Every December I sit down to choose my favorite albums of the year. And every December the process ends up taking me days. It is stressful and casts me into a shame spiral of self-doubt and uncertainty.
But I love it.
This year was no exception, only the stress was enhanced 19-fold. With every band around the world on hiatus from touring for most of 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus, members had a lot more time to write, bands more time to record. This made for an avalanche of new releases this year across every genre.
Many headlines for lists such as this read “Best Albums of [insert year].” I’m not a fan of that because no music writer in the history of music writing has ever listened to every album from around the world, or even their respective country, that came out in a single year. It’s impossible.
(Also, musical tastes vary wildly.)
I am not so presumptuous as to suggest I have even listened to a fraction of the new music that was released this year. I’m sure there are countless albums I would enjoy, some maybe even more than those on this list. But of the dozens that I have listened to—and in many cases purchased—I was able to pick a few that stood out based on how frequently I returned for more listens.
I’m not a music critic or album reviewer, just a washed up musician and music enthusiast. With that in mind, here are my “10 Favorite Albums of 2021” followed by a playlist with two of my favorite songs from each:
10. Houses – “Drugstore Heaven”
This record came out of nowhere—for me. I had never heard of Houses (Dexter Miles Tortoriello). I still don’t remember hearing about him but the record showed up at my house one day, so while in…another state of mind…I must have heard a song and purchased it on the spot. The single “Fast Talk” and the track “Years” were released as an EP in 2018 but the 13-song full-length did not come out until this year. It is amazing—poppy with synths, hints of hip-hop, EDM and more. The lyrics are fun and relatable: “I’d still sell my soul for a little bit of money and some self-control” and “It ain’t you or anybody else’s business what I do” and “Gonna cash bad checks / We’re down and out, baby I don’t care / I want to feel like a millionaire”—it’s just gold. So glad I literally stumbled upon this release.
9. Marquis Lavoie – “Something Like This, But Not This”
As I said, in another life I was a musician myself. Touring, I met many people and made friends all over. One band in particular, Vanna, let us tag along on numerous tours and we became good friends. Greg Marquis, aka Marquis Lavoie, is the younger brother of Shawn Marquis, bass player for Vanna. That’s the background. I was blown away by Greg’s pure talent showcased in this release. His music is simple—acoustic guitar with rare drum, string and horn accompaniments. He plays off emotions and situations familiar to everyone, and is straightforward with his ideas and lyrics. His baritone voice is calm and soothing, and when he pushes up into his higher register…wicked awesome. Oh, did I mention he’s from Mass.?
8. Between the Buried and Me – “Colors II”
We now diverge from the easy listening of the first two albums into the realm of progressive (prog) metal, a genre that even many metalheads cannot get into. BTBAM have been masters of the genre for over two decades. In 2007, they released “Colors,” which is widely hailed as one of the best of their 10 full-length efforts. When the band announced “Colors II,” the ripples of doubt from fans could be felt worldwide. But I’ll be damned if it did not live up to its predecessor. I was fortunate enough to attend a Q&A with the band before a Sept. 1 show and I asked if they had concerns that it would fall flat when fans inevitably compared it to the original: “No. We knew what we had,” bass player Dan Briggs said. The record is kooky. I don’t know how else to describe it. The band touches so many genres on this record but always falls back into the pits of metal.
7. girl in red – “If I Could Make It Go Quiet”
This was another new artist for me this year. Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer Marie Ulven Ringheim, 22, began writing and recording music in 2015, which was released on SoundCloud. This is Ringheim’s debut full-length album and this queer icon (dubbed so by Paper magazine) knows how to write catchy tunes. Lines like “You stupid bitch, can’t you see? / The perfect one for you is me” hooked me. And then she reeled me in with one of my favorite sad songs ever written (I absolutely love sad songs) “.” That’s the name. Period. The chorus is gut wrenching: “It’s been so hard ever since you broke my heart / But I’ll never tell, honey, I’m not doing so well.”
6. Genghis Tron – “Dream Weapon”
The name of this band probably threw you for a loop. Or made you smirk. And the name of the album probably has you envisioning something this album absolutely is not. While the word “weapon” is in the title, the word “dream” is what more accurately describes this album. Historically, Genghis Tron has been an experimental metal ensemble with blast beats and screaming. Earlier records would have intermittent synth parts and soft bridges and this is what the band leans on with “Dream Weapon.” For this record (its first since 2008), the band’s third studio album, the group dropped “metal” from their genre description. This release is hypnotic, borderline psychedelic—dreamy. The vocals are light and airy, backed with a host of synthesizers and killer guitar work. Think the “Tron” (you know, the 1982 sci-fi, action-adventure classic) soundtrack on mushrooms with occasional hits of speed.
5. Superbloom – “Pollen”
Do you love throwing on your ripped jeans and oversized flannels and blasting ’90s grunge music? Well then do I have a record for you. It’s this one. Brooklyn-based Superbloom’s debut album is a masterpiece of grunge nostalgia repackaged for a modern audience. The guitar tones, the song structure, the gravelly vocals, the gritty, raw aggression—Kurt Cobain would be proud. Hell, the first track of the record is named “1994,” the very year Cobain “committed suicide.” Coincidence? Maybe. I’ve never met the members of Superbloom. Like so many grunge bands of yesteryear, Superbloom has even embraced the acoustic ballad with the song “Muzzle.” It’s beautiful. Front to back, “Pollen” is fantastic. It’s easily digestible without being boring.
4. Deafheaven – “Infinite Granite”
Some of my friends have been fans of Deafheaven for years but I had never gotten into it. Before this release, the band had been described as black metal and shoegaze—or blackgaze, a combination of the two. For this release, they dropped the black metal aspect and went with clean vocals reminiscent of ’80s new wave. Shoewave? Well, die-hard fans were not thrilled with the change in direction. But a fan of shoegaze and new wave, I’m here. for. it. The album dropped as I was re-discovering my love of ’80s music, buying tons of The Cure, Depeche Mode and similar records. It was a perfectly timed release for me. It also has one of my favorite misheard lyrics—in “The Gnashing,” I thought the chorus proclaimed, “In this house, blowing my brains out…” It does not.
3. Every Time I Die – “Radical”
This may be one of the most aptly named records in the history of records. It is, in fact, radical. I’ve been an avid ETIDiot (a term of endearment for fans of the band) for years. But I’m no snobby musical elitist who says things like “their earlier work is better” if it simply is not true. “Radical” is hands down one of the best records this iconic metalcore band has ever put out—and they have put out some absolute bangers. The band continues to evolve and grow without changing its sound, in large part due to the lyricism of vocalist Keith Buckley who has been put through the wringer by life over the last few years. But they always sound like ETID. This band also is the GOAT when it comes to opening tracks. In 2012, Buckley gave the world the opening line “I want to be dead with my friends,” this year he gave us “Spare only the ones I love, slay the rest.” Both songs rip, but the latter may take the cake. The album is a window in Buckley’s trials and tribulations and world view. His words are accompanied by the classically thick ETID sound, including catchy guitar riffs and lead lines, a full bass tone and aggressive drums.
2. Lantlôs – “Wildhund”
Originally a black metal band, mastermind Markus Siegenhort got tired of the genre and took his music in a new direction with 2014’s “Melting Sun.” Seven years later, “Wildhund” continues with the new trajectory. Siegenhort has not let go of his black metal roots, with his music utilizing metal-esque tones, rhythms and writing styles, but the music is cleaner, more pure—almost whimsical at times. It is melancholy, it is uplifting. The music is paired exclusively with light and airy melodic vocals that are a far cry from the black metal screams of Siegenhort’s past. “Wildhund” delves even deeper into the realm first explored in “Melting Sun” but is simultaneously more aggressive. Siegenhort creates meticulously beautiful soundscapes with tracks like “Planetarium,” which is quite spacey—in the sci-fi sense, as the name suggests. This record was worth the seven-year wait but I truly hope I don’t have to wait seven more for the next.
1. Manchester Orchestra – “The Million Masks of God”
If you know me, this number one slot comes as no surprise to you—certainly Tim Grobaty saw this coming. I love Manchester Orchestra. Every record. Every EP. I never miss a live performance—if they’re within an hour or two of Long Beach, I’m there. Somehow, “The Million Masks of God” has a more mature sound than previous records that are by no means sophomoric. But the band has not lost its sound or its heart, rather it has added to them. Everything on the record is intentional—songs flow seamlessly, similar musical patterns and lyrical themes are woven throughout the record and it is dynamic, from “soft and pretty” to “loud and soaring,” as Brooklyn Vegan’s Andrew Sacher said. Frontman Andy Hull is one of my favorite lyricists. I said earlier that I love a good sad song, well, Hull knows how to absolutely rip out a person’s heart. The track “Way Back” begins with the soul-crushing line “I don’t miss you / The way that I did.” The song opens up at the end for a bigger sound but the lyrics don’t get any lighter: “The only demand I could muster was begging you no / So know I’m moving to mute all my memories I made in that moat / I know that I won’t stop breathing.” Hull’s lyrics don’t even have to be deep or clever to take an emotional toll on the listener. His delivery of simple lines can pull on heartstrings, as is evident with the last line of the album: “And all this time, I thought I was right.”
Honorable mentions:
Thrice – “Horizons / East”
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
Mastodon – “Hushed and Grim”
Lord Huron – “Long Lost”
Zao – “The Crimson Corridor”
Julien Baker – “Little Oblivions”
Lana Del Rey – “Blue Banisters”
Gojira – “Fortitude”
Halsey – “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power”
Can’t Swim – “Change of Plans”