My Favourite Albums Of 2017

This year has definitely been an interesting one musically, with women in particular releasing many of the best albums of any genre. That wasn't reflected well enough in the end of year polls, in my opinion, but it certainly is in my list. I actually included a couple more men in my first draft before realising that in my heart these were the albums that won me over more than anything else this year regardless of gender.
Honorable mentions though must go to Jason Isbell and the excellent country rock of The Nashville Sound, Ryan Adams' return to form Prisoner, Mark Lanegan's gothy rock Gargoyle, Shannon McNally's superb and hugely underrated rootsy Americana record Black Irish, Allison Pierce's lovely gentle country pop on Year Of The Rabbit, Wolf Alice's cool 90s revival on Visions Of A Life and Neil Young's two releases: the older Hitchhiker and the brand new The Visitor, with Shakey still in protest mode. With that in mind, here's my 12 favourites this year.

12. Laura Marling - Semper Femina

Laura Marling has the phrase "semper femina", taken from Virgil, tattooed on her body. It means "always a woman" and inspired her to write an album all about the female experience. It's a theme worthy of one of her heroes, Joni Mitchell, and this album is easily her most sophisticated. It's a little more folk than her last record, the cinematic Short Movie, and feels more intimate and infused by the warm Californian backdrop which has been her home for the past few years. She definitely sounds less English these days and often it's hard to believe she's still just 27 (and on her sixth album no less), because this is such a mature record in the best possible way. Soothing, with its slippery bass line, has to be one of Marling's most unique tracks and Nothing, Not Nearly has a cool, airy, 70s country rock vibe but, overall, this record is mostly understated folk music: there's something about it that reminds me of early Leonard Cohen. It's also reassuring to hear a woman sing about other women in such a positive way, whether its maintaining friendships (The Valley) or her tribute to the world's first psychoanalyst Lou Andreas-Salome (Nouel). One thing's for sure, Marling just continues to get better and better.

11. Juliana Hatfield - Pussycat

Pussycat is Juliana Hatfield's big political album, fueled by anger and outrage at Trump's bizarre presidency, and, quite simply, it's glorious. This is a record that wasn't even planned: it was borne out of pure anger and how shaken she was over Trump's election, and recorded in just two weeks. Because of this there's a brilliant urgency and passion about Pussycat with pretty much every song taking aim at the president and even his wife (the hilarious and often disgusting Rhinoceros about the couple's sex life) and associates (Kellyanne taking a well-deserved shot at Kellyanne Conway). It's sometimes funny, sometimes sad but most of all it is pure beautiful anger. The best song has to be When You're A Star, about all the predatory men (like Trump and Bill Cosby) in the world who can get away with vile things against women because of their power and fame. This record came out before the Harvey Weinstein scandal so it could not be more timely. All in all this is just a fantastic protest album featuring Hatfield at her punky best.

10.  Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest

I discovered Charlotte Gainsbourg's a little too late (after her last record IRM came out) but I am so glad I did: every album so far has been a treasure and the latest is no exception. Rest is a real electropop album but makes a deeper impact than most. That's because it's the first Gainsbourg has written the lyrics for and it was the death of her father (the legendary Serge Gainsbourg) and her half-sister Kate Barry that inspired her words and that darkness is reflected in the music. It is an album of sadness and loss made intimate by Gainsbourg's breathy, often whispered vocals sung both in English and in French. Sometimes the music is moody and sorrowful, other times utterly cinematic and there's even some discoesque tracks that bring to mind Giorgio Moroder.  It's true that synths can sometimes sound cold but here they seem the perfect counter-point to Gainsbourg's grief-filled lyrics. This is a record I just keep going back to and easily the best thing she's ever done.

9.  Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger In The Alps

Only 23 years old, Phoebe Bridgers debut album is full of melancholy and beauty. This is not an album you put on to hype yourself up for going out, rather a late-night, needing-commiseration kind of record with Bridgers' voice and strummings certain to soothe your soul a little (even though Conor Oberst does jarringly pop up on a couple of tracks). Ryan Adams appears to have discovered Bridgers, producing and releasing her debut single, Killer, on his Pax-Am label. That song appears here too but its certainly not her best. Motion Sickness has a more upbeat feel but Bridgers' plaintive voice singing a tale of an older love interest who sings with an English accent, still manages to touch your heart, while Funeral starts with feedbacking guitars before turning into a gentle acoustic number about a young man who has died that evokes Elliott Smith at his saddest best. Scott Street though is the standout track, starting out a folky acoustic strum and building into a string-filled orchestral outro with Bridgers vocals echoing atmospherically over it all. It will be interesting to see where Bridgers goes next but this record is a great start.

8. St. Vincent - Masseduction

I have to admit that Annie Clark's new S&M rubber-wearing sex doll look is really not for me. One thing I always liked about her is her non-sexualised, classy image but, like I predicted with her last album, St. Vincent is now a bona fide pop star, appearing on gossip sites and daytime talk shows. She's no longer the sweet indie queen I loved and I need to accept that although I couldn't bring myself to see her on this tour (the first I've ever missed) that sees her performing alone on stage in a minuscule outfit in front of large images of herself.  The music too is much more commercial and less guitar-based, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if there's a dance remix album waiting to be released soon. With all that said, despite my nerdy reservations about her image and fame the music itself remains utterly superior and although Masseduction (the title gives away her intent here) may literally have a model's behind on the cover (not Clark's) the sounds contained within are still clever and sophisticated, filled with smart lyrics and killer hooks. The videos and production may be more shiny but the songs themselves speak of lost love (New York), drug addiction (Pills) and regrets (Slow Disco). My favourite track of all ends the album and is by far the most bleak, Smoking Section, where she sings "sometimes I sit in the smoking section, hoping one rogue spark will land in my direction". So good.

7. Courtney Marie Andrews - Honest Life

This album was released last year in the States but only got an official release in the UK back in January. For a while I was certain nothing would usurp it as my favourite record of the year. It's a simple record, no fancy production or quirky themes, instead it's pure singer-songwriter fare albeit with a country twang, inspired by Andrews' time traveling across America dealing with heartbreak and loneliness. It reminds me of Ryan Adams at his best and not surprisingly he was a fan of this record too. The title, Honest Life, couldn't be more perfect with Andrews reflecting on her own life and capturing little moments she sees along the way. Who couldn't fall in love with lines like "the jukebox is playing a sad country song for all the ugly Americans" (How Quickly Your Heart Mends) or "all I've ever wanted is an honest life, to be the person that I really am inside" (Honest Life). My favourite track though is the plaintive Put The Fire Out, where Andrews' voice is so full of sadness and longing you just want to hug her.  This album is actually her sixth release (although she's withdrawn the first three released when she was a teen) and you can tell she has spent her time playing live and honing her craft because this is just a beautifully written and sung album. Sometimes artists are overnight successes but in a way it's nicer to find one who has really worked and earned her newfound acclaim and Andrews deserves every bit judging by this beautiful album.

6. Alessi's Ark  - Love Is The Currency

It's been four long years since the last Alessi's Ark album and in that time Alessi briefly dropped the Ark from her name and decided to part ways with her record label, Bella Union. I had wondered where she could go after The Still Life: it was clear she was outgrowing the short, sweet and whimsical folk songs that made her first two records so good. She released one single as just Alessi earlier this year but then decided to reclaim her ark to release her fourth album, Love Is The Currency, easiest her most mature and accomplished record so far. It's a little less folky and little more synthy for starters, opening with the atmospherically spooky Portal, where she speak-sings "I'm told sound is the portal to the immortal underground", while Love Travels is a lovely, breezy summer day of a song that sounds different to anything she's ever done before. Cut The Chord is the should-have-been hit single and Desert is the rockiest I've ever heard Alessi, with a true Rilo Kiley vibe that is irresistible. Wives is probably nearest to the Alessi of old that finds her dreaming of being a fisherman's wife to a swirling accompaniment. It ends on the marching, upbeat and hopeful On Till Dawn, a track that really epitomises the feel of the album. It's early days yet but this could well be her best record yet. I hope we don't have to wait another four years for the next one that's for sure.

5. Afghan Whigs - In Spades

This is the Afghan Whigs' second album since they reunited and crazily the band just seems to be getting better. Although I loved their comeback, Do To The Beast, at the time I was a little disappointed that it sounded more like a Twilight Singers album but I've since come to terms with the fact that anything Greg Dulli does, whatever the name of the band, is just essentially a Dulli record and that is no bad thing at all. In Spades though is a superior album to Do To The Beast. It takes his R&B and soul-fuelled alternative rock to new places, particularly on tracks like the creepy Arabian Heights and the piano-and-brass groove of Demon In Profile. The album's highlight though has to be the positively sinister Oriole (even the video has a witchy, 70s horror movie vibe), with its building acoustics and spooky strings, it's the best track Dulli has recorded in some time. Absolutely everything Dulli does is worth a listen but In Spades is up there with his very best. Plus, that album cover (even cooler in the flesh) is easily the best album art this year.

4. Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie

It's Fleetwood Mac's 50th anniversary this year and the band tried their hardest to give us a new album to commemorate that fact but Stevie Nicks just would not relent to join them on this record. It could easily have still been released as a Mac album (as Say You Will was a Mac record minus Christine McVie) but despite it having every other member (aside from Lindsey and Christine both bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood are present on just about every track) out of respect to Stevie (or fear she might be offended enough not to join them on their next money-making nostalgia tour) instead it was released under the Mac's remaining songwriters' names (Buckingham McVie would have sounded nicer though). But this is a Mac album minus Stevie, continuing where Tango In The Night left off and allowing the pair to collaborate once again in style. It's just lovely to hear those voices together again and hear Buckingham's guitar on McVie's bright sunny pop songs such as Feel About You and Red Sun. There's even a track that brings to mind their first collaboration, World Turning, the foot-tapping Too Far Gone complete with Mick Fleetwood drum-break and bluesy guitar riff. A couple of the tunes do sound like they could have come straight off one of Lindsey's solo albums but overall it's hard to complain because this is such a lovely, positive album, filled with good feeling. We can only imagine how it would have ended up if Nicks had decided to come back to the band (the idea of her even just singing on these songs is admittedly thrilling, especially since the likelihood of a Mac album now is pretty much zero) but I will take what I can get from the Mac and this is definitely a wonderful compromise.

3. Margo Price - All American Made

Margo Price released my favourite album of 2016 so I was more than excited by this speedy follow-up. I can't deny this album didn't grab me the same way her debut did but the more I listen to it the more important it feels: in years to come I really think people will be talking about this album. It's definitely a more political record written in the aftermath of Trump's election with Price taking on inequality (Pay Gap and Wild Women), the struggles of the working class (Heart Of America) and life in modern America (All American Made). The best moments though come from some of the more personal songs, firstly the utterly lovely duet with Willie Nelson, Learning To Lose and then the excellent, slow-burning tale of lonely days spent on the road, Nowhere Fast, which builds into a big, airy, Tom Petty-esque swirl of strings and guitar. It's heartbreaking and glorious at the same time. There's no doubt about it Price is quickly becoming one of the most important voices in modern day country music.

2. Big Thief - Capacity

I missed out when Big Thief released their debut Masterpiece but after a recommendation, it only took half a song on its follow-up, Capacity, to know this was a band I was going to love deeply. The cover of the album, featuring singer Adrianne Lenker's teenage uncle holding her as a baby, really does reflect the dark, personal nature of the songs. One of the standout tracks, Mythological Beauty is a homage to Lenker's mother and recalls how she gave up a baby as a teen ("I have an older brother I don't know, he could be anywhere") and a childhood accident where she was hit on the head ("I was five and you were 27, Praying, please don't let my baby die"). It's staggering stuff. On another song, Pretty Things, she croons "There's a woman inside me" before turning it on its head and charging "there's one inside you too and she don't always do pretty things". While there's another devastating song about a young couple involved in a car crash (Shark Smile). The music is folky, sometimes a little country, sometimes echoey and dark, sometimes like a 90s indie band other times reminiscent of bands like Mazzy Star and the Cowboy Junkies, yet strangely utterly unique. This is an intensely moving record, a little picture show of dreams and memories all set off by Lenker's quiet but evocative voice. It really is stunning.

1. Lana Del Rey - Lust For Life

Lana Del Rey certainly divides opinions but for me, right from the start, she's been nothing less than mesmerizing. Lust For Life is her return to a more commercial sound, and while less consistent in sound than both Ultraviolence and Honeymoon (as well as a few ill-judged moments), may well be her best record yet. To begin with its probably the first that looks outside herself to events going on in the world and, while keeping that noirish, old Hollywood glamour, at last abandons the whole older man "sugar daddy" obsession (an eye-rolling and disingenuous theme given that, since she's been famous, Del Rey's boyfriends have all been in her age range).  There's 16 tracks on the album and to be fair not every one is great. Summer Bummer is easily the worst and is more an A$AP Rocky rap song than Lana Del Rey experience, while Groupie Love also has a really annoying and out-of-place rap slapped in the middle that takes you out of the feel of the song. Also, her collaboration with The Weeknd on the title track isn't bad but almost feels like it should be a standalone single rather than the lead song.
Cut those songs and the rest is utterly superb. Love is her most positive-sounding song yet, with a real 60s girl-group vibe and opens the record in a welcoming way. The rest is far darker and more self-aware than we've seen Del Rey before. Coachella - Woodstock In My Mind takes inspiration from the optimism of previous generations in the current political climate, while the grandiose God Bless America - And All The Beautiful Women In It is a statement on women's rights in modern day America and finally, the moody When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing finds Del Rey worrying about Trump's impact on the world. All are truly great. The album's true highlights for me though are the more introspective tracks, in particular the dark and noirish 13 Beaches is breathtakingly good and Beautiful People Beautiful Problems, where she duets with Stevie Nicks, is a truly inspired moment.  For me this is the record that proves once and for all that Lana Del Rey is one of the most interesting, different and important pop artists around today.