Top Ten Albums of 2022

Another year in music has wrapped up and it's time to discuss all of the fantastic albums that made waves. 2022, in my opinion, is one of the most exciting years in the past decade for musical releases, specifically for the album as an art form. In fact, with time 2022 may end up becoming my favorite year in music since I started creating my top ten lists in 2013. This year saw an incredible deluge of artistry, raw lyricism and exuberant pop sounds, and it's no surprise to anyone reading that these elements make up the perfect cocktail for my kind of music. With that being said, here are the albums that had me moving, crying, and contemplating, and most of all, perfectly defined this year for me.

10. Blue Water Road - Kehlani

One of the most surprising releases of 2022 for me, Kehlani's Blue Water Road starts us out as my number 10 pick. Despite the genre's profound lyricism, R&B music has always been a road-block for me due to its subdued melodies and production. However, something about Blue Water Road draws the listener in with something more musically interesting than expected. Perhaps it's Kehlani's intoxicating voice, or maybe the way the whole album feels like sitting on the dock of a New England beach, with the waves crashing against the rocks at your feet. But what I think sets this album apart from its R&B counterparts is its sheer musical variety. No song on this album really feels like something the listener has heard previously in the track list, even if the songs do share many similar musical elements and simultaneously feel incredibly cohesive. From the moment the listener presses play on "Little Story", they are transported into a soundscape that feels comforting, but when the song is nearly over and they hear the deafening harmonies and gorgeous vocal from Kehlani, they discover they are in for something more adventurous. Although R&B is the defining genre here, there is also exciting pop tunes like "Up At Night" with superstar Justin Bieber, and "Altar", a personal highlight. But the thesis statement to the album, and the most sonically stunning moment is "Everything", an ethereal ballad that will keep you coming back to the New England beach of Blue Water Road time and time again.

Standout Tracks: "Everything", "Altar", "Little Story"

9. Surrender - Maggie Rogers

On the heels of 2019's Heard It In A Past Life, Maggie Rogers had a great challenge ahead. The sophomore slump is a decades old curse that finds new artists in an impossible battle to meet the success of their debut efforts, and Rogers' first go around was nothing short of spectacular. Surrender may not have quite reached the soaring indie pop heights of Past Life, but what the artist managed to put forth this year was something entirely different and equally as worthy. This album finds Rogers in a completely new soundscape and lyrical depth. The genre of this album can best be defined as a 2000's teen coming of age soundtrack. The sounds are exuberant, hopeful, uplifting and dazzlingly fun, and her vocals have never been more powerful. Songs like "Horses" and "Shatter" show just how far the singer's voice can go, and the production really leaves room for the listener to hear every perfect imperfection (the former was recorded in one single take with no editing). Maggie Rogers' lyrics also took a much more personal turn on this record with the help and encouragement of main album collaborator Kid Harpoon. Songs such as "Begging for Rain" and "I've Got A Friend" really take the listener into her most private experiences and relationships. The triumphs in this album really lie with the pop-rock bangers that define the albums sound. "Want Want" and "Honey" find Rogers in a wheelhouse that is so nostalgic, yet entirely her own. So did Rogers overcome the dreaded sophomore slump? I think it's safe to say we'll be hearing much more from the singer-songwriter in the future.

Standout Tracks: "Honey", "Want Want", "Anywhere With You"

8. Being Funny In A Foreign Language - The 1975

For years, The 1975 have been one of the only mainstream bands that have stayed relevant in the public eye. The idea of a "band" has been dying for years now, but somehow Matty Healy and crew have managed to keep defying expectations and rising to the top of the charts. All this time I didn't get the hype, but 2022 was finally the year that helped me to understand. Being Funny In A Foreign Language is the first record by The 1975 that has truly grabbed me and kept me coming back for more. This is one of the most cohesive and exciting rock albums released in recent memory, and the true charm of it is found in it's simplicity and brevity. The songs are endlessly fun, with minimal production from Jack Antonoff that really allow the bands instrumentation to shine through. The whole album sounds like an unedited jam session where the band members are allowed to just have fun and create sounds that match the albums main theme: love and relationships. "Happiness" is the standout single that defines the record perfectly. You will be hard pressed to find a song that is more fun than this released in 2022. "Looking For Somebody (To Love)" and "I'm In Love With You" follow suit and really bring the listener into the boundless joy. "All I Need To Hear", "About You" and "When We Are Together" slow things down and focus on lead singer Matty Healy's feelings of love, passion and intimacy. But no song on the album combines these two things - the exciting pop-rock sounds and tender lyricism better than "Oh Caroline", a perfect pop song and one of my favorites of the year. This is the feel good album of 2022, and The 1975 have finally delivered a project that feels like a single idea, done extraordinarily well.

Standout Tracks: "Oh Caroline", "Happiness", "About You"

7. MUNA - MUNA

This year the (self-described) greatest band in the world, MUNA released their third full length LP, adorned with a title of the same name. MUNA first made a big splash in the indie-pop realm in 2017 with their debut album About U and massive single "I Know A Place", followed up with their 2019 project Saves The World. That album saw the band go down a path of bigger sounds and catchier pop hooks, and MUNA goes down that path even further, delivering a bombastic, full-on pop album that is filled to the brim with euphoric melodies, thick production, and incredible sad-bops™️. After being removed from their previous label and signing on to Phoebe Bridgers' Saddest Factory Records, MUNA delivered the album's breakout single "Silk Chiffon", which went on to extreme mainstream success and became a big trend on TikTok. This single pushed them into the spotlight more than they had ever seen, and when the full project dropped, they did not disappoint the new or old fans. The songs are outrageously fun, from queer dance pop anthem "What I Want" to the traditional radio hit "Anything But Me" to the infatuating "Solid", there is no way MUNA will not get the listener up and moving. However, there is still traces of the band's alternative roots with songs like the intricately produced "Runner's High" and heartbreakingly hopeful ballad "Loose Garment". This album even has remnants of country-western turned gay with "Kind Of Girl". MUNA delivers indie-pop hits that never miss, but at the root of it all, the lyrics from lead singer Katie Gavin are emotional, powerful, and at times, achingly sad. This demonstrates the band's heart and commitment to delivering excellence at every release, which at the end of the day, is what will always set them apart.

Standout Tracks: "Silk Chiffon", "What I Want", "Runner's High"

6. Harry's House - Harry Styles

Slip on your best boat shoes, grab your favorite sunglasses and imagine you're joining Harry Styles for a midday sail while you listen to his newest full-length effort: Harry's House. Initially advertised as an introspective, quarantine-inspired record, Harry's House could not be more of a laid-back pop/ yacht rock album if it tried. The superstar's newest collection of songs are completely unserious, at times shallow, and at the end of the day, a ridiculously good time. On this record, Styles sings of midnight rendezvous ("Late Night Talking"), summer road-trips ("Keep Driving") and not so subtle intimate moments with a certain someone ("Music For A Sushi Restaurant" and "Cinema"). The sounds are bright, poppy and chill. The track list breezes by as the listener enjoys the singer's smooth vocal deliveries and swoon-worthy lyricism. It is a definite turn from 2019's Fine Line, which saw the pop star digging deep into personal experiences and emotional depths. But that does not mean that Harry's House is void of any substance. "Matilda" is the emotional gut-punch of the record, detailing a loved one going through the turning point of letting go of an abusive family and starting over again. "Love Of My Life" is the touching final ballad that serves as a love letter to someone special. And although the majority of this record is incredibly cohesive with it's island sounds, "Satellite" blows us away with something new. It is an exciting, swelling song that grows to a climactic ending of unbelievable heights, both in energy and in the singer's vocal range. Even though on the surface Harry's House might come across as superficial and easy listening, it is definitively the best work of Styles' career thus far, because it finally feels authentically him: fun-loving, passionate, and a little silly.

Standout Tracks: "Cinema", "Satellite", "Music For A Sushi Restaurant"

5. Hold The Girl - Rina Sawayama

In 2020, Rina Sawayama blew the world away with her debut full-length LP SAWAYMA, and in 2022 she only further cemented herself as one of the world's leading up-and-coming pop stars. Hold The Girl is another incredible release from the British singer, but different this time around. Her first album was experimental, over the top and loud, and while her second attempt is many of those things, it is first and foremost a pop album. Reminiscent of Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Hold The Girl is filled to the brim with anthemic pop tunes that preach messages of self-love, growth and empowerment. Rina's ability to blend these messages with songs that make you want to dance harder than before is truly what makes the album so exciting. Songs like "This Hell", "Hurricanes", and "To Be Alive" are the best examples of how the singer can boost self-confidence with just her words and an underlying beat. The first of those sends a message of pride in oneself after being told you are sinning for loving who you love. "Holy (Til You Let Me Go)" signals the same, but with a club beat that the singer wanted to sound like a cold and damp rave in the basement of a converted church. LGBTQ+ themes soar throughout the entire record as it tells the story of growing up in a religious background with shaky parental relationships. "Catch Me In The Air" heals these motherly wounds, and "Send My Love To John" heals those same wounds in a friend who's experience with his mother was similar. At the root of this record, however, is the theme of growing up and longing to make the pop star's inner child proud. "Phantom" and the title track "Hold The Girl" prove that Sawayama's attempts to make her younger self proud have been successful and triumphant. This record will dazzle listeners with its spiritual pop melodies, but the lyrical content gives the album a certain depth that sets it apart from its predecessor.

Standout Tracks: "Catch Me In The Air", "Imagining", "Holy (Til You Let Me Go)"

4. MOTOMAMI - Rosalía

This year one of the world's biggest megastars released her third full length studio album after years of standalone singles. Rosalía took 2022 by storm with MOTOMAMI, a brazen and unhinged body of work that truly shows off the Spanish singer's range. With her new record, Rosalía took a million musical ideas and combined them to create something completely original and exciting. MOTOMAMI's perfection is derived from its imperfections. It's clumsy, jarring, and at times disorienting, but its variety and ability to keep the audience guessing is what captures its brilliance. The singer, who's roots are in traditional flamenco music, borrowed sounds from reggaeton, afro-beats, jazz, and electronic dance music to compose the album's soundscape. Many criticize the Catalonian superstar for appropriating Latin culture with her recent songs, while many see it as a beautiful homage and melting pot of different cultures. Regardless, this discussion is one of the many reasons why this album has remained so relevant in the mainstream during the year. Songs like "Chicken Teriyaki", "Diablo", and "La Combi Versace" may very much lean into the Latin reggaeton, but "Saoko", "CUUUUuuuuuute", and "Bizcochito" are something entirely new. Even the songs that commandeer global sounds are embellished with the singer's wild creativity and desire to break from the traditional four walls of what we know as pop music. However, even though this album is a complete left turn from what Rosalía has done before, she still managed to include a classical flamenco tune with "Bulerías", a song that perfectly captures her insane vocal training while still making the listener want to move. But it is the album's closer "Sakura" that really shows what Rosalía can truly do with her voice, with a soaring chorus and pitch range that would put most vocalists to shame. MOTOMAMI may not be for everybody; it is certainly a complex and cluttered experience. But its musical variety is what keeps people coming back and bringing it to the forefront of cultural conversation.

Standout Tracks: "La Combi Versace", "Candy", "Hentai"

3. Midnights - Taylor Swift

Another year, another Taylor Swift album. The current queen of pop music simply never sleeps, and Midnights is proof of that. The singer-songwriter's 10th studio album, advertised as a concept record of sleepless nights throughout Swift's career, is the long awaited return to pop that we've been itching for. During the pandemic, Taylor Swift released two back to back albums that explored entirely new sonic and lyrical territory for her, and saw the artist step back into a calmer and silkier soundscape. Immediately after this, she started her endeavor in re-recording her first five studio albums in the hopes of owning her own masters. Not even a year after Red (Taylor's Version), we get Midnights, which finds the singer leaving the Folklorian Woods and reentering the Top 40. The album is a definitive return to form for Swift, borrowing sounds and lyrical ideas from her entire back catalog, but it is not the straightforward pop the world grew to expect from her. There are elements of Folklore and Evermore in this album that transform her signature pop sounds into something more laid back and raw. The poetry Swift creates in songs like "Anti-Hero", "Maroon" and "Mastermind" could have never seen the light of day if it weren't for the writing exercises she allowed herself in those two previous albums. Sounds from earlier records appear on songs such as "Question...?" with a sample of her own song "Out Of The Woods" from 1989, and "Vigilante Shit", which is a direct musical reference to the Reputation era. Melodies from Lover song "I Think He Knows" appear on the album's showstopper and catchy opener: "Lavender Haze", a song about wanting to escape the burdens of press and social media to be with a significant other. It is clear with these references and callbacks that Taylor Swift has been inspired by her re-recording process. Although she's not creating anything entirely new with this most recent effort, at album number 10 she has given her fans a love letter and thank you card with Midnights, an album that reminds us why we became fans in the first place.

Standout Tracks: "Lavender Haze", "Maroon", "Midnight Rain"

2. Five Seconds Flat - Lizzy McAlpine

Every once in a while, a young artist will emerge that gives hope to the future state of music. Last year Olivia Rodrigo's monumental first album gave me this hope, and a few years before that Billie Eilish did the same. This year, it's Lizzy McAlpine who has made a lasting impression. Five Seconds Flat is undoubtedly one of the most mature and enthralling records of the decade so far, and the 23 year old singer-songwriter is just getting started. In 2020, McAlpine released her debut full length project titled Give Me A Minute, which was an album full of acoustic ballads and tear-jerking lyricism. Her 2022 effort is so much more. Five Seconds Flat consists of ballads, upbeat guitar-led tunes and straight up electronica. The singer's voice is almost unrecognizable from two years ago; her vocal performance is poignant, silky and sharp. Her lyrics are just as melancholic, but her storytelling shines like never before. At the center of this record is a story of heartbreak and being left to pick up the pieces, and the way McAlpine weaves this narrative is a masterclass in songwriting well beyond her years. Opening track "Doomsday" sets the scene by describing the day her significant other made the decision to leave, and what follows is a tale told so many times, but never in such an eclectic, yet simple way. "Erase Me" is the album's banger, a pulsing electronic song produced by friend and musical genius Jacob Collier. "All My Ghosts" is the traditional upbeat instrumental-led track that describes finding someone new and being unsure of whether or not to go down that path again. "Ceilings" is the heartbreaking ballad that McAlpine has made herself known for, and the way the song crescendos into the sudden realization that this new relationship will never be as real as the one before, is truly where the album shines. The story ends with "Orange Show Speedway", the closing track that shows where the artist has ended up, with friends and loved ones that care for her and want her to succeed. Five Seconds Flat is the kind of surprising hidden gem that you don't see coming, but once found, never want to let it go.

Standout Tracks: "Doomsday", "Erase Me", "Ceilings"

Honorable Mentions

CRASH - Charli XCX

Standout Tracks: "Constant Repeat", "Move Me", "New Shapes"

Special - Lizzo

Standout Tracks: "About Damn Time", "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)", "Everybody's Gay"

After Dinner We Talk Dreams - Michelle

Standout Tracks: "50/50", "Layla In The Rocket", "Syncopate"

1. Renaissance - Beyoncé

Born & Raised- John Mayer, Golden Hour- Kacey Musgraves, Paramore- Paramore, Evermore- Taylor Swift, X- Ed Sheeran. These are some of my favorite and most influential albums of my lifetime. All of these records perfectly capture my specific musical taste and have withstood the test of time as the albums that have shaped me as a person. This year, Beyoncé's Renaissance gets added to this list. There are very few albums that get released that have such a monumental impact that I am willing to bet they will transform the state of the music industry forever, but if there is one artist to do it, it's Beyoncé. Renaissance is a collection of dance and house music inspired by the 70's and 80's club scene. It is a direct homage to the black and queer trailblazers of those generations who made the genre so popular and groundbreaking. The seasoned veteran pop star has so perfectly elevated these voices by sampling, interpolating and directly referencing musical motifs from the time period's most popular songs. "Alien Superstar" pulls elements from Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy", "Break My Soul" features vocal clips of Big Freedia's "Explode", "Summer Renaissance's" melody comes straight from the Donna Summer hit "I Feel Love", and that only scratches the surface of the album's tributes. Queer dance music of the 80's is lifted up in this album as a triumph and paid respect in a way that is so beautiful to behold, demonstrated perfectly in the penultimate track "Pure/Honey". Beyoncé's gay uncle Johnny inspired much of this journey and the vocal powerhouse gives him the most gracious tribute in "Heated". The rich references, homages and acknowledgements are the main reason this album will go down in history, but it is the unbridled joy and feral energy one gets from listening to this record that keeps them coming back. The way this album will make you feel is unlike anything experienced before. It is a pure dance album that is made to be listened to in a club with a community of bodies embracing the movement of the production. From top to bottom, the album is flawlessly crafted to feel like a DJ set, with every song seamlessly transitioning into the next. It is shocking how one can listen to the entire album without ever feeling like they moved on from the first song, an hour passing by like it was nothing. A body of work has not been so perfectly constructed and thought out in many many years, and it is possible that this will go down as the greatest album of the 2020's. Beyoncé has absolutely outdone herself with Renaissance, and it will be astonishing if this is not one day considered to be her magnum opus.

Standout Tracks: "Alien Superstar", "Heated", "Cuff It"