I'm Still Here

What a year, huh? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to see this year go, but for all of the disasters there have also been a few personal achievements that I'm grateful for on the whole. If nothing else, I hope that we start to see positive change for everyone's sake in the coming year, because it's long overdue for most people at this point.

I haven't posted a journal in a while, not really intentionally, just been busy with other things for work by and large. I'm actually on vacation at the moment (well, vacation at home anyway, I'm not going anywhere for safety reasons), but I wanted to drop in and at least voice that from a personal perspective, I am still alive and well. That, and I feel like it'd be a disservice to miss out on my annual journal about music I liked this year, especially given music was the one consistently good thing to come of this year.

It's been a phenomenal year for music and narrowing down the list of albums I especially loved was not easy, barring the very first one which was album of the year for me from the moment I heard it.

Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?

I was only vaguely aware of Jessie Ware from a song or two from years past, but a number of recommendations cropped up for her album in June, so I went into it with no expectations or idea of what was to come. About an hour later, I knew hands down that this was album of the year for me. Every song is perfectly paced and laced with disco sounds that aren't just homage, but perfectly authentic. It has the feel of a fantastic night out leading into the perfect morning.

Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA

I already knew STFU! when Comme des Garçons dropped, but when it came out that both of those songs were going to be on the same album, I had no idea how that was going to work. A nu metal song on the same album as a very lush dance track was hard to process in my mind, but the emotional path that SAWAYAMA takes as an album and the varied genres it goes through bring a strange coherency despite each song being so different from the one before it.

Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas

I hadn't heard of Lianne La Havas prior to this year, but on the recommendation of someone very dear to me, I decided to give the album a listen and was instantly won over. The soulful sound of La Havas's voice fits perfectly with the instrumentation of every track, and though it's easy to sink into the experience of listening, her voice and lyrics drive home exactly the emotion and intent of every song in a way that settles perfectly on the heart.

Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor

Nearly everyone in the marketing department here at DA bonds over pop-punk music from the early 2000s. We've had many talks about bands we loved from back then, and Paramore obviously comes up a lot as part of that. Hayley Williams' album from earlier this year hit a lot of the vulnerability of existing and coping with relationships gone wrong, and it was the honest emotional release alongside really solid track after track that left a lasting impact for me as a listener.

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia

I would be lying if I said I'd known much about Dua Lipa or her music prior to the tail end of last year when Don't Stop Now dropped. Having said that, the experience of listening to Future Nostalgia is like listening to a DJ set at a club where the DJ has miraculously managed to play nothing but bangers, barring a 1 or 2 track exception (and by that point, it's not like you'd feel bad about the setlist as a whole, anyway.)

Yaeji - What We Drew 

When I was putting together the list of albums I wanted to include in this journal, I had to double check several times to make sure that this album actually came out this year, because Yaeji's mixtape was released right about the time that the world went into lockdown. Each song's combination of club sounds and easygoing English lyrics contrasted by honest, vulnerable feelings hidden in the Korean lyrics makes for a powerful but enjoyable listening experience.

Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters

One of the things that drew attention to the fact that Fiona Apple had released music this year to me was that the music review site Pitchfork gave it a perfect 10, something that pretty much never happens, even with the best releases most years. It's not hard to see why it got the rating though, knowing that she explored recording and producing all of this album in isolation, and then released it at a time when nearly everyone was experiencing exactly that.

IZ*ONE - Bloom*Iz 

IZ*ONE is a kpop group that was formed through a reality show called Produce 48. It was discovered in 2019 that the show's producers had manipulated votes, and the group's future seemed to be thrown into disarray. After the legal proceedings were sorted, the group was finally allowed to promote again, and they released Bloom*Iz, a fun, lively, and energetic album that seems to celebrate their skills and the fact that they get to continue to perform together as a unit.

Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour

Another one that slipped under my radar at first, I only remembered to give this one a listen when @humblehills recommended it to me. I'm thrilled I didn't miss out on it though, because it's a really incredible album from start to finish that does a phenomenal amount to showcase how far these two have come both as performers and as people since their early appearances on YouTube and in Disney shows, and even since their signing to Beyoncé's record label.

Kylie Minogue - DISCO

This one only just made the cut because of how late in the year it was released. After thinking about it though, I knew I couldn't exclude it. Kylie has always thrived off of retro and disco sounds, so hearing that she was going to make an album of just that didn't come as a surprise. Having said that, she did the sound and feel justice exactly how one might expect. Jessie Ware definitely did the throwback album best of the ones this year, but Kylie certainly did a respectable job of it all the same.

Though some of you might already be along into 2021 at this point, I hope that the coming year treats you well, and that you're able to make the most of what it holds in store.