The music year is drawing to a close, and once again weâve been treated to a wide range of exceptional albums from both new and well-established artists, spanning an impressive variety of genres.
Itâs been a year marked by phenomenal artistic comebacks from artists such as Deftones (their best album in decades?), Deafheaven, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, as well as Pulp with their first album in more than 20 years, and hip-hop superduo Clipse with their first release in over 15 years.
Other artists simply seem to continue their streak of truly outstanding releases, including Viagra Boys, Anna von Hausswolff, FKA twigs, Ethel Cain, Turnstile⊠and not least Geese, who appear almost untouchable these days. In the eyes of several music publications, theyâve delivered the yearâs very best album with âGetting Killedâ. That is, until a certain Latin pop star suddenly caught everyone off guard with a wild classical/pop crossover album unlike anything heard before â and by far the best-reviewed pop album of the year. Of course, weâre talking about RosalĂa and the album âLUXâ. An album that also happens to be the most in-demand vinyl release right now, and one we unfortunately wonât see repressed until some time in 2026.
At the link below, weâve gathered all of the above â along with many other albums that have been hailed as among the very best of the year. So if your record collection could use some new blood, youâve come to the right place.