The album's packed with melodies and harmonies, of the perfectly formed sunshine-pop sort; the music's noisy atmosphere is a countervailing force of weight, adding texture and depth of feeling to songs that could lift off into the sky if allowed to. For additional information about bands formed, reformed, disbanded, or on hiatus, for deaths of musicians, and for links to musical awards, see 2019 in music . Dating back to her more spare early work, including the underappreciated Half Way Home, Olsen’s inimitable voice and penchant for tapping into traditions ranging from girl groups to busted-radio country have been enough to earn her spot among the great songwriters of her generation. He sounds grateful for the chance to even share his music, and the audience is surely in the same boat.–P.C. AllMusic has assembled our Best of 2019. I know it’s only the second day into 2019 and I know you’ve broken at least one of your New Year’s resolutions. From Pronoun’s soaring bedroom pop choruses to Black Midi’s truly unpredictable musical arrangements to Pup’s fist-pumping punk rock jams, 2019 certainly had no shortage of excellent entries in the indie category. Jeanines is a compact, breezy distillation of the stripped-down essence of what indie-pop is, and has been, about. Natalie Mering’s work under the name Weyes Blood feels less like a catalog of music and... 2. The songs have a punk sense of rebelliousness but also come off like the start of an eternal dance party. Using a host of outside vocalists, complete lyrical writes on select songs from Carin Besser and Mike Mills, and a short film accompanying the release, I Am Easy To Find functions as an testament to restlessness and creative longing. 15 honorable mentions: Each of the last few years, the number of great bands coming out of Australia, especially Melbourne, has steadily impressed. As one of the defining bands of indie-pop in the aughts and early ’10s, Vampire Weekend faced a genuine dilemma with Father Of The Bride, their first album in six years: How do we retain what people liked about us, while also moving forward? But Patience covers a lot of sonic ground, cementing Mannequin Pussy as a truly important in the punk rock canon. This is lush synthpop that speaks to unrealized dreams and long-held secrets. Oberst and Bridgers are essentially a dream team, bringing out the best in each other, while reminding their fans why they were great in the first place.–P.C. But after a string of EPs, Pronoun’s debut full-length does exactly that — delivering twelve tracks that feel like a permanent document of a moment and result in the best sleeper album of 2019. Yohuna's Mirroring [Orchid Tapes]. Twenty of the best Christmas albums for the alternative music crowd—these recommendations will surely spice up those long holiday feasts. The UK group Black Midi started as a mystery and have since become an alternative math-rock phenomenon. The melodies and grooves carry within them a general sense of unfulfillment and a simultaneous, perhaps contradictory, unbridled joy. The 50 Best Albums Of 2019. ... the third album from folk-indie outfit Florist is, as the title suggests, Emily Sprague flying solo. 41 reviews And yet Purple Mountains also is frequently hilarious and bounces along with some of the most winning melodies that Berman ever wrote. Here are the 50 best albums of the decade (2010-2019). It’s a wrenching listen, but also deeply rewarding and, even now, incredibly engaging.–S.H. It’s easy to re-write a Thin Lizzy song, but it’s not as easy to bring just enough originality to the table that the dueling guitar lines feel genuinely exciting, making You Deserve Love one of 2019’s most impressive rock albums.–Zac Gelfand, Another artist who toured her last album for years, Jessica Pratt finally followed up her excellent 2015 album On Your Own Love Again with this year’s cinematic and stunning Quiet Signs. Clifford possesses one of those singing voices that will echo and linger in your head long after the record is done, which fits these songs well, considering how much they resemble the dance-party-life we each imagine for ourselves. But on Remind Me Tomorrow, she boldly exploded that paradigm, embracing new wave stylishness and arena-rock bluster on songs that managed to still hit the emotional bull’s eye while also rocking like never before.–S.H. Seattle rock outfit Great Grandpa soared their way over the dreaded sophomore slump with Four Of Arrows. The Melbourne band Twerps had a solid near-decade run as a melancholic, melodic guitar-pop band. While the music is superficially quiet, this muted beauty seethes with rage about a world that is seemingly ambivalent about its own destruction.–Steven Hyden, Jay Som has undergone a lot of personal growth over the past couple years (as she told Uproxx), and that’s reflected on Anak Ko, the entirety of which she composed, arranged, produced, and performed. Angel Olsen didn’t need to build to this. The Canadian quartet are showing no signs of slowing down, and the rooms will surely just keep getting larger.–Z.G. The overall sullen tone makes it seem likely they're not finding easy answers to their questions. Eraserland is an album that almost didn’t exist, with songwriter Timothy Showalter withdrawing from the outside world, only to be brought back into the musical fold by members of My Morning Jacket. There might not be a lyricist with a sharper wit than Australian songwriter Alex Cameron (sorry FJM). 1. Let's join the party. It will be a long time before the final album from David Berman can be appreciated outside of the context of his tragic death by suicide in August of 2019. Now three LPs deep, modern punk legends Pup delivered yet another collection of excellent finger-pointing jams with Morbid Stuff. —Z.G. On their 16-song, under-30-minute debut album, the duo of Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith remind us again that sometimes all we need are simple, heartfelt sentiments, sung sweetly to catchy melodies over minimalist guitars and drums. Ta Da is also a sustained exploration of heartbreak, over one dissolved relationship but also the whole of humanity. 10 Best Indian Albums of 2019 This year brought hotly anticipated hip-hop, faith-restoring indie tunes and evocative rock that ensured the relevance of full-length records Anurag Tagat David Britto and Jessica Xalxo Dec 31, 2019 Cheerful music, yes? Then again, did listening to The Carpenters make any more sense during the height of the Vietnam War? 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Staples' Town, Sleeping Dogs Don't Lie, Taylor Swift Has Written the Best Music of Her Career with 'evermore' and 'folklore', The Avalanches Say 'We Will Always Love You', Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, and Jack DeJohnette Are 'Live at Ronnie Scott's', Viggo Mortensen's 'Falling' Binds Art and Life. PopMatters have been informed by our current technology provider that we have until December to move off their service. Angel Olsen: All Mirrors. But somehow, they manage to feel completely authentic, never falling victim to the gimmick. As the dominance of guitar rock has faded among indie-leaning audiences, there has also been a spreading into the mainstream of sounds that would have been easily described as indie-pop a decade ago. From across the world, Melbourne, Australia seems like a city filled with youthful bands breathing new life into old formulas of melodic guitar-pop. Here are the 35 best. Bon Iver,“i,i”Genre: Indie pop, folk, R&B, electronica. Dare I say it's more unique, adventurous and rewarding than any of Cooper's previous bands -- or, for that matter, than most pop-rock bands of our era. Published: 1 Dec 2020 13:21. The Catenary Wires' 'til the Morning [Tapete] Living Hour's Softer Faces [Kanine] This chart consists of 100 entries and the top-ranked entry in this chart is Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. all the more justified.–S.H. MelodieGroup's Being & Nothingness [self-released] What new faces from the rock and alt worlds will populate 2019's year-end charts and best-of lists? Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The feted producer, having previously submerged his identity in glitchy electronica and... Sneaks, ‘Highway Hypnosis’. Keepsake's songs of heartbreak and infatuation feel comforting, familiar, yet exhilarating and new. Following up her critically-acclaimed debut, Infinite Worlds, Tamko toured for months, slowly piecing together the beginnings of new songs and a newfound self-respect for her own artistic process. This is music for every day: mellow pop songs for the pleasant melancholy we all carry around in our own minds as we go about the business of life. Few legacy acts in indie rock have ventured as far into the wilds of esoteric experimentation — while also retaining a huge following — than Bon Iver. Don't miss out on all the best new albums of 2019, from giant pop releases, to indie records or the hottest mixtape. The 20 Best Indie Rock Albums of 2019 1. 2019 -- the 14th year I've attempted to summarize the year in indie-pop -- again brought a wealth of music within this segment. Take a look, have a listen, and let us know what some of your favorite releases of the year were. While her easy way with melody and the tossed-off sharpness of her lyrical asides were already well-established, what felt new on On The Line is the sense of gravitas that Lewis brings to the proceedings. The 15 Best Pop Albums of 2019 1. The fresh Melbourne quartet's debut album is a fun, funky jaunt that seems all about creative mixing-and-matching, in a minimalist style riddled with quirky organ and singy-songy, art-school nursery rhymes. FKA twigs: MAGDALENE Featuring underrated artists you've never heard of (and some you have), this list of 2019 indie songs will go unnoticed by pop music lovers. As one of the most beloved singer-songwriters of the 2010s, Sharon Van Etten had established a well-honed persona, as a person who writes personal songs and sings them with the intimacy of a private conversation. These are notable albums, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. The artists on this list lean in varied directions, gaining inspiration from forbearers across the last few decades – post-punk sounds, the original UK 'indie-pop' scene, dream-pop, stylish pop hybrids (e.g. Check out the Top 100 Indie tracks played on Spotify this week. The solution was to spread out, embrace laid-back jams, and rely upon Ezra Koenig’s ability to write witty, novelistic songs about falling in love and starting a family in an era of apparent social collapse.–S.H. “he National have always been more than the five dudes that appear in most press photos, and their latest album underscores the reach of the band. You hear it immediately upon clicking play on You Deserve Love, the band’s major-label debut. Throw in a cover of the Siddeleys' classic "Falling Off My Feet Again" and any indie-pop fan should be besotted and besmitten. July 12,... 3. It’s not every day that a debut album feels so meticulous and fleshed-out. On her own, Howard whips up a heady mix of funk, blues, and psychedelia, retaining the overpowering thunder of her blues-rock vocals while venturing into dramatically more adventurous sonic terrain. The New Jersey singer-songwriter, having been away for five whole years,... James Blake, ‘Assume Form’. The record’s late-night, slightly frayed quality communicates a level of experience that makes Lewis’ intolerance for B.S. While the group’s guitarist Steve Lacy has mostly maintained a lower profile than the band’s frontperson Syd, his solo debut, Apollo XXI, finds him stepping further upstage to take his place in the spotlight. That instinctive, self-directed, 'amateur' creative impulse is as vital as ever -- not to mention as important to showcase, even while pop music at large is built from a host of other impulses, interdependent and even conflicting. Overall, we think AJ Edwards is an absolute music gem – and a shoo-in for our list of best indie pop artists of 2019… whose second album Bird Songs Of A Killjoy is one of the best folk albums of 2019. From her very earliest recordings, Angel Olsen has mined drama from … Australian Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, croons and beckons while layering allusions to decades of pop-music history upon each other. Holy Heck, ‘The Flight Attendant’ Was A Freaking Blast, Pedro Pascal On Having The Time Of His Life In ‘Wonder Woman 1984,’ And If He’ll Send You A Refund For Your ‘Mandalorian’ Razor Crest Toy, ‘The Stand’ Reboot Feels Like An Unlikely Part Of The Antidote To This Hellish, Pandemic-Ridden Year, Indigenous Comedians Speak About The Importance Of Listening To Native Voices, Deepak Chopra Shares Secrets From His Personal Week-Long Silent Retreat, Master Brewer Jaega Wise On Getting More Women Into The Beer Industry And Brewing During A Pandemic, The Ultimate Streetwear Holiday Gift Guide For 2020. Their music is shoegazer-y, but with a forward propulsion that's pure pop, not about to drift too far off into the ether. Perhaps no up-and-coming indie band was talked about more in 2019 than Big Thief, who not only released the staggeringly good U.F.O.F. Theirs is a comfortable, familiar-in-a-good-way sound that also feels fresh and exciting. The songs have the ecstatic optimism of exploration, working through ideas in skeletal form. Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Discover the best new indie, pop & folk music in our November compilation! Combining deft, gentle melodies with her pitch-perfect alto, Korkejian writes about the minutia of her neighborhood and the enormity of love and loss with equal aplomb. With a P.O.V. All rights reserved.PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated. Each song title is one word ("Footsteps", "Nightmares", "Criminals"), which helps accentuate the album's contemplative, philosophical side -- it's as if they're pondering the very nature of our existence from multiple angles. Lyrically, the album is often a bleak and unsparing portrait of a difficult man beset by loneliness. Updated: check out our list of the best indie songs of 2020!. In the middle songs like "(He's a) Vacuum Chamber" unexpectedly slow things down, pulling us into a more foreboding sort of loneliness. By Dan Jackson. Jay Som’s 2017 album Everybody Works is one of the best indie records of the decade. shows a band at the peak of their powers and refusing to slow down their creative process. in May, but followed it up just a few months later with a second LP called Two Hands. ... whose sophomore album is due in early 2019. And yet the beauty of Ode To Joy is that these veterans still feel compelled to push themselves. Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated 2. Thankfully, this year brought us Means To Me, another collection of bedroom night-pop that offers shimmering lyrical insights, velvety melodies, and enough swirling psychedelics to lure you away from your anxiety, up and out, and into your own dreams. Indie-pop styles show up in TV commercials, Hollywood movie soundtracks, and within mainstream pop and country hits. Mostly, Ghosteen is a reminder of Cave’s role as a shepherd, and how listeners are in good hands when he’s guiding the flock, making the most complex of emotional circumstances feel manageable, and survivable.–P.C. Each generation needs its own barbed lullabies.–S.H. Business of Dreams' Ripe for Anarchy [Slumberland] Why Haven’t You Tried Snoop Dogg’s Impeccably Smooth Cali Red Yet? 15. The best albums of 2019 (so far!) Ta Da's first track is a mood piece, with ample silence; it's a signpost of Macfarlane's experimental approach to pop and it's a preparatory step, getting us in a proper head-space of caution and anxiety. 84 Never one to be put into a box, Laetitia Tamko’s second full-length record is a self-titled, self-produced left turn. Not to mention exuberant group singalongs, all four women seemingly joining together for a chorus of delightful weirdness. –Z.G. Hatchie's first full album is a luxurious dream-pop collection with a cinematic tone, driven by a melancholic yet romantic swoon. Sharon Van Etten, ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’. Charly Bliss made a huge leap in the two years between their (very good) bubblegum indie-pop debut Guppy and their sophomore LP. Sputnikmusic's list of the best Indie Popalbums of 2020, rated by users. The following is a list of albums released in 2019. Or, that they did it twice.–P.C. Their second album playfully asks cutting questions about identity, society and power dynamics on songs like "Lost Power" and "Bromosapien", taking a sense of humor to the struggle. New Releases Now - Sign up to find top new songs of 2020 and videos from the best new 2020 albums! Canadian quartet are showing no signs of slowing down best indie pop albums 2019 and let know... 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