Staff Picks: Top 10 Albums of 2021
☆ BY The Luna Collective Staff ☆
2021 SURE HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS - yet music was there for us always. After spending an absurd amount of time at home and no opportunity to tour, musical aritsts used this as a time to create like they never have before. This past year brought us an incredible amount of music, with endless songs providing soundtracks for every phase and emotion we went through in 2021. We narrowed down our favorite releases to just 10 albums - a difficult task to say the least, but these are albums that we adored and admired from front to back. Read below to learn more about our picks and why they should be on your heavy rotation if they haven’t been.
10. Easy Life - Life’s A Beach
Life’s a beach, an album by the sultry, individualistic but equal group, Easy Life comes in at number 10 for us. Hailing from the United Kingdom, Easy Life comes extraordinary for their debut album. Upon immediate sound from the album’s first track, “a message to myself,” a gorgeous melody is played on the keys, accompanied by emotionally-raw lyrics devotedly sang and recited by Murray Matravers, the group’s vocalist. He sings, “there is nobody else who can do you like you can do...So just be, just be, just be.” That vibe continues as we head into the journey that is Life’s a beach where the next track, “have a great day,” is a friendly reminder to just live your life with as much ease, and zest as possible. Hang loose friends, hang loose.
The album as a whole has a theme of beach and ocean vibes, which the lyrics houghtfully play off of. As we touch the beginning of the mid-album, a released single, “skeletons,” is a standout with an up-tempo melody that is enthralling, accompanied by completely liberated lyrics such as, “our future’s all kombucha...but we never trust the weather forecast.” I can’t help but reference Mac Miller (rest in paradise) in terms of lyrical style, and Toro Y Moi with the vibe and sound of the song. The following track, “daydreams,” caught me by utter surprise in terms of familiarity. Alas, the track samples the late and great Aretha Franklin’s “Day Dreaming.” Amongst the glorious sample, the song still holds its own point of view and individualism. The beautiful lyrical flow which talks about having a special someone on your mind is accompanied by honey smooth vocals. A side note, Murray has this incredible gift of reciting and singing poetic lyrics, which creates a style all his own. At the highest points of his vocal range, he hits a falsetto magically; a complete bulls eye.
9. Clairo - Sling
If there’s anything this year taught us, it was to slow down and really take in the little moments. That’s how it feels to sit down and listen through Clairo’s album, Sling. Sling feels like the older sibling who went to college and came back with a new found wisdom after breaking away from their small hometown. Clairo still pulls through with the whimsical indie charm that pushed her ahead on her debut album, Immunity.
Like most of us surviving through 2021, Sling is the perfect soundtrack for growing up a little too quickly. Clairo perfectly encapsulates this feeling on “Amoeba,” as she reflects on her younger self as she threw herself into the life of a successful musician. It’s easy to get swept away in life and forget to call your parents. But it is much harder to put that sentiment into a gorgeous, high energy yet soft indie pop track.
The production on Sling also shows how much Clairo has grown as an artist since her classic bedroom pop tracks. Working alongside producer, Jack Antanoff, the two created beautiful sonic landscapes to support those gorgeous indie melodies that get stuck in your brain. As people, we are constantly evolving and Clairo reminds us to slow down and take a second to savor the little moments. Sling is a record to help us reflect on the moments in life that are important, even as the world seems to collapse around us.
8. Isaiah Rasheed - The House Is Burning
The effects of a five-year music hiatus can be grim, yet Isaiah Rashad countered that entirely. After a strenuous disappearance from the game, the hip-hop smooth operator of our generation, aka the Southern rapper of Top Dawg Entertainment, proceeded 2021 with The House Is Burning—a 16 track comeback designated as one of the most anticipated hip-hop records of 2021. Rashad is known for his earnest dialogue on addiction and depression; however, it’s never head-on in his flows. And it’s no different with the latest release, either. Instead, Rashad pulls these themes from a long-term hiatus into a mere novel, with each track dissecting a separate, yet introspective chapter into his reserved, rehabilitated mind.
Sonically, the record pulls from tonalities like sultry R&B to the pivotal sounds of southern rap with legends like Project Pat that echo through the record, and it’s evident in tracks like “Lay Wit Ya” and “From The Garden” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. Rashad was able to emulate a duality of energies in this record by providing a grittier, heavy tone, all in the same vein as his slow-paced chilled cuts. On the album closer “HB2U” we sense Rashad’s introspection shining through with questions: “Have I been cheatin’ myself? She's sick and tired of, ‘Listen, I'm broke.’ This ain't the time of my life, but I'm still on drugs” and “what happened to havin’ purpose?” and only slightly answered them with ease. It’s the result of returning to your roots and yourself after a long hiatus such as Rashad’s, molding his newfound aura to evolve into a mature landscape that taps into the pain, the suffering, and the wisdom that comes from years of silence.
Although nothing about The House Is Burning is silent, Rashad’s passion for the craft is what allows the record to burn slowly and unravel the way we predicted it to.
7. Greentea Peng - MAN MADE
Creating space for folks that find themselves increasingly disillusioned by the West’s obsession with individualism, materialism, and white supremacy, Greentea Peng’s MAN MADE is a soothing batch of protest music. Recorded over a month in the woods of Surrey, England with her group, the Seng Seng Family, the album is a break from industry norms in every sense, starting with the frequency of the album. The Family played at 432 Hz rather than the industry-standard 440.
Just as impressive as the impact she makes on her audience is the abstract nature of her vocal and instrumental stylings on MAN MADE. Peng’s band, the Seng Seng Family interpolates Freeform Jazz, Psychedelic, R&B, Soul, Jungle, Dub, and Ragga music during the album’s 61 minutes.
However remains album’s centerpiece is Peng and her comforting voice. Playing the role of trip-sitter through the album’s runtime, she shows herself to be a visionary on the level of legends like Erykah Badu, Amy Winehosue, and Bob Marley.
Greentea Peng’s MAN MADE is a rare moment of respite: proof that through love, unity, and creative expression, we can generate a more equitable and enjoyable reality.
6. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
According to frontwoman Michelle Zauner, Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee is an album about joy. Joy is complicated and fragile. Zauner, who has built a name for herself by examining grief through her art, knows this. What makes Jubilee feel magic is that she takes the emotion seriously — she's willing to fight for it, to poke holes in it, to examine its side effects and its consequences.
Japanese Breakfast has become a household name in the indie rock scene over the past several years. Jubilee’s vast, exuberant sound matched the energy we needed this past year. Horns light up the indie rock stylings that Japanese Breakfast fans know and love, while string arrangements add a dose of drama to the album’s sound. Zauner turns to face the sun and illustrates that doing so is no easy task.
Jubilee asks what we can create in the wake of loss. Beyond joy, this is also an album about making art. The creative process is full of ecstatic highs and jarring lows. Zauner’s stunning lyricism pairs with thrilling instrumentation to guide listeners through this invigorating emotional journey. Jubilee is fun, playful, and unafraid of darkness. It’s a party that leaves you feeling full, smiling on your sunrise commute home.
5. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish didn’t just change her infamous lime green hair to platinum blonde, she also changed the world of music once again. While retiring the era of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2020, she has now created an entirely new one for her image and sound when she released Happier Than Ever . The 16 song record features her hit single “Happier Than Ever” and was co-written with her brother, Finneas.
According to a Rolling Stone interview that Eilish did, the title Happier Than Ever came about after she decided to go to therapy and spent time on the road with her loved ones in between live shows. She stated, “I was thriving. I felt exactly like who I was. Everything around me was exactly how it was supposed to be. I felt like I was getting better. I felt happier than ever.”
The album reveals a more personal and honest perspective, and experience from Billie’s life that many of her fans or listeners have been able to relate to. Breaking out of the dark, edgy and highly unique box that our generation has put her in, Eilish continues to leave the world in awe as we now welcome this new expressive style that she has mastered.
4. Kanye West - DONDA
What does Kanye West have to preach in 2021? And, more importantly, who would want to hear it? Two years after the middling success of his first foray into religious music, Jesus Is King, West was in his late-era; no more “pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist” mass appeal. Now, his audience is an echo chamber, hopelessly devoted. Against all odds, West has made an essential record in which a man with a God complex examines grace. DONDA is the next evolutionary step in his sound that takes the best elements from all prior eras and reminds listeners of his mastery of public persona.
DONDA is narratively cohesive: a cycle of love and rage, separation and unity; both self-embracing and self-loathing. The album opens with “Donda Chant,” in which spoken word poet Syleena Johnson recites West’s mother’s name again and again with no instrumentals until this segues into distorted power chords and the sing-along chorus of “Jail.” This kind of stylistic whiplash characterizes the whole project, as controlled chaos is the primary mode.
Through DONDA, West tells stories of persecution on an individual (our narrator’s pending divorce) to systemic level (Larry Hoover Jr closes out “Jesus Lord,” with devastating reflections on his father’s lifelong incarceration). “Come to Life” is his ending message: radical acceptance of the self no matter how lost you may feel. “No Child Left Behind,” an epilogue, reaffirms the central thesis of his commitment to God in times of turmoil. For West, this sentiment is genuine, but for me, the unintentional desperation makes it more compelling; more of a plea for pending salvation than celebration for what has already come. The story is told through a soundscape that ranges from traditional gospel instruments such as organs and choirs to the old-school Kanye Lauryn Hill samples, and the harsh, cacophonous sound of Yeezus.
Despite the three stadium album-listening event appearances leading up to the release, DONDA remains his least visible multimedia experience. These shows felt more like art installations, and Kanye has yet to perform to perform the full album live"
Contradiction is where West is most at home, and each one makes him more fascinating. DONDA has no cursing, yet includes features from DaBaby and Marlyn Manson that he must have known would cause controversy. Though the message is gospel, the strategy is still to provoke: from the all-black album artwork (recalling Prince’s still-shelved Black Album), to its absolute refusal to sound like any other big budget, contemporary album, every element is in place to make you feel something. Even if you don’t enjoy it as much as the highs of 808s and Heartbreak or Life of Pablo, it’s at the very least the greatest Christian hip-hop album of all time.
3. Porches - All Day Gentle Hold
In his fifth album, Porches, took us Back3School, for a tight 25-minute-and-ten-second nostalgic squeeze. Released in October, the record punctuated the denouement from summer into fall, while his lyrics reversed time to a softer and simpler world of teenage love, sweethearted insecurities, and a longing to preserve near-perfect moments in an unrelenting and unwinding space-time-continuum.
The album opens with three consecutive singles, “Lately”, “Okay” and “…Swimming Big”, building energy and familiarity while introducing the themes and stories to be explored in later tracks. “Lately” reaches out, arms extended to embrace to the subject of his songs whether loves lost, loyal listeners, or both. Dipping into the pool of memory in “Okay” and consecutive“... Swimming Big,” Maine navigates water once again-- a motif central to his oeuvre from 2016’s Pool to The House’s “Swimmer” and “Now the Water.” The difference, this time, being the world through which he wades: blood in “Okay” and a wistful landscape of love and nostalgia in “Swimming Big.” Maine changes currents, bringing the listener back (and forth?) to an overlapping time in calling upon Sonic Youth’s “Bull in the Heather” count-up “10, 20, 30, 40.” By swapping the original “tell me that you want to scold me” with “tell me that you still adore me,” this shift feels characteristic of Maine’s work, adding an uncharacteristic sweetness to bitter memories.
In “Back3School” Maine slips into youth with perfectly messy intimate moments like sucking “on my arm, while I kiss on your face.” Its upbeat drum pattern becomes the song that brings us back to life, as we move into the angsty twist towards “Swarovski.” With rough electric guitar strokes and a syncopated beat, “Swarowski” examines the beauty in broken things, much like the light refracted off of a shaved Swarowski crystal.
Starting to spiral, “Watergetsinside” embraces the extremes of the ups and downs laid out in “Swarowski,” revisiting water which now takes the form of a Camel Blue, in a tongue-in-cheek play on words. After collapsing into wet night grass, “In A Fashion” peels us off the cold ground to stumble home at sunrise, with all the notions of conquest and grandeur conjured by a star on the rise.
“Inasint” and “Grab The Phone” abstract the previously visceral experience of youth, like an interrupted dial-up connection. Maine comes back into his adult body and world. Gritty again, he shows us some of his teeth, before picking at the gunk in “Comedown Song (Gunk)” where he explores the dual realities housed in his memory and reality, and the magical, sticky space of their overlap as he comes down off the trip down memory lane.
Releasing his listeners from their gentle hold, and back into their own bodies and worlds. The album gives us a glimpse into a day in the simultaneous lives of Aaron Maine.
2. Remi Wolf - Juno
Creative and cutting-edge: Remi Wolf’s debut album Juno is one of the most sonically independent records of modern pop music. Triumphing the charts and furthering her place in the industry, the young artist has a sound like no other, and her strides throughout 2021 have landed her a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 and a spot as the opener for Lorde’s global tour, Solar Power, next year.
This isn’t the type of album where each song fades into the rest: each track has its own sound, its own story. The record begins with “Liquor Store,” an upbeat, technicolor tune that will ring in your ears for days. Pop elements with hip-hop tendencies create an uncommon sound. Rap–esque styling, auto-tune and jagged guitar parts on “Guerilla” lead the album into a masterpiece of 13 wonderful tracks.
Not afraid to take risks, both lyrically and melodically, a few of the standout songs on the record include “Grumpy Old Man” and “Sexy Villain.” The two reside in different musical realms, but Remi finds a way to encapsulate them in an eccentric and electronic manner. The noisy production from one song to the next links the songs to one another: each song breaks into different formats, combining a perfect mix of clamorous beats with tranquil strains.
Remi Wolf has set new standards for high quality production, creating a platform of interesting, enthralling, and quirky dynamics. A talent like no other, Juno is the first of many records for this young artist.
Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
On a Friday during the summer of 2021, Tyler, the Creator dropped his greatly anticipated album, Call Me If You Get Lost. Coming roughly a year after his critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning album, Igor, Tyler did not disappoint — in fact, he only proved he is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. Call Me If You Get Lost is a promising album which further amplifies the incredible artist Tyler, the Creator is, showing how his drive and tenacity have propelled him to his present standing. The album is comprised of 16 songs with 12 features, including Lil Wayne and Pharrell — whom Tyler himself has mentioned being inspired by — as well as DJ Drama as the hype man throughout each track.
With first track, “SIR BAUDELAIRE,” you are engrossed in an old-school beat with Tyler saying, “The sun beaming…” and DJ Drama’s sucker-punching voice introducing the album. Call Me If You Get Lost consists of tracks that demonstrate Tyler’s newfound maturity that he has been showcasing since his release of his previous work, Flower Boy, which explored many intimate topics involving the complexities of love and self-discovery. Although there are similar themes in his latest release, there are still remnants of old Tyler from 2009, when he stepped into the scene with his raunchy, hard beats and his identifiable voice spitting controversial lyrics.
With songs like “Massa,” in which he talks about his evolution into the individual he is now due to creating successful art. Most importantly, in “MANIFESTO,” he explicitly speaks about his past rapping: “I was cancelled before cancelled was with Twitter fingers.” Despite formerly being perceived as a controversial character in the music industry, Tyler has owned up to it respectfully and did what he did best, using it to create a praised and greatly complimented album.
Tyler still provided his audience with fleshed-out personal songs that demonstrated his range as an artist like “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” one of the longest tunes on the album that unveils unrequited love and a strong case of lustful infatuation. These feelings continue with tracks such as “WILSHIRE,” as the song delves into the love affair in which that particular girl is living rent-free in his mind. The audience gets lost in his thoughts to understand his deep, passionate, affection towards this girl; obsessing over her, and totally willing to lose a friendship over her.
With Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler, the Creator illustrates his multifaceted talents as writer, producer, and visionary. Every track on this album is unskippable, and each of them need each other providing more ammo for the next song. Tyler once again proves why he has made such an impact in the music scene, with his shock value and his artistry.
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