TOP 5 ALBUMS

40 Watt Sun ‘Perfect Light’ (5/5)

From the opening guitar in “Reveal” you are aware that ‘Perfect Light’ by 40 Watt Sun is going to be a very special record. “I’ll cross the distance in your eyes” is a beautiful lyric within the opener and it sets the stage for what’s to come. “Behind My Eyes” is otherworldly and quite perfect, reminiscent of the seminal Red House Painters work. The centerpiece “The Spaces in Between” has an eloquent piano and strong vocals that contain gorgeous melodies and perfectly drawn out syllables. It’s hard to believe the track is almost 10 minutes long because it seems to be much less and also endless at the same time. “A Thousand Miles” has the most enjoyable instrumentals on the album, with the masterful percussion matched with the understated guitar work and you can get lost in the song very quickly. The vocals are wonderful and they grow on you with each listen. “Of all the days of my life, I knew you here beside me” is a heartbreaking lyric in its delivery. This is another instance where the 9 minute plus runtime feels like it could be 5 minutes or 15 minutes depending on your mood when listening to it. The songwriting on this record is second to none so far this year and fully encapsulates the imagery within.

Sharon Van Etten ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ (5/5)

‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ is the strongest and most beautiful Sharon Van Etten album since ‘Tramp’. It opens with the glorious “Darkness Fades” which is a perfect starting point and a wonderful acoustic-rock inspired slow burner that builds up to a layer of extremely well produced percussion, basslines and synths. Sharon’s vocals shine especially bright on “Darkness Fades” and “Born” where she sings her heart out with her emotion-filled lyrics and does so with so much maturity in her singing style. The album has some great electronic beats within on tracks like “Headspace” and “Home to Me” which conjures up a simple piano and dark floaty backing vocals. “Anything” includes a distant tambourine sound and talks of “peace and war” reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. “Come Back” has a lo-fi produced acoustic guitar and a chorus that gets stuck in your head. The way she belts out “come back” after singing it so intimately is awe-inspiring. The final number “Far Away” is up there with the opener and “Born” as my personal favorites. The percussion is easy on the ears and her breathy backing vocals really add to the beauty of the track. Not to mention, “Doesn’t matter where she is, not far, I’ll be here for a little while” is one of my favorite vocal parts by anyone in 2022.

Bear’s Den ‘Blue Hours’ (5/5)

Bear’s Den are a duo whose latest album ‘Blue Hours’ features extremely strong indie-rock songwriting with really beautiful production elements, horns and most notably, gorgeous piano. The title track is a rocking arrangement somewhere between Frightened Rabbit and The National. “Frightened Whispers” is a wonderful take on electronic production with an easy listening songwriting technique that picks up a quarter of the way through and becomes an ear-worm. “Shadows” is the standout centerpiece that sounds like it could’ve been written by Coldplay. The piano is unquestionably intimate and beautifully arranged. The way the song adds elements like percussion and synths really is wonderfully executed. “I want you and all the shadows that walk beside you” is one of the strongest lyrically sang moments of the year. “All That You Are” has an amazing guitar tone to it and is one of the slower songs on the record, and it moves effortlessly throughout its 4+ minutes. The final number, “All the Wrong Places” is a wonderful way to end ‘Blue Hours.’ It’s chalk full of intimacy and the simplified beat does it justice and the vocals here are some of the best on the album. “You we’re crying, while we were laughing, rolling around on the floor” is sang perfectly and is one of my favorite parts to sing along with in a song this year. This is my personal favorite song on the album due to being the most emotionally expressive and haunting. 

S. Carey ‘Break Me Open’ (4.5/5)

‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ is the strongest and most beautiful Sharon Van Etten album since ‘Tramp’. It opens with the glorious “Darkness Fades” which is a perfect starting point and a wonderful acoustic-rock inspired slow burner that builds up to a layer of extremely well produced percussion, basslines and synths. Sharon’s vocals shine especially bright on “Darkness Fades” and “Born” where she sings her heart out with her emotion-filled lyrics and does so with so much maturity in her singing style. The album has some great electronic beats within on tracks like “Headspace” and “Home to Me” which conjures up a simple piano and dark floaty backing vocals. “Anything” includes a distant tambourine sound and talks of “peace and war” reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. “Come Back” has a lo-fi produced acoustic guitar and a chorus that gets stuck in your head. The way she belts out “come back” after singing it so intimately is awe-inspiring. The final number “Far Away” is up there with the opener and “Born” as my personal favorites. The percussion is easy on the ears and her breathy backing vocals really add to the beauty of the track. Not to mention, “Doesn’t matter where she is, not far, I’ll be here for a little while” is one of my favorite vocal parts by anyone in 2022.

Kurt Vile ‘(watch my moves)’ (4.5/5)

Kurt Vile, the shaggy-haired, weirdo rock musician has self-produced his latest album ‘(watch my moves)’ and it’s full of up’s and downs, but mostly up’s. The opener, however, is a downer because it feels unneeded and like it should have just been a demo. “Flyin (like a fast train)” does have very strong elements to it, like the guitar and drum machine sounding percussion part, and the vocals come off as downtrodden and casual but there’s something reflective about them. “Palace of OKC in Reverse” is a reversed guitar part with simple percussion and brasses and the continuation of this combination really pays off with repeated listens. “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)” includes gorgeous guitars and awkwardly sang vocals that have a childlike quality to them. “Chazzy Don’t Mind” is written about his friends band Chasity Belt among other things and is one of, if not, my favorite song of the year. The songwriting is profound and the production really pulls you in and never wavers. “Wages of Sin” has a classic quality to it and has some nice lyrical stanzas. The last song, “Stuffed Leopard” is another one of strongest songs of the year by any artist or band, as the guitar is glorious and the songwriting really shines throughout the 6+ minute runtime. 

TOP 10 SONGS

40 Watt Sun “Behind My Eyes”

40 Watt Sun’s latest album of dreamy sadcore indie-rock contains the brilliant “Behind My Eyes” which is the closest I’ve heard to a Red House Painters song in two decades. The songwriting is skilled and the production is equally as important. The singing style grows on you with each listen and the guitars are wonderful in tone and approach.

Pedro the Lion “Stranger”

Pedro the Lion has been making breathtaking music for over two decades, and his new album ‘Havasu’ contains the perfect “Stranger.” The songwriting is the best I’ve heard in 2 years and it details youth at a roller rink. The nostalgic feeling it pushes through is intimate and deep. The production value is exquisite with its superbly produced percussion elements, and guitar tone. The vocals are real and raw and not too effected. I haven’t heard such an emotional song in some time and it rewards with each repeated listen. 

Field Medic “Stained Glass”

The first time I heard a snippet of Field Medic’s “Stained Glass” was the “when the light hits” section on the Run for Cover Records instagram, and I was automatically floored. I knew for a fact I was going to love the song and now that I’ve listened to it on repeat for a while, I can say it’s easily one of the strongest songs of the year and the best Field Medic song to date. The acoustic guitar is gorgeously played, the backing guitars are mixed perfectly and the synths really add to the depth of the track. Field Medic is Kevin Patrick Sullivan and his songwriting is usually pretty strong but he has gone above and beyond on this track, including some of my favorite lyrics in “I know this ain’t God punishing me”. The way he sings that part is unbelievably gorgeous, and timeless. The percussion picks up the song halfway through and he speak sings repeated lines that really add to the intimacy of the structure. This is a song that demands repeated listens and only grows and grows on you with each one.

The Afghan Whigs “Please, Baby, Please”

Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs is one of the best songwriters of our time. He’s majestic with his lyrical value and his vocal arrangements are sheer beauty. The new album ‘How Do You Burn?’ features “Please, Baby, Please” which incorporates a relaxed percussion pattern, lo-fi organ and gorgeous guitar licks. It demands repeated listens and it only grows on you which each one. His scruffy vocals and evocative singing style instantly puts you in your feels. His solo album ‘Random Desire’ was my favorite album of 2020 and this track is equally as brilliant as the best tracks on his solo effort. 

Kurt Vile “Chazzy Don’t Mind”

Kurt Vile, the odd, awkward, indie-rock musician who has written some modern classics has a new album out titled ‘(watch my moves)’ and the tenth track is perfect indie-folk-rock. The lyrics cover his thoughts of skateboarding while walking, and how his teapot “sings in a beautiful falsetto.” The instrumentation is exquisite in its simplicity and has an appealing accessibility for modern indie-rock. The harmonizations throughout and that end the song are sang much stronger than I’ve come to expect from Kurt Vile.

Bear’s Den “Shadows”

In what is the most intimately gorgeous song of the year comes Bear’s Den’s “Shadows” which is awe inspiring and grandiose. There is no song I have listened to more this year and for great reason. The singing is perfection and the production value brings out the beauty of the percussion and synths. The strings add to the dynamics and the repeated piano part is wonderfully repeated. The chorus just hugs your heart and demands for a repeated listen. 

David Gray “The Arc”

David Gray is one of the most talented songwriters of the last quarter century and his latest single “The Arc” certainly does not disappoint. The gorgeous production value matched with the alluring vocals bridge the gap between rock and pop seamlessly. The overrally output of music he has developed is otherworldly and this new single really shines with the gorgeous piano, background sounds and distant vocals. The way he sings “Now I’m burning” really pulls you in and allows you to feel the burning inside that he so desperately speaks on.

S. Carey “Where I Was”

S. Carey, who is also the drummer of Bon Iver, is force to be reckoned with, and after reviewing his incredible album ‘Break Me Open’ it’s impossible not to keep coming back to the gorgeous track “Where I Was” which is just devout songwriting at its core. “If you judge, please don’t judge me from where I was, but if you must, please do, judge me from where I am” are superb lyrics and an incredible ask from someone who can pen a relenting ballad. The vocals are perfectly produced with light effects and the reverb really catches at all the right times. The guitar tone is brilliant and very intimate. The highly effected backing vocals that end the song bring out something wonderfully experimental and fresh.

Will Sheff “In the Thick of It”

As the piano opens track two on ‘Nothing Special’ by Will Sheff, the chief songwriter and only constant member of Okkervil River, you instantly know that this is something very special. As soon as he starts singing and the songwriting takes shape, it’s brilliant and beaming with life. The baseline is well done and the backing vocals really add to the intimacy. Adding in the acoustic guitar really brings more life to the track and soon you’re so enthralled in its beauty you can’t help but smile, or cry.

The Smile “Skrting On the Surface”

The last song on the upcoming debut album by The Smile, “Skrting On the Surface,” sounds more like Radiohead than recent Radiohead. That’s because The Smile is made up of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood who are the prominent members of Radiohead and they have even enlisted their trusted producer Nigel Godrich for this project as well. Overall the single is gorgeous and restrained. Jonny’s guitar glows and Thom’s vocals are absolutely incredible in their own right. Tom Skinner’s percussion fits beautifully within the songwriting as well. The production quality is extremely high end but not too polished and adds to the dramatic effect of the track.