Music has been our valiant guide through the many emotions of the past year. New releases from boundary-breaking artists like Joji, Arca, and 070 Shake have continued to push us through. 

Looking back on it all, we took a widespread office tally to narrow down the most impactful music released over the past 12 months. These are the best albums of 2020.

#20
Arca – KiCK i

 

KiCK i continues to experiment with Arca’s atmospheric and percussion-heavy electronic style, opening with echoed metallic clangs, rumbling bass, and gunshots as she offers a free-flowing slam poetry verse celebrating non-binary pride. While this isn’t exactly music to dance or even nod your head to, the Venezuelan artist elicits more of a wide-eyed, awestruck response to the artful and constantly surprising creativity that she is putting forward.

 

#19
The 1975 – Notes On A Conditional Form 

One of the most charismatic and outspoken voices in popular music, frontman Matt Healy adopted a humanitarian approach for his band’s latest, critiquing society and its pitfalls as he sees them. NOACF starts with a powerful speech on the climate crisis from teen activist Greta Thunberg, setting the tone for a fully-loaded collection of polished pop-rock. Even though it was written pre-pandemic, the album couldn’t be more relevant and powerful with its messages of immediacy and calls for action in a world that, according to Healy, is falling apart from the inside out. Read our May 2020 cover feature here.

 

#18
Aminé – Limbo

Maintaining the energy that put him on the map back in 2017, Aminé reinforces his stake in the game with an all-encompassing experimental album. Toying with generational and stylistic variations of hip-hop, he pays homage to his West Coast roots. Brimmed with witty wordplay, Limbo bounces between laid back tunes and expressive delivery with impeccable flow. Undoubtedly his best work yet.

 

#17
Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia

The third full-length release for the Toronto-by-way-of-Colombia experimental artist, Lido Pimienta. Sung predominantly in Spanish, Miss Colombia is an existential musing on one’s national identity, contrasting somber lyrical and emotional content with a warm, vibrant, and often hypnotic sonic backdrop; ranging from reggaeton and cumbia to traditional Colombian folk. Thematically the album stands as a defiant call to arms, yet the anger and sadness on display is infused with an undercurrent of optimism for an imagined future, showcasing the resilience of an artist at the height of one’s creative vision and control. Read our March 2020 cover feature here.

 

#16
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher

A cinematic, self-aware soundtrack of longing and loneliness, Phoebe Bridgers writes with a new level of self assuredness; all while never losing her ability to distil the complexities and banalities of modern existence, imbuing them with the sardonic wit that has made her the current reigning champion of the sad/smart song. Drawing inspiration from heartbreak, literature, and of course, Elliot Smith, Punisher is a personal journey from darkness, finding power in striving forward.

 

#15
070 Shake – Modus Vivendi

We first fell in love with 070 Shake when she popped up on Kanye West’s 2018 album, Ye, lending her talents to the tracks “Ghost Town” and “Violent Crime.” Modus Vivendi shows the rising hip-hop artist coming out on her own in excellent form. The debut album showcases the futuristic production we’ve come to expect from the GOOD Music label, mixed with dark and mysterious undertones of Shake’s persona that are revealed with each listen.

 

#14
Ariana Grande – positions

Positions aims to please with string-heavy arrangements and refreshing collabs from Doja Cat and Ty Dolla $ign. Following two highly-praised albums—Sweetener and Thank You, Next—Ariana Grande continues moving forward, signalling a transition away from heartbreak and a healthy step towards a more playful and optimistic next phase of her life. Honest, sexy, and playful are just a few ways of encapsulating this change of pace, gracefully blending genres while demonstrating her ability to innovate vocally and deliver hit after hit.

 

#13
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud

Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, devotes the majority of Saint Cloud to coming to terms with her sobriety through her trademark moving and romantic poetry, set against a musical backdrop as sparse and delicate as the wispy rural environs of her native Alabama. A beautiful ode to learning to love oneself with a clear mind and open heart, Crutchfield emerges with a deeper understanding of the world and love for those around her.

 

#12
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song

Welsh electronic musician Kelly Lee Owens’s sophomore album, Inner Song, is expansive and dynamic with poignant lyrics that channel grief and loss, set against a varied soundscape of club-ready techno, downtempo and trance-like pop beats. Highly personal, the album has an underlying message of healing, moving on, and the power of acceptance, making it the most evocative and thought-provoking electronic release of the year.

 

#11
Pop Smoke – Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon

Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut is a substantial expansion on his unique style of rowdy New York drill rap. The album incorporates Atlanta trap, arpeggiated guitar lines for melody, and lots of samples from late 90s to early 2000s R&B and rap hits. Pop’s cadence and vocals were compared to 50 Cent throughout his career and this album pays homage to 50 with a conversational and melodic approach to love songs. Shoot For The Stars displays a soft romantic side of Pop and sparks the realization that the world lost a promising young artist.

 

#10
Roisin Murphy – Roisin Machine

The fifth studio album from the reigning avant-garde pop queen of the underground is a throbbing disco-house masterpiece. Roisin Machine is so deeply rooted in the spirit of club culture—drawing influences ranging from Proto House to Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage—it had us rearranging the furniture in our living rooms to make our own makeshift dancefloors. Read our candid interview with Murphy here.

 

#9
Lil Baby – My Turn 

Lil Baby’s sophomore offering tells the story of his rise to fame with help of star-studded guest features. He sticks to his melodic style of rapping that is heavily influenced by his mentor, Young Thug, over beats filled with synths, hi-hats, and 808s. Lil Baby has always had an ear for melodies and My Turn is filled with hits, proving why he’s one the biggest names in the industry.

 

#8
Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Fiona Apple made a brief-but-powerful appearance in the spotlight back in April when she dropped Fetch The Bolt Cutters, a name borrowed from a line said by Gillian Anderson in the British police drama The Fall. The album leans into the singer’s taste for experimentation, leaving behind jazzy pop songs in favour of something deeper, darker, more mechanical, and fascinating.

 

#7
Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death 

Continuing their quest to become the “biggest band in the world,” these Dublin post-punks didn’t skip a beat, jumping from their celebrated debut, Dogrel, into this emotionally-charged and somewhat nihilistic sophomore offering. It’s not all grey skies though, as the band looks to greener pastures on the album’s title track while frontman Grian Chatten hypnotically chants, “Life ain’t always empty.”

 

#6
Run The Jewels – RTJ4

The provocative rap duo returned at a time when the world needed them most with a hard-hitting soundtrack to the current revolution. Joined by an all-star roster of legends including Pharell Williams, DJ Premier, 2 Chainz, and Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, this is RTJ’s best and most poignant work yet.

 

#5
Mac Miller – Circles 

Posthumous releases often forgo artistic integrity in favour of name recognition, however Mac Miller’s final album, Circles, was completed very respectfully and true to form. Nearly finished by the time of his passing and lovingly completed by legendary producer Jon Brion, it’s clear just how much Circles was meant to be a companion piece to 2018’s Swimming – “swimming in circles” being the ultimate takeaway.

 

#4
The Weeknd – After Hours 

The Weeknd’s highly anticipated fourth studio (and post-breakup) album did not disappoint with a calculated juxtaposition of romantic anguish and cold-heartedness on display throughout. Each album in Abel Tesfaye’s discography has shown a progression in sound as he evolves artistically, fusing the haunting R&B from his early mixtapes with the upbeat pop we fell in love with on Starboy. After Hours is a reminder that Abel Tesfaye is one of the most talented singers of his generation.

 

#3
Joji – Nectar

Nectar is Joji’s second studio project and he’s taken the time to refine his lo-fi take on rap and R&B, ensuring the album is just as sweet as it suggests. Sustaining the classic melancholic tempo and orchestral theatrics that fans have grown to love from the former comedic YouTube sensation, the album’s 18 generous tracks boast lush arrangements and harmonious features including Lil Yachty and Bea Miller. Read our interview with Joji online here. 

 

#2
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

Dua Lipa’s second album is a non-stop, oftentimes euphoric, disco-driven masterclass in pop music. Future Nostalgia cements her status as one of the most exciting pop artists working today. Delivered in March at the height of the first global lockdown, she doesn’t shy away from 80s pop and 90s club culture influences, yet manages to reinvent herself with something bold, shiny, and new.

 

#1
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush 

Earlier this year, Kevin Parker talked to us about how working with Travis Scott taught him not to sweat the small stuff, which is likely one of the things that contributed to making this 2020 offering so huge. The Slow Rush takes Parker’s beloved psych-everything project to new places, crossing chillwave with 80s funk influences, showcasing a fresh new perspective that has been in our headphones all year long. Read our February 2020 cover feature here.