Here’s a list of my favorite albums of 2015, excluding D’Angelo since Black Messiah came out in 2014 and should therefore count for 2014 (glares at half the major music publications).
10. SOPHIE: PRODUCT
If this is what the future sounds like, then the future is bright, in more ways than one. This short and sweet collection of singles combines some of the best bubblegum pop and trap-influenced electronic music that PC Music has to offer. Inventive, intelligent, and full of some absolute bangers, PRODUCT sheds preconceptions of what electronic music should sound like and strips it down to its poppy, melodic core. With the exception of “L.O.V.E.”, which is interesting but literally painful to listen to, this is a near-perfect run of electronic pop songs.
Standout tracks: Bipp, Hard, Vyzee
9. Julia Holter: Have You In My Wilderness
Julia Holter’s latest record, Have You In My Wilderness, is a marked improvement from her previous works. Her compositions are still gorgeous and intimate, and the instrumentation is still lush and atmospheric, but her songs feel more dynamic now; they inhabit a place that isn’t as lived in as the worlds of Loud City Song and Ekstasis, but rather that is constantly being shifted by Holter’s presence. Part of this has to do with her wonderful voice, which is more at the forefront of this album than it has been in the past. As a result, we get standouts like single “Sea Calls Me Home”, whose chorus of “I can’t swim, it’s lucitity! So clear!” will be stuck in your head for days.
Standout tracks: Feel You, Lucette Stranded on the Island, Sea Calls Me Home
8. Chvrches: Every Open Eye
The magic of Chvrches is that they always manage to find the perfect mix of danceability and melancholy in their music. On their sophomore effort, they smartly refine what made them so compelling on The Bones of What You Believe: Lauren Mayberry’s poignant lyrics, soaring vocal melodies, and synths that support rather than detract from the singing. Each song is engineered to perfection, with structures that are straightforward but effective. Also, who knew Martin Doherty could carry a song with his vocals, like he does on “High Enough to Carry You Over”?
Standout tracks: Leave a Trace, Clearest Blue, High Enough to Carry You Over
7. Drake: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
2015 was the year Drake became larger than life, and he didn’t even release an official album. Instead, we got If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, a pseudo-mixtape that infiltrated pop culture in a way only Drizzy can do. The beats aren’t as extravagant as some of those on his proper LPs, but his rapping and ear for melody are stronger than ever. A good example of this is “Madonna”, which has Drake employing a sort of lazy cadence and flow that makes an otherwise forgettable beat quite memorable. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is self-mythologizing, because after the year he’s had, he probably will die a legend.
Standout tracks: 10 Bands, Know Yourself, Jungle
6. Carly Rae Jepsen: E•MO•TION
There’s a moment of wonderful pop writing in the chorus of title track “E•MO•TION” when Carly Rae Jepsen belts out “This emotion!” and smartly lets an ambiguously sounding synth take over the melody. Thankfully, Jepsen’s third album is packed with brilliant moments like this. With the help of acclaimed indie songwriters like Dev Hynes, Ariel Rechtshald and Rostam Batmanglij, she has created a record full of daring and memorable moments that evokes feelings of youthful nostalgia and still manages to capture the fun of her previous smash hit “Call Me Maybe”. Unlike most pop albums, each and every song on E•MO•TION is meticulously crafted, effortlessly enjoyable, and infinitely listenable.
Standout tracks: Run Away With Me, E•MO•TION, Let’s Get Lost
5. Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly
To Pimp a Butterfly is one of those albums that people started labeling as “art” immediately after it came out. It’s dense, expansive and socially relevant. It features the single “Alright”, which became the de facto anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. It ends with a ten minute long interview with Tupac Shakur about black youths. It feels important, an example of the power that music can have, and that’s why it’s so high on my list. That’s not to say that the music isn’t great as well, beause it is. Kendrick eschews the more accessible sound of his debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city in favor of complex jazz fusion by the likes of Kamasi Washington and Thundercat, and while the result isn’t as listenable as the story about his Compton upbringing, it’s a more cohesive product about the universal struggles of the oppressed.
Standout tracks: King Kunta, Alright, The Blacker the Berry
4. Grimes: Art Angels
When Claire Boucher released the demo version of “REALiTi” in early 2015, it was difficult to tell where Grimes was going to go. We knew that she had already (supposedly) scrapped an album’s worth of material because she didn’t like it, but “REALiTi”, which was salvaged from the cutting room floor, was already better than almost anything she had made before. With the release of her newest LP, Grimes made the wait worthwhile. Gone is the atmospheric dream pop of 2012’s Visions; Art Angels introduces a new brand of pop music that is distinctly Grimes’. With its floating, effervescent vocals and eclectic production, Art Angels is catchy, fun and one of the most adventurous albums of the year.
Standout tracks: Flesh Without Blood, Artangels, REALiTi
3. Young Thug: Barter 6
Jeffrey Williams is a weird guy. He wears women’s clothes, has a flamboyant style, and is involved in a strange love-hate relationship with Lil Wayne. Luckily, his music is just as interesting as him. Very few rappers in the game can effortlessly snake their way through a beat like Thugger, creating catchy flows seemingly on the spot. Listen to the way his voice escalates during the hook on “Can’t Tell” or how he delivers the line “I’m gon’ beat that pussy up just like a champion” on “Knocked Off” and it’s easy to tell that the man has a gift. His rapping is complemented perfectly by London on da Track and Wheezy’s spacey production, and the result is Thugger’s most cohesive and entertaining project to date.
Standout tracks: With That (feat. Duke), Check, Knocked Off (feat. Birdman)
2. Jamie xx: In Colour
A lot has been made about the originality of Jamie xx’s brand of electronic music in the context of rave, but when it comes down to it, In Colour is just an extremely enjoyable record to listen to. From the hypnotic dance rhythms of “Sleep Sound” to the bombastic Young Thug vocals on “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”, the album is diverse yet accessible. There are some duds in here (“Obvs”, “Stranger in a Room”), but the towering peaks more than make up for it. Even including his work with The xx, Jamie xx has certainly never reached such heights.
Standout tracks: Gosh, Loud Noises (feat. Romy), I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) [feat. Young Thug & Popcaan]
1. Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell
Carrie & Lowell was billed as Sufjan’s return to his “folk roots,” but it’s so much more than that. It’s a meditation on life, love and loss, a lens into a specific man’s personal struggles that somehow resonates universally. Conceived and written after the death of his mother Carrie, who left him and his siblings when they were young, Carrie & Lowell probably offered some much-needed catharsis for Sufjan but manages to avoid coming across as self-indulgent. Rather, the emotional quality of the lyrics (“We’re all gonna die”) and the beauty of the relatively sparse yet ethereal instrumentation make this his most moving, relatable and listenable album to date.
Standout tracks: Should Have Known Better, Fourth of July, The Only Thing