There was a lot of great music released last year, and already a slew of great releases lined up for 2022; Aldous Harding, Big Thief, and Jenny Hval on 4AD, Black Country, New Road’s 2nd LP with Ninja Tune, and Lucky Lo’s upcoming debut on Danish stalwart label Tambourhinocerous. Not to mention we already got Bonobo’s new album Fragments also on Ninja Tune, but I digress.
I’m only going to cover a handful, so without further ado…
Holy shit, what a debut. A friend hipped me to this and since hearing it after I already posted my favorite albums list on Facebook, I regret this not topping the list because I’ve had it on repeat for several days. She’s Gone, Decide, and Silence is Golden are a series of wonderful, in your face rockers with nonstop hooks, but the songwriting here deserves a place in the indie rock pantheon. Speed Reader stands toe-to-toe with some of the best writing by the Replacements, Sunny Day Real Estate, early Weezer, you name it. These guys will go pound-for-pound against any of the greats and come out not too shabby at all.
I read somewhere that some of the lyrics on this album came from Lucy Dacus’ diary when she was in high school, and all I can say is I wish I could have written songs like First Time when I was 14. “Broke into the screened-in porch/Now I’m crawling through the dog door/I may let you see me on my knees/But you’ll never see me on all fours” That’s brilliant. Not to mention Hot & Heavy which is equally heartbreaking and uplifting in its tenderness and beauty.
This was by far the most pleasant surprise of 2021 for me. I don’t even remember how I came across this on Instagram, it was either a sponsored post or I was accidentally tagged in something and I wound up on Margo Ross’ page and it turned out she was gearing to release her debut album. I have to say this totally worked out in my favor; Ross is an accomplished folk musician, lyricist, and singer. She makes use of these exasperated sighs as part of her delivery that really drive home the emotion she puts into her songs, and I could listen to her banjo playing all day.
4. Black Country, New Road — For the First Time
I’m not going to attempt to explain this. This band fucking rocks.
The Seeming and the Meaning 
You must be logged in to post a comment.