Top Albums of 2021

9 min readJan 9, 2022

I’m sitting in our sunroom this morning watching the birds fly around the trees outside, fully aware of how late this is being published. By now, you’ve seen everyone’s Spotify Wrapped (over a month ago), read every major publication’s best of list, and probably stopped thinking of 2021 altogether already. That last one is probably a little dramatic, but you get the point. December was rough for us, and we had a lot on our mind. The twelfth installment of my best of list had to be delayed.

I finally started writing on New Years’ Day. While writing, I surprised myself with the amount of music that I had listened to in the past year. There are some familiar names here and some new ones, a new method to discover music, and some surprising rediscoveries of genres of music I’ve loved in the past. Happy New Year and happy listening!

15. Subconsciously — Black Coffee

South African DJ Nkosinathi Innocent Sizwe Maphumulo makes really cool, almost deep house-sounding electronic music under the name Black Coffee. This album reminds me (positively) of the music that would play in the lobbies of Renaissance hotels (Renaissance hotels always have cool music playing). This album has a bunch of impressive features — Diplo, David Guetta, Usher, etc. For a dance record, my only critique is that it plays better in the background than as something to actively listen to. That said, it’s still very worth the listen.

14. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature — Cassandra Jenkins

This pick feels like my most public radio-friendly pick. I’ve seen her music described as “dream folk” and you can tell if you listen to songs like “Hard Drive.” I adored the combination of spoken word poetry with what sounds like Destroyer’s soft rock in the background. Her songwriting is heady and clever. This was a very enjoyable listen.

13. The Golden Casket — Modest Mouse

This was the year I finally admitted to myself how big of a big Modest Mouse fan I am. Shannon and I invented a Venn diagram of our musical tastes and Modest Mouse ended up being one of the strongest overlaps. Isaac Brock can write songs that sound difficult to play tight as a band and his voice isn’t for everyone. But the same qualities I love in 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News and 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank can be found here. Check out “We Are Between” for some solid, vintage Modest Mouse vibes.

12. What Were You Hoping to Find? — Vistas

Last year’s Everything Changes in the End was my favorite album of 2020, so I was surprised to see another album from Scottish rock outfit Vistas so soon. This album mostly continues the sound developed in last year’s album, a generally positive and upbeat guitar-heavy sound that would play very well at American or British rock festivals. I think a rock festival would be a fantastic place to see them live, so I’m hoping they eventually make it to the US. Maybe Shaky Knees 2023? I jumped to 2023, because the baby is due in April 2022, which is going to keep me from attending Shaky Knees 2022. I really enjoyed songs “Start Again,” “Young Forever,” and “What Were You Hoping to Find?”

11. WE ARE — Jon Batiste

I knew of New Orleans jazz prodigy Jon Batiste as the musical director for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” despite not being a regular viewer. I was curious to dig into his music and was impressed. He effortlessly bounces between genres — funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, pop, etc. and his virtuosity is obvious. This album is such a fun listen, despite its heavier thematic elements. Check out “FREEDOM,” the album’s opening tack “WE ARE,” and “I NEED YOU.”

10. Pressure Machine — The Killers

It’s crazy to think about how far The Killers have come since 2004’s Hot Fuss. I was a freshman in high school when I first heard their music. Their first album was very much influenced by britpop and alt rock sounds of the time. Now, Brandon Flowers has gone full-Springsteen with storytelling and references to the American West. This album has strong Nebraska vibes, despite the full band instrumentation. Listen to songs like “Quiet Town” and “West Hills” and you’ll see what I’m saying. The Killers were another artist who surprised me with their pandemic productivity, releasing another album just under a year after Imploding the Mirage. I’m excited that lead guitarist Dave Keuning is back with the band and helped record this album. The Killers are still one of my grail bands that I want to see live.

9. How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? — Big Red Machine

Supergroup Big Red Machine consists of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National. Since first discovering them through Shannon a few years ago, they’ve really grown on me. We saw them live at Eaux Claires in 2018 after their first album. As a big fan of The National and not a big fan of Bon Iver, I wasn’t as impressed overall. The parts that sounded like the The National I liked and the parts that sounded like Bon Iver I didn’t care for. This album feels much more like a collaborative effort and a better overall blend of their sounds and styles. Plus, there are a lot of exciting features from other artists I love, like Anaïs Mitchell, Taylor Swift, Robin Pecknold, and Sharon Van Etten. I really loved the song “Phoenix” and enjoyed picking at it on the piano we’ve been taking care of for friends who moved out of state.

8. Afrique Victime — Mdou Moctar

This is a very late addition to the list. Shannon and I spent part of our drive up to Cleveland and back for Christmas this year looking through other best of publications and first found this on Obama’s top list. It appeared again on aggregator Metacritic’s list later in the drive. Mahamadou Souleymane plays West African guitar music as Mdou Moctar. This isn’t the first time I’ve had exposure to this style of music. Back in 2009, I really liked Fondo by Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré. There are a lot of similarities in the sounds of West African guitar music, but it feels like this album is much more psychedelic-influenced. Mdou Moctar shreds throughout the album and it sounds so cool. Check out the opening track “Chismiten,” “Taliat,” and “Tala Tannam.”

7. TV — Tai Verdes

I successfully resisted Tik Tok until this summer. From seeing how much Shannon enjoyed it, I knew I’d enjoy it too but was always worried about how sucked in I would get. Both things ended up being true; I really enjoy it and sometimes get really sucked into it. This album is my only inclusion on this list that I discovered via Tik Tok. For the most part, it’s a straightforward pop record, but my soft spot for pop will usually catch one or two of these each year. “Stuck in the Middle” and “A-O-K” were both all over my For You page and easily got stuck in my head. They’re such catchy songs. The rest of the album is an enjoyable listen too. I’m excited to see if he can turn viral success into a more sustained career because I think he’s really talented.

6. Home Video — Lucy Dacus

Here’s my annual indie sad girl inclusion. Lucy Dacus, like her boygenius counterparts Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, writes emotional music, despite sounding sparse at times. She’s a talented storyteller in songs like “Thumbs,” which has a really good Song Exploder episode explaining the background of the song, and “Brando,” with all the old movie references. This album plays well in headphones while walking through the rain. I also really loved the opening track “Hot & Heavy” and “Vbs.”

5. Break Our Fall — Dispatch

I’ve previously written about my love for Dispatch in middle school and high school and it has been interesting to see them come back from their breakup and produce several new albums. I completely missed this album when it came out and it wasn’t until I received Danny’s Christmas card/magazine and saw it included in his best of list. The album is truly their best work since reuniting. It’s a shame that the album was made completely without original member Pete Francis Heimbold, who has been on hiatus from the band since the previous album, America, Location 12. I really like songs “May We All,” “All This Time,” “One by One,” “The Legend of Connie Hawkins,” and the title track “Break Our Fall.”

4. SOUR — Olivia Rodrigo

This was the best pop record of 2021 for sure. Because I didn’t really get into Tik Tok until this year, I was very confused why the song “Driver’s License” was consistently one of the top tabs on Ultimate-Guitar.com. Once I finally heard the song, I was hooked and wanted to hear the rest of her music. Her songwriting does remind me of early Taylor Swift if Taylor were more into bands like Paramore. It’s fun to think about what life was like when I was 18 and compare it to what matters to me now. “brutal,” “traitor,” “déjà vu,” “good 4 u,” “happier,” and “jealousy” were all my favorite songs, but let’s be honest. The whole thing is great.

3. GLOW ON — Turnstile

There was a time in my life when I was into heavier music, and it felt rebellious. I loved bands like Linkin Park in middle school, but mostly grew out of that phase as I got older. As such, it surprised me how much I would enjoy a hard rock album in 2021. I discovered both Baltimore hardcore punk band Turnstile and this album a few weeks before Christmas and was enthralled from the opening guitar riffs. GLOW ON is melodic, despite its heaviness. The instrumentation also includes other interesting sounds you wouldn’t expect in a heavy record, such as hand percussion and synths. Singer Brendan Yates sounds like he’s screaming into a big empty space. The record sounds huge. Check out songs “MYSTERY,” “BLACKOUT,” and “HOLIDAY.” They’re another band I hope to see live once it’s safe again to do so.

2. Sob Rock — John Mayer

This was my favorite John Mayer album since 2009’s Battle Studies. He did a really good job trying to recreate the sound of 1980s arena rock and soft rock. The marketing campaign to go along with the release was clever, utilizing references to cassette tapes on posters, even including a fake sticker on the album cover, and very retro music videos (who watches music videos anymore?). A lot of people made the comparison to Toto’s “Africa” on the lead album single “Last Train Home,” but I also heard a lot of Steve Winwood’s solo period influences throughout the album. Other songs I love include “Shouldn’t Matter but It Does,” “New Light,” “Wild Blue,” “Shot in the Dark,” “I Guess I Just Feel Like,” and “Carry Me Away.”

1. Jubilee — Japanese Breakfast

This was a big year for Michelle Zauner. Her memoir (Crying in H Mart) about her relationship with and the death of her mother was a New York Times best seller and she also released Jubilee with her band Japanese Breakfast. While the book and the album are totally unrelated, I did just want to say that I loved the book. One of my favorite reads this year. It does make me want to go back through Zauner’s early catalog to the album that was also inspired by her mother. Jubilee is a fun record with lots of different sounds. It sways between feeling dance-y and an easy listen. It’s also a joyous record, which is an interesting juxtaposition from the grief in Crying in H Mart. The opener “Paprika,” lead single “Be Sweet,” and “Savage Good Boy” were all my favorites from this fantastic album.

And there we have it! Hope to see you next year, where I’ll likely have some guest opinions from Baby Vince, who is scheduled for release in early April.

Full List:

1. Jubilee — Japanese Breakfast

2. Sob Rock — John Mayer

3. GLOW ON — Turnstile

4. SOUR — Olivia Rodrigo

5. Break Our Fall — Dispatch

6. Home Video — Lucy Dacus

7. TV — Tai Verdes

8. Afrique Victime — Mdou Moctar