Art by Charis Forrester
Because we wouldn’t leave 2019 in the dust without giving you our two cents, here’s our staff’s fave albums of the year.
Black Midi – Schlagenheim
It’s hard to believe that until this year, fresh-faced London quartet Black Midi had no material on streaming services. Their hype was generated solely off of their 7-inch single “Bmbmbm” released on Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground label in 2018. The pressing was limited to 250 and sold out instantly, gauging the interest of other musicians and fans alike. Soon enough, word about Black Midi’s erratic live shows spread and the group landed themselves a KEXP session. The rest was history. Their debut album, Schlagenheim, not only proved that they were worth the hype, but also solidified them as one of the UK’s most promising newcomers. It’s hard to say whether or not Schlagenheim is like nothing you’ve ever heard before, or like everything you’ve ever heard before combined, melding genres from prog-rock to noise punk and jazz into hair-raising arrangements. The record is an audible thriller filled with unpredictable twists and turns, leaving you wary while still wanting more.
— Monica Kurowski
Dehd – Water
Right on the cusp of love and heartbreak, Dehd’s sophomore album Water delivers an incredibly vulnerable and catchy collection of songs about falling in love, falling out of it, and what it means to not have all the answers you need post relationship. It’s undeniable Emily Kempf and Jason Balla’s relationship has influenced the band’s discography as their relationship blossoms in their first album and ends in their second, giving us glimpses into their evolving relationship with themselves and each other. On Water in particular, the two sing back and forth to each other almost as a call and response. Knowing the foundation in which the songs are created from makes the album feel even more real, especially considering this project is how the two chose to work through their problems and come to terms with their relationship to find resolution. ‘On My Side’ is a track in particular that feels so raw with emotion that when Balla sings “Let me know if you’re gonna be my friend / Let me know when to go” and Emily cries out in response “Time is on my side / I will be alright,” you can feel every ounce of their love for each other as if it was your own.
— Julia Fletcher
FONTAINES D.C. – Dogrel
It’s a little insane to think that this past March was the first time we had the band stateside. From their intimate show at Union Pool, to taking SXSW by storm, and then selling out Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom in the same weekend, I’m confident in saying that FONTAINES D.C. is the band of the year. Giving hope to a guitar rock renaissance that’s laced with the driving ferocity that gets them lumped into the amorphous “post-punk” category, Dogrel is a near perfect album. The anthemic calling card of the record “Big” leads way to what are sure to be classic songs like “Too Real”, “Boys in the Better Land”, and, I’m going to argue, “Liberty Belle” as well. While these are standout hits, the album is rooted by more understated tracks like “Roy’s Tune” and “The Lotts” which assist in building the world of the band that you now feel as if you inhabit as well.
— Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell
— Edgar Jackson
Dry Cleaning – Sweet Princess EP, Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks
Florence Shaw doesn’t even have to sing to sing-song her way very frankly and specifically into your psyche. On the two EPs that Dry Cleaning released this year, the band’s jet-fueled basslines and manic guitar riffs act as the perfect counterpoint to the matter of fact but charming drawl in the way Shaw delivers lines like “I joined a gym, I joined a gym close to the office,” or, “Cashpoint, help point, Christmas tree recycling point,” and, “how dare you I’m the best at what I do, how fucking dare you,” or even, “ring ring, ring ring, ring ring, hello?” These songs find the magic in the mundane and the poetry in the way we actually communicate with each other face to face or over the phone. Is it songwriting, is it a voyeur’s goldmine of a secret diary recorded to music, is it poetry, is it therapy? Is it all of the above? It’s refreshing while managing to still be acceptably nostalgic.
— Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Sir Babygirl – Crush On Me
While Lil Nas X dominated culture this past summer, another queer DIY pop star carved out a place without anyone noticing. Sir Babygirl did not have Lil Nas X’s breakout chart success but his album Crush on Me makes for a compelling case for why he should. Crush On Me is fluffy and exuberant with rock-solid melodies that won’t leave your heads for months. Wearing his theatre background and love of 2000s dance-pop divas on his sequined sleeve, Sir Babygirl sang about anxiety, crushes (duh), and even hinted at sexual violence. The wordless hook of “Heels” is the litmus test of whether or not you can hang at the raucous party Sir Babygirl is hosting. Songs like “Pink Lite” hint at the stadium-sized places that party could be heading.
— Mo Wilson
Deli Girls – I Don’t Know How To Be Happy
Raw, unapologetic, and liberated — Deli Girls does not give a single fuck. Without taking a single breath, the duo’s second album I Don’t Know How To Be Happy is filled with industrial noise punk anthems from front to back. From the album’s opener “Officer”, a political rager questioning law enforcement (I got my hand in my pocket / You got me? / You scared?), to the off kilter pulses and screams on “Abortion,” Danny Orlowski (vocals) and Tommi Kelly (synths) create a safe queer space to rage against fascists, apologists, and hypocrites. “Remind them that they will never be as angry as the rest of us”.
— Julia Fletcher
Girl Band – The Talkies
Girl Band created a manor out of sound on The Talkies. This record does veer even further left than their debut, maybe making it a little less instantaneously addictive, like “Paul.” But, these songs have that continuous undercurrent of electricity and anticipation explodes exactly when it needs to. I had the first single “Shoulderblades” on repeat for weeks because it’s an instant IV drip of adrenaline. The rest of the album has bits and pieces of that scattered throughout at different intensities, but altogether, this collection of songs accomplishes what these four Irish boys intended — to reflect the creaking, groaning, intense mansion in which they recorded in the sounds themselves. There are moments that almost make you feel like you’re in a dance hall, but mostly you just feel like you’re in a scary movie — both invigorating states of mind.
— Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Cherry Glazerr – Stuffed & Ready
— Edgar Jackson
Pottery – No. 1
Technically an EP, but definitely worth mentioning as Pottery might be the band I’m most excited for in 2020. No. 1 is a timeless, genuinely fun release. It’s smart, cheeky, absolutely rips, and is refreshingly different from what other bands are doing right now. Whether it’s getting dark and groovy on “Worked Up”, the frenetic whirlwind that is “Hank Williams”, or the absurd fever dream of “Lifeline Costume” it’s an impressive work that no doubt is a predecessor of great things to come.
— Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
Empath – Active Listening: Night on Earth
2019 was a year that fully embraced chaos. People started casually morphing their faces with Instagram/Snapchat filters, Trump continued to spiral without consequence, and cops swarmed subway stations looking for “fare evaders.” Philadelphia band Empath has been wringing euphoric songs from chaos for years. The experimental punk group delivered their best work yet with their debut full length. Full of breakneck drums, bird songs, odes to trees crashing into cars, and synths that seemed to whistle with cheer, the foursome made a body of work that successfully drowned out our bullshit world. As beautiful, ugly, and bizarre as our current climate, Empath proved that even chaos could be soothing.
— Mo Wilson
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Angel Olsen has come a long way since her early alt-folk stylings, evolving with each album into an artist of incomparable vision and talent. 2016’s My Woman propelled a tinsel-tressed Olsen forward from the ranks of lo-fi indie darlings and straight to the front of the class. That album’s brash and sincere portrayal of modern femininity and deep personal confessions hit like a thunderclap and set the bar impossibly high for a follow up.
All Mirrors doesn’t just clear that bar, but sails so far overhead it lands on a completely different stage. Cinematic in scope, Olsen’s widescreen compositions cast the artist as a central figure in a silver screen drama populated with a stunning array of supporting sounds and lush, glittering production that feels at once timeless and completely modern. Pulsating synth and a stirring orchestral section bolster the traditional guitar/bass/drums/vocals that have been Angel Olsen’s standard sonic toolbox since her earliest recordings, upholstering that sturdy, time-tested framework in a plush and inviting layer of dark navy-blue velvet complete with gold trim. This album is regal and sophisticated, pure class from the minute the needle drops on the A side all the way to the runout groove of the last track.
Exemplary of her skill as a songwriter and the strength of her voice, never once does Olsen get lost in the production. Even at her most delicate she is front and center. Her persona is always in crisp focus as the music swirls around her, mirroring her words and emotions and amplifying their impact a thousand-fold. The potent mélange of confidence and vulnerability is conveyed with a characteristic verve that is all her own. It’s intimate but relatable, with beautiful lines like “knowing that you love someone doesn’t mean you ever were in love” delivered with the feeling that we are gazing deep into Olsen’s eyes, only to realize we are also staring at a reflection of ourselves. We are all mirrors, and All Mirrors is a brilliant light, reflected back and focused upon Olsen’s singular talent standing tall at the center of the stage.
— Clay Pacelli
