Coming to the end of 2021, there are many albums to reflect on and celebrate from a year full of exciting new releases. This year had something for everyone, be it new takes on hip-hop, post-punk, dream pop, or even orchestral music.
Metacritic's year-end list collating critics' top 10 lists is a useful indicator as to which albums made the most impact this year, as opposed to user ratings or streaming numbers. Their list ranks the albums that most frequently made the top of publications' best of the year lists.
Glow On - Turnstile
Turnstile's latest release is one of the best punk releases of the year, thanks to its unique approach infusing elements of dream punk and alternative metal into the band's sound.
The album might be best described by its cover, depicting a pale pink sky full of clouds. It's not what might be expected of a hardcore album, much sunnier than the genre tends to be seen as. The music follows suit with a style that is filled with as much brightness as heaviness, with Latin piano chords and dreamy shoegaze strums accompanying the blast beats and throaty screams.
Jubilee - Japanese Breakfast
Following Japanese Breakfast's mesmerizing dream pop record, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, the artist's third album is a more direct and punchy indie-pop release that has received much acclaim.
Lead singer and songwriter Michelle Zauner wrote the album following her memoir Crying in H Mart and stated that "After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy," as reported by Pitchfork. The album delivers on this completely, bringing 10 pop tracks that are as meditative as they are passionate.
Collapsed In Sunbeams - Arlo Parks
Winner of the 2021 Mercury Prize, which is given to the year's best British album, Arlo Parks' debut release has been well-received by many music critics. Collapsed in Sunbeams is a mature and generous release from the singer-songwriter, and Parks' background in poetry brings a unique specificity to her lyrics.
The album's production is sparse yet delicate. The gentle guitar melody on the lead single, "Black Dog," complements Parks' diminished vocals perfectly, and the whole album is elevated by its quiet sense of melancholy.
Hey What - Low
Indie rock band Low returned this year with a follow-up to their acclaimed 2018 album, Double Negative. Hey What is a departure from the distortion-heavy rock of its predecessor, instead, the album has a stark production style, with influence from ambient, noise, and drone music.
It's a drastic departure from the band's sound so far, but it's admirable for any band to be reinventing themselves after nearly 30 years of making music.m
New Long Leg - Dry Cleaning
The debut album from London post-punk band Dry Cleaning is a punchy, cheeky record with influences ranging from Joy Division to Sonic Youth. With moody basslines and punchy chords, the highlight of the album is the vocals from Florence Shaw that deliver the spoken word lyrics in a dry and witty manner.
New Long Leg is one of many exciting post-punk releases to come out of the UK this year, with bands like Black Country, New Road, Squid, and Shame all releasing exciting new takes on the genre.
Sour By Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo dominated 2021, both critically and commercially. And while her debut album excelled when it came to streaming numbers, especially with tracks like "drivers license" and "good 4 u," Sour was also heaped with praise by critics and sits as the fifth highest-rated album of the year.
An album of ballads and bangers, Sour is already a defining album of the 2020s, breaking the record for the largest opening week for a debut album in history. The album was accompanied by the visual album Sour Prom, which placed many of the songs in high school settings, primarily evoking '90s teen movies.
Heaux Tales By Jazmine Sullivan
Heaux Tales is Jazmine Sullivan's first release in six years and builds on her R&B sound with a concept album exploring sexuality and feminism, with spoken interludes building on the album's themes in between the sweet soul tracks.
Sullivan brings R&B into the 20s with features from contemporaries like H.E.R. and Anderson .Paak, who themselves have brought their own take on the genre in recent years. The album is thematically rich and introspective, while still featuring some of the smoothest production and songwriting around.
Call Me If You Get Lost - Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator's latest release continues an excellent run of form in wake of the rapper's instantly successful albums, Flower Boy and IGOR. The album is much more expansive than its predecessor, with 16 tracks filled to the brim with features from the likes of Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, and the bombastic adlibs of DJ Drama.
Tyler's lyrics are as introspective as they have been on his recent releases, with tracks like "Wilshire" and "I Thought You Wanted To Dance" delving into his worries, apprehensions, and relationships. Simultaneously, Call Me If You Get Lost is often breezy and refreshing, with Tyler's summery production shining on tracks like "Wusyaname" and "Hot Wind Blows."
Promises - Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
Perhaps an unlikely collaboration between jazz saxophonist and vocalist Pharoah Sanders, ambient producer Floating Points, and the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises has become one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, and for good reason.
Built around a lone piano motif, Promises is comprised of nine movements that play on different variations of this same theme. This allows each of the album's collaborators to revel in minimal details and evoke different emotions in slight alterations. The album swells in crescendos that come mainly from the orchestra, but it is also beautiful in its quieter moments with Floating Points' glistening production and Pharoah Sanders' playful improvisation enhancing the experience.
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert By Little Simz
Little Simz's follow-up to her intimate and confident album GREY Area is a triumphant moment that has come with near-universal acclaim. Simz's expansive album builds on the sonic palette of her previous discography, including maximalist orchestral instrumentation on tracks like "Introvert" and "Standing Ovation."
Its placing at the top of Metacritic's top 10 collation is well deserved, with the album taking the top spot on 12 different critics lists at the time of writing. It's thrilling to hear Simz's effortless flow and vulnerable lyrics on such an impressive instrumental canvas.