2018 was a deceptively great year for music. There wasn’t a runaway favorite for Best Album of the Year like there was last year, when Kendrick Lamar’s DAMNstole the spotlight and never gave it up. But in that vacuum, it allowed a bunch of new and/or underappreciated artists to fill the void. And people really stepped up their game. This year was filled with great music by artists looking to either push their own personal boundaries or to challenge the limits of their genres.
Since there were so many great records out this year, it felt wrong to only limit myself to ten, or even fifteen albums like I have in the past. So this year there are a few more than usual.
Here are my favorite albums of 2018.
Apologies to the following artists as well, who barely missed this list: Octavian (Spaceman), A.A.L. (2012-2017), Travis Scott (Astroworld), DJ Koze (Knock Knock), Snail Mail (Lush)
20.TA13OO– Denzel Curry
Denzel’s been around the hip hop game for a while, but I didn’t really get into his work until this release. It’s structured as some sort of concept album, with a Light side, Gray side, and Black side that progressively gets darker and more sonically disruptive. The “concept” part of the album isn’t fully realized, but it doesn’t matter. This is a solid record from front to back.
19. Double Negative– Low
Low has also been around for a WHILE, in the slow-core scene. I listened to them over a decade ago, but hadn’t really kept in touch. Until now. This is what I told friends upon listening to Double Negative for the first time: “It’s a slow burn. But it works really well as a full album experience. By the end, it feels like your nerve endings are exposed.” It’s got such a haunting, atmospheric sound. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s a great winter-in-the-frozen-tundra album.
18. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships– The 1975
Aside from their catchy pop rock single “Chocolate” from a few years ago, I’ve never really bought into the rise of The 1975. It’s just not my style, generally speaking. Maybe it would’ve been in 2001. But they just so happened to write one of the most 2018-relevant albums of the year. And more than anything, the songs are just fun to listen to.
17. Devotion– Tirzah
This is such an understated art pop album that the production on it tends to sound kind of…simple…upon first listening to it. But this is a carefully constructed and strangely catchy record that has a way of burying itself into your head the more you listen to it.
16. 7 – Beach House
The knock on Beach House albums has been that the songs all kind of sound the same. And honestly that may still be somewhat accurate. But their latest album, 7, does manage to throw some new ideas out there. And heck, even if the songs do sometimes sound similar, it’s a damn good sound to focus on.
15. El Mal Querer– Rosalía
I was very skeptical of the buzz around this album at first. It seemed liked exactly the type of album that critics would latch on to and promote the heck out of, but which wouldn’t have much appeal to non-critics. But I was wrong. Simply put, this album is fantastic. Even though it’s in Spanish, my whole family sings along to tracks like “Piensu en tu mira.” Even if we mostly don’t know what Rosalía is saying.
14. Saturn– Nao
I was a big fan of Nao’s 2016 album For All We Know, and her sophomore album Saturn is a worthy follow-up. Her unique voice and “wonky funk” musical style (her own description) are just like ear candy to me. I keep changing my mind on which song I like best, which is always a good sign for an album.
13. iridescence– Brockhampton
When their best pure rapper, Ameer Van, was expelled from the group earlier this year following allegations of abuse, many questioned the sustained viability of this self-proclaimed “boy band” (this ain’t your parents’ “boy band” though). And maybe some still do. But this was an album I actually stayed up to listen to for the Thursday midnight release. And I was super into it. It’s a very raw, emotional, and yet still tightly crafted explosion of creativity. They recorded it at Abbey Road over a short period of time, and the album reflects a really exciting communal vibe. And in my opinion, this listening experience was one of the most fun I’ve had all year.
12. Negro Swan– Blood Orange
This is the follow-up to Dev Hynes’s acclaimed album Freetown Sound. But I actually prefer this album to that one. It’s more concise, and more fully conceptualized and fully realized. It’s best listened to from beginning to end, but there are certainly some highlights – “Charcoal Baby” and “Saint” in particular.
11. Lavender– Half Waif
This is an album that might have flown a bit under the radar this year. But it’s a gorgeous record, both delicate and powerful, dark and hopeful. It’s the type of album that just throws song after song of haunting, buzzing synth-pop that drills its way into your heart, and with each song pulling you in, you tend to forget about the incredible song you just listened to, and the incredible songs to come.
10. FM!– Vince Staples
Look, I just like Vince Staples. He’s had a spot on my Top 10 list for three years running. This is what most would consider a “lesser work” in the Staples catalog (though it’s still had considerable critical success). But it’s unlike any album we’ve heard in quite some time. The whole thing is a concept album, and the concept is this: You turn on your radio as your cruising around Long Beach on a summer afternoon. The station is Real 92.3, and Big Boy is slinging Staples tracks, with the occasional interlude to promote a new Earl Sweatshirt album, or to give away tickets to an upcoming Kehlani concert. It’s 22 minutes of pure enjoyment.
9. Honey– Robyn
The Swedish pop star returns for her first LP since 2010. But for me this might as well have been a debut. I had never really gotten into her music until this release. Once I started listening to it, I couldn’t help but fall further and further under its spell. It makes you want to dance, to sing along, to scream and cry with joy and hope. It’s just a damn fine pop album, made by an experienced pop star that has not lost her edge or relevancy.
8. Care for Me– Saba
“I’m so alone,” he says at the beginning. That sentiment pervades the structure and heart of this wonderful collection of songs. It’s a true album. These “best album” lists I make tend to reward the albums where the songs feel connected and part of a larger whole. I get the sense that Saba is the type of person that will retreat inward and bury himself in his room to create music – what I imagine would be his own form of self-therapy. But then he’ll emerge again, having learned something from the art he created, or at least from the process by which he created that art.
7. OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES– SOPHIE
This album is…something else. SOPHIE has produced genre-bending hits for the likes of Beyonce, Madonna, Charli XCX, Vince Staples, and Let’s Eat Grandma (which I will get to later). Now she’s got her own full length. And it’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard. There are genuine pop bangers right alongside walls of symphonic sound, crushing and overwhelming in their aural power. This is not for the faint of heart. But SOPHIE is the future of pop music, whether we’re ready for her or not.
6. Room 25– Noname
Some say Chicagoan lyricist Fatimah Nyeema Warner, better known by her stage name Noname, is one of the most talented new rappers in the game today. I’d be inclined to agree. With her spoken word background, her style is more like poetry and soulful jazz than anything else. This album comes off the heels of her 2016 standout debut Telefone, and it finds her much more comfortable in her style and identity. Room 25just works so well as an album, but it also features some great singles, such as “Don’t Forget About Me” and “Ace,” where she’s supported by two other great rappers who had albums out this year, Saba and Smino.
5. I’m All Ears– Let’s Eat Grandma
I know. That’s a weird name for a band. It is. Let’s just get that out of the way. Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth comprise this exciting British pop duo. They are not yet 20 years old, and yet they’ve already released their second album to widespread critical acclaim. There are some absolutely dazzling pop ballads featured, including a couple songs produced by none other than SOPHIE (#7 on this list). It’s a glitzy and ambitious album by two artists at the top of their game, with so much game left to be played.
4.Cocoa Sugar– Young Fathers
Scottish trio Young Fathers sound like a combination of TV on the Radio and Animal Collective. If you like both of those bands, Young Fathers may be for you! They have a very distinct, imaginative sound. It’s strange in that they toe a very blurry line between sounding kind of annoying and sounding completely beautiful. I’m not a huge fan of the second track, “Fee Fi,” filled with discordant, aggressive harmonies and fuzzy tribal drums, but much like many of the tracks on this album, by the end of the song it has coalesced into something almost heartbreaking and bittersweet, which sets a precedent for rest of the album. Buried in the middle of “Holy Ghost” are two of my favorite melodies of the year, surrounded by more in-your-face production. You just have to listen through these tracks, and give Young Fathers a chance to show you their true heart.
3. Daytona– Pusha T
Push is on fire on this album. He’s out here with a flamethrower, just slaying on every track. Backed by the best Kanye production work this year, Daytona is just seven straight bangers. It’s like they produced a full album, with 15 or 16 songs, and trimmed everything but the very best down into a 21-minute “Best of” compilation. It’s like an atom bomb in the shape of a firecracker. There are still lingering effects from the veiled Drake diss on “Infrared,” which was followed up with a track not featured on the album “The Story of Adidon,” which was a…uh, NOT so veiled diss track. So this album has somewhat fallen under the shadow of that feud, given Pusha’s proximity to Kanye. But all that ridiculousness aside, the album still stands as one of the best of 2018.
2. Clean– Soccer Mommy
Here’s the reason why this is one of the best albums of the year (heck, there could be an argument for #1): I love every song on this album. They’re all just such great indie rock songs. With all the burgeoning genres and unique new sounds in 2018, it’s still nice to listen to “guitar music” too. And Sophie Allison somehow manages to sound new and refreshing, and downright kickass, not just in her own genre, but in the music landscape at large. Even in a very competitive year for music. And it’s her debut album! Wow. Very bright future here.
1. Be the Cowboy– Mitski
I love Mitski’s words. Her lyrics always seem so personal, even though it’s clear that they are carefully constructed to convey a feeling or tell a story – and not necessarily just about her own life, but about life in general. On Be the Cowboy, Mitski eschews most of her traditional fuzzy guitar distortion and adds in more piano, more melody, more complexity. It’s a tightly focused collection of rock and pop songs that feels so much longer than its 32-minute runtime, and when “Two Slow Dancers” has torn you down and broken your heart, you find yourself picking up the pieces, and starting the whole thing over again. It’s only 32 minutes, after all. And it’s the best album of the year.