Since nothing is real this year, rules can be thrown out the window! I've deemed it necessary to include two albums from (late) 2019 in my list this year. I missed them when they first came out, but the songs are still getting plenty of continued exposure and, honestly, I might not have made it through without these albums, so they get to count for this year!
It's been eight years since Sam Sparro's last LP, and Boom Box Eternal makes it worth the wait. I already knew that "Everything" was a killer 90's throwback jam serving strong Lisa Fisher vibes, and the rest of the album keeps that theme going. "Eye 2 Eye," is another track that could be straight out of the early-90s, and I especially love "Bow", "Marvelous Lover", and "Save a Life". Sparro has a masterful understanding of how to build a flawless R&B jam, and his voice never loses the honeyed smoothness that helped him burst onto the scene with "Black & Gold" over a decade ago. It's hard not to feel good while listening to the sounds of a simpler, more day-glo time.
As a fan of Disco and 80s Pop, I appreciate the high-quality production values, which put a contemporary spin on retro conventions. "Cool" and "Levitating" are the songs I have on repeat, but of course "Don't Start Now" and "Physical" certainly deserve their hit status. "Pretty Please" is also quite an earworm, and "Good In Bed" sounds like it could have been a Robbie Williams song (the jury's still out on that one). Future Nostalgia is a great summer album, but it's high quality and cohesiveness means it's an instant classic that is perfect for any time at all.
Wonder is a masterfully crafted album that demonstrates Shawn Mendes' growth as an artist and a person, offering up powerful songs that reflect a wide range of influences. The title track, which skillfully conveys anthemic angst, is actually overshadowed by so many of the other (somehow) more bombastic and fun tracks on the album. My favorite is "Teach Me How To Love", in which Mendes puts his own spin on the neo-Disco sound that is everywhere this year, while also being just slightly Wham-esque in the best way possible. However, coming in at a close second is "305", a delightful 60s-tinged bop. Amidst an album about love, "Piece of You" turns the tables and addresses the darker side of obsession via sultry club beats. Rounding out my favorites are "Higher" with it's Basement Jaxx-like beats, "24 Hours" with its sweet and gentle mantra-like refrain, and "Look Up at the Stars", which somehow manages to combine The Fray, Six Pence None The Richer, and Edwin McCain influences all in one song that makes me nostalgic for the turn of the millennium. Mendes' strong point of view on love holds the album together thematically, allowing the wide range of styles and influences to coexist, creating a rich and engaging listening experience.
This is another throwback-ish album, but this time to 1990s and 2000s Pop-Rock. "Wildflower" is super fun, totally addictive Power-Pop. "No Shame" and "Best Years" continue the Power-Pop sound with wonderfully melodic guitars, while "Teeth" pulls in a more rock direction with hard, crunchy guitars. "Old Me" has a fun Bowling For Soup vibe, and "Not in the Same Way" offers a cathartic break-up song. 5 Seconds of Summer is doing some interesting things in the Pop-Rock space, and I'm glad I was drawn to them by the artwork for their previous album, Youngblood, because contemporary Pop-Rock isn't widely represented in my music collection.
Kylie's Disco offers up a perfect 2020 bookend to Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia, delivering plain old nostalgia for Disco with a capital "D". The first track, "Magic" perfectly sets the scene with strong roller-disco and glitter eyeshadow vibes. "Miss a Thing", "I Love It", and "Unstoppable" invite the listener to time travel to the early 80s. "Last Chance", "Real Groove", and "Where Does the DJ Go?" would have been perfectly at home on Fever, demonstrating that Disco has long been Kylie's domain. Disco is a concept album as only Kylie can deliver, with both commitment and authenticity. After all these years, she's still queen of the dancefloor.
A new Alex Cornish album is always something to look forward to, and So Long To Looking In is no exception to this rule. Each of Cornish's albums explores fresh territories and ideas, but this latest album finds Cornish's sound maturing in new ways, both musically and lyrically. Cornish puts his own gentle and masterful spin on Folk music, with hints of Elliott Smith ("So Long to Looking In"), early Chris Isaak ("A Rare Heat"), and Bob Dylan ("This Is Real Now" and "The Widest Stretch") scattered throughout. "Trip the Wire" has a rambling Country-Folk vibe to it, and "What Are the Chances?" offers a beautiful classical interlude. While So Long To Looking In is a sonically soothing album, the lyrics offer up layers and hidden depths to explore, reveling new treasures with every listen.
On his 20th album, Brian Culbertson fully captures the varied styles of jazz in his repertoire, starting with funk tracks featuring Bootsy Collins and Ray Parker Jr., among others. Then the album segues into gentler, smoother jazz with tracks like "It's a Love Thing", "Time Flies", "Looking Back" that showcase Culbertson's signature, crystalline, flowing piano sound. I always picture water flowing when I hear Brian's piano playing: an overall quality to his music that really transports, soothes, and relaxes me.
When I first listened to this soundtrack over the summer, I hadn't yet seen the movie, and my reaction was "meh". However, after having seen the film, I had new appreciation for the songs on this album, especially the ones sung by Tracee Ellis Ross and Kelvin Harrison Jr. "Track 8" is an addictive standout, "Stop For a Minute" and "Bad Girl" are full of funky Soul horns, and "Like I Do" wouldn't have been out of place in a late-90s rom-com (that's a good thing). The rest of the soundtrack has a couple of cover tunes nicely executed by Harrison, and a few well-chosen throwback tunes as well. I definitely recommend watching the film (an enjoyable little music industry romp with better than average dialog) for the context and the characters, which imbue the songs with so much more meaning and feeling.
Oh my gosh, every track on this album is amazing! The thing I love most about Finneas's songs are his lyrics – you can understand them clearly and they are achingly clever. "Let's Fall In Love for the Night" is the standout, but "I Lost a Friend", "Shelter", and "I Don't Miss You at All" also beg to be played again and again. The whole album is a mood, and that mood is captured perfectly by the album artwork. Blood Harmony is a throwback to the album era: of the moment, and timeless all at once.
I was about six months late to this one, but the pandemic gave me the bandwidth to explore new-ish pop music, and I am better for it. The pure pop of "Adore You" was the hook for me, but now that I've had a chance to properly dive into the album, I have also become quite fond of the 60s/70s Laurel Canyon influences found in "Golden", "Canyon Moon", and "Treat People with Kindness"; the psychedelia of "She" and "Sunflower, Vol. 6"; and the mellow folk vibes layered with fuzzy guitars (somewhat reminiscent of early Bon Iver) of "Cherry" and "Fine Line". Styles draws from a wide range of influences, yet the resulting album is a beautifully coherent piece of art.
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