*Honorable Mentions*: Childish Gambino – ‘3.15.20’ // HAIM – ‘Women In Music Pt.III’ // Bryson Tiller –‘Anniversary’ // Jessie Reyes – ‘Before Love Came To Kill Us‘ & Taylor Swift – ‘Folklore’ #10. Halsey – ‘Manic’ Perhaps the most introspective and genuine album of the year comes from singer-songwriter Halsey. Bravely inviting us into the… Read more
Photo Credit: Mary McCartney McCartney III is actually the eighteenth solo album that Sir Paul McCartney has put out under just his name. So why III? It’s the third such release on which McCartney plays all the instruments himself (or almost all). McCartney has acknowledged that this time it was largely born out of necessity,… Read more
Photo Credit: Alana O’Herlihy The instant takeaway from Plastic Hearts, Miley Cyrus’ toe-dip into the dark arts of Rock ‘N Roll, is that her voice has always been the key to her individuality. It conveys pangs of heartbreak, anger, or complicated love in waters much deeper than those her peers navigate. She commands a towering… Read more
#10. Megan Thee Stallion – ‘Good News’ Comically on-the-nose, the title of Megan’s debut major-label LP announces its intentions and backs them up with raucous, unadulterated fun. Across 17 tracks, Megan leaps over some of the most energetic beats she’s encountered and expresses her intense joie de vivre purely in how strong she comes on…. Read more
Photo Credit: Krisana Sotelo Carlos St. John Phillips is recovering from a severe case of anonymous success. A decade into a career that was not without its own successes, he was launched into the stratosphere with a billion-plus streaming TikTok remix of his single “Roses.” He was everywhere at once while existing nowhere; few knew… Read more
#10. PAUL McCARTNEY – ‘McCARTNEY III’ A half-century into his post-Beatles career, Paul McCartney continues to show the world the witty and imaginative tunesmithing for which he’s always been known for. He even goes for bonus points by playing nearly all of the instruments himself (not too shabby for a man of seventy-eight). #9. SEMISONIC… Read more
Photo Credit: Eric Ray Davidson As the end of the fall season moves into winter, R&B heartthrob Bryson Tiller’s third studio album Anniversary was released just in time for newfound loves and rekindled romances. Coming off of a long-awaited three years since his 2017 sophomore album True To Self, the new LP has been met… Read more
Photo Credit: Dave Meyers, courtesy of Republic Records Casting positions as Ariana Grande’s ‘quarantine album’ oversimplifies the context the rest of her illustrious catalog provides in shaping its creation. This is, after all, the same woman who planned and recorded thank u, next in eight weeks – she operates comfortably in overdrive. So when she… Read more
Photo Credit: Capitol Music Group Sam Smith originally planned to release their third album in the summer of 2020 under an entirely different name – what once was To Die For, a carefree and sexy ode to the inner George Michael driving Smith to glitzier parties and brighter dance floors, is now Love Goes, a… Read more
Photo Credit: Blackksocks for Rolling Stone Once you get past her stage name – and you better give yourself some time for just that – you’ll find that new artist beabadoobee has, in this difficult time of 2020, delivered not just one of the best debuts of the year but one of the best new… Read more