As we reach the end of another incredible year of music, I’ve decided to deviate from my typical awards ceremony in favor of something a little more traditional. Maybe I’m just getting old, but the thought of constructing yet another bloated set of “categories” with GIF-hyper presentation and endless embedded videos made me feel…tired. So, in retiring that format at least temporarily (RIP Sowing’s Music Awards, 2014-2021), I present to you — plain and simple — my Top 50 Albums of 2022. I hope you find some quality releases and/or songs here that you might not have otherwise discovered. Thanks for a great year, and I hope you have a very safe and enjoyable holiday season. See you in 2023!
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#50 – Sea Power: Everything Was Forever
Oscillating between power and beauty, Everything Was Forever is grandiose and thrilling at its best and still very solid/serviceable even at its perceived worst. This band was one of my favorite discoveries of 2022; just high quality indie-rock with no unnecessary frills.
#49 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cool It Down
After nine years, Yeah Yeah Yeahs return just as bold and confident as ever. Cool It Down, a warm and dreamy indie-rock record, combines moody atmospheres and jarring synths with subtle hooks to make for another very solid addition to this band’s discography.
#48 – Demi Lovato: Holy Fvck
Holy Fvck is an unanticipated foray into rock and punk from one of pop music’s most well-known voices. There’s very little in the way of depth to unravel, but the hooks are enormous and immediate. What probably should have been an unmitigated disaster turned out better than anyone expected.
#47 – The Weeknd: Dawn FM
Dawn FM marked one of the very first LPs to drop in 2022, and it came as a total surprise. It may lack the massive hits of After Hours (there’s no ‘Blinding Lights’), but it’s held together by a very cohesive theme and an intoxicating nightclub-styled atmosphere. In terms of an “album experience”, this might actually be his best since the Trilogy.
#46 – Panda Bear and Sonic Boom: Reset
A summery psychedelic pop outing, Reset feels firmly planted within its Animal Collective atmospheric roots and Beach Boys inspired melodies. Reset‘s glowing epicenter is easily ‘Livin’ in the After’ – a rich, flourishing pop song replete with dancing strings and a massive vocal hook. If you play it in the dead of winter, you’ll end up instantly transported to the shimmering sands of a remote tropical paradise — if you don’t believe me, try it!
#45 – Skullcrusher: Quiet The Room
Skullcrusher’s glistening debut immediately places them among the best up-and-coming “indie” acts. Quiet The Room balances ambient atmospheres and acoustic dream-folk in a way that makes them sound like seasoned veterans of the genre(s), and despite the album’s minimalism, Skullcrusher’s confidence in their own songwriting results in several breathtaking moments.
#44 – Spiritualized: Everything Was Beautiful
A magnificently warm embrace, Everything Was Beautiful is essentially a series of uplifting and blissful indie-rock tunes. The record flows exceptionally well, from its more reserved moments to its epic crescendos. It’s an album that sings about love from mountains tops — which means you have to be in the right headspace for it — but when you are, there’s nothing quite like it.
#43 – Father John Misty: Chloe and the Next 20th Century
Chloe fulfills a lounge-y, showtune-y place in Father John Misty’s catalog that otherwise does not exist and — for me, at least — it struck all the right chords. ‘Chloe’, ‘Goodbye Mr. Blue’, ‘Q4’, ‘Funny Girl’, and ‘The Next 20th Century’ are all superb cuts, and the rest – even at their very worst – hold their own as a series of suave, pleasing melodies. Don’t believe all the anti-hype for this one.
#42 – Cave In: Heavy Pendulum
Sometimes I need music that just rocks out, and Cave In’s Heavy Pendulum does just that (with a metallic edge, of course…despite that artwork, this is more sludgy than spacey). Even if listening to the entire album in one sitting is a slightly bloated affair, most of the individual songs are outstanding. Case-in-point: one of my favorite songs of the entire year, ‘Floating Skulls’:
#41 – Ruby Haunt: Cures for Opposites
Ruby Haunt is a band I’ve been following for a couple years now, and they’ve quietly become one of the most reliable dream pop acts out there. They’ve released seven LPs in the last eight years, but Cures for Opposites might be their best one yet. It retains their trademark strengths as conjurers of moody and haunting atmospheres, but shores up the mixing/production to make it all sound tighter than ever.
#40 – Coheed and Cambria: Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind
There’s an argument to be made against Vaxis II‘s relentless aim for the grandiose, but I love it. Here, Coheed and Cambria churn out one epic, catchy [stadium] rock song after another with little regard for anything else. The result is a consistently engaging slate of tracks without any of the filler that has plagued their other most recent outings. At the very least, it’s their best effort since 2012’s The Afterman: Ascension.
#39 – Beach House: Once Twice Melody
A sprawlingly gorgeous dream pop record, Once Twice Melody is Beach House’s longest album to date at eighteen tracks and eighty-four minutes. Somehow, it also manages to be their most consistent front-to-end. A legitimate argument could be made for this being the band’s best record and magnum opus, even if my heart still resides with 2012’s Bloom.
#38 – Counterparts: A Eulogy for Those Still Here
A Eulogy for Those Still Here demonstrates why a records doesn’t necessarily have to do anything noticeably different when it’s so good at what it does. The album is an emotional wrecking ball, which can be felt through the music before the lyrics are even absorbed. It’s melodramatic and angsty, but it also plays to that aesthetic quite well with superb riffs, old school metalcore chugs, and over-the-top choruses. It may be straightforward, but that doesn’t mean it can’t punch you square in the gut.
#37 – Jack White: Fear of the Dawn
I’ve always enjoyed Jack White, dating back to The White Stripes’ self-titled debut. I admittedly lost track of his recent solo discography however, so Fear of the Dawn‘s clever blend of bluesy rock mastery and wild genre experimentation came as quite the pleasant surprise. This album is infused with a lot of electronics and synths — and even some hip-hop — while Jack continues to keep the electric guitar riffs ablaze. This is pure weird fun like I haven’t had in a while.
#36 – Blut Aus Nord: Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses
A hopeless abyss that is as terrifying as the utter darkness that it conveys. This record puts up a relentless wall of sound, but it is also accompanied by nuanced and memorable songwriting that diversifies each track. It’s mesmerizing and horrifying, and also one of very few albums of this particular style that I could listen to repeatedly.
#35 – Regina Spektor: Home, Before and After
When Regina Spektor dropped Home, Before and After‘s lead single ‘Becoming All Alone Again’, I was just about ready to declare it song of the year right then and there. The single dropped one day before Russian tanks, planes, and helicopters crossed the Ukranian border, thus commencing an invasion that would change the world forever. Although the entire LP did not fulfill the promise of that remarkable song, it did have enough other benchmarks to make it a shoe-in for any year-end list: ‘Up The Mountain’ is a propulsive, soulful, and experimental pop tune, ‘One Man’s Prayer’ touches on uncomfortable subject matter with remarkable grace, and ‘Spacetime Fairytale’ is a symphonic nine minute epic unlike anything else in Spektor’s repertoire. Coming in slightly below expectations in no way makes this a bad record, so don’t sell Spektor short here!
#34 – Wiegedood: There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road
This is full of straightforward bangers, with some really cool and creepy twists (see: “Nuages”). The one word that comes to mind is gritty. From the moment that ‘FN SCAR 16’ kicks the record off with its onslaught of riffs, it’s nearly impossible to suppress a big silly grin from spreading across your face. If you’re a metal fan in any way, you simply can’t miss with this record.
#33 – Orville Peck: Bronco
Very enjoyable outlaw-styled country record. This is an improvement over Pony in just about every conceivable way, and serves as yet another excellent addition to Peck’s growing resume as one of country music’s biggest boundary-pushers — both inside and outside of the studio.
#32 – Rolo Tomassi: Where Myth Becomes Memory
Where Myth Becomes Memory represents the ideal intersection between beauty and aggression. This particular style of post-hardcore has never really been by cup of tea, but I still enjoyed this a ton which should say something. Rolo Tomassi has a new fan.
#31 – Archive: Call to Arms and Angels
Archive’s Call to Arms & Angels is a massive triple-LP length release that explores a little bit of everything. It’s rooted in alternative rock but there are electronic flourishes, trip-hop beats, extended ambient sections, all-out pop choruses, and delicate folk ballads. It all swirls together to form a disorienting atmosphere. The overly eclectic approach and bloated length will likely toss up some barriers for first time listeners, but the payoff once this thing gets its hooks in you is worth trudging into the fog for.
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#30 – Placebo: Never Let Me Go
This was my first Placebo album, and my first impression of the vocalist was that he reminded me of a blend between The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy and The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle. There’s an odd rift between the heavier rock instrumentation and the comparative softness of said vocals, but it all grew on me like crazy by the end of 2022. The songwriting here ranges from good to astounding, with ‘The Prodigal’ and ‘Surrounded By Spies’ in particular showcasing Never Let Me Go‘s ceiling.
#29 – Animal Collective: Time Skiffs
Surprised? Don’t be. Time Skiffs is Animal Collective’s best album since 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavilion by a wide mile, and it’s got enough nuance to continue growing. They did themselves a huge favor by re-emphasizing their songwriting, with the jaunty swagger of ‘Dragon Slayer’, the melodic warmth of ‘Prester John’, and the snowballing momentum of ‘Strung With Everything’ serving as fresh highlights to a stagnating reel. This LP may not eclipse Animal Collective’s salad days, but it’s a friendly reminder that the kings of experimental psych-pop can still throw down an ace whenever they damn well please.
#28 – Greyhaven: This Bright and Beautiful World
This Bright and Beautiful World is a brilliant blend of heaviness and melody, existing in the same relative space as ETID’s Radical. It’s bursting at the seams with memorable hooks, seamlessly blended harsh/clean vocals, immaculate/intricate guitar work, and flawless production. The whole thing is so explosive that it’s nearly impossible not to get out of your seat and start rioting in your own home. Brace yourself for a wild time.
#27 – Lizzy McAlpine: five seconds flat
Hackneyed comparisons to Phoebe Bridgers be damned, I’m going to toss her name out here anyway; after all, what is another drop of water in the ocean? Lizzy McAlpine has a similarly charismatic delivery, although five seconds flat is less somber and more euphoric. five seconds flat has no problem launching into a huge earworm chorus (‘doomsday’, ‘firearm’), but for every belter there’s a reserved and/or inventive retreat (‘weird’) to help balance things out. To boot, the production is utterly flawless. It all makes for a slick and highly memorable folk-pop experience that won’t ruin your indie credit score.
#26 – No Devotion: No Oblivion
No Devotion delivered an absolute wrecking ball with No Oblivion — an LP comprised of eight impressively composed alt-rock/post-punk tracks. ‘No Oblivion’ swirls with grace and power like O’Brother met up with Nothing in the studio; ‘A Sky Deep and Clear’ scrapes to the bone trying to climb out of a pit of hopelessness (“I want to scream your name loud / But I can’t find the air”), ‘Love Songs from Fascist Italy’ possesses an immaculate melodic groove and one of the year’s most impassioned vocal performances, ‘The End of Longing’ is a propulsive and synth-driven adrenaline spike, and the ever-poignant ‘Endless Desire’ sounds like a lost Anberlin classic. I could go on for pages extolling the virtues of each song, but the bottom line is this: no 2022 list is complete until you’ve heard No Oblivion.
#25 – Gatherers: ” ( mutilator. ) ”
Gatherers reside somewhere between the musical worlds of Glassjaw and Brand New, stylistically/instrumentally erring closer to the former but emotionally/vocally leaning towards the latter. ” ( mutilator. ) ” is an absolute adrenaline rush, with anger, depression, and utter urgency gushing from every crack and crevice. Don’t finalize your 2022 list until you’ve heard this absolute diamond in the rough. [Side note: have fun getting any sort of spelling/syntax consensus on the year-end ballots with this one!]
#24 – Shannen Moser: The Sun Still Seems to Move
Every now and then, an unassuming artist comes seemingly out of nowhere and charms our socks off. In 2022, that artist was — or perhaps should have been — Shannen Moser. The Sun Still Seems to Move is everything you want in a folk album. It’s incredibly well-written, emotionally moving, and breathtakingly lush. With the distant twang of country/Americana and strings to lift the music off the ground when the moment calls for it, The Sun Still Seems to Move ends up feeling like a soundtrack to all earthly beautiful things. If you slept on Shannen Moser to this point, then let ‘The Bell’ serve as your alarm clock.
#23 – Out of Service: The Ground Beneath Me
Mid 00’s emo-rockers unite! I kid, but it certainly feels that way at times on Out of Service’s The Ground Beneath Me, an album brought to you by a verified Sputnik user that also features Taking Back Sunday’s John Nolan, All Get Out’s Nathan Hussey, and half of Emery. Uh, what? You heard me right! The Ground Beneath Me feels like a tribute to a bygone era, combining angsty and aggressive rock with moody/poignant midtempo tracks and a sole shimmering acoustic ballad. The melodies here tend to be on the subtler side, but they do reveal themselves with repeated listens — and when combined with the band’s vague-yet-haunting lyrics, The Ground Beneath Me ends up feeling like so much more than just a moment trapped in time.
#22 – Kardashev: Liminal Rite
Liminal Rite crept up on me slowly. Over the course of my first few spins, I was more intrigued than impressed — but as time wore on, each intracacy and subtly clever moment made itself known. The marriage of melody, complexity, brutality, and spoken-word sections complement each other in a way that I’ve seldom heard, and the entire piece progresses with an effortless fluidity that something this eclectic shouldn’t be able to achieve. It’s a beautifully crafted prog/death metal album that is still getting better every time I listen.
#21 – Silversun Pickups: Physical Thrills
Silversun Pickups have already been resigned to “legacy band” status by a lot of their fans, but I still enjoy their work as much (or maybe more) than when they released Carnavas and Swoon. Physical Thrills positions itself somewhere between the eerie haunted house vibes of 2012’s Neck of the Woods and the glistening electronic pastures of 2015’s Better Nature — two of my favorite SSPU records. The whole band seems more willing to take chances here than they’ve been in quite some time, and they combine that creative appetite with an effortlessly flowing set of songs that form a cohesive, moody atmosphere. As a result, Silversun pickups sound less like a band slowing down and more like one that is reloading for an amazing new chapter of its career.
#20 – Porcupine Tree: Closure/Continuation
I’m not a “prog guy” by any stretch of the imagination, but there are few genres that sound better when executed to perfection. Porcupine Tree’s first album in thirteen years, Closure/Continuation, fits that criteria. It’s got all of the classic traits that always made Porcupine Tree an iconic band, and they continues to walk the tightrope of technical experimentation and memorable songwriting. Steven Wilson’s voice sounds downright superb and entirely rejuvenated (especially compared to that horrid 2021 solo LP, The Future Bites). He’s able to take the simplest inflection and turn it into an instantly memorable hook — as he does with the “liar” chants on ‘Herd Culling’ — while the songwriting frequently embarks on enjoyable detours and the technical side of things remains complex-yet-accessible. Closure/Continuation more than justifies the band’s reunion…honestly, I’d say it’s right up there with the best albums Porcupine Tree has ever released.
#19 – Prince Daddy & The Hyena: Prince Daddy & The Hyena
The self-titled Prince Daddy & The Hyena combines everything I love about punk-rock into one amazing experience: it’s got disheveled ugliness, tidy melodic gems, and raging nine minute epics. With absolute diamonds like ‘Hollow, As You Figured’, ‘Curly Q’, ‘Black Mold’, and ‘Baby Blue’, there are few bands out there making music as energetic, emotional, or dynamic as these guys. Prince Daddy just might be my new favorite weird emo-punk band, and I say that while acknowledging that there are moments — especially across the back half of the record — where I genuinely hear some Beach Boys influences too. Hate clowns? Maybe keep scrolling in that case…but even then, be sure not to skip the comforting depression and transcendent guitar solo of ‘Curly Q’, found below:
#18 – Honey Harper: Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky
Faced with the nearly impossible task of living up to their debut — 2020’s dream-country benchmark Starmaker — Honey Harper somehow managed to exceed expectations once again. Their sophomore release Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky is more of a pivot than a departure, retaining the gazey aura of Starmaker while also managing to differentiate itself in key areas. There’s more of a traditional country/full band sound here, represented by the guitar solo on ‘Ain’t No Cowboys in Georgia’ and the old-fashioned twang present on singles ‘Broken Token’ and ‘Boots Mine Gold’, but Infinite Sky still hovers with an air of mystique and beauty the majority of the time. The momentous ‘Tired of Feeling Good’, the ever-poignant ‘The World Moves’, and the breathtaking/angelic ‘Heaven Only Knows’ mark some of their best songs to-date, and just two albums into their career, Honey Harper have already cemented themselves as my favorite currently active country artist.
#17 – Willi Carlisle: Peculiar, Missouri
Willi Carlisle, an openly gay country/folk/bluegrass musician, has penned a near-masterpiece with Peculiar Missouri. It observes not only the plight of the homosexual community, but also the common struggles that unite us all. Whether it’s the opening track’s plea for acceptance/forgiveness for all, ‘Tulsa’s Last Magician’s commentary on how life batters us into submission until we lose our individuality, or the title track’s harrowing tale of a Walmart run turned into existential crisis, Peculiar Missouri offers some of 2022’s top songs regardless of genre. Willi Carlisle joins artists like Orville Peck in what has become a growing movement of trend-bucking stars in country music.
#16 – PUP: The Unraveling of PUPTheBand
The Unraveling of PUPTheBand is a seriously fun time. It’s exploding with hooks and energy, and unlike a lot of pop-punk nowadays, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Like the errant piano note and “fuck” muttered right before the band launches into a string-swept crescendo on ‘Four Chords’, just because they can. Or all the cheesy metaphors about hard drives and data processing on ‘Robot Writes A Love Song’. This is the sound of a band completely coming apart at the seams, as they tell us straight-up in the title. They may no longer give one resounding shit, but this sure is a blast.
#15 – Danger Mouse and Black Thought: Cheat Codes
The Roots have always been one of my favorite hip-hop acts, and Black Thought’s latest solo offering (with Danger Mouse) lives up to that band’s legacy in every way. Cheat Codes is yet another lyrical goldmine from Trotter, featuring an even blend of introspection and worldview that somehow makes it feel both timeless and rooted in the present. With his flawless delivery and Danger Mouse’s deft touch in the studio, the album is a case of an iconic voice meeting up with the right engineer at the right time. The rest, as they say, is history.
#14 – Perfume Genius: Ugly Season
Ugly Season is Mike Hadreas’ crowning achievement — a breathtaking and boundary pushing dance-pop piece with indie-rock and psychedelic undertones. Its depth and aesthetic queerness make it feel like a landmark release for that community, although to me — as an outsider who could not possibly comprehend all of the thematic nuances — it’s just a really damn good experimental pop record. From the moment that ‘Just a Room’ begins you can immediately tell that this is going to be different from other Perfume Genius albums — sprawling, daring, dark. Ugly Season delivers, with some of the most dynamic arrangements and eerie atmospheres that Hadreas has ever penned…which is saying a lot. This is an important evolution for Perfume Genius.
#13 – Shearwater: The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening is a naturalistic/spiritual 10th LP that feels like a culmination of all of the band’s best traits. It’s the sort of slow-to-unravel album that takes dedication and immersion to fully appreciate, but grows into something truly special when it finally clicks. More than any single track here, The Great Awakening breathes as one experience. Rather than being defined by individual songs, it’s scattered moments that stand out — eerie pauses, discordant synth lines, ritualistic drums, a choir of howler monkeys — that together coalesce into a gorgeously dark and sinister atmosphere. It’s the only Shearwater album I’ve heard that’s superb enough in every facet to rival my longtime favorite LP of theirs, Rook. In time, I think I will end up referring to The Great Awakening as this group’s best album.
#12 – Imperial Triumphant: Spirit of Ecstacy
Spirit of Ecstacy is exactly the kind of mind-bogglingly off-the-wall metal that keeps me from falling into a permanent indie-folk coma. This album’s experimental appetite is absolutely bonkers; from the unpredictable chord progressions and dissonant/divergent drumming to the fact that Kenny G is found contributing saxophone on ‘Merkurius Gilded’…this thing is out there. Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way — when artists as talented as Imperial Triumphant decide they are going to craft a motherfucking opus, the only thing left to do is sit back and relish every second of it.
#11 – Pinegrove: 11:11
Pinegrove’s fifth full-length album creates an interesting juxtaposition of comfort vs. discomfort. The lyrical content is fairly bleak (political corruption, depression, climate change), but 11:11‘s atmosphere is absolutely sublime. The lush acoustic guitars and laid back pacing of the album have a soothing effect on the soul, and there’s an earthy/natural air to it all, as if it were recorded in the band members’ backyards on a warm spring afternoon. Perhaps there’s a message there, even if it was unintentional. Against the daily grind, it’s easy to fall into accidental complacency. On the last song of the LP, Hall sings, “The eleventh hour now / When coal is cut across the sky in saturated dye / An actual emergency now, it’s really going down / Curled up by the fireside, the county sleeps tonight”, and it feels like a warning shot. Buried within our own lives, it’s critical not to miss the issues festering right outside of our doorstep. In that sense, 11:11 is Pinegrove’s most understated but important record yet.
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#10 – The Wonder Years: The Hum Goes On Forever
I’ve spent many years trying to fully comprehend the appeal of The Wonder Years, and The Hum Goes on Forever finally made a believer out of me. Maybe it’s all the references to my hometown on ‘The Paris of Nowhere’, or the way they tug on your heartstrings with my personal favorite ‘Laura & the Beehive’, or the way they blow you away with raw emotion on ‘Cardinals II’ and ‘You’re the Reason I Don’t Want the World to End’. Either way, The Wonder Years have now officially joined the ranks of my favorite pop-punk bands.
#9 – Somewhere South of Here: Leave Me for the Crows
Sometimes a band immediately finds a sound that just works. That’s the case for Somewhere South of Here and their superb debut, Leave Me for the Crows. The album blends pop-punk, emo, and hardcore into something emotional and tangibly urgent. It’s bursting at the seams with memorable melodies/hooks/choruses, and all ten songs earn their place on the tracklist. Its consistency is almost unbelievable — it’s what I’d call a perfect LP in the sense that I can put it on and listen to the entire thing, in any setting, without skipping a single song. There’s also incredible variation – whether its the heaviness and aggression of ‘Pines’, the ambient/experimental outro of ‘Dead Friends’, or the stupidly catchy ‘Falling Asleep in Public Places’, the album manages to sound fresh at every turn — even thirty-or-so spins later. I didn’t think a pop-punk album in 2022 would be able to eclipse The Wonder Years’ The Hum Goes on Forever, but lo and behold, our very own PitchforkArms has gone and created something very special.
#8 – Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Twenty songs, eighty minutes. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is no small undertaking, but the reward is immense for those who embark upon the journey. With everything from stripped-down folksy acoustic numbers to raucous experimental forays and twangy cuts of country/Americana, Dragon feels like — and is — Big Thief’s statement album. In addition to covering a pretty vast sonic range, it also features some of Adrianne Lenker’s very best songs to date — wistful ballads like ‘Change’ or ‘The Only Place’, propulsive indie-rockers like ‘Simulation Swarm’, atmospheric diamonds like the title track, poignant earworms like ‘No Reason’ — the list goes on, and honestly it’s nearly as long as the actual tracklist itself. Dragon is far more consistent than a double album has any right being, and it feels like one of those timeless records that will sound just as good thirty or forty years from now. It’s hard to imagine Big Thief/Lenker topping this, but I wouldn’t bet against them.
#7 – Daniel Rossen: You Belong There
Daniel Rossen, the Grizzly Bear frontman behind celebrated works like Yellow House and Veckatimest, released what is surprisingly his debut solo LP a full decade after his debut solo EP dropped back in 2012. Sonically, it feels a bit like Grizzly Bear’s recognizable brand of indie-folk, only far more progressive and borderline avant-garde. The guitars dominate the album’s atmosphere and pacing as they twist and turn through Rossen’s ambitious song structures. Albums like Fleet Foxes’ Crack-Up always come to mind when I think of this piece, but this is arguably even more unconventional. You Belong Here feels distinctly cold for guitar-driven folk music — the primary emotion I derive from it is isolation; this sense of being lost and trying to find my way. This album is absolutely brilliant in its songwriting and musicality, conjuring a mysterious alternate realm of its own that is simultaneously inviting and alienating. If you’re a fan of indie-folk that pushes the boundaries a bit, then You Belong There is an essential listen.
#6 – Ethel Cain: Preacher’s Daughter
Preacher’s Daughter is one of the hardest hitting albums I’ve heard in a while. To call it emotionally profound feels like a disservice given the content (sexual/emotional abuse, drug addiction, religious hypocrisy), but it definitely stirs something inside of me even if I can’t relate to all of the experiences that Hayden Anhedönia sings about. Awash in a stunning haze, Preacher’s Daughter could be described as everything from dreary to danceable — and at times it is both — while delivering some of the most sad and haunting lyrics I’ve ever heard come out of the dream-pop/ambient genre. ‘American Teenager’ is a bit of a red herring — but a superbly written one at that — while other highlights include ‘A House In Nebraska’, which almost sounds like a tormented Taylor Swift song, the heart-wrenching and fucked up ‘Hard Times’, the huge melodic swell of ‘Thoroughfare’, the horrifying ‘Ptolemaea’, and really the entire run of closing tracks (‘Televangelism’, ‘Sun Bleached Flies’, ‘Strangers’). This feels like a year-defining album, and will (rightfully) go even higher than this ranking for many other critics on this site.
#5 – Zach Bryan: American Heartbreak
There may not be a harder working artist in the entire music industry than Zach Bryan. The man puts out music faster than I can keep up with it, which is usually the sign of an artist trying to prove themselves — but in this case, even after Bryan broke all kinds of streaming records with American Heartbreak — he still churns out songs like he’s simply trying to make ends meet. But that’s always been part of Zach’s charm, this straight-up country boy who rejects fame, gives zero shits, and just wants to jam around the fireplace with his buddies while throwing back a few cold ones. You wouldn’t expect a thirty-four track album to be something worth listening to start-to-end, but American Heartbreak shatters those odds. I’m not going to claim that every single one of these songs floored me — but many of them did, and the ones that didn’t were still excellent songs that I wouldn’t want to skip. You also wouldn’t expect someone who puts out songs seemingly with every other exhale to be able to pack so much meaning into each one. The only explanation I can come up with is that Bryan has a big heart with much to share, and that as recipients, we may be in the company of country music greatness.
#4 – The Callous Daoboys: Celebrity Therapist
Celebrity Therapist is grandiose, hyperactive, abrasive, emotional, and highly melodic. It’s essentially all over the place, but somehow, The Callous Daoboys pull it off. Every song here has a wild, unforeseeable twist that makes it worth constantly returning to, whether it’s the ominous spoken-word section on ‘Field Sobriety Practice’ or the way that ‘Star Baby’ swells into this enormous singalong chorus with saxophones blasting in the background. If it’s entertainment you’re after, then you simply can’t do much better than Celebrity Therapist — but still, The Callous Daoboys manage to layer their no holds barred ridiculousness with uniquely moving lyrics that make the entire experience worth delving into deeper. It’s been a long time since I’ve cared about a hardcore LP like I do Celebrity Therapist — this band, and this album, are absolutely the real deal.
#3 – Smidley: Here Comes The Devil
I never thought of emo-pop as something that could be truly unsettling until I spun Here Comes The Devil. The album begins as nothing all that sinister, with the gorgeous pianos and open hi-hat ushered in by the opening ‘Farewell’, but patience is key to the experience. The intensity snowballs ever-so-gradually, beginning with the Satanic incantation that closes out ‘Another Devil’, continuing with the depression and self-deprecation evident throughout ‘Do You Still Love Me’, ‘I’m Breaking My Own Hear’, and ‘Heaven Knows I’m In Hell’, all the way through the super eerie beckoning from “the shepherd of the hills” on the pastoral ‘Table Rock Antichrist’, and finally culminating in an overwhelming musical response across the final four tracks: Conor Murphy’s stunning shrieks and vocals on ‘In Poor Taste’, the spine-tingling ‘Canto Of Queens’, the tidal wave of guitars and religious/existential crises on ‘Holy Immolation’, and the unintelligible screams of ‘Here Comes the Devil’. As critics, we always talk about “flow” and the “album experience” — Smidley’s second LP is a masterclass in both. If you enjoy the work of Foxing but always wish they’d lean into their darker inclinations, then I invite you to Here Comes The Devil: a brilliant personal and spiritual unraveling from one of the best emo frontmen currently in the business.
#2 – Wild Pink: ILYSM
Across Wild Pink’s first three records, I viewed them as essentially an alternative to The War on Drugs — they put forth a similar brand of glistening, gazey guitar-driven Americana-rock that was arguably even more streamlined/accessible. I enjoyed that version of Wild Pink a lot — especially around 2018’s Yolk In The Fur — but after the frontman’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent grappling with his own mortality, paired with a clear artistic leveling up, I’m now wondering if Wild Pink didn’t go ahead and create the best album of the year. ILYSM is the kind of album whose sheer beauty stops you in your tracks, a trait undoubtedly credited to the band but perhaps enhanced further by the presence of The Antlers’ Peter Silberman in the studio. The band reined in most of their over-the-top melodies and instead focused on gorgeous, spacious folk: the twinkling keys and soaring guitars on ‘Cahooting the Multiverse’; the shifting tempos and jaw-droppingly beautiful imagery of the title track, the downright sublime midsection of ‘Abducted At The Grief Retreat’, ‘Simple Glyphs” eloquent and uplifting guitars, J Mascis’ energetic chords on ‘See You Better Now’, the experimental and borderline post-rock progression of ‘Sucking On The Birdshot’…surprisingly, there’s plenty of sonic variation within the album’s hushed confines. In listening to this over the course of several weeks as Autumn waned, while aiding my parents whose health is rapidly declining, ILYSM established itself — for me at least — as an album about the turning of both literal and metaphorical seasons. I’ve been surrounded by death a lot lately — some instances are now in the past, but others are seemingly on the not-so-distant horizon — and through it all, ILYSM has been there to see me through.
#1 – Domestic Terminal: All The Stories Left To Tell
There are your one-hit wonders, and then there are bands like Domestic Terminal. After releasing their downright gorgeous emogaze debut I Could See Midnight Sky in 2020, they unveiled their greatest achievement yet in 2022 with All The Stories Left to Tell. They’re only two albums into their career, but their consistency thus far is worth noting: I don’t consider any of their songs (b-sides included) to be even remotely average, let alone poor. The band is cut from the same cloth as Jimmy Eat World — the kind of group that has an emotional presence and gift for expression that lends weight to every word they sing and every note they play. When you combine that with the fact that the thematic content (contemplating suicide, discovering/accepting who you are, learning to trust others, tearing down barriers, expunging the past) speaks for itself, you end up with an emotional tour de force that sweeps you up in its beautiful metaphors and harnesses the ability to become truly life changing/affirming. From our very own YoYoMancuso and Bilbodabag comes this acoustically-driven indie-rock gem that registers in my book as an instant classic. Whether it’s the transcendent and heavenly summer vibes of ‘Purple Envelope’, the beautiful finger picking and emotional wrecking ball that is the title track, the unexpected shouts/screams closing out the emotive ‘Chalk Dust’, the warm melodic embrace of ‘Seven of Your Favorite Stars’, the somber and transformative ‘To the Touch’, or any tracks in between, All The Stories Left to Tell is an album that reaches into your soul. There’s a line from ‘Purple Envelope’ where Mancuso sings, “What’s within ourselves, trapped in uncracked shells”, and it’s always felt like this record’s mission statement to me. The album is a journey towards self-discovery which espouses the idea that, oftentimes, something needs to be broken in order to make way for better things. It’s a theme mirrored in the final track, when they sing “I wanna feel you, I wanna hear you, I wanna touch you / So tear me down.” Not only does it bring the album full circle, but it’s also a brave sentiment — in order to truly know yourself, sometimes you must leave the old you behind and embrace a future full of possibilities. After all, there are so many stories left to tell.
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Well deserved!
Sowing did you check Peregrine-the Awful Things We've Done? It's pretty much the only thing we are getting Hotelier related in 2022, both from Worcester and features Christian on 2 tracks.
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Interesting list anyway. I definitely missed a lot this year
11.26.22
Check Ashenspire if you have not already. Both Mars and Anat have given it their seal of approval, and their word is more likely to be persuasive
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Hard disagree on Porcupine Tree. As a lifelong fan, that album is just boring.
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not for me they didn’t, ETID cannot be replaced so easily
11.27.22
Some great picks here!
This list also contains my 'Worst Album of the Year!
All equals the perfect Sowing year end list ;)
11.27.22
My least favourite? None other than a former favourite - Papa John Misty
Really pleased to see Shearwater, Willi Carlisle and the Black Thought/Danger Mouse feature so high
Also good to see someone still loves Placebo in 2022
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It's surreal to have made something that you like so much, dude. This is such a stellar group of artists and records and I'm floored to be included - and with dat boy Cuso at #1, too! REPRESENT!!!!
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Right on, dude. I could definitely see the Anberlin comp
11.30.22
Personally '7' is my candidate for Beach House's magnum opus, but Once Twice Melody is also fantastic.
12.14.22
Hadn't listened to the new Jack White and I love it.
I also hadn't heard of Lizzy McAlpine and now it might be one of my favorite albums of this year :D
Thank you so much for your work / this list :)