This entry comes a little late into the new year. I tried to tally up a bit year-in-review like I did for 2020, but I couldn’t. I’m not sure what it was, but I didn’t listen to nearly as much music in 2021 as I did in 2020. If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with the fact that I wasn’t sitting at home for the entire year. During lockdown, there wasn’t much to do but listen to new releases. Now that life has moved closer to normal (although we are by no means out of the woods) my time was filled with other things. Visiting with friends, heading out of a bar, and, egads, actually going into work monopolized more of my time this year.

So I don’t have 20 albums that I recommend from this past year. Sorry. I published more individual reviews this year as music was released, so look back at my recent few posts to see a few albums that certainly would have ended up on such a list. I do, however, have my best 5 albums of 2021, listed by order of release. I’ve included a playlist at a bottom that contains a couple choice selections from each. Even though I didn’t sample as much, I stand by these picks as much as anything. If you missed them, do yourself a favor and check them out. Or, use this as a reminder to revisit them, as I surely will be doing in between whatever 2022 throws our way.

There’s a new sound taking shape on the fringes of the rock world, one that integrates the intellectualism of post-punk, the far ranging epic compositions of post-rock, and the skronk and cool of jazz, with boundary pushing experimentalism. The leaders of this new pack are black midi, who put out a decent sophomore album this year. Yet it was taken to a new level by the British Black Country, New Road with their February debut For the First Time. With this album, Black Country, New Road presents something that feels genuinely fresh, with thrilling songs that build in tension to great effect. Singer Isaac Wood’s heady lyrics are delivered in a stentorian baritone. The band sports not only guitars and keyboard, but saxophone and violin, creating a truly unique sound. The band is already prepping the release of a follow up due next month, so I’m excited to hear where they take things.

Deafheaven burst into mainstream recognition in 2013 with their iconic Sunbather album, which is surprising for a band that fuses the pitch-dark moods and screaming vocals of black metal with the epic soundscapes of post-metal. Old-school extreme metal fans accused them of diluting the genre with “pop” aspirations, but really Deafheaven are a good band with their own vision, genre strictures be damned. Those same critics probably smashed their heads into the wall when they heard the band’s newest release, August’s Infinite Granite. It’s their least heavy yet, although very much still in the realm of metal (especially compared to most rock in the year 2021). Much of Infinite Granite is quite beautiful, with ethereal guitar and George Clarke’s clean vocals leading the listener through the many emotions traversed over its runtime. It’s an ideal rainy day record, one that perfectly compliments the muted misty grays and cerebral mindset such weather inspires. I also imagine that it would be a great listen if you’re feeling down, as the heavy emotionality balms you, then the triumphantly bombastic closer “Mombasa” leaves you on an uplifting note. The jury is out on which side of the metal/not-metal debate Deafheavn is going to come down on, but I am confident that no matter what they do, they will continue to put out projects of emotional and sonic weight.

Scottish electropop band Chvrches has gone up and down in critical and commercial favor over the course of their career, but they knocked it out of the park with their forth long-player Screen Violence. It’s a bit darker in tone than their previous efforts, but the songs still hinge on Lauren Mayberry’s sweet vocals. The album explores how media and technology affect human interaction in the modern age, and the thematic unity gives the tracklist an added heft. The songs are more focused and direct than their last album, undergirded with propulsive beats and enveloping production. Add in a feature assist from The Cure’s Robert Smith on “How Not to Drown,” and you have a great modern synth-pop record.

Parquet Courts have proven themselves to be one of the best indie rock bands going, and they continue their streak on Sympathy for Life. Rock has been around for so long that it’s pretty much impossible to do something truly unique with the form, but when you have a group as good as Parquet Courts, you don’t really have to. They take everything great about loose and wooly rock – ragged guitar riffs, slacker cool lyrics, earworm melodies, groovy rhythm – and wrap it all up with some Talking Heads-influenced danciness. Since their career making debut in 2011, each release has seemed to focus on a different aspect of their sound, from songcraft to experimenting with production, to jamming. Sympathy for Life reconsolidates it all into one punchy record. If you haven’t gotten on top of Parquet Courts yet, wise up.

My Morning Jacket appeared on my year end best of list in 2020, for their surprisingly solid comeback The Waterfall II. However, that pales in comparison to their self-titled release from 2021. I’ve often felt that MMJ teeter between soppy, bleached out ballads; wild, rangey jams; and punchy alt-rock singles. Only on their best stuff (It Still Moves, Z) do the three modes intersect. Include this record in that collection now, as it seems that My Morning Jacket has hit a late career peak that’s as good as they’ve ever been. Like other artists, the band focuses their album on examining the state of the world and how we have changed from decades past. “Regularly Scheduled Programming” is a great lead single, “Love Love Love” rides on a chugging groove, and “Complex” finds time to get weird. The real highlights are the three extended songs: the guitar forward “In Color,” the spacey, elastic “The Devil’s in the Details,” and the grand closing number “I Never Could Get Enough.” The production is colorful and lush, the songs are sturdy, the band is synergistic, and Jim James is in good voice throughout. My Morning Jacket has always been a band that I liked, but never loved. This album spurred me to dive back into their catalog and reevaluate the arch of their career. It takes a special kind of release to completely change my relationship with an artist, and for that (as well as just being really good) My Morning Jacket is my favorite album of 2021. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LEjsTPwcykx6eCBoJxIJA?si=fa3986afa1bd4cbb