Listen: I’m not thrilled about another cliche pandemic-related introduction either, but the effect it’s had on music is inescapable. As uncertain of a year as 2021 could be, it had something going for it that 2020 did not: music felt like an experience again. New releases timestamped actual life experiences outside of the house. Venues reopened, allowing us to see these records come to life and maybe catch the opener and discover a new favorite artist.
As with any other year, some records come and go. Some are bolstered by a handful of solid tracks while the rest are just sort of there. In developing this list, it was essential to appreciate the ride of the record as opposed to (im)patiently waiting for the next jam to come. The result is a mix of instant classics and enjoyable, flawed records still worthy of repeated listens. Find out what each record means to you with the fifth annual sampler playlist. If you find something you enjoy, support the artist by seeing a show, purchasing some merch, and patronizing your local record store.
These are the projects that defined my 2021 and deserve a place in your 2022.
Palberta — Palberta5000
Released January 22
New York punk trio Palberta went into their fifth album on a bold mission few have braved before: write songs that get stuck in your head. The concept is simple enough but was not entirely expected as the band has been known for writing short, leftfield bursts of energy. Most songs clock in at two minutes or less and contain only but a couple of lyrics repeated like garage-pop mantras. You can make the argument these tracks never progress enough to reach their full potential, but think of it as stretching the joy of that crowd-pleasing singalong line to fit an entire song.
Selected cuts: “No Way,” “The Cow,” “Corner Store”
Goat Girl — On All Fours
Released January 29
In the short span of 2018 to 2021, Goat Girl has returned to a different world as a different band. Between a societal wake-up call and singer Ellie Rose Davies’ cancer recovery in 2020, the London quartet arrived ready to rail against climate change, sexism, transphobia, western exceptionalism, and their own mental health in true punk rock fashion. Although its subject matter has more ties to current events, its sound is a logical extension, albeit more structured, of their debut record. Rather than basking in the anger of a doom scroll, a tight, danceable rhythm section, melancholic synthesizers, and vocals as lethargic as they are charismatic provide the perfect post-punk atmosphere for that anguished sigh that accompanies your evening news notification.
Selected cuts: “Badibaba,” “Closing In,” “Bang”
Reaux Marquez — NO ROADS
Released February 5
“The child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth” is an African proverb that bookends most tracks throughout this North Nashville rapper’s debut album, much like you’d hear a recurring soundbite on a Kendrick Lamar record. It almost plays like an ultimatum in a city and nation that erases Black contributions and experiences. Artists like Marquez have been forced to pave their own roads to success in Nashville, but this album is the perfect, soulful encapsulation of the community that journey is forging. It’s not uncommon for featured local rappers and vocalists to nearly steal the show, which is saying something given what a presence Reaux has on the mic. It’s ironic that NO ROADS will become a path for other Tennessee rappers to follow.
Selected cuts: “BIG FISH (feat. The BlackSon),” “BLOCK HOT (feat. Namir Blade & Jamiah),” “THE WIRES / TORCHED (feat. Tim Gent)”
$avvy — Boys Wear Pearls
Released February 14
$avvy is bridging a gap in Nashville’s hip-hop scene that’s not quite in the same camp as the city’s more traditional lyricists nor in line with its SoundCloud-influenced trap artists. His slick, almost unassuming style of half-sung stunting harkens back to Neptunes-era Snoop Dogg while his production follows the Smino/Monte Booker combination’s futuristic playbook. Some rough edges are to be expected on a debut project; the occasional verse feels underdeveloped as he continues to sharpen his songwriting, but even those tracks have a hook that sticks. The foundation laid is undeniable: $avvy knows how to take simplicity and make a hit.
Selected cuts: “Cannot Do,” “Take Our Time (feat. A.G. Sully),” “Zack & Cody”
Katy Kirby — Cool Dry Place
Released February 19
Cool Dry Place’s opening song taught Katy Kirby that you can stop working on a song without it being incomplete, a lesson that echoes throughout her debut album. Every genre needs artists that subvert expectations and push boundaries, but ultimately if an idea doesn’t work in its simplest form, it’s probably not the strongest idea. Kirby focuses on her unique perspective instead, thriving in making the simple sound irresistibly catchy and fresh. Fusing the accessibility of the Christian pop of her youth and modern indie influences, her songwriting straddles the line of confidence and humility. Modesty be damned though: Cool Dry Place was one of this year’s best kept secrets.
Selected cuts: “Juniper,” “Peppermint,” “Tap Twice”
Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth
Released March 5
You’ve never heard something quite like Australian rapper Genesis Owusu’s debut album. Neo-soul holds as much weight as 80s pop-rock, just as funk is executed with punk rock aggression resulting in one of the most refreshing pop records this year. Throughout its sprawling 15 tracks, Owusu explores depression and his experiences with racism through deceptively upbeat melodies and pure angst. A few underwhelming tracks temporarily derail things on the back half, but as the affirmation of tracks like “Don’t Need You” and “No Looking Back” indicate, he inevitably bounces back. If this 23 year old artist came onto the scene this fully formed, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.
Selected cuts: “The Other Black Dog,” “Waitin’ on Ya,” “Gold Chains”
Jane Weaver — Flock
Released March 5
There’s no thrill like discovering a new artist and speculating on what lies ahead, until you stumble upon an album like Flock and learn the artist is eleven albums into their career. That’s the kind of longevity you hope all your favorite artists sustain. Keeping yourself entertained by trying new things certainly helps. Despite backgrounds in psych-folk and more recently electronica, Jane Weaver sought out to make a pop record with a little inspiration from 1980s Russian aerobics music. Her extensive history of trying different styles informs her vision as she takes conventions and bends them into bizarre new shapes. Memorable songwriting, danceable beats, and charmingly cheesy synths check all the boxes of a killer pop album, but the genre is explored through a series of funhouse mirrors.
Selected cuts: “The Revolution of Super Visions,” “Sunset Dreams,” “Solarised”
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist — Haram
Released March 26
Freddie Gibbs’ 2020 standout Alfredo shined brightest when his gruff delivery was juxtaposed with The Alchemist’s smoothest, most elegant samples. Haram is a success for the exact opposite reason: when duo Armand Hammer went dark, Alchemist went darker. Biblical allusions fill the notepads of Billy Woods and Elucid as they contemplate childhood, death, class, and race, while Alc’s foreboding background takes the record’s tension to new heights. The anxiety, paranoia, anger, and cynicism that imbalances of power breed are unflinchingly on display. It feels like the claustrophobia of a sleepless New York City night on an empty stomach. The portrait presented sticks with you; the final track offers a bit of relief, but after 13 tracks of total engrossment, those emotions are difficult to shake.
Selected cuts: “Black Sunlight (feat. KAYANA),” “Scaffolds,” “Falling out the Sky (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)”
Floatie — Voyage Out
Released March 26
It’s ironic that a record as effortlessly cool as Voyage Out falls under a dweebish-sounding subgenre like “math rock.” Chicago-based four piece Floatie assembled a dark horse favorite for your next night drive. Its midnight-toned guitars, dreamy, disinterested vocals, and driving rhythm section mask heavier topics like gender identity and colonialism, while the music itself almost feels like the record is trying to lose you. It slyly lures you into nodding along, but its wonky rhythms and time signature changes wink at your inability to actually stay on beat. It’s a hypnotic anomaly where you can’t help but try to crack its code.
Selected cuts: “Shiny,” “Water Recipe,” “In the Night”
Kenny Mason —Angelic Hoodrat: Supercut
Released April 16
Full disclosure: I have no sense of nostalgia for the emo and pop-punk of the aughts, so most of hip-hop’s attempts to fuse the genres play like Lil Wayne’s Rebirth or virtually any of Travis Barker’s cringeworthy collaborations. That’s why there’s something special about Kenny Mason. While I admittedly still gravitate most to his less rock-influenced work, there’s something to be said about an artist who can go lyrically compete with collaborators like Denzel Curry and Freddie Gibbs, then turn around and write a pop-punk refrain that sticks in the head of even the biggest skeptic. The project loses some steam when it leans more heavily towards the latter on the back half, but the highs are high enough to keep you giving the lows continuous tries.
Selected cuts: “A+ (feat. Denzel Curry),” “Much Money (feat. Freddie Gibbs),” “Play Ball”
Topaz Jones — Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma
Released April 23
After a five year absence between albums, Topaz Jones returned this year with a Sundance Award-winning visual album that reimagined the Black ABCs of the 70s. Even without knowing Jones’ father played guitar in the funk band Slave, it’s clear the genre had a permanent place on his family’s turntable. As he traces the man he’s become back through his childhood, you can practically hear Earth, Wind & Fire or Sly and the Family Stone playing faintly in the background. Breezy guitar melodies, joyous backing vocals, and a buoyant rhythm section keep things light even when the subject matter skews the opposite direction. Forced punchlines have a habit of pulling you out of the stories being told, but Jones’ natural charisma and instantly memorable hooks keep you running back the replay button.
Selected cuts: “D.I.A.L.,” “Black Tame,” “Who? (feat. Maxo & Phonte)”
L’Orange & Namir Blade — Imaginary Everything
Released May 7
Fresh off the heels of his debut album, Aphelion’s Traveling Circus, Namir Blade follows up with his sophomore album produced entirely by Mello Music Group labelmate L’Orange. While his first record evoked Afrofuturism meets Cowboy Bebop with an undercurrent of longing and isolation, Imaginary Everything takes a 180 into retro braggadocio. Its film genre touchpoints trade science fiction for blaxploitation. Synths are dialed back in favor of fuzzed out guitar samples; rumination largely gives way to assertive slick talk. Regardless of which style, headspace, or millenia Blade inhabits, he knows how to use the tools of a period piece to convey timeless emotion.
Selected cuts: “Nihilism,” “Point to Point (feat. Quelle Chris),” “Corner Store Scandal”
CHAI — WINK
Released May 21
The single “Nobody Knows We Are Fun” playfully airs grievances that the band feels unknown and unappreciated, but after listening through WINK or catching them live, Japanese indie-pop quartet CHAI’s crossover appeal is undeniable. The band’s image and playful ambiance are still rooted in Japan’s kawaii/”cute” culture, but this latest record gravitates away from their signature dance-punk style towards a synth-driven R&B. From the first second the rhythm section comes in on track one, it’s impossible to not bounce along for the next 35 minutes. Nothing feels off-limits for CHAI, whether it’s features from rapper Ric Wilson and producer Mndsgn, touring with indie acts like Mac DeMarco and Whitney, or collaborating with Duran Duran. Barriers of genre, language, and underground vs. mainstream are nonexistent; they’re ready to take on the world.
Selected cuts: “Donuts Mind If I Do,” “ACTION,” “Nobody Knows We Are Fun”
Mach-Hommy — Pray For Haiti
Released May 21
In five short years, Westside Gunn’s Griselda Records has come to define the underground sound. Mach-Hommy was among the first album releases on the label, but that same five years hosted the fall and rise of his working relationship with Gunn. Pray For Haiti is their first collaborative work since squashing the beef with Gunn serving as the record’s “curator,” resulting in arguably Mach’s most definitive work. The album sonically fits within the Griselda canon, packed with grimy boom-bap and pristine, drumless sample loops, but Mach lyrically taps into different territory. His New Jersey upbringing was largely influenced by the Haitian diaspora, so much so that a portion of the album’s masters and merch sales go directly to the Pray For Haiti Trust Fund. Like his non-album collaboration with KAYTRANADA goes, it’s also time to $payforhaiti.
Selected cuts: “Folie Á Deux (feat. Westside Gunn & Keisha Plum),” “The Stellar Ray Theory,” “Kriminel”
Bachelor — Doomin’ Sun
Released May 28
The collaborative album/supergroup dynamic typically follows one of two patterns: the artists continue writing as if it’s a solo record, or it stylistically falls under one artist’s already established sound. Bachelor was born out of collaborative sessions between indie solo acts Jay Som and Palehound, but Doomin’ Sun is more than the sum of its parts. Both songwriters’ distinct talents and perspectives were bound to break through, but no song feels like it could go where it ends up without the other. Jay Som’s hazy bedroom-pop sense of melody accentuates Palehound’s heavier guitar rock, creating a true marriage of songwriting instincts that holds up as a highlight in two already impressive discographies.
Selected cuts: “Stay in the Car,” “Anything at All,” “Sick of Spiraling”
Japanese Breakfast — Jubilee
Released June 4
There’s a notable throughline of the grieving process across Michelle Zauner’s solo career as Japanese Breakfast. Her debut record, 2016’s Psychopomp, was born out of bedroom recordings upon moving back home after her mother’s cancer diagnosis and the loneliness and regret that followed her death. In the five years, two records, and one book since her debut, Zauner has gradually processed this trauma and taken her lo-fi dream-pop recordings to new heights. Healing is an act that’s never quite complete, but this record finds joy in taking steps forward and embracing the journey. Her gradual change in sound is reflective of this outlook. Whether channeling synth-pop or grand orchestral arrangements, Jubilee makes a strong case for being her most fully realized album yet.
Selected cuts: “Paprika,” “Be Sweet,” “Posing in Bondage”
Wolf Alice — Blue Weekend
Released June 4
It’s rare these days that a big, stadium-ready rock record really grabs me. There’s just something about the intimacy and rawness of a record played to a club of hundreds that you rarely get from a monumental album that has to reach people clear up in the nose bleeds. Blue Weekend’s sweeping ballads and hard-nosed rockers play just as well to either crowd without compromising or overcompensating, as the quickest way to ruin an anthem is setting out to intentionally write an anthem. Wolf Alice aren’t quite at that level of fame yet, but they’re well on their way; maybe this is how rock stars are made.
Selected cuts: “Delicious Things,” “Smile,” “How Can I Make It OK?”
Faye Webster — I Know I’m Funny haha
Released June 25
Faye Webster returns with another batch of contemplative, yearning, country-tinged indie songs that once again prove she has one of the sharpest pens in music today. Maybe “sharpest touchscreen keyboards” is a more accurate way to phrase it; the punctuation of “haha” feels like the safeguard used to soften an exchange over text or in the comment section. There’s no detachment with this online-speak, or even proper jokes, to cushion the blow. Rather, even in the record’s more somber moments, you can’t help but grin at a witticism or plain spoken thought you can’t believe you’ve never heard in a song.
Selected cuts: “Better Distractions,” “I Know I’m Funny haha,” “A Dream With a Baseball Player”
Hiatus Kaiyote — Mood Valiant
Released June 25
Hiatus Kaiyote’s long-awaited third album is nothing if not an act of love. The dynamic neo-soul band’s frontwoman Nai Palm had four years of highs and lows that culminated in Mood Valiant. Following the 2017 release of her debut solo record, in which she had the space to explore more subtle, stripped down sounds, Palm was diagnosed with breast cancer. The gift of recovering from the same disease that killed her mother comes with as much contemplation as it does celebration; regardless of the mood, that zest for life permeates every track. As a complete unit, Hiatus Kaiyote are still a group of self-described “nerds who make weird music,” but the intentionality behind every odd moment gives them that much more significance.
Selected cuts: “And We Go Gentle,” “Get Sun (feat. Arthur Verocai),” “Red Room”
Lucy Dacus —Home Video
Released June 25
It’s only right that actual home movies were the focal point of Lucy Dacus’ 2021 tour production; Home Video is written as if your experiences as a 14 year old are being projected in front of you now. You’re transported back to roaming your hometown streets with a sense of fleeting nostalgia as teenage anxieties come rushing back. Dacus balances inhabiting that teenage bittersweetness with the knowledge of an adult who can place her finger on the exact feeling she couldn’t navigate at the time. Vivid tales of Vacation Bible School and the first time boys snuck over to the sleepover might not match every listener’s experience, but the specificity reminds you of a time when you had that same feeling– like you’re trading stories with an old friend. It’s the coming of age pop album you didn’t know you needed.
Selected cuts: “Hot & Heavy,” “VBS,” “Thumbs”
Tyler, the Creator — CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
Released June 25
Where do you go after blurring all genre lines with a bizarre pop masterpiece? A Gangsta Grillz mixtape. Tyler, the Creator has been pushing hip-hop boundaries for years, and it seemed like 2019’s IGOR completed a metamorphosis into a new genre entirely. Rather than continue down that path, he took things back to basics by teaming up with DJ Drama for his most straightforward rap album yet. The record benefits from Tyler having taken so many stylistic detours, giving him a wealth of influences to draw upon for production; boom-bap, 90s R&B, neo-soul, and Tyler’s standard concept of a banger are all present. If IGOR was a testament of Tyler’s innovation, Call Me sets out to prove he can go bar for bar with any rapper today. He’s a student of all genres driven by the challenge of mastering it all.
Selected cuts: “WUSYANAME (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign),” “HOT WIND BLOWS (feat. Lil Wayne),” “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE (feat. Brent Faiyaz & Fana Hues)”
Vince Staples — VINCES STAPLES
Released July 9
Whether on wax or on Twitter, Vince Staples has always never shied away from presenting his truth. Through works like Summertime ‘06, Staples guided listeners through his youth in Long Beach, CA. The tales were often bleak, but his nihilistic perspective, animated delivery, and knack for one-liners kept the energy high. However, Vince Staples’ self-titled record makes little effort to entertain. Even with hitmaker Kenny Beats serving as the primary producer, subtlety is of the utmost importance. Staples has stated that he’s been “trying to tell the same story his whole career” and this album is a new assessment of himself, so it only makes sense his guard comes down. VINCE STAPLES is a self-portrait of someone who’s processed their formative trauma.
Selected cuts: “ARE YOU WITH THAT?,” “LAW OF AVERAGES,” “THE SHINING”
Isaiah Rashad — The House Is Burning
Released July 30
Across a slew of pre-fame SoundCloud loosies through his critically-acclaimed sophomore album The Sun’s Tirade, Isaiah Rashad has held the unique distinction of being hip-hop’s tortured soul with universal appeal. Drawing from neo-soul just as much as bass-driven southern rap and stoned mumblings as much as traditional lyricism, his penchant for “mixing that Boosie with that boom-bap” created a murky, warm backdrop to paint his story of addiction and mental health struggles. After a five year hiatus and a renewed commitment to sobriety, Rashad is less interested in digging up those scars once again. Rather, The House Is Burning finds peace in loss as an opportunity to start again. Zay has weathered the storm and is aware more could be on the horizon, but for now, he’s embracing the journey on his most upbeat album to date.
Selected cuts: “RIP Young,” “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” “Wat U Sed (feat. Iamdoechii & Kal Banx)”
Pink Siifu — GUMBO’!
Released August 3
Pink Siifu’s latest album was created with the intention of mirroring a “greatest hits” compilation; every song, regardless of its style or era of influence, stakes a claim as a fan favorite, all while remaining unmistakably Siifu. As more hip-hop subgenres pop up than you can keep track of, GUMBO’! plants a flag in all of them while sounding entirely incomparable to anything else. Owing as much to the murky, soulful musings of Earl Sweatshirt as the mumble trap hype of Young Nudy, plus dashes of funk and jazz experimentation, this highly experimental record serves as a reminder that rap all originates from the same source material. Where ideas should clash, Siifu has measured each ingredient with precision to make this gumbo work.
Selected cuts: “Bussin’ (Cold),” “BACK’!,” “Voicemails Uptown (feat. Monte Booker, Turich Benjy, Lance Skiiiwalker, JayBee Lamahj, V.C.R, & Nelson Bandela)”
Boldy James & The Alchemist — Bo Jackson
Released August 13
The duo of Boldy James and The Alchemist just won’t let up. James is 12 years into his professional career while Alc just reached 30 years, but both are arguably on the hottest run of their careers to date. Their fourth collaborative project successfully carries the momentum set by their 2020 album The Price of Tea in China. Similar to his collaboration with Armand Hammer, The Alchemist uses bleak beats as the canvas, but that’s really where the similarities end. His work across Bo Jackson takes grim 90s boom-bap into a more psychedelic direction, while James is less interested in social commentary as he is a firsthand account of the corner. His cold presentation can sound numb to the world he inhabits, but the devil in every detail shows thick skin and a strong poker face developed for survival.
Selected cuts: “Double Hockey Sticks,” “Flight Risk,” “Fake Flowers (feat. Curren$y & Freddie Gibbs)”
Indigo De Souza — Any Shape You Take
Released August 27
“Everything has to be said” is the guiding principle of Any Shape You Take. From the rock bottom loneliness of “Bad Dream” to the elated heights of love on “Hold U,” Indigo De Souza’s second album is one of pure emotion. Befores and afters aren’t really of consequence; her focus is creating an atmosphere that exists fully in the moment. One moment might call for 90s grunge guitars, but an irresistible, candy-coated autotuned hook might capture the next. The results can be equally exciting and uncomfortable. Regardless of your own emotional response, it’s hard to take the headphones off.
Selected cuts: “Die/Cry,” “Late Night Crawler,” “Hold U”
Adia Victoria — A Southern Gothic
Released September 17
This album title is the perfect encapsulation of a body of work: Adia Victoria’s third record plays like a classic piece of folklore come to life. Reconnecting country music to its blues and gospel roots, Victoria writes with the purpose of making a Black woman’s story as essential to the southern canon as the literary work of William Faulkner. Timeless tales of heartbreak and homesickness are presented with the dark mysticism of a home that’s haunted, because in many ways, it is. That longing for a simple small town life is a common theme in country music, but Victoria doesn’t shy away from its dark past or yield to nostalgia. Sometimes feeling at home is complicated.
Selected cuts: “Magnolia Blues,” “Mean-Hearted Woman,” “Troubled Mind”
José González — Local Valley
Released September 17
Sometimes you just need a vibe record. Like Khruangbin’s 2018 and Loving’s 2020 inclusions, José González’s Local Valley is perfect for those moments where a song knows its place in the background. Whether it’s putting on the kettle or the winding drive in before a hike, it’s gentle folk strumming complements the scene with the beauty of the simple things periodically washing over you like the tide rolling in. Relegating it to Muzak is a bit dismissive though; it doesn’t exist purely to inoffensively fill the silence. It quietly, confidently adds to the moment.
Selected cuts: “El Invento,” “Visions,” “Head On”
Andy Shauf — Wilds
Released September 24
What began as a sequel to 2020’s The Neon Skyline quickly took on a life of its own. The result is Frasier to Cheers; it exists in the same universe with some overlap in characters, but it operates as its own separate entity. The former record was a slice of life story of a night at the bar with your ex back in town that was packed with clever wordplay, vivid imagery, and playful melodies. Wilds is like the following morning’s hangover. Our narrator still has a way with words, but the curtains are drawn for a collection of scattered, punch-drunk anecdotes with a little more sting than the buzzed stories told at the tavern the night before.
Selected cuts: “Judy (Wilds),” “Spanish on the Beach,” “Green Glass”
Ducks Ltd. — Modern Fiction
Released October 1
The duo of Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis don’t have many tricks up their sleeves. By track three, you can guess with astonishing accuracy what the remaining seven tracks hold for you. You don’t finish a record like Modern Fiction looking for divergence though; just keep the jams coming. Ducks Ltd. are indebted to the jangle pop movement of the 1980s without ever leaning too hard on one particular influence. The result lands somewhere around the early morning haze of Real Estate with the urgency dialed up a few notches. It’s like being halfway through that second cup of coffee; you’re not fully up and at ‘em yet, but that caffeine-induced anxiousness might have the jump on you. Whether enthusiasm or apprehension win that race, Modern Fiction soundtracks them both.
Selected cuts: “How Lonely Are You?,” “18 Cigarettes,” “Fit to Burst”
illuminati hotties —Let Me Do One More
Released October 1
Breakups, record label woes, and a general dissatisfaction with the intersection of art and capitalism; Let Me Do One More covers a lot of thoughtful ground without ever getting too self-serious. Wildly original, sobering ballads like “Threatening Each Other re: Capitalism” and “Growth” are contrasted with over the top, early 00s teen movie power pop jams like “Pool Hopping” and “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA.” She’s keenly aware of the cringeworthy potential that comes with both earnestness and comedy in music, but they work because the album never feels desperate to have the listener follow. It just feels like an honest depiction of that breaking point where all you can do is laugh through the pain.
Selected cuts: “Pool Hopping,” “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA,” “u v v p (feat. Buck Meek)”
James Blake — Friends That Break Your Heart
Released October 8
Anxiety and loneliness have been the driving catalyst behind most of James Blake’s work. Now that he’s found the romantic comfort that inspired 2019’s uncharacteristically content Assume Form, Blake has returned exploring heartbreak of a different nature: fractured friendships. At the record’s best, it’s refreshing to hear a songwriter navigate an underexplored kind of turmoil with the sorrow only Blake’s voice can evoke. From a song structure and production standpoint, it’s the first time Blake isn’t pushing any boundaries. He’s content existing in the modern R&B landscape his collaborations helped create. While not his most thrilling project to date, the emotion that fuels it makes it worthwhile.
Selected cuts: “Coming Back (feat. SZA),” “Say What You Will,” “Friends That Break Your Heart”
Maxo Kream — WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
Released October 18
Familial trauma, organized crime, and pop culture punchlines all live under the same roof in Maxo Kream’s world. Few other rappers are capable of so expertly weaving these together in a way that lands them where Maxo takes them: speaker-busting bangers. These characteristics have been part of his ethos from the jump. There’s no cathartic experience or demons being exorcized though; Maxo presents how his history impacts the present matter-of-factly as someone who’s gotten to know himself. This coupled with WEIGHT OF THE WORLD’s more soulful take on his sound position Maxo Kream as a respected Houston OG, even if it feels like his ride is just beginning.
Selected cuts: “CRIPSTIAN,” “LOCAL JOKER,” “GREENER KNOTS”
Parquet Courts — Sympathy for Life
Released October 22
Parquet Courts have long toyed with the confines of punk rock, but when they teamed up with Danger Mouse for Wide Awake!, they crafted simultaneously their riskiest and most accessible record yet. Funk, reggae, and new wave influences drew the band out of the metaphorical garage. Much of the fuzz remained intact, but there was zero chance you weren’t dancing. Sympathy for Life continues to push the band’s boundaries as dance music plays a much more substantial influence. It can be a mixed bag and ultimately feels like a transition record, but it’s a transition worth following.
Selected cuts: “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” “Plant Life,” “Homo Sapien”
Mick Jenkins — Elephant in the Room
Released October 29
One thing has been apparent since 2014’s The Water[s]: few rappers can match Mick Jenkins’ lyricism. That hasn’t always translated to the most consistent of projects, but when he’s on, he’s on. Elephant in the Room’s mission statement is to acknowledge the title itself. Jenkins’ microphone doubles as a flashlight; whether personal issues or the realities of being Black in America, his goal is to expose every unacknowledged truth he lives. Perhaps what makes his music so compelling though is his ability to seamlessly shift from frustrated baritone raps to soulful crooning from a smoke-filled room. Jenkins has found the proper balance of both of these modes at a comparatively tight 38 minutes, allowing both to adequately shine without overstaying their welcome.
Selected cuts: “Things You Could Die For If Doing While Black (feat. Ben Hixon),” “Gucci Tried to Tell Me,” “Truffles”
Snail Mail — Valentine
Released November 5
When an artist switches the formula early on, it’s easier for the audience to take that ride with them. The narrative surrounding singer-songwriter Lindsay Jordan’s debut record as Snail Mail praised the influence of 90s indie guitar rock, but she’s no genre savior; she’s just a damn good songwriter. Valentine kicks off in relatively familiar territory as the title track goes from ballad to full-tilt rocker, but it’s evident Jordan isn’t the same artist we heard in 2018. Shorter songs with a greater emphasis on drum machines, synthesizers, and her heartbreaking voice comprise the makeup of the album. One thing remains consistent though: whether through a grungy solo or sleak indie pop, you don’t leave a Snail Mail album without feeling something.
Selected cuts: “Valentine,” “Ben Franklin,” “Madonna”