The Music That Made My Year

This year, I consumed plenty of music. 74, 595 minutes to be exact, according to my Spotify Wrapped. To be entirely honest, I had some pretty strange listening habits and I was apprehensive coming into this year’s Wrapped season (don’t worry, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought). For most of the year, it felt like I would go through periods of time where I would listen to about 4 songs for a solid 2 weeks, and then those 4 would rotate out and another 4 would take their place. If you’re curious, I got Shapeshifter as my listening personality where it politely called my taste “erratic.”

As I came to the end of this year and looked back on what I listened to most, I tried to think about what it was about those songs that seemed to drive hooks into my brain to the point where they were the only thing I cared to listen to. So, I decided to do what any writer would do when she has the ability to write for a radio station and compiled a list of all my favorite music from the year to share it with you all. Full disclosure, a lot of this music did not come out this year. Nonetheless, they wormed their way into my head and refused to let me go. So, without further ado, here are my favorite albums, artists, and songs from this year.

Albums

Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain

I had the great fortune of seeing Ethel Cain live at Austin City Limits this year and she was -without a doubt – one of the greatest performers I’ve seen at ACL in my 4 years there. Even though I was sitting back on the lawn, a ways away from the main crowd, I felt completely captured by her voice and stage presence. I had heard a bit of Ethel Cain’s music before seeing her – namely “American Teenager” and “Crush” – but after seeing her live, I became an instant fan.

I listened to all of Preacher’s Daughter one day and I truly think it is one of the best albums I’ve listened to in a while. If you’re a fan of (mostly) continuous albums that tell a story, you’ll find a lot to digest with Preacher’s Daughter (for those who know the story, pun very much intended). The album tells the story of the fictional character Ethel Cain and her life as the daughter of a southern Baptist preacher (which pulls from the real singer behind Cain – Hayden Anhedonia’s – real life), along with her pained love life and the awful man she encounters as she travels the American West. Some of my favorite tracks on the album are “American Teenager,” “A House in Nebraska,” “Thoroughfare,” and “Sun Bleached Flies.” It’s a bit of an investment at a 1-hour & 15-minute run time, but personally, I find that it’s worth every single minute.

Dandelion by The Greeting Committee

For those looking for a lighter vibe than the unfortunate tale of a fictional character, I can’t recommend Dandelion by The Greeting Committee enough. As a self-proclaimed “indie kid” in high school, I knew a bit about The Greeting Committee (TGC), but not enough to truly appreciate their artistry. Lead singer Addie Sartino has such a beautiful indie-pop voice and somehow does what Robyn does with “Dancing on My Own” by getting you to shimmy and shake to some of the saddest lyrics ever written. Dandelion is indie-pop at its finest and, in my opinion, TGC’s best album to date. While some may argue that This Is It is their magnum opus, I would argue that Dandelion is a slept-on masterpiece. Tracks like “Make Out” and “Float Away” have you dancing in your seat mere minutes before the album effortlessly flows into songs like “Sort of Stranger” and “Ada,” being so bold as to open with the track “Can I Leave Me Too?” and closing with a beautiful, melodic cover of MGMT’s “Kids.” With a few single releases this year and more on the way, you’d be foolish not to add The Greeting Committee to your list of artists to watch in the next few years.

Unreal Unearth by Hozier

While we’re on the topic of an artist’s magnum opus, let’s talk about my favorite album from this year – Hozier’s third studio album, Unreal Unearth. Anyone who’s been following me or listening to my show for any amount of time will know that Hozier is one of my favorite artists of all time, making it as my number one artist in my Wrapped for probably the 4^th time in the last 7 years. As someone whose first spiritual musical awakening was Hozier’s first, self-titled album, and as someone who admittedly had to grow to love Wasteland, Baby, I had high expectations for this album. From the moment he released the clip of “Unknown” on TikTok, I knew Hozier fans were in for a treat.

My first introduction to this album was the 3-song EP Hozier released back in March of this year and I was blown away. “Eat Your Young” was an instant hit, and, though it didn’t make it onto the album, “Through Me (The Flood)” was the perfect introduction to the sonic and literary journey that Mr. Andrew Hozier-Byrne was going to take us all on. This album is very closely based on Divine Comedy: The Inferno by Dante. Hozier guides us through the album the way Virgil leads Dante through Hell, spelling out heartbreak and working through traumatic events from his childhood. If you’d like a more detailed review of this album, you can read my other article “Unreal Unearth: Hozier Took Us To Church, Then Guided Us Through Hell” here. My personal favorite tracks are “Abstract (Psychopomp),” “I, Carrion (Icarian),” “Who We Are,” and “First Light.” (And yes, I also had to look up what a psychopomp is). Whether all you’ve heard from Hozier is “Take Me To Church” or you’ve heard his entire discography, Unreal Unearth is worth a listen (or two…or three).

Guts by Olivia Rodrigo

It would have been hard to escape this year without hearing Olivia Rodrigo’s name a handful of times, and for good reason. With a new album, a song for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and an appearance on Saturday Night Live, Rodrigo has had quite a year, with no sign of slowing down with her global tour next year. I enjoyed her debut album, Sour, and followed her loosely, but in all honesty, this album wasn’t on my radar until its release and the following acclaim coming from the media and my friends.

Until recently, I haven’t been one to listen to albums all the way through in one sitting. Once I gave Guts a listen, I listened to it 4 more times that week.

Given her age and her history as a Disney star, I fear that many people wrote Olivia Rodrigo off as a tween sensation, but the songwriting and diversity within this album shows just how much effort she puts into her craft. The single release “vampire” established the album as a very close sequel to Sour, a breakup album with surprisingly moving ballads sprinkled in. Olivia Rodrigo has the incredible ability to have you dancing and screaming in the club to “bad idea right?” and then crying in your room listening to “making the bed” and “logical.”

In my opinion, this is the definition of a “no skips” album. There’s a song for practically every mood on this album, and for those fortunate enough to snag an exclusive vinyl, there’s even more to enjoy with the hidden bonus tracks. Rodrigo has graduated from being a broken-hearted high schooler to a lyrical master, sneaking her way into my top albums of the year.

Artists

Gang of Youths

Early in the year, I rediscovered the song “Achilles Come Down” by Gang of Youths and decided to check out some of their other songs. I heard the song “Magnolia” and was instantly hooked (it ended up being my third most listened to song this year). Again, it’s one of those “shimmying-to-a-devastating-story” songs, detailing singer David Le’aupepe’s struggles with his mental health. For anyone who’s a fan of Cub Sport, Wet Leg, or The Strokes, there’s a chance you’ll enjoy the music of New Zealand’s very own Gang of Youths.

Songs I Recommend:

Magnolia
Let Me Down Easy
The Heart Is A Muscle
All My Friends (cover of the LCD Soundsystem song)

Bleachers

I have my roommate to thank for this one. I knew a few hits from Bleachers and even had the fortune of seeing them at How The Edge Stole Christmas in Dallas way back in 2014, but I never appreciated the true beauty of Bleachers until this year. Lead singer Jack Antonoff is one of the greatest producers of our time, having worked with the likes of Lorde, Taylor Swift, Florence + The Machine, and even worked as the drummer of Fun. Thanks to my roommate showing me a few of their deep-cuts, and the knowledge that I’ll be seeing them again in May, I sat down and listened to all 3 of their studio albums in as many days, and I now firmly believe that they will go down as one of my favorite bands of all time. There’s something about the way Antonoff writes these hooks that become complete earworms in the best way possible. Songs like “45,” “Wake Me” and their recent single “Alma Mater” have a certain simplicity to them that invites you to listen again and again, finding new things to love with each listen. My personal ranking of their albums is Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, followed by Strange Desire and Gone Now, but truly, each of these albums is incredible in their own right. If you’re a fan of Bruce Springsteen, you’ll likely find more to enjoy in Saturday Night, while fans of Lorde or Coin will find more to love with Strange Desire and Gone Now. If and when you decide to listen, be prepared to have this music consume your life for at least a few days (or in my case, almost a whole month).

Songs I Recommend:

Stop Making This Hurt
Modern Girl
Everybody Lost Somebody
Let’s Get Married

Noah Kahan

I’d be remiss not to add one of my top artists of the year to this list, the one and only “Folk Malone” – Noah Kahan. Stick Season is an absolutely beautiful album and makes me want to move to New England just to fully grasp all the emotion that Kahan puts into these songs. He’s another artist who’s had an incredible year, especially with all the special guests he’s had at his shows, including Hozier, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mt. Joy, and Mumford & Sons (which I was lucky enough to see live, and yes, I did cry). Noah Kahan’s meteoric rise is absolutely well-deserved, and I cannot wait to see what he does in these next few years.

Songs I Recommend:

Northern Attitude
Come Over
Maine
Strawberry Wine
Growing Sideways

Artist Honorable Mentions

There were a few artists I truly loved this year, but in the interest of keeping this brief, I’ll run through them really quick.

Maggie Rogers (Songs: Love You For A Long Time, Back in My Body)
Lorde (Songs: The Louvre, Buzzcut Season)
Lana Del Rey (Songs: Cinnamon Girl, American)
Father John Misty (Songs: Hollywood Cemetery Forever Sings, Buddy’s Rendezvous)
The Lumineers (Songs: Big Parade, Sleep On The Floor)
Zach Bryan (Songs: Holy Roller, Sarah’s Place)
Colter Wall (Songs: Corralling The Blues, Caroline)
Sharon Van Etten (Songs: Seventeen, Mistakes)

Songs

To close us out, I’ll just share a few songs that I seemed to listen to non-stop this year. I won’t bore you with an in-depth analysis of all of these, but I do hope you’ll check them out!