Favorite Albums of 2022
2022 brought the height of post-pandemic music. Where releases from 2020 and 2021 harped on navigating and coping with new ways of life, in 2022, music lived again.
photo: Song Bar
By Raquel Lacusky
Sonically, the year’s albums celebrated life’s joys and hardships. My favorites of the year were some of the best of each artists’ respective discography. These records contained songs laced with the kind of emotional honesty that’s easy for listeners to connect to. I loved these albums so much I couldn’t let them out of my grasp. Here are the records my headphones became all too familiar with in 2022:
1. Dandelion - The Greeting Committee.
This isn’t just one of my favorite albums of the year; it’s one of my favorite albums of all time. Dandelion explores themes of co-dependency, frustration, grief, and restarting over grungy indie rock tracks. The album views heartbreak through a completely raw and honest lens. Dandelion cuts deep and takes listeners through the experience of putting themselves back together. The opening track, Can I Leave Me Too? contains cleverly painful lyrics that perfectly set up the album in its entirety. Softer tracks like Sort Of Stranger featuring Briston Maroney tie up every tearful moment from the record in a beautiful acoustic bow. If there’s one album from the year I recommend revisiting, it’s Dandelion.
2. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Wet Leg’s debut self-titled album was one of the most exciting things I heard this year. It’s incredibly unique. The band has its own style that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve heard. The album merges alternative pop with post-punk influences coupled with obscure lyrics that are sure to get stuck in listeners’ heads. What I didn’t expect from this album after previously hearing frivolous lead singles like Chaise Lounge and Wet Dream was the emotional depth it sneaks in between tracks about drinking warm beer in dressing rooms and getting too high in grocery stores. The album contains tracks like Piece of Shit, which depicts struggling through emotional abuse; being In Love, which talks about simultaneously being in love and unhappy; and Loving You, which deals with having to redefine a personal relationship with an ex-lover. So don’t be fooled when you hear lyrics from Wet Leg like “would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?” because, underneath the fun, nonsensical lyricism lies emotional complexity paired perfectly with catchy guitar melodies.
3. Stumpwork - Dry Cleaning
Stumpwork takes the cake for the most obscure album I heard all year. Nowhere else will you hear lyrics like “Is it still okay for me to call you my disco pickle?” mysteriously spoken by frontwoman Florence Shaw. The lyrics are weird, but that’s what makes this album so enjoyable. The nonsense of the album allows it to take on an escapist element you won’t find anywhere else. You don’t listen to Stumpwork to process your emotions. You listen to Stumpwork to catch a break from them and enjoy captivating post-punk instrumentals. My favorite track, Hot Penny Day, ropes you in with a warped guitar riff that truly allows you to enjoy that album’s musicality. 2022 was a standout year for post-punk, and Stumpwork was definitely a crown jewel.
4. Expert In A Dying Field - The Beth’s
Expert In A Dying Field is a perfect indie rock album. It’s so good that it makes me excited for the future of the genre. This album has no weak moments; it’s consistently exceptional. My personal favorite track, When You Know You Know, sounds like it comes straight out of a movie’s happy ending. Other tracks like I Want To Listen and Knees Deep carry a similar charm with perfectly danceable tracks. The instrumentals on the album are refreshingly indie-rock in its purest form. I recommend the album to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Expert In A Dying Field has brought me so much joy this year, and if you haven’t listened to it yet, you’re missing out.
5. Waiting To Spill - The Backseat Lovers
Waiting To Spill brought The Backseat Lovers’ musicianship to a new level. They established themselves as an indie-rock staple with their first album, When We Were Friends, but Waiting To Spill grants the band a new level of respect. The songwriting on this album is perfectly crafted. They manipulate traditional strong structures and play around with elegant build-ups and breakdowns to bring you along the journey that is enclosed in the record. Songs like Close Your Eyes showcase honest lyricism that brings listeners much-needed moments of self-reflection. In tracks like Snowbank Blues and, my personal favorite, Words I Used we hear a new acoustic folk version of The Backseat Lovers we know and love. This album is emotional and dynamic. For The Backseat Lovers, 2022 was a pivotal year.
6. pre pleasure - Julia Jacklin
Julia Jacklin’s PRE PLEASURE is a masterclass is songwriting. She poetically tackles religious trauma, familial troubles, losing herself, and falling in love all in one record. She pairs beautifully written singer-songwriter style lyrics over guitar parts with a rock flair. Sonically, the album has the edge to elevate it above traditional singer-songwriter works. There are numerous standout tracks on the album. Lydia Wears A Cross outlines the struggle of trying to conform to the religious beliefs Jacklin was taught as a child. In Less Of A Stranger, she pulls at listeners heart strings by singing “ I just wish my own mother was less of a stranger,” over a beautiful acoustic guitar part. If you’re a fan of artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus but ready for a bit more of a rock edge, PRE PLEASURE is for you.
7. Dragon new warm mountain i believe in you - big thief
Big Thief’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You rightfully earned its way onto almost every albums of the year list I have seen. This album is stunning. As an Indie lover raised on old country music, this album feels cathartic. Big Thief sonically switches form from folk to alternative to country, all the while making the album feel cohesive. Simulation Swarm’s addictive melodies quickly made the track a fan favorite. Other softer tracks, like Promise Is a Pendulum, make the album emotionally artistic with classic Big Thief lyrical elegance. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is sure to strike a chord with almost everyone it graces.
8. Blue Rev - Alvvays
Alvvays’ Blue Rev is definitely a 2022 standout. Sonically, the band perfectly blends alternative, indie, and post-punk sounds to create a perfect concoction that only Alvvays could pull off so seamlessly. Nowadays, it’s easy to get trapped exclusively in the circle of rising indie bands as the genre continues to pick up buzz. Blue Rev is the album I would recommend to indieheads who are looking to expand their horizons. It’s easy to get carried away by the instrumentals on their album; they’re captivating. But, if you take a closer listen, the lyricism is just as impressive. My favorite track on the album is Tom Verlaine. A song cleverly named after the lead singer of Television, the classic post-punk revolutionaries which Blue Rev takes inspiration from. Hidden in the thick of the fuzzy, retro instrumentals, lead singer Molly Rankin drops lyrical zingers like “I put my money on a horse / Who won’t be steered on any course or lane / And if I ever see a dime / You’d take that money to divide and separate.” Simply put, Blue Rev is genius.
9. Emails I Can’t Send - Sabrina Carpenter
If you haven’t been already, it’s time to start taking Sabrina Carpenter seriously. On emails I can’t send, Carpenter achieved full pop-star status. This album has no skips. It flawlessly navigates the ups and downs of tumultuous relationships. She opens the album with title track emails I can’t send, where Carpenter details how her relationship with her father has strained her love life. A powerful way to start an album that explores the joys and sorrows of her romantic relationships. What Carpenter really deserves from this release is credit for beautiful songwriting. What I enjoy most about this album is its specificity. A great challenge of songwriting is including specific personal details while remaining relatable. This is something Carpenter has mastered. She makes extremely niche references from her personal life while still giving listeners space to relate to her tracks. She bounces back and forth between painful songs like how many things, to Ariana Grande-Esque pop anthems like nonsense. The album finds the perfect balance between being heartbreaking, clever, and flirty. I’m ready for Sabrina Carpenter to be the next big thing in pop music.
10. MUNA - MUNA
MUNA’s self-titled album is my favorite from the indie-pop trio thus far. It’s an electro-pop work that celebrates queer relationships, self-love and personal growth. It’s an album that’s incredibly fun to listen to. This time around, the band perfectly elevated the classic MUNA-style production and brought it to new levels. Track 9 on the album, Anything But Me was one of my favorite songs of the year. It’s the perfect breakup anthem about wishing someone peace while protecting your own. In its hook, lead singer Katie Gavin sings, “… it’s all love and it’s no regrets / you can call me if there’s anything you need / anything, anything but me.” If you’re already a MUNA fan, you can certainly appreciate this album, but if you aren’t, this is the perfect starting place.
