The Top 50 Albums Of 2022
2022 has been one of the best years for music in recent memory. Here we share some of our favourite albums.
It’s the end of the year and unlike every other publication who bizarrely release their end of year list in November we thought we’d hold out a little longer. Because of this we’ve been able to include some really cool albums that no one else cared to wait around for (cough cough Little Simz, SZA).
Writing this list is one of the best things about doing Still Listening Magazine. Each year we’re gifted with an overwhelming amount of music and to narrow down fifty albums is often a challenge but it’s one we love doing! We love doing it because we love championing new music, especially from the best new artists. There’s albums we could have included on this list like Beyoncé’s ‘RENAISSANCE’ but we’ve decided to omit that one because she doesn’t really need the extra attention now does she?
This year was the first year we awarded an album a perfect 100/100 score so if you’ve been following us you probably already know what our number one is. Our list features a lot of groundbreaking smaller artists and we hope that we’ve created a list which caters to a diverse range of genres.
In this list we’ve compiled our top picks, from the fiftieth best release to the absolute greatest album of the year (in our humble opinion). Whether you’re looking for new music to stream, patching up where your own list missed out, or on a totally different page from us, have a look over our top 50 picks for Album of the Year 2022.
50) AKAI SOLO - Spirit Roaming
Following in the footsteps of label mate Billy Woods AKAI SOLO’s debut is a tour-de-force of intelligent underground rap. The beats on this record are experimental and serve as perfect backdrop to AKAI SOLO’s stream of consciousness. Throughout the album AKAI SOLO delivers introspective bars reflecting on his life, his angst riddled delivery is often the strongest aspect of the record.
49) Aoife Nessa Frances - Protector
‘Protector’ sees Frances further develop the songwriting talent that was displayed on her dreamy debut ‘Land of No Juction’. This album seems more focused than her first. After moving to rural County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, she was surrounded with a serenity and peacefulness that permeates the album The resulting collection of tracks wilfully contrasts happy times and conflicts, love and estrangement, and most all, it captures a pivotal time in her life that changed her and made her stronger.
48) The Linda Lindas - Growing Up
The Linda Lindas, hailing from Los Angeles, are not your average feminist punk band. That’s because they’re all under 18 - the youngest member, drummer Mila, is just 11 years old. Not exactly what you think of when you picture a support band for trailblazers like Bikini Kill or Alice Bag. Their debut album is a raw collection of energetic tender punk.
47) Mamalarky - Pocket Fantasy
‘Pocket Fantasy’ is inventive, introspective, and an engrossing listen with soaring keyboards and hooks. Its twelve kaleidoscope songs explore mortality and impermanence, love and gratitude, nature and technology, humour, and hope in a variety of stylistic and thematic ways. Mamalarky are like a warm hug on a cold winter’s day. Their gorgeous melodies take care of you.
46) Pan Amsterdam & Damu The Fudgemunk - EAT
From the very first chicken strut beat, this album absolutely captivates. Its reserved slick, teasing wax, and food-focused fun are as great a come-together as Pan and Damu. It has that classic, old school hip-hop vibe, being both built on big beats and seasoned with goofy but nonetheless astute wordplay. If you like Blackalicious and People Under The Stairs, or the more contemporary likes of Busdriver (Bandcamp) and Open Mike Eagle (Bandcamp), then we’d be very surprised if you didn't wholly dig this album.
45) Sylvie - Sylvie
Sylvie is a special album. One that only comes along once in a blue moon with a story that borderline sounds made up, or at the very least too sweet to believe is actually true. The recordings, or “Sylvies,” as South California native Ben Schwab would later name them, were found in a box of cassette tapes from his father’s former band from 1975. They served as the inspiration for the familiar sensation Ben would eventually pursue. The tunes had a classic feel to them and were heartfelt. On the album Schwab works with a variety of talented performers to deliver something heartwrenchingly soulful.
44) Loyle Carner - Hugo
From the cinematic, gospel-backed anthem of Nobody Knows to the muted, lounge piano vibrations of A Lasting Place, the ten tracks on the album each have distinct moods, tableaus of Loyle’s mind state. They are snapshots of our shared political landscape, sculpting the musical influences of soul, jazz and blues that have shaped black British culture in their wake. Fundamentally, it exudes UK hip-hop credentials; raw, unbridled boom bap beats and elegant jazz instrumentals frame an artist who has matured both creatively and personally. hugo is the album many have been waiting and expecting Loyle Carner to create, it has an ambitious scope and doesn’t disappoint.
43) The Paranoyds - Talk Talk Talk
Talk Talk Talk is the sci-fi inspired debut of The Paranoyds. This album is full of catchy garage inspired riffs harking back to California counterparts Best Coast. Lyrically, the album beams you up into a world of cosmic wonder. Their sweet melodies, 50s pastiche lyricism and slacker grooves make this one of the most endearing releases of the year.
42) Cola - Deep In View
‘Deep In View’ is the kind of album that doesn’t come around very often. Feeling like a slowed down Marquee Moon this album wear’s its influences on its sleeve. Even with the obvious nods, this is postpunk at it’s best. Emotive and glaring, Tim Darcy’s morose vocals work exceptionally well with the tight production and angular guitar work. There’s a genuine closeness to the delivery, as though Darcy is speaking directly to you. Delving into the bleakness of city living, traversing the concrete world, this albums themes and sense of defiance make for a shockingly cohesive and energetic debut.
41) Lowertown - I Love To Lie
I Love To Lie is one of the most underrated records from 2022. It’s a collection of work that highlights the duo’s knack for violently provocative underdog anthems of youthful dissonance and disappointment, the melding of nostalgia and nouveau, and clashing homages to early emo and pop-punk politicism. The albums production is gorgeous serving as a cosy backdrop Olivia Osby in your face lyrics. This feels like emo for a new, cooler generation.
40) The Comet Is Coming - Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam
On The Comet Is Coming’s third album the group fuse their signature brand of psychedelic jazz and dance like never before. This record sees more synths than their last album and seems ready built for the dance floor. The album was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and make explain why this feels like their most grandiose release.
39) Billy Woods - Aethiopes
Billy Woods’ ‘Aethiopes’ is one of his best projects. The cover art is taken from the Rembrandt painting Two Moors, and the album name comes from an ancient European name for African people. Almost like an episode of Lost, this album will leave you doing research - working out clues as to what Woods means in his cryptic lyricism. Production wise, this album is one his more experimental. The instrumentals are sparse and dark, creating the perfect eerie background for Woods’ iconic direct delivery.
38) Yeule - Glitch Princess
With headquarters online, Yeule doesn’t want to hide behind the screen. The imminent wish is for us to see inside their core. Access the hard drive to where they’ve exported the most authentic parts of themselves. In the end, they’ve released them into the ether. Not everything real is physical. Most important things live in abstract spaces. That’s where yeule wants us to enter. It doesn’t mean they’re free of pain. Quite the opposite. But while hacking the system, they wrote the code to crack in-between the solid reality to create their own in the crevice. We bow to that.
37) Eerie Wanda - Internal Radio
Internal Radio is the soundtrack to a new era of Eerie Wanda that brings her creativity to new levels. Each moment throughout this album is perfectly paced. The instrumentals take their time while the vocals float along like guardian angles. Each aspect of this record, across all the forms and sounds, compliments each other in a hauntingly beautiful way. While uncertainty and suspicion loom over this album in the darkest parts, the resoluteness and comfort balance with each other in perfect harmony.
36) Okay Kaya - Sap
In SAP, a concept album on consciousness, Okay Kaya focuses her usual abstraction and humour on what happens to her mind when she feel less like a human and more like the sticky mucus of a tree. Although Kaya spends a lot of SAP exploring her thoughts alone, occasionally a song pulls her outside of herself, and love relationships serve as funhouse mirrors, reflecting back to her who she is from a different perspective.
35) Honeyglaze - Honeyglaze
Honeyglaze are a rare gem that we luckily discovered supporting Wet Leg earlier this year. Their music is deep and meditative. It’s surprising how together the band feel on their debut. There’s a sense of musicianship that you don’t often find with a group so early in their career. The album feels like a dreamy pixies album and shines a light on a different corner of the indie genre that often gets overlooked. The bright and thoughful energy of the album is only amplified by Anouska Sokolow iridescent vocals.
34) Issy Wood - My Body Your Choice
‘My Body Your Choice’ is a sassy art pop record that goes deep. Wood’s velvet vocals deliver an honest and reflective take on body autonomy. At times the album feels like a warped version of St Vincent’s killer 70s soul inspired album ‘Daddy’s Home’. For an album with such serious themes, it’s surprising how audaciously upbeat the record feels.
30) Tchotchke - Tchotchke
Tchotchke are your new favourite band. Made up of Anastasia Sanchez (drums, vocals) and Eva Chambers (bass, vocals) and Emily Tooraen (guitar, vocals) their debut album was self released and is a testament to how well an album can be produced without a label. Their self-titled debut is a collection of maximalist indie pop that you can’t quite put your finger on. There’s hints of Kate Bush and hints of The Beach Boys but it’s the individualistic energy that tchotchke convey that truly make this a stand out debut album.
32) Sampa The Great - As Above, So Below
On the follow up to Sampa The Great’s epic debut ‘The Return’ the artist looks at her roots and heritage as a source of inspiration. ‘As Above, So Below’ is an ambitious sophomore album with an eclectic mix of features including Joey Bada$$ and Denzel Curry. Though the album isn’t as epic as ‘The Return’ Sampa seems to be living her best life on this album, and you can feel it in the music. There’s an inescapable sense of joy on this record. It feels like Sampa is more comfortable as an artist and as a result imparts some great lessons in her lyrics.
31) Conway the Machine - God Don’t Make Mistakes
Conway the Machine is one of the best underground rappers currently on the mic. His second album ‘God Don’t Make Mistakes’ further displays the dominant flows that were showcased on his debut. This album features darker beats and more thoughtful bars from Conway. His lyricism is violent, graphic and at times braggadocios but it’s his strength as a hustler and his rags to riches story that make his story telling hit harder. The albums features great features from fellow Griselda titans Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher.
30) Michael Rault - Michael Rault
Michael Rault’s self titled second album is a time-capsule of unintentional 70s nostalia. The album, recorded at the illustrious Daptone Studios, has a warmth to it that is unlike most modern records. The album is full of lush string arrangements, gorgeous harmonies and catchy melodies. On top of this, Michael Rault’s songwriting is at its strongest. Written shortly after a string of breakups, Rault is at his most contemplative and introspective. Though, the subject matters are heavier than his debut, there’s a sense of optimism and happiness that seems to permeate a lot of these tracks.
29) fka twigs - CAPRISONGS
When FKA Twigs says ‘hey I made you a mixtape’ at the beginning of ‘ride the dragon’, we take her words straight to heart, as her inviting voice echoes to the sounds of a cassette player. After the high conceptual storm of ‘MAGDALENE’, she invites us to move a little closer as she’s shedding previous albums’ extravagant skin to show new shape. It looks like human who’s been hurt and found their way back with help of friends and R&B beats.
28) Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
At its best, the record is a much-needed yanking up to date of the ideals which birthed ‘dance music’ and rave culture - equality, freedom of expression, harmony, unity. Ideals which soon became hackneyed cliches, in the hands of producers looking to cash in by sticking a diva sample singing about “universal love” or some such, over a generic beat and calling it a banger. At a time when a new generation is confronting questions of identity and equality, and redefining gender and sexuality on their own terms, these ideals have never felt more in need of reassessing and protecting.
27) Ethel Cain - Preacher’s Daughter
Ethel Cain aka Hayden Anhedönia delivers sublime storytelling, punctuating the 76 minute runtime to unravel the lackluster (and in this case, fatal) reality of the American dream over 13 ethereal tracks. Preacher’s Daughter is without a true masterpiece, a melting pot of macabre storytelling and ambient music. No one is doing it quite like Ethel Cain.
26) Danger Mouse & Black Thought - Cheat Codes
Danger Mouse’s sample-heavy production manages to simultaneously feel nostalgic and futuristic, with enough variation to make each song feel like a new experience while maintaining the album’s cohesion. Each beat is tailored towards Black Thought, whose pristine lyricism and buttery flow combine to create a consistent 38 minutes of nonstop enjoyability. Sprinkle in some top-notch features including an amazing posthumous MF DOOM inclusion, and you get one of the best hip-hop albums of the year.
25) Viagra Boys - Cave World
Cave World sees Viagra Boys return in full force. Delivering a much more focused project than their second album. The songs on this record are danceable but lyrically the band are far more ambitious. Cave World is Viagra Boys at their most cohesive, with critiques on incels, an over reliance on technology and vapid global culture. This record is their most varied in terms of style but feels like their most ambitious in terms of concept.
24) The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
The Smile was born out of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood’s desire to make music over the lockdown, and they appeared on the scene playing Glastonbury’s Live at Worthy Farm with Son’s of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. Their first album, A Light for Attracting Attention, produced by long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, is not an album that shies away from the fuckery of recent times but jumps right into the doom pool to find the cracks where the light can seep in.
23) Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Beach House are an ever-evolving entity. In the fifteen years they’ve been on the scene they’ve released album after album of genre defining material. It’s surprising then, that it feels like even with some of this century’s most important albums under their belt, that they’re best work is still to come. Beach House are a band that have always exceeded expectations and with Once Twice Melody’s gargantuan 18 tracks there’s more than enough of the duo to keep fans occupied till they next descend from their blissful dream pop mountain top. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have created an epic 18-track album that solidifies Beach House as the rightful queen and king of dream pop.
22) Aldous Harding - Warm Chris
On previous albums Harding’s writing has felt darker. On this album it’s more of a grey area, fitting well with the black and white album cover. ‘Warm Chris’ is full to the brim with random, free-association phrases that capture the weird, lonesome resonance of Harding’s vision as a songwriter. It’s shocking how deeply heartfelt Harding makes these songs considering the sparse arrangements and simple chord structures. Harding is truly at the height of her craft on ‘Warm Chris’.
21) Mitski - Laurel Hell
No stranger to the malevolence of love, Mitski dances with the gothic throughout ‘Laurel Hell’. ‘Valentine, Texas’ provides a somber introduction to the dark themes of the record, with Mitski’s unmistakably haunting vocals pondering “who will I be tonight?” over powerful, emotive piano. Moving away from the guitar-heavy production of Mitski’s earlier work, piano provides the bedrock for most of the tracks on this album, signifying a descent into a softer, more vulnerable mindset.
20) death’s dynamic shroud - Darklife
‘Darklife’ is an hour long 15 song journey. death’s dynamic shroud’s kaleidoscopic concoctions on ‘Darklife’ are some of the most ambitious electronic tracks of 2022. The album feels like a progression of Daft Punk if they had gotten incredibly weird. There’s various points with intricate production and seamless combinations of analogue and digital. The album is full of joyous grooves, experimental arrangements and climactic melodies.
19) Gilla Band - Most Normal
The common thread holding Most Normal’s ambitious avant-pop shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic, antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels, babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in bin-liners or having to wear hand-me-down boot-cut jeans.
18) Julia Jacklin - PRE PLEASURE
Julia Jacklin’s ‘PRE PLEASURE’ is a cathartic songbook that shows a new strength that’s grown from her previous two records. Julia’s confessional songwriting has a gravity that does more than pull on your heartstrings. It soothes your inner teenager. It echoes our own diary entries from our twenties and is perhaps why we are so drawn to it, yet we couldn’t journal our existence as beautifully as Julia does.
17) Cate Le Bon - Pompeii
Cate Le Bon has successfully created an album that is both effortlessly futuristic and warmly nostalgic in equal measure, something new will be discovered and savoured by the listener on each play. Despite being trapped in the humdrum of lockdown for its inception, Pompeii is woven with wonderment and is a true delight.
16) Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry
Before the album was released Pusha T said “The album of the motherfucking year is coming.” and on It’s Almost Dry the rapper almost fulfils his self-made prophecy. The album’s slick production, captivating beats and expert sampling make for an enjoyable listen on their own but with Pusha T’s expert flow, dynamic vocal deliveries and elegant bars it’s hard to see fault in this record.
15) deathcrash - Return
‘The Return’ is sprawling and ambitious debut from deathcrash. Their dense tracks build slowly and grow into cathartic crescendo’s. This album has an emotive reach to it that seems to permeate the record. The spectrum of influence on this record is deeper than you would think. Taking influence from Post-rock, midwestern emo and even Weezer with trackWrestle With Jimmy making sly nods towards the band. In some respects this album feels like a modern, blissfully slow ‘Blue Album’. Full of angst and doubt, but filled with beautiful melodies and warm production.
14) Little Simz - NO THANK YOU
Nothing beats a surprise end of year release and considering ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ was our album of the year last year we couldn’t have asked for a better artist to drop. ‘NO THANK YOU’ is more concise than her last effort but could be some of the best work the artist has put out today. On ‘NO THANK YOU’, Little Simz further solidifies why she is one the greatest artists of her generation. Her storytelling is next level, the gorgeous production on this record is less at the forefront but warmly compliments Simz’ impeccable flow.
13) Charli XCX - CRASH
CRASH would be Charli’s final album with her record label Atlantic, and it seemed as though Charli wanted to end her relationship with the label with a full-on unapologetic pop album. With each new single and social media post eluding to her new album being a “sellout album”, fans grew divided on whether CRASH would ultimately be a dud in Charli’s amazing discography. After the release of the album in its entirety, it is safe to say that CRASH is in no way a miss by Charli. While it does diverge from the experimentation she has showcased on previous records, CRASH shows that mainstream pop can still be fun.
12) Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Wet Leg is a band we didn’t know we desperately needed. A duo from the Isle of Wight, singers and guitarists Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, grew so much hype around their cottagecore seeds planted last year that when the harvest of was about, there was doubt if they’d be able to live up to the expectations. Their debut album not only silenced any sceptics but scored well-beyond any expectations. It’s a modern indie classic.
11) Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
As a whole And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is another elegant record from Weyes Blood. There’s no denying Mering’s talent as a songwriter and this record solidifies her as one of the most important artists of the last decade. Though the album isn’t quite as experimental musically as Mering’s previous albums, it’s definitely a step up in terms of song writing. The warm glossy production on this record gives it a lasting sense of whole heartedness. Mering should be proud of this one and the work she’s done to get to this point.
10) Special Interest - Endure
What this album tackles will resonate with people from all different walks of life. It’s a modern choreography of the day to day with our suppressed emotions about how things aren’t getting better and this band can hear you, feel it themselves too. When political leaders are saying that climate change isn’t real, Special Interest are here to tell you that the world is on fire. And by reaffirming this dread and having us dance along to our doubts, they have created something exceptional; an album that will have the most conservative of people twitching.
9) Grace Ives - Janky Star
‘Janky Star’ is a masterstroke of pop perfection. ‘Janky Star’ is such a breath of new air in a genre that is so overrun with musicians rehashing ideas and sounds. Its production is unquestionably its strongest point; each track is entirely original and draws varied sounds from a variety of sources. The coherent and catchy “Janky Star” by Grace Ives is an auditory joy. She was able to explore a variety of sounds and ideas with her layered vocals and a wider variety of instruments.
8) SZA - SOS
It's been well documented that she’s struggled to come to terms with her success since her breakout 2017 debut, Ctrl. The allusion to Princess Diana in the album art and the not-so-subtle album title is certainly not running from this. Ctrl showed that SZA, aka Solána Imani Rowe, was not someone who was to be confined by genre, and SOS doesn’t disappoint in this regard. The album opens with the 90s-gilded R&B of the title track ‘SOS’ and is followed by the melodic pop of ‘Kill Bill’ with the catchy chorus, “I might kill my ex, not the best idea, his new girlfriend’s next how’d I get here?” We’ve all been there.
7) black midi - Hellfire
Hellfire is a masterwork of confusion and creation. A cold world that affects everyone. In it, the sinners are heroes, and the saints are snakes. black midi have taken their talents as musicians and lyricists to a new level that begs us to question what music is supposed to be. This album is not so much post-punk as it is post-normality. Black midi have taken Hellfire and proven that nothing is sacred. There is no other, and there may never be again. But today, we have black midi.
6) Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B
Considering the experimental nature of the album, it’s a surprise so many elements work together. Perhaps another art pop band wouldn’t so effortlessly seam together funky bass lines, abrasive synths and ethereal strings. Jockstrap songs simultaneously feel like they have been with you eternally and still sound radically new. There’s a bewildering sense of surrealism yet their DIY/lofi aesthetic grounds them firmly in reality. If their debut is anything to go off, the sky is the limit for Jockstrap.
5) ROSALÍA - MOTOMAMI
Considering this album holds barely any English lyrics it’s surprising how universal a lot of the songs feel. You don’t need to know Rosalía’s native language to understand the emotions in the tracks on MOTOMAMI. Rosalía can pull your heart strings, get you up to dance and make you laugh all at the same time.
4) Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
The many worlds of Big Thief, all together in one swirling basin, which inevitably became “Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You” a stunning, colossal opus that not only serves as the band’s most captivating and brilliant work to date, but a towering achievement of folk-rock and Americana. In this project, the band encapsulates a spirit of emergence. The small becomes large, the moment, eternity. Author and activist Adrianne Maree Brown defines the phenomenon as “the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.”
3) Kendrick Lamar - Mr Morale & the Big Steppers
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is an incredibly heartfelt, intimate, and vulnerable album from the once-in-a-lifetime talent that is Kendrick Lamar. The album is incredibly well-crafted and detail-oriented, with each listen bringing something new to the listener’s attention. To tell his story, Kendrick utilizes his consistently fantastic lyricism and some of his most daring sonic palettes yet. It is a journey to come to terms with one’s past, aided by a professional, and to better oneself from that knowledge. This is an album that answers the question, “who is Kendrick Lamar?”
2) Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
Natural Brown Prom Queen genre-bending 18-track journey through Sudan’s inner journey from her hometown to finding her place in the world on the other side of the country — setting up home, sticking to her musical vision, becoming successful, race, breakups, cars breaking down on freeways, sex, love and friendship — an archetypical journey if there ever was one. And much like Beyonce’s Renaissance, this album is too dense to list all the influences — we get flashes of Vangelis while listening to the track “ChevyS10”! Just go and listen and find out for yourself and enjoy being taken on Sudan’s ride.
1) Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
On their magnificent sophomore LP, Black Country, New Road soar high, smashing through the barriers of their previously acclaimed songwriting capabilities. ‘Ants From Up There’ is a drastic shift in sound for the band. Replacing volatile and vicious soundscapes with a subtly harrowing beauty that inescapably infects the soul. The album is a heart-wrenching opus, delving into topics of relationships, escapism and fame. Made ever more painful with the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Wood just days before the release of the album, Black Country, New Road have released an album so truly unique and momentous for the UK alternative scene. ‘Ants From Up There’ is a sombre yet triumphant return, attaining an instant timeless quality with the bittersweet circumstances surrounding it. Like a Concorde, this album flies fast.
