This year, the music world had some things to say, mostly reminders to take care of ourselves, not give up, and be as fabulous as humanly possible. The year started and finished strong with triumphant anthems of affirmation—while political and social discourse became more violent and vindictive than ever, musicians seemed to further enact narratives of self-care and reflection. Rather than responding to and commentating a climate of hate, they asked audiences to explore radical alternatives, embodying a healthier, happier existence by simply doing it for ourselves. 2019 was the year of self-love.
40 · jeremy messersmith · Sweep Me Off My Feet
Sweet and tender as always, Jeremy takes himself on a perfect date in this lullabiac single.
♫ LISTEN: “Sweep Me Off My Feet”
39 · Tierra Whack · Wasteland
If you didn’t hear Whack World in 2018, go listen to it now. This year, Tierra is back at it with an equally groovy and sassy single.
♫ LISTEN: “Wasteland”
38 · Voces 8 / Jake Runestad · Let My Love Be Heard
As always, Voces 8 brings impeccable clarity and powerfully expressive singing to the recording studio, this year on their newest album, featuring the stunning counterpoint of Jake Runestad.
♫ LISTEN: “Let My Love Be Heard”
37 · Sara Bareilles · Amidst the Chaos
Baby-voiced Bareilles pops off with a powerfully feminist album celebrating motherhood and the perseverance of strong women. The album has more than one standout track and is unforgettable from start to finish.
♫ LISTEN: “Armor”
36 · Lana Del Rey · Norman Fucking Rockwell!
I don’t know what to say about Lana Del Rey or the fact that I’m still listening to her music unironically. Her newest album has a contagious energy that’s hard to put into words—simultaneously aloof and painfully self-aware, both ironic and sentimental. But, then, that’s what makes Lana so relevant to pop culture: she acts like she doesn’t care, but we all know she does, desperately.
♫ LISTEN: “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have — but I have it”
35 · Solange · Things I Imagined
Solange’s latest record is, in a word, overwrought. And the “visual album” that accompanies it, despite being artful and intriguing, feels, in a word, derivative. Still, the opening track is a keeper and plays up Solange’s best offerings—experimental yet accessible freeform composition.
♫ LISTEN: “Things I Imagined”
34 · half·alive · still feel.
For now, half·alive is a one-hit wonder, and will likely remain so as long as they are putting Christian alternative rock & roll tracks on their full-length studio albums. Nevertheless, their one hit is a good one.
♫ LISTEN: “still feel.”
33 · Andrew Bird · My Finest Work Yet
Despite the fact that the title is almost certainly ironic, it really is Bird’s finest.
♫ LISTEN: “Sisyphus”
32 · John Mayer · I Guess I Just Feel Like
Devastating (as usual) Mayer takes a hard look at himself through the lens of his own disappointment in others. Offering no solutions, he still manages to create a beautiful, hopeful track.
♫ LISTEN: “I Guess I Just Feel Like”
31 · Bibio · Ribbons
Master of the liminal space between acoustic and electronic, Bibio is caught between two disparate worlds, one foot in a renaissance fair and the other in a 1980s shopping mall.
♫ LISTEN: “Curls”
30 · Bedouine · When You’re Gone
Haunted and sad, Bedouine paces the floor, missing you terribly, knowing that you don’t love her, you just “love how much I love you.” Ain’t it a shame?
♫ LISTEN: “When You’re Gone”
29 · Pure Bathing Culture · Night Pass
The latest from Pure Bathing Culture is hymnic and ecstatic, an enthralling religious experience.
♫ LISTEN: “Devotion”
28 · Leland Blue · Cold Comfort
Michigan darlings through and through, Leland Blue is a celebration of simple hardships, like staring at the moon, the silent treatment, being cold, etc. Stick around for high quality guitar riffs in the bridge.
♫ LISTEN: “Cold Comfort”
27 · Novo Amor / Gia Margaret · No Fun
Two voices combine into one silvery tone in this quiet reflection of family life, growing up, and making mistakes.
♫ LISTEN: “No Fun”
26 · Bon Iver · Faith
Arguably one of the most unpredictable personalities in the music industry, Bon Iver is still up to E. E. Cummingsian weirdness on his newest album, titled i,i. Some of the tracks, mostly the ones titled with actual English words, are quite sensical, even moving.
♫ LISTEN: “Faith”
25 · Jacob Collier · Sky Above
Even though the darling of YouTube, music theory geeks, and people who think they “love jazz” annoys me to no end, there can be no denying the genius of Jacob Collier. His overproduced album & tour is decidedly uninspired, and feels more like the work of a teenager than a twenty-something. Yet, “Sky Above” rises to the top with unexpected sincerity and genuine joy.
♫ LISTEN: “Sky Above”
24 · Miley Cyrus · Mother’s Daughter
In this bop, Miley joins the ranks of womyn musicians celebrating the power of motherhood in 2019. Back up, boy.
♫ LISTEN: “Mother’s Daughter”
23 · Kishi Bashi · Summer of ‘42
The birdlike tones of Kishi Bashi’s voilin and voice mingle in this curiostiy of a track. “Summer of ‘42” sounds like a postcard plucked from a bin at a flea market inscribed with a cryptic love letter—leaving you wondering whatever became of the author.
♫ LISTEN: “Summer of ‘42”
22 · Thomas Dybdahl · 45
This one sounds like it belongs in 2015 or 2016; it’s just very breathless and sexy. But the quasi-nihilistic, self-reflective lyrics definitely belong in 2019.
♫ LISTEN: “45”
21 · Scale Model · Expectations
These synth-pop babes started the year with great expectations, and arguably have met them in this scintillating single. Yet, like the rest of us, they “need a vacation.” Even if you can’t escape to a tropical destination, this track will carry you away.
♫ LISTEN: “Expectations”
20 · Siena Liggins · Laws of Attraction
Rising star Siena dropped two standout tracks this year, “Laws of Attraction,” a genuine bop, and an especially unique cover of “My Girl,” that’s equally worth a listen.
♫ LISTEN: “Laws of Attraction”
19 · Jazzmeia Horn · Free Your Mind
Jazz superstar, songwriter, and virtuoso vocalist will free more than just your mind if you take the advice provided by the wild ride of this track.
♫ LISTEN: “Free Your Mind”
18 · Sam Smith · How Do You Sleep?
Even though this iconic track is about how disappointed Sam Smith is with you, they open with the declaration, “I’m done hating myself,” and it’s good advice for everyone.
♫ LISTEN: “How Do You Sleep?”
17 · Harry Styles · Lights Up
To anyone hiding in closets of regret, shame, or struggles of personal identity, Harry would like you to please step into the light. This jubilant track with angelic choirs and an inspiring rising chord progressions is so bright it could practically cure seasonal affective disorder.
♫ LISTEN: “Lights Up”
NOTE: Do not watch the music video without birth control. You have been warned.
16 · Electric Guest · Dollar
A delightfully cheerful celebration of the freedom offered by financial destitution, Electric Guest swoops in with the most scathing critique possible of capitalism: not giving a single fuck about money.
♫ LISTEN: “Dollar”
15 · Alice Boman · I Wish We Had More Time
You’re floating through the eternal, shapeless void of space. A figure approaches you. It’s Alice Boman. She’s not wearing a space suit. She is dead. She has been dead for thousands of years. The year is 2019.
♫ LISTEN: “I Wish We Had More Time”
14 · Vampire Weekend · Harmony Hall
Everyone hates Vampire Weekend, their new album sucked, and the cover art looked dumb.
♫ LISTEN: “Harmony Hall”
13 · Joan Shelley · Like the River Loves the Sea
Joan Shelley is a blessing, and her songs sound as timeless as they do tender. Still, her lyrics are touched by the perils and the hopelessness of our time—in “The Fading,” she muses that old Kentucky is “where I’ll be when the seas rise, holding my dear friends and drinking wine.”
♫ LISTEN: “The Fading”
12 · Frozen II · Lost in the Woods
I make no apologies for the inclusion of this masterpiece.
♫ LISTEN: “Lost in the Woods”
11 · Big Thief · Two Hands
The genius of Adrianne Lenker and friends is evident throughout this haunting musical journey.
♫ LISTEN: “Wolf”
10 · Sufjan Stevens · Love Yourself
According to apocryphal sources, Sufjan wrote this song twenty years ago. The lyrics definitely sound like the work of 24-year-old Suf, i.e. they’re gorgeous beyond compare and I’m crying.
♫ LISTEN: “Love Yourself”
9 · Oh Wonder · Hallelujah
My motto for 2019 was “Hallelujah anyway,” taken from a touching poem by Mary Oliver. In the rebellious spirit of the times, Oh Wonder says it even better: “Hallelujah whether you like it or not.”
♫ LISTEN: “Hallelujah”
7 · Hannah Cohen · Welcome Home
Original, flawlessly produced tracks that sound as crisp as Hannah’s golden locks look on a summer day. Her lyrics bestow wisdom beyond her years—a blend of whimsey and firm confidence reminscient of nursery rhymes.
♫ LISTEN: “This Is Your Life”
6 · Carly Rae Jepsen · Dedicated
Eclipsed in sheer goodness only by Emotion (2015), CRJ is back at it with a killer album containing multiple hit singles. This time she’s embracing the zeitgeist of self-love with “Happy Not Knowing,” “Party for One,” and “No Drug Like Me.”
♫ LISTEN: “Party for One”
5 · Emily King · Scenery
King’s smokey voice and retro production aestheic delivers succinct ballads with stunning breadth and richness. With nostalgic qualities on the same level as Robyn and artistic deftness to rival Joni Mitchell, Emily’s latest is so much more than just scenery.
♫ LISTEN: “Remind Me”
4 · Hayley Kiyoko · I Wish
A strange pairing of aesthetics in “I Wish” makes for a track that sounds both thoroughly contemporary and timeless—in a way that showtunes have melodies that seem to have always existed, yet are somehow dated. In the verse Hayley barks ruthless jibes at her spited lover in a hip hop idiom, but in the chorus she croons a heartrending, tuneful refrain.
♫ LISTEN: “I Wish”
3 · The Japanese House · Maybe You’re the Reason
Amber Bain seems to have been steadily creeping her way into earworm territory over the past few years. On her latest album she’s found her stride—the opening track asks hard-hitting questions about nostalgia and the archiving of memory in the age of social media. But what really completes this track is how well she nails a very hard-to-find sweet spot in a guitar/synth riff—one that sounds cool and sad at the same time.
♫ LISTEN: “Maybe You’re the Reason”
2 · King Princess · Cheap Queen
King Princess is just so cool. Like, she’s called King Princess, first of all. Also, she can make grown men cry. Her voice is resonant and confident; her songs are chilled out and ooze with nonchalance. She miraculously pulls off a stunning lewk that consists solely of blue jeans and a white tank top. Do you think you could do that?
♫ LISTEN: “Cheap Queen”
