Amid the catastrophes of 2020, both Jack and Josh found comfort and escape in great music. And they’ve compiled their year-end list in record time!
Here are some of our favorite albums from this year:
Flower of Devotion – Dehd – Fire Talk
On Flower of Devotion, Dehd adds just the right amount of polish to their garage rock roots, creating a more expansive, dreamier sound. Singer Emily Kempf has an incredibly dynamic voice that somehow stays smooth as she howls, yelps, sighs and belts out rollicking choruses. Co-lead singer Jason Balla complements her perfectly with a cool, nasal drawl. Kempf and Balla’s chemistry once went beyond their music; Dehd’s last album, Water, emerged from the pain of their personal breakup. On Flower of Devotion, their lyrics reflect on the full arc of relationships; resistance and surrender, passion and frustration, and the search for meaning when it’s all over.
Women in Music Pt. III – Haim – Columbia
On WIMP III, the Haim sisters experiment with sounds from jazz, reggae, ‘90s hip-hop and more, while still showcasing their masterful musicianship as a rock band. Longtime producer Ariel Reichtsheid continues to artfully blend the band’s classic rock influences with a synth-pop sheen, while co-producer Rostam Batmanglij reshapes the band’s sound with diverse instrumentation and honeyed vocals. WIMP III also features the band’s most introspective and personal lyrics, with songs that revisit dark moments of depression and anxiety, and infuriating encounters with men in the music industry. It’s a joy to hear Haim let loose and smash the patriarchy on their fabulous third album.
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately – Perfume Genius – Matador
While the title of Perfume Genius’s fifth studio effort may seem a bit melodramatic, it also perfectly describes the sound of Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. Even more so than his previous works, Mike Hadreas creates a richly textured work that feels both ultra-modern and timeless. Across a vibrant landscape of ambitious, unconventional contrasts – such as the thundering, militaristic drums and exotic flute flourishes in “Your Body Changes Everything” – he explores the themes of love and sexuality in all its complexities, made all the more immediate with his trademark quavering voice. There are euphoric moments (“Without You”, “Nothing At All”) and also deeper contemplative ones (“Describe”, “Borrowed Light”); by the end, you’re left with a powerful sense of catharsis – the underlying pain of the human experience has certainly not vanished, but things, it seems, will be okay.
Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers – Dead Oceans
Riding off her well-received solo debut in 2017, Stranger in the Alps, as well as two collaborative side projects under band names Boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center, Phoebe Bridgers’ sophomore effort sees her bringing that raw sense of heartache and lost-in-the-world sentimentality that so distinguishes her music over the backdrop of expansive, more experimental production elements – the blurry, distant guitars in “Garden Song”, the bouncy strings in “ICU” and the layered, echo-chamber vocals that accentuate the intimacy of her writing.
For Bridgers, the puzzle pieces never quite fit perfectly together, and it’s made all the more vividly clear with frequent contrasts between wild fantasy and cold, unfiltered realism. She wants to be like others who believe in religion and wish on stars, but the best she can do is wish on Chinese satellites. She thinks of Snow White fairy tale cottages but also everyday drug stores in her ode to her artistic hero, Elliott Smith. In the process, Punisher’s vulnerability gives credence to and validates the thoughts that we all have but left buried inside ourselves, setting them free to be explored thoroughly and understood compassionately.
Color Theory + Selected Demos – Soccer Mommy – Loma Vista
Sophie Allison launched her career as Soccer Mommy with songs that delved into the unbearable intensity of teenage emotions. On color theory, she battles through pain that won’t be neatly resolved or outgrown — anxiety, depression, and fears of losing her mother to a chronic illness. Like many great songwriters, Allison often cloaks these troubling subjects in bright-sounding melodies, particularly in the catchy pop-rock single “circle the drain.” While color theory sounds slightly overproduced at times, this fault was remedied by a November release of six demos from the album. With just a guitar and Allison’s voice, bleak and beautiful tracks like “yellow is the color of her eyes” and “gray light” become even more devastating.
Folklore & Evermore – Taylor Swift – Republic
In the midst of a global pandemic, months of isolation, and cancelled tour plans, 2020 somehow also became a year when one of the biggest pop superstars found the inspiration and energy to write not one but two full-length musical masterpieces, elevating her artistry with some of her most imaginative and evocative work across her storied discography.
Promoted as sister albums to each other, Folklore and Evermore represent a coming together of sorts of all the things that have made her one of the definitive artists of her generation. Never has her uncanny storytelling ability been sharper and more consistent than here. From stories of teenage romance, failing marriages, middle-class divorcees, and even revenge murder, Taylor Swift weaves wondrous tales that whisk her fans away from the details of her personal life and deeper and deeper into quietude of the “folklorian woods,” where a global celebrity can be anyone she wants. And in shedding the pop production gleam that characterized her previous 3 LPs, her voice shines like never before, particularly in songs like “Peace”, “Majorie”, “This is Me Trying”, and “Gold Rush”.
Certainly, credit must also be given to her two producers – The National’s Aaron Dessner and longtime collaborator (and Joshua Tree fave) Jack Antonoff – for bringing these songs to life. While the instrumentation is more subdued and simpler here, they are just as masterfully composed, nearly perfectly matching the subtle shifts in narrative tension in each track. In many ways, Folklore and Evermore appear to have unlocked new doors for Swift. While we certainly can’t say where she is headed next, if these albums are any indicator of the creativity and quality to expect, we can’t wait to find out.
Jaguar – Victoria Monet – Tribe Records
After writing for some of music’s biggest pop acts as a songwriter, most notably Ariana Grande in her acclaimed thank u, next album, Monet’s Jaguar sees her leaping into the spotlight with a slick and confident solo debut of her own. Despite its brevity (9 tracks, including 2 interludes), Jaguar offers plenty of exciting and eclectic musical moments throughout. From the rich harmony-laden intro of “Jaguar” to the colorful synths in “Experience” to the old-school strings in “Moment”, she effortlessly blends across genres and generations. Her vocals are silky, sensual, and on point – never over-complicating the song with excessive melisma or belts, but delivered with the swagger of a woman fully in control of her craft. As we look forward to more from Monet in the years to come, she is already showing that she can shine as brightly as her past collaborators.
Saint Cloud – Waxahatchee – Merge
Katie Crutchfield never has tried to hide her Southern roots; the name of her musical project, Waxahatchee, comes from a creek in her Alabama hometown. But Saint Cloud is by far her deepest exploration of the environments and musical traditions that have shaped her as an artist, and as a person Saint Cloud‘s bright, stripped-down Americana and country songs are a perfect match for her plainspoken but profound musings on vulnerability, change and renewal. Her wisdom and reassurance were gifts in a moment when it felt like the world as we knew it was ending.
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We also made a playlist featuring more excellent music from 2020 that didn’t make it into our album reviews. We hope you enjoy it, and we’d love to hear your recommendations as well.
Here’s to a better year in 2021!
Jack & Josh
Here’s a link to this playlist on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/best-of-2020-joshua-tree-music/pl.u-pMylANEc42XEja
Joshua Tree Music 