1. The 1975 - A Brief
Inquiry Into Online Relationships
2018 was a societal
shit show. In response, I spent all year searching for albums that picked me up
and tried to convince me that everything would be okay. The downside was that
fewer albums connected with me, but the few that did hit hard. A Brief Inquiry
Into Online Relationships is the medicine that hits just before flu season.
It’s the shot of whiskey that gets you through the uncomfortable family
gathering. It wants you to remember that life is beautiful even when it’s full
of pain, you’re not alone when you’re overwhelmed, and vulnerability can lead
to revelation and connection. Musically, it’s a little more disjointed than
their previous release and it’s a little more prone to moments of musical indulgence,
but the lyrics keep hitting home. Life is worth living. Share your pain with
others and let them carry some of the load. Just get out there. Yeesh, where
was this album at the BEGINNING of the year??
2. Nine Inch Nails -
Bad Witch
How’s this for an album
sales pitch? The world is terrible. Everything we worked for as a society has
been torn away and replaced with selfishness, elitism, and oppression. We’ve
made bad decisions and now we’re paying for them. The wicked have won. … Sound
like the album for you? Pick up Bad Witch! Nine Inch Nails produced an album
that starts like a sequel to Broken, pushes the disgust and anger to eleven,
and then falls into a Bowie-influenced depression. Ugly and beautiful.
3. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
3. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
The liner notes say it
all… “This is a time to be present, to witness the beauty of this incredible
world you are lucky to be alive in, despite it being more complicated than ever
and being filled with so much darkness.”
Come for Kacey’s voice and clever lyrics, stay for the warmth and beauty
that you can’t help but feel in every track.
You already know if
Chvrches is a band for you. Chrvches fans want beautifully produced electronic
pop with lyrics that, even at their most defeated, are tinged with hope. If
that’s something you seek then rush out and pick up...“The Bones of What You
Believe”, their first album! Then after you’ve exhausted it, pick up Love is
Dead! Every secret optimist needs variety!
5. Lily Allen - No
Shame
No Shame flips between
being Lily Allen with her fists up fighting every nasty thing that’s been said
about her and Lily Allen laying her vulnerability on the table for everyone to
see. I don’t know if it all works but when the relaxed beat of Trigger Bang
hits you can count me in until the end of the track.
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