardly enough love for this album in 2021 — it is preposterously gorgeous. With the most enchanting Hindustani music I’ve ever heard, primarily led by tragic harp lines, agonisingly morose violin passages, minimalist acoustic guitar work and Aftab’s soft, heart-rending Urdu singing, I feel like I’m the only person watching the most stunning sunset the world has ever experienced.

It’s the soundtrack to your undestined journey through the lively towns and cities of South Asia. Every now and then, it gently lifts you above the hustle and bustle to a mesmerising birds-eye height, away from all the noise, where the concoction of every cooked meal from down below wafts up your nostrils and the warm, cosy blanket of the surrounding landscape wraps snugly around you for the rest of the night.

It’s the best feeling you could hope for.

9. Deep England — Gazelle Twin, NYX

Gazelle Twin has spent her entire career communicating the injustices of this wretched country in some of the most unsettling ways imaginable. And Deep England is another powerful step in that mission.

Right off the bat on Glory, the ominous tone of church bells, the deep vocal drone from the NYX choir, some terrifying recorder lines and the foreboding singing from Gazelle sets the scene to a T — and that scene remains until the hour of material ends.

Each track sends you into a perpetually spinning state of belittled confusion, surrounding you with huge, menacing voices and offering no escape whatsoever — making you feel like the tiniest, weakest spec of a being amongst the evilest deities the universe can conjure up.

Fire Leap and its transition into Better In My Day will make you shit your fucking pants. And the deeply troubling cover of Jerusalem — which further highlights the record’s focus on the darkest elements of English culture — will stay in your head for weeks. My fucking god.

8. A Beginner’s Mind — Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine

My boy ❤

If this is the first time you’re reading a Max Beckett Top Albums List™ then it’d be pertinent to mention that Sufjan is my absolute №1 music maker and tip-top played artist. So I’ll always give his music the time of day, whether it’s a compilation of five ambient albums, a huge electronic epic, or a bona fide folky masterpiece.

Thankfully, for 2021, Sufjan returned to the latter for the first time in six years. And to add to the excitement, he brought his supremely good Asthmatic Kitty counterpart Angelo De Augustine along for this glorious musical expedition.

Unlike Suf’s last folky venture, 2015’s Carrie & Lowell (my №1 Album of the 2010s), the duo inject a lot of these compositions with much more positivity, since each one is meant to summarise a favourite film of theirs. Plus, we often hear a soft layer of electronics, such as in Cimmerian Shade, Fictional California, The Pillar Of Souls and more — something that was a lot more sparse on C&L. But there are still tracks that stay firmly in the acoustic or chamber folk sphere, like Reach Out, Olympus and the spellbinding closer Lacrimae.

Anyway. However the duo go about it, these tracks (unsurprisingly, cos it’s Sufjan) put me in the most peaceful meditative state imaginable, and they’re an extremely welcome addition to my favourite discography of all time.

7. For the first time — Black Country, New Road

BCNR released one of the best albums of this year back in March (as is evidenced in its sky high spot right here), and after releasing some of the best singles of this year just in the past couple of months, their 2022 sophomore album Ants from Up There is set to do exactly the same too. Perhaps even more so this time, given its apparent inclusion of some fan-favourite live songs that (evidenced by when I saw them back in September) seem to be some of the band’s best work to date. I’m watching out for you, properly recorded version of Basketball Shoes…

Alrightey, that’s enough about something that hasn’t even happened yet. On For the first time, BCNR have presented their first pristine example of how they will be the trailblazers of rock music by 2023. With a line-up of virtuosic musicians who know exactly how to enticingly bring to cathartic climax a song of any pace or intensity, and the ultra-relatable, captivating poetry from vocalist Isaac Wood, the band is a sonic alchemy experiment that has escaped a controlled laboratory, and will go on to infect swathes of artists over the world.

If anyone was trying to hold back the absolute pinnacle of British music, they’ve almost certainly already failed.

6. An Evening With Silk Sonic — Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)

This is the most fun you’ll have listening to an album this year. The second-best surprise collaboration of musicians in 2021 (read on for the first best collaboration 😉), An Evening With Silk Sonic is Bruno Mars’ and Anderson .Paak’s joyful, hilarious, like-for-like musical shrine to Soul music and the Motown era.

At just over half an hour long, it’s all killer and no filler. And each track is a staggeringly fun exploration of a slightly different niche of that ’70s Philly scene.

We have the utter behemoth of a lead single, Leave The Door Open, which has more than 30 chords, (six?!) key changes, and some of the most energetic, charismatic singing on a track this year. We have a tear-inducing and unbelievably strong performance from Mars on the album’s only ballad Put On A Smile. We have the extremely funny and sultry smooth cut Smokin Out The Window. And we have six more utter gems that I’ve had on absolute repeat since it was released in November.

It’s also so wonderful to see Anderson .Paak basking in some limelight, finally. He’s one of the best drummers in the game right now, and he brings so much life and rhythm to everything he has a part in. While Bruno’s vocal abilities are unmatched by anyone, it’s .Paak that’s at the wheel here, driving us into the stars. Blast Off.

5. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert — Little Simz

Many people’s №1 Album of 2021. Not quite mine, but it’s still one I adore dearly.

Simbi’s work since GREY Area has been phenomenal. That album was the first time her output truly started to permeate the musical circles that were desperately missing out on her genius. She’s now had the opportunity to release a second album after growing into this newfound audience, and boy has she cranked up the power tenfold as a result.

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is a Pulitzer-Prize-worthy album. Each individual story Simbi guides us through, each vignette she flashes past us, and each person she introduces us to, is painted in the richest, most nuanced colour and communicated with the most enchanting care and consideration.

Inflo’s production throughout is cinematic, monumental and bewitching. He is able to curate the most vivid sonic representation of Simbi’s words we have seen to-date, and it’s made the listening experience infinitely more holistic and impactful in return.

For christ’s sake, just put this magnificent thing in your ears.

4. Nurture — Porter Robinson

Nurture was the first album I listened to this year that I truly knew would make the top five of my list, and this was all the way back in April. I’d never heard of him before this year, so had missed out on his revered 2014 EDM record Worlds and all the adoration that it drowned in. But after seeing so much love for the singles leading up to his second album Nurture, I certainly wanted to give him a shot.

And that shot was a motherfucking bullseye. Wow-fucking-wee, this is one of the most euphoric things I’ve ever heard. It’s saccharine, timid and immensely uplifting all at once, and on first listen, that crazy concoction instantly rooted its way into my brain, metamorphosed into serotonin and made me feel on top of the fucking world.

It’s already created an extremely strong Proustian memory of where I was exactly when I listened to this for the first time (and the several times immediately afterwards), and no matter how many times I hear it even now, that feeling radiates over me in abundance every single time.

Robinson wrote much of this album for himself, as he was trying to overcome a creative rut and motivate himself to take the reigns of what he loved doing more than anything else, and push it further than he ever had before. But since this album dropped while a three-month COVID lockdown was easing up — and as the engine of UK society was slowly started to gain speed once more — it was the boost of motivation I needed to emerge out of that protective shell and back into the world again. And I’m so appreciative for that. Thank you, Porter.

3. La Grande Folie — San Salvador

Finding this stupefying release by Occitan polyphonic vocal outfit San Salvador has felt like uncovering a long-lost artefact of great cultural import. All this is, is six people singing eight songs in full, uninterrupted live sessions, for a whole hour, without any instrumentation except a couple of drums and one or two percussive items. So how is it so goddamn huge?

Honestly, the sheer weight of the songs on here is incomprehensible when you consider how barebones the setup is. Each voice is so distinctly powerful and commanding, especially during solos, yet they all combine to create the most gripping, ergonomic harmonies and palpitation-inducing crescendos.

La Liseta and title track La Grande Folie are things that I didn’t think humans were capable of without additional technological help. Everything you hear is just so organic, so true to nature and so genuine. This album needed nothing but unadulterated ability and unfaltering dedication to craft — it’s purely a group of people banding together to make a much larger group of people experience something exhilarating. I’m actually salivating just writing this.

Oh also, this album wins hands-down for most deceptive cover art of the year — move over The Armed’s Ultrapop. This just looks like some sort of Vulfpeck or standard indie thing, and most certainly not an outstanding piece of polyphonic Occitan chanting. Don’t let it fool ya, I’m begging you.

2. Promises — Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra

The best surprise collaboration of musicians in 2021 had to be Promises. In fact, I’ve never quite seen such a universally-agreed critical response to an album before. It seems to be as close to objectively fantastic as you can get, and you’d be very hard-pressed to find someone who’s listened to this record all the way through and would think otherwise.

A three-year project spearheaded by electronic music producer Sam Shepherd of Floating Points, Promises is the product of not only his contemplative, repeating piano lick and atmospheric swirls of synth, but also of free jazz titan Pharoah Sanders’ meditative saxophone passages. And…AND…of the fucking London Symphony Orchestra’s entrancing string arrangements. What a bloody treat for us all 🥰

With all this going on, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’d sound like a complete mess. But on the most opposite contrary possible, this singular 46-minute long piece makes a conscious effort to be devoid of any clutter. It’s as minimalist as you can get. But good heavens, when the record occasionally feels like turning the heat up, no high could ever achieve the level of elation you’ll feel when it peaks.

While it technically offers nine chronological ‘movements’ to experience the album in, this ain’t no track listing to shuffle (thanks for fighting the good fight, your Royal Highness Adele ❤). It requires calm, chronological, focused attention. So if you can, take an hour out of your day — or at least do something passive, for the love of god — and let it envelop your body, mind and soul.

1. SINNER GET READY — Lingua Ignota

Woah, Nellie. Erm…yeah, cool. Right…uhh…okay. Let’s just get on with this.

SINNER GET READY by Lingua Ignota is the best album of 2021. It just is.

It kind of amazes me that a person could reach this far into themselves and emerge back out presenting something this guttural, harrowing and intimidating. It wasn’t a wholly intrinsic project from Kristin Hayter, who works under the Lingua Ignota name — much of the inspiration comes externally from the odd, disturbing culture of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and its archaic religious traditions too.

Whether it’s the creepy folk music you’d find in the Appalachian Mountains, the liturgical choir-esque layers that back-up the majority of her tortured, operatic voice, or the unnerving clips of corrupted faith leaders and televangelists, the dark side of Pennsylvania is front-and centre on this album.

But where its influences do get personal is hugely important. Hayter recently also attributed much of this album’s expression to the alleged abuse she endured while in a relationship with Daughters’ Alexis Marshall. Something I won’t go into further detail here, but is definitely worth reading up about. Hayter’s story is horrifying, but it must be heard.

Openers THE ORDER OF SPIRITUAL VIRGINS and I WHO BEND THE TALL GRASSES seem to simply exist to get under your skin and entrap you in despair. Lead single PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE and the vastly under-appreciated track THE SECRED LINAMENT OF JUDGEMENT see her classically-trained voice carrying so much might and vigour that you can’t help but submit to its prowess. Essentially, everything that takes place in this hour of music will make you feel small, weak and powerless.

SINNER GET READY tests you. It uses every second of its runtime to prod at your disposition and challenge your resilience. It’s a sonic tapestry that depicts the worst elements of humanity. But all this considered, it is first and foremost tangible proof that for humanity to reach higher than it ever has before, it need only look inwards.

Honourable Mentions:

G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! — Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Yol — Altin Gün

Any Shape You Take — Indigo De Souza

TYRON – slowthai

Sling — Clairo

They’re Calling Me Home — Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi

I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES — Backxwash

SOUR — Olivia Rodrigo

Drunk Tank Pink — Shame

I’ve Seen All I Need To See — The Body

Kvitravn — Wardruna

Collapsed In Sunbeams — Arlo Parks

OK Human — Weezer

Forever In Your Heart — Black Dresses

An Overview on Phenomenal Nature — Cassandra Jenkins

Imperative Imperceptible Impulse — Ad Nauseam

CLAMOR — Maria Arnal i Marcel Bagés

Chemtrails Over The Country Club — Lana Del Rey

For Those I Love — For Those I Love

ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE — BROCKHAMPTON

ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH — SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE

Fortitude — Gojira

Te Amo Lá Fora — DUDA BEAT

Build A Problem — dodie

Voices 2 — Max Richter

Blue Weekend — Wolf Alice

Zapper — NANORAY

Spiral — DARKSIDE

Happier Than Ever — Billie Eilish

Fire — The Bug

Garden of Burning Apparitions — Full Of Hell

Half God — Wiki

The Path of The Clouds — Marissa Nadler