Albums of the Year – 2021

So…I’ve really abandoned this blog, huh?!

It’s been a very chaotic year, but thankfully some absolute beauties of albums came and rescued me out of some of the murkiest depths I’ve found myself in.

Let’s goooo….

10: Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz

May be bold to say, but Little Simz has sneaked up and stolen the Queen of Rap crown. You cannot listen to this album without thinking so; it’s a flawlessly curated record. I’ve been listening to Little Simz for a few years now, and everything she’s released in the past I’ve really enjoyed but when I got to sit down and digest this album in its entirety, it felt like a groundbreaking moment. Lyrically, it’s a masterpiece. You might look at this album and think “Oh shit, it’s 19 tracks long?!” and be a little intimidated. And so you should be; Little Simz is here to blow your fucking mind. The second I heard ‘Point and Kill’ it’s never left my brain. I sing it all the damn time. I urge you all to buy/stream/experience this record if you do anything at all. Jaw dropping beauty in one album.

Standout Tracks:

1. Point and Kill
2. Introvert
3. Miss Understood

9: The Ultra Vivid Lament by Manic Street Preachers

Ah, the Manic Street Preachers. A band whose albums have followed me throughout the entirety of my life. I adore the bones of this band. Their last album was a little bit disappointing for me, so I was apprehensive when I first sat down to fully absorb this one, but I had no reason to be because it’s a true return to form. Nicky Wire proving he’s still one of this country’s most underrated lyricists of all time. James Dean Bradfield’s vocals are still on fire and Sean Moore’s drumming in the shadows still shine. ‘Still Snowing in Sapporo’ opens the album and it could easily be on their 1996 masterpiece ‘Everything Must Go.’ It’s CLASSIC Manics. They love adding a female vocal feature nowadays, although it’ll never beat the heights of ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ with Cardigans’ Nina Persson, ‘The Secret He Had Missed’ with Julia Cumming is one catchy number. I could rave about this band’s dynamic forever, because they’re one of the best around. God bless MSP.

Standout Tracks:

1. Still Snowing In Sapporo
2. Diapause
3. Orwellian

8: Cryosleep by Matt Bellamy

I really thought I’d be writing a review on Muse’s new album right now, but alas, we’re still waiting on LP9, but have no fear, because Matt Bellamy saved us. (Sort of!) Matt released this record of tracks he’s reworked and/or written over the last couple of years on vinyl for Record Store Day 2021. Showcasing covers of ‘Fever’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and reworked Muse classics such as ‘Unintended’ and ‘Guiding Light,’ the latter of which was recorded on THE late Jeff Buckley’s guitar. As a massive Jeff fan, I can safely admit that I sobbed within the first thirty seconds of my first listen. He also has a few originals in there, which include ‘Pray’ (written for the final series of Game of Thrones soundtrack,) instrumentals inspired by Muse’s last tour and ‘Tomorrow’s World.’ It’s really just an insight to Matt’s musical wizardry. I’ve said it before, and I’ll never stop, but I wouldn’t have ever gotten into music without him and Muse. If you want to delve deeper into the brilliant, wacky and beautifully weird mind behind Muse, please listen to Cryosleep. Shut your eyes and just listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Standout Tracks:

1. Take a Bow (Four Hands Piano)
2. Pray
3. Guiding Light (on Jeff’s Guitar)

7: Moral Panic II by Nothing But Thieves

In addition to 2020’s Moral Panic, Nothing But Thieves released Moral Panic II earlier this year. It may only be 5 tracks, and possibly considered as an EP, but it blew me away just as much as 2020’s effort did in half the songs. Opening track ‘Futureproof’ poses the question of “Why do you wanna do good when you can feel good?” within the first verse, which very openly outs influencer culture on social media, especially during all of the protests over the last 2-3 years. Few bands are musically commentating on the state of the world, especially social media culture, better and more thought provokingly than NBT. My absolute favourite, and one of my songs of the decade already, ‘Your Blood’, opens with only sparse acoustic guitar and Conor’s gorgeous vocals. The track blooms into this dark, haunting and seismic climax, which is where Conor’s soaring vocals take centre stage, before it all comes back down and settles again. It’s our generation’s ‘Paranoid Android’ by Radiohead in my opinion. If you told me Thom Yorke wrote it, I wouldn’t disagree. It’s THAT fucking perfect. Get your ears around it, because you won’t regret it.

Standout Tracks:

1. Your Blood
2. Futureproof
3. If I Were You

6: Screen Violence by CHVRCHES

You might not think it right now, but my god, women really ruled my 2021. I really fell out of love with CHVRCHES for a long time because their last effort fell flat for me and I just didn’t listen to them all that much after that. That was until I bought my copy of ‘Screen Violence’ the week it came out, praying it was going to reignite my love again. It did more than that; I love this band 100x more than I did when I first listened to them. This is their best record. I don’t care if you disagree, because Lauren Mayberry has never written lyrics better than this. The 80s goth rock influence is evident throughout, so much so, I genuinely thought the intro to ‘Final Girl’ was a demo The Cure threw out during the recording of their career defining 1989 record ‘Disintegration.’ Speaking of the mighty Cure, Mr Robert Smith features on ‘How Not To Drown’ and I would never think his and Lauren’s vocals would work together in a million years, but they work almost TOO well. It’s a brilliant track. There isn’t a song on this album that I skip, which CHVRCHES has never managed to achieve with me. I sincerely hopes this catapults them back to the heights they were at when they first in the spotlight because this record is stunning, dark and has some of the most anthemic and soaring choruses they’ll ever write.

Standout Tracks:

1. Final Girl
2. How Not To Drown (feat. Robert Smith)
3. Violent Delights

5. Typhoons by Royal Blood

We are three albums into Royal Blood’s career and they’re yet to hit a stumbling block. Probably like most fans, I was a bit apprehensive about this third effort because I felt like there’s not too much more they could’ve come out with just being a two piece but I was so fucking wrong. We still got our bone-shaking riffs, huge choruses and Ben Thatcher’s unmistakable drumming style, but with added synths and female backing vocals on some of the tracks. Lyrically, ‘Typhoons’ is a record documenting singer and bassist Mike Kerr’s battle and recovery with alcohol addiction. With lyrics like “Can’t live like this forever, running out of lifelines” in ‘Oblivion’ and “Save yourself, don’t throw in the towel” in ‘Hold On’ it’s the first time we’ve really heard Mike be this open with his songwriting. One of my music moments of the 2021 is the final track ‘All We Have Is Now’; A stunning piano ballad which really showcases Mike’s ability to do delicate vocals. They really are the best rock band to come out of the 2010s.

Standout Tracks:

1. Oblivion
2. Either You Want It
3. All We Have Is Now

4: The Myth Of The Happily Ever After by Biffy Clyro

Biffy Fucking Clyro released an absolutely MASSIVE album last year that I didn’t think they’d manage to match, let alone one up, with this sister record. TMOTHEA punches you in the face, cuddles you for a short while and then kicks you in ass right at the end. It’s a total whirlwind of an album and I fucking love it. ‘Holy Water’ will be a Biffy classic in years to come. It’s that good. I was lucky enough to see a lot of this album live in London last month in a wee venue and it was as glorious as you’d think it’d be. The album ends with the insanely titled ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep’ and it’s as bonkers as you wish a song with that title to be. It’s so reminiscent of their 2004 record ‘Infinity Land.’ It’s classic Biffy with a little more edge than we’ve seen in a long time, and long may it continue. Mon the Biff.

Standout Tracks:

1. Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep
2. Holy Water
3. Unknown Male 01

3. Flowers for Vases by Hayley Williams

When Hayley announced another solo record less than a year after she released Petals For Armour, I was totally beside myself. This is a much darker, yet delicate, album than the previous. Hayley wrote every single part on her own, and this album contains some of her most hard hitting and poignant lyrics yet. The opening lyric to ‘My Limb’ still floors me almost a whole year on (“If you’re gonna amputate, don’t give me the tourniquet.”) ‘Good Grief’ is one of my tracks of the year, as it echoes a lot of the trauma I’ve personally gone through in the last few years (“I’m all skeleton and melody.”) I really hope Hayley manages to tour these albums because I’m dying to hear some of these songs live. It’s a truly gorgeous album, and I cannot recommend it enough. The vinyl is also stunning, so if you can get your hands on it, you won’t regret it! Also, wee side note: this is a really lovely record to listen to in the bath. The acoustics in the bathroom makes this album shine a little brighter.

Standout Tracks:

1. Over Those Hills
2. My Limb
3. Good Grief

2: Prioritise Pleasure by Self Esteem

I so badly needed a new pop badass to fall in love with and god bless Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem for dropping this love letter to female power, female pleasure and the biggest fuck you to the patriarchy. ‘I Do This All The Time’ is one of the most powerful, hard-hitting and honest songs I’ve ever heard in my entire life. The mix of beat poetry and the gorgeous, uplifting chorus makes it one of the greatest songs of all time. (Bold, but you can hold me to that statement in the future.) The opener ‘I’m Fine’ ends with Rebecca’s friends talking about unwanted male advances, and it fucking blew my mind the first time I heard it (“It’s genuinely something me and my friends actually do; if we are approached by a group of men, we will bark like dogs, and people always laugh at it, but there is nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman that appears completely deranged.”) Rebecca then howls like a dog at the end, and having that as your album opener is such a killer move, and I fucking adore her for it. She will be known as one of the important lyricists of our generation. She needs to be.

Standout Tracks:

1. Prioritise Pleasure
2. I’m Fine
3. I Do This All The Time

1. Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice

Quelle surprise. A masterpiece. The moment I finished listening to this for the first time, I knew it was my album of the year. I could write actual sonnets about how much this album has soundtracked this turbulent year for me. I loved their first two albums but there is nothing they’ve ever written that’s hit me as hard as this entire body of work. From the delicate, symphonic sounds of ‘The Last Man On Earth’ and ‘Lipstick on the Glass’ to the beer soaked, sticky floor punk vibes on ‘Play The Greatest Hits,’ they’ve totally nailed it. ‘Feeling Myself’ is one of their career highlights purely for the lyric “Keep my name on your lips, let the double L feel like a kiss.” They’re a once in a generation band. I would give my right arm to even have 1/10th of the talent that Ellie Rowsell possesses. The opener ‘The Beach’ slowly swells into this beautiful crescendo that ends far too early for me, but the fact the rest of the record is so flawless, I’ll forgive them. And if anyone is selling a ticket for their Barrowlands shows, let me know because I sadly missed out and I’m desperate.

Standout Tracks:

1. Play The Greatest Hits
2. Feeling Myself
3. Delicious Things

I have high expectations for 2022 because 2021 really nailed it for me, and it’s so refreshing to see three women responsible for my top three albums of the year.

I hope you found some good recommendations on here to add to your own vinyl/CD collections and/or your playlists on streaming services.

Thanks for reading,

Claire xo.