My Favorite Albums Of 2018

There have been some years while I've been writing this blog where I have struggled to come up with even 10 albums I've loved released in the previous 12 months. This year though has had so many I've loved instead it's been hugely difficult to whittle it down to just 10. There were two EPs in particular that wowed me that didn't make the list simply because they weren't long players: Alison Sudol, formerly A Fine Frenzy, making her debut as a solo artist with the dreamily atmospheric Moon EP and the brilliant "super-group" Boy Genius, combining the talents of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. I hope we'll get proper albums from both of them.

Other albums I loved that didn't make the final list include Snail Mail's 90s-nostalgia fuzz fest of teenage confusion Lush, Anna Calvi's grandiose guitar opera Hunter (although I still hate the sweaty cover), Lump's beautiful mixture of Laura Marling's folk with Kate Bush-style art pop and prog rock ruminations, Courtney Bartnett's no-nonsense indie rock Tell Me How You Really Feel, The Jayhawks' return to form Backroads And Abandoned Motels (perhaps the best title of the year), Jeff Tweedy's beautifully intimate solo offering Warm and Belly's first album in 23 years, the lovely Dove.

The five albums that came really close to making the top 10 though were Janelle Monae's joyous and funky Dirty Computer, Natalie Prass' empowering and 80s R&B-influenced The Future And The Past, Florence + The Machine's highly personal and beautiful High As Hope and Amanda Shires' brilliant and poetic modern country sounds. As you can see there was serious competition all round but these are the 10 that ultimately made the cut.

10. Neko Case - Hell-On 

Neko Case has been one of my favourite artists for years but there's something about her latest album, Hell-On, that I just didn't love, and given I've been rather obsessive about her previous releases, I can't help be a little bit disappointed by that fact. It may well be due to the fact that this is the most angry and disillusioned that Case has sounded in some time. Still there is a lot to love about Hell-On and there's even a couple of tracks that are up there with her very best, not least her incredible duet with Mark Lanegan, Curse Of The I-5 Corridor, which is nothing short of a Neko masterpiece and features one of her greatest lines "I left home and forgot my ID, I fucked every man I wanted to be, I was so stupid then." Songs like Last Lion Of Albion, Dirty Diamond and Gumball Blue, are full of poetic lyrics, strange twists and turns in the melody and Case's fantastic torchy vocals. Case is still a force to be reckoned with (even though she probably would hate featuring on this list with almost all female artists). I still can't decide if the cover, featuring Neko in a burning cigarette hat and nasty Hell-On burnt neck, is amazing or the most terrible cover ever. But like Case herself, it's certainly not easy to forget.

9. Mitski - Be The Cowboy

Mitski's fifth album is her most ambitious and successful yet: it's big in sound and intention. In some ways a concept album, seeing her write from the perspective of a frustrated married woman looking for more in life (I'm not sure if this is merely a persona or reflective of her own life). There's elements of indie rock, folk, electronica and pop music, with emotive, elegant vocals throughout. Mitski sometimes reminds me of St. Vincent but there's something utterly unique about her too. Nobody has to be the most upbeat sounding song about loneliness ever written and Me And My Husband sounds like a celebration of marriage but hints at pure denial. By the time we reach the final and, maybe, best track, the torchy Two Slow Dancers, we feel like we've gone through the entire sad relationship with her. This is the sound of an artist just hitting her stride.

8. First Aid Kit - Ruins

Apparently after First Aid Kit's last album, the gorgeous Stay Gold, sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, felt exhausted and needed a well earned break from music and from each other, going off to live separately for a year and not speaking for months. Klara had a failed relationship during that time and there's real heartbreak and a little world weariness on this record, maybe fueled in part from their brief estrangement. It results in beauties such as the soaring Fireworks, featuring some spine-tingling vocals from the sisters. Postcards on the other hand feels like a classic country tune from another era, rather than two young Swedish sisters. Their love of Americana and country music shines through every song though and there's just something about their voices singing together that always sends shivers. Hopefully they are no longer fed up with each other because the Söderberg sisters were meant to sing together.

7. Ashley Monroe - Sparrow 

She's a member of the Pistol Annies and has released three albums before this, but I hadn't really listened to Ashley Monroe before. It only took the opening track on her latest album, Sparrow, to realise what a mistake that was. A lush, sophisticated track called Orphan, it sees Monroe sorrowfully sing about losing her beloved father to cancer when she was just 13 years old, "How do I make it alone?" she sings full of the kind of emotion that can bring you to tears. The rest of the album is filled with strings, bluesy melodies, sometimes veering close to pop, other times completely country. It's all utterly lovely. One thing for sure, she's certainly one of the more unique artists in country music today.

6. Joan As Police Woman - Damned Devotion

I first saw Joan Wasser performing as Joan As Police Woman back in 2005 supporting her good friend Rufus Wainwright and I've followed her ever since, sometimes coming late to her releases but always kicking myself when I finally catch up to them, because she has never disappointed. Thankfully I managed to get her latest as soon as it came out because it's an absolutely wonderful record, featuring Wasser at her most soulful and sultry, the music full of cool grooves and smooth hooks. It's no surprise that Greg Dulli named it as one of the records he loved this year because the jazzy, neo-soul style and doomed romantic lyrics coupled with Wasser's enticingly smoky voice really is an amazing recipe that he often strives for himself. Tell Me is the standout track here but this is a record that has a fantastic feel throughout.

5. Alela Diane - Cusp

I feel like I've been on a journey with Alela Diane. I discovered her when her first album came out, which found her finding her feet as a folk artist, playing stark but atmospheric acoustic tunes, and through her subsequent records we've accompanied her falling in love, getting married, divorced, going through writer's block and now her latest album sees her tackling her latest life adventure: motherhood. This is a very elegant, mature record that has Diane exploring many aspects of being a mother, from those caught up in the ongoing refugee crisis (Émigré), to the tragedy of Sandy Denny's death, just months after Denny had her first and only child (Song For Sandy), to Diane's own complicated relationship with her mother now put into a new perspective since having two children of her own (Never Easy). Ether & Wood is the standout song on the album though, featuring backing vocals by First Aid Kit but this is a quietly beautiful album, wintry and poignant and full of nature and life.

5. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain

I can't think of any better message than the one Courtney Marie Andrews delivers on the title track of her sixth album: "If your money runs out and your good looks fade, may your kindness remain" she beautifully sings. The whole record is a rumination on the struggles of the everyday people Andrews grew up with and its filled with hope and love. It's the sort of album we all need right now in these dark times. One misguided reviewer called Andrews' vocals on this album "hysterical" but to me she is a natural successor to Linda Ronstadt, with a passionate, emotive voice. There's no doubt Andrews means every word she sings and that kind of sincerity is much needed in the world right now.

3. Cat Power - Wanderer

It's crazy to think that someone like Chan Marshall, who is so influential and admired, would be so pressured by her longtime record company to polish up her record and sound more like Adele, of all people, that she would feel forced to leave and find a new home for her latest album. But that's exactly what happened and as a final f-you to her former label, she then teams up with Lana Del Rey and records just that stand-out hit, Woman, and adds it to the tracklist. There's also an absolutely incredible version of Rihanna's Stay, that I must admit I didn't even realise was a cover, Marshall so makes it her own (she really is one of the most brilliant interpreters of other people's music). Wanderer is a return to the lo-fi sound that made Marshall so incredible to begin with and sees her in complete control of her music, playing most of the instruments and handling production. It's an intimate, understated but emotional record, at times dark but yet still hopeful. There's always a sadness to Marshall's music but with this album she also sounds more confident and fulfilled than ever.

2. Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton John

Juliana Hatfield has never made a secret of that fact that, growing up, the pure, bright girl-next-door of Olivia Newton-John, was a huge influence on her. Hatfield may well have been a poster girl for guitar-driven alternative rock, seemingly a million miles from Newton-John's sweet pop, but with Hatfield's pure, girlish voice and love of melodies, you can hear the influence has always been there. That might be why this loving tribute to her hero works so well. Hatfield rocks up some of Newton-John's best known tracks but never ironically, it's all done in the best and purist spirit of celebrating her work and the results are so much fun that it's impossible not to be, ahem, hopefully devoted to it.

1. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

I really don't think there was a more life-affirming, joyful album this year than Golden Hour. Kacey Musgraves, for me at least, has been one of the torchbearers for bringing back the true spirit of country music.  Yet, her new album brings in lots of different musical influences from indie rock to disco to, of course, pop but somehow manages to still stay true to her country roots. Slow Burn sounds like the dreamy sister to Sufjan Stevens' baroque folk, while Lonely Weekend sounds like gorgeous 80s Fleetwood Mac track and Mother is a short but emotional piano-driven ode that will own your heart. Elsewhere there's elements of electronica, dream pop and even disco on the big hit from the album High Horse. To be honest High Horse is probably my least favorite song on the album, as it definitely brings you out of the mood that the rest of the record creates, but it's a small grumble for what is essentially a pretty perfect album.