GEOFF CARTER

10. Perfume Genius, Ugly Season Composed for a contemporary dance piece, Michael Alden Hadreas’ latest continues his journey into musical territory that can only be described as “like Perfume Genius, only prettier and weirder.”

9. Soccer Mommy, Sometimes, Forever Sophie Allison delivers what’s pretty darn close to a perfect indie pop record, but I still hate that performing name.

8. Fontaines D.C., Skinty Fia This Irish post-punk outfit speaks directly to the part of me that was formed by a love of The Smiths and The Stone Roses. The raw-yet-tuneful Skinty Fia is the most clearly I’ve heard the band.

7. The Weeknd, Dawn FM I shouldn’t be susceptible to The Weeknd’s 1980s revivalism, having grown up in that decade. But Dawn FM proves, once again, that he has a better understanding than most of what made the music of that era great.

6. Taylor Swift, Midnights Look past the headlines and the hype and you’ll see a monument. Midnights feels like a culmination of Swift’s career, while offering several tantalizing indicators of where she might go next.

5. Attlas, Carry It With You Canadian DJ and producer Jeff Hartford finds the sweet spot between searing progressive house and dreamy downtempo, and practically builds a church atop it.

4. Kendrick Lamar, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers One of these days Kendrick might miss the mark, but listening to this tight, funky and beguiling 19-song set, I can’t begin to imagine how.

3. Beyoncé, Renaissance Every single song on this record is an electrified, shimmering exclamation point.

2. The Smile, A Light for Attracting Attention If this dark, twisting, almost-jazzy rock charmer is what’s to become of Radiohead, then I’m OK with it.

1. Beach House, Once Twice Melody The Baltimore goth-pop duo has delivered its best record, an absolute legend in its own time. Kids in upstart bands will be puzzling over these songs in 20 years, trying to figure out how to replicate their magic.

CASE KEEFER

10. Brutus, Unison Life The performance of drummer/vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts remains as jaw-dropping as on 2019 breakout album Nest, but the songs are more consistently dynamic here.

9. Denzel Curry, Melt My Eyez See Your Future The Miami rapper deftly re-creates himself on every release, with Melt settling into a comfortable medium between the party vibe of 2019’s Zuu and the ambitious exploration of 2018’s Ta13oo.

8. Pianos Become the Teeth, Drift Enveloping in its initial melancholy yet eventually uplifting in its concluding hopefulness, the latest album from the screamo-turned-post-rock Baltimore band is the perfect soundtrack for long, dark nights of introspection.

7. Gang of Youths, Angel in Realtime Lead vocalist/guitarist David Le’aupepe had already proven his songwriting chops and now shows that his storytelling ability is on par with a globe-trotting adventure of an album about coping with the death of his father while discovering secrets about his life.

6. Gospel, The Loser Purists from subgenres ranging from hardcore to progressive rock surely recoil at this absolutely wild sonic ride, a release as enigmatic as the New York band, which disappeared for the better part of 15 years before this release.

5. SpiritWorld, Deathwestern The thrashy local outfit is taking over the metal world with a set of songs that sound like Slayer if the band was raised on late-’90s/early-’00s American hardcore and Western films instead of British metal and serial killers.

4. Caracara, New Preoccupations The five-year wait between full-length releases from these Philadelphia emo favorites seemed like forever but proved well worth it given New Preoccupations’ beautiful compositions and devastating lyrics.

3. MJ Lenderman, Boat Songs There’s a Southern charm in the Asheville, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter’s snappy tales that’s distinctive, infectious and sometimes hilarious.

2. Hot Water Music, Feel the Void Rarely, if ever, has a beloved punk-rock band recaptured enough raw energy to release an album this lively nearly 30 years into its career; new member Chris Cresswell breathes fresh life into the Gainesville, Florida, institution.

1. Chat Pile, God’s Country It’s a joy to hear the brawny-sounding Oklahoma City quartet bludgeon through heavy-music boundaries that never should have existed in the first place, proudly and loudly drawing on everything from the noisiness of Black Flag to the weirdness of Korn, the unhinged nature of Converge to the middle-America earnestness of Modern Life Is War.

Spencer Patterson

10. The Sadies, Colder Streams Released five months after the death of 48-year-old frontman Dallas Good, this set of dark and dusty tunes caps the career of a reliably excellent Canadian alt-country outfit whose legend should only grow in the years to come.

9. Cate Le Bon, Pompeii Another winner from the Welsh-born singer-songwriter, straddling the line between art and pop with songs that ought to appeal to listeners in both camps.

8. Binker and Moses, Feeding the Machine Drummer Moses Boyd and sax man Binker Golding get (deserved) top billing, but props to electronicist Max Luthert for setting the London jazz combo’s latest apart by adding a backdrop of otherworldly flourishes.

7. Perfume Genius, Ugly Season The more one listens, the more one gleans from an album that, while sometimes disorienting in its sequencing, comes together on the strength of its creativity.

6. Kikagaku Moyo, Kumoyo Island The next time you have friends over, play this final record from the Tokyo psych masters, and don’t invite back anyone who isn’t taken with its wide-ranging charms.

5. Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You Alternately harrowing and comforting, this double-LP from Brooklyn’s folk-rock faves suggests they won’t possibly be able to beat it, while making the case that they’ll surely find a way.

4. Beach House, Once Twice Melody Like Big Thief’s opus, it could probably be trimmed down a tad, but the wealth of Grade A material might put it at the top of the dream-pop gods’ all-time album rankings.

3. Širom, The Liquified Throne of Simplicity This experimental Slovenian trio went searching during the pandemic shutdown, and returned with new instruments, fresh ideas and the most unusually addictive set of songs on this—or likely, many other—lists this year.

2. Richard Dawson, The Ruby Cord The 41-minute(!) opener, “The Hermit,” would merit serious consideration on its own, and the English folk hero takes us on additional heart-stirring journeys over the next six tracks, to a nightmarish future that caps off a time-traveling trilogy that began with 2017’s stellar The Peasant.

1. Guided by Voices, Tremblers and Goggles by Rank As longtime readers might know, Robert Pollard makes my top 10 lists on the regular, but this is just the second time in 20 years I’ve had him at No. 1 (see: 2011’s Let It Beard). Tremblers’ proggy mini-epics combine catchy bits much the way Pollard pastes together scraps for his collage artworks, and they mark an exciting next chapter for the superhuman songwriter.

Favorite Archival Release: Cecil Taylor, The Complete, Legendary Live Return Concert

Favorite Live Album: Anna von Hausswolff, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival

Favorite Vinyl Reissue: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Strangers From the Universe

AMBER SAMPSON

10. Satin Jackets, Reunion Tim Bernhardt’s latest electronic dance project is a natural boost of serotonin. Reunion’s soothing soundscapes are just gentle enough to leave on in the background but always there for a spontaneous downtempo boogie if the mood strikes.

9. Palace, Shoals Leo Wyndham’s tender falsetto coasts up and down this languid indie-rock offering that feels equal parts poetic and introspective thanks to dynamic production, tactful songwriting and clean-yet-varied instrumentation that keeps the ear guessing.

8. Nija, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You Having penned songs for artists like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Cardi B, Nija saved her best work for this confident solo debut, rife with polished post-breakup R&B bops showcasing her ability to bend anything into a club-ready singalong.

7. Maggie Rogers, Surrender Rogers liberates herself on this sophomore LP, unsmoothing the edges of 2019’s Heard It in a Past Life for a more stripped-down, alternative sound, infused with the barefaced vulnerability of her Notes From the Archive compilation.

6. Carly Rae Jepsen, The Loneliest Time This flirty follow-up to 2019’s Dedicated recaptures the oomph of what made Jepsen such a buoyant and lovable star. The Loneliest Time is at its most ambitious when she leans into her pop powers, offering tracks with disco-dotted beats and shimmering synths worthy of a replay.

5. Foals, Life Is Yours “Wake Me Up” punches through the reverie with a ravey, boot-stomping call to action, and the glossy, funk licks of “2001” put the party into full swing. The only thing missing on the dancefloor is you.

4. Harry Styles, Harry’s House Styles amplifies his creativity on this texturally rich studio release teeming with jubilant horns and groovy baselines that recall the sexy and playful sides of a blossoming new relationship.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cool It Down I can see the brink on epic opener “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” and I can imagine bursting through the trees on synth-powered dance track “Wolf.” There’s a vivid story playing out here after nine years between albums.

2. The Weeknd, Dawn FM Conceptually rich and full of risks, Dawn FM drops us into the aftermath of After Hours—a purgatory, to be more specific. With help from Jim Carrey during eerie radio commercial breaks, The Weekend succeeds at building a world with his songs, choosing ’80s New Wave funk as the vehicle for his existential journey.

1. Warpaint, Radiate Like This Warpaint’s collective synergy pronounces itself on the band’s first album in six years, even though the musicians recorded their parts separately during the pandemic. From the gorgeous harmonies of “Champion” to the hazy, percussion-driven “Like Sweetness,” these ladies understand one another’s strengths and play to them without overpowering a single moment.

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