The beauty of music – it absorbs all the changes and the emotions around us and can become the upspoken truth of the current state of society. With all these challenges, some of the best music was released which will be immortalized within our minds, connecting us to 2020. As a music fan, and one who curates music for a living, my personal music taste varies in sounds and style. This year my tastes seem to have morphed into an explorative palette not defined by any one sound – which seems pretty fitting for this year. These were the albums that were the emotional lift needed to push me through the year. Now, picking one album to focus on can be difficult, but one connected with me more than others…
OPEN THIS MONTH’S PLAYLIST IN YOUR BROWSER >
Artist: Lianne La Havas
Album: Lianne La Havas
Track: Read My Mind
Twitter: @liannelahavas
These times are filled with so much uncertainty and disarray, yet it’s possible to find a sound that drives your day and ebbs and flows into a sensual melancholy – this is Lianne La Havas. This whimsical hybrid of jazz, folk and R&B, the album soars through the emotions of changes and breakup, with powerful simplicity yet complexity within the lyrics. Tracks, such as “Read My Mind,” are musically layered with an elegant piano and string arrangement and allow Lianne La Hava’s earthy vocals to float effortlessly over the melody. The album ventures through whimsical guitar and vocals in “Green Papaya” then towards songs such as the powerful cover of Radio Head “Weird Fishes,” which is both ethereal and mysterious with subtle textures that create an edgy bombastic track full of emotions. The album ends with two powerful tracks that act as the emotional embrace of something new upon the horizon – “Sour Flower” and “Bittersweet.” This is the album of change, the album of calm and enchantment for 2020.
Top 10 Albums of 2020
1. Lianne La Havas – Lianne La Havas
2. Moses Sumney – Grae
3. Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia
4. Ganser – Just Look At That Sky
5. Monophonics – It’S Only Us
6. Pheobe Bridgers – Punisher
7. Perfume Genius – Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
8. Spillage Village – Spilligion
9. Fleet Foxes – Shore
10. Khruangbin – Mordechai
