Our favourite albums of the 2010s
As the decade draws to an end, we’ve picked our favourite albums from the last ten years. From noise rock to reggae, you’re bound to find something new before heading full steam ahead into 2020.
As the decade draws to an end, we’ve picked our favourite albums from the last ten years. From noise rock to reggae, you’re bound to find something new before heading full steam ahead into 2020.
The Skints — Live.Breathe.Build.Believe (2010)
Hailing from East London, the Skints breathe originality through their reggae-infused punk sound. In their debut album the group tackle themes of British politics (oh how so much has changed), inequality and general London life.
It’s truly an immaculate record from start to finish, with the band’s ear for a melody driving the songs forward. It really is a true punk gem that has stood the test of time as the genre’s mainstream appeal slowly vanished as the decade progressed.
Nicolas Jaar — Space is Only Noise (2011)
What do you associate with electronic music in the 2010s? For us, it’s cringe-worthy Ibiza pool parties populated by topless guys called Chad and Brendan dancing to vapid beats by DJs like David Guetta and Skrillex.
Enter Nicolas Jaar. His approach to dance music was truly revolutionary in this record, setting the tone for artists to come with his attention to detail towards intimate, ASMR-like compositions, combined with an insatiable ear for heavy and gripping synthesiser melodies and rhythms.
Lana Del Rey — Born to Die (2012)
It’s hard to think that Lana Del Ray’s only been in our lives since 2012. Her personal brand of cinematic melancholy ‘sadcore’ set off a trail of copycats, and she’s been delivering us mournful tunes ever since. This album featured her debut single ‘Video Games’ which went viral almost instantly. With luscious, velvety vocals woven gently across the top of a wave of electroacoustic orchestral melodies, the whole album is a real delight.
Jon Hopkins — Immunity (2013)
If Nicolas Jaar is the pre-drinks, then Jon Hopkins is the night out. In fact, this album sonically follows the journey of a night out, with the opening half of the record full to the brim with pulsating, spliced beats combined with menacing synthesisers akin to an intense, MDMA-fuelled club night.
And just like a pill, the intensity gradually subsides, leaving you to descend into blissful ambient soundworlds that will send you into a meditative headspace in its finale. This album was Hopkins’ first major breakthrough, and it is a true credit to dance music and its ever-growing legacy.
Vampire Weekend — Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
Their third release sees Vampire Weekend rip up the rule book that brought them significant mainstream success. Gone is the preppy indie sound covering topics such as the Oxford comma or quirky stories from campus. Instead, lyrics rich in existential themes, religion and relationships.
What makes this album a step above their previous output is the daring experimental production that band member Rostam Batmanglij brings to the overall sound. It’s a mature, sonic triumph that still hold up just as it does on first listen.
Swans — To Be Kind (2014)
Now we get really experimental. Swans are a New York noise rock band whose history has seen them perform and record in various incarnations. To Be Kind was released 32 years after their formation, and shows the band reinventing themselves.
Long compositions are the band’s forté, with the longest track clocking in at nearly 35 minutes. The overall sound of the record juggles between heavy, overdriven guitars, hypnotic guitar work and lead singer Michael Gira’s irreverent sneering vocals. We appreciate it might not be to everyone’s tastes, but life’s about trying something new, isn’t it?
Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
Time and place has wonderful connotations for art — and this seminal Hip Hop record has been blessed with this notion. Released a year after the Ferguson riots that flared up race relations to new levels in the U.S., Lamar’s record subsequently became a powerful anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The music itself pays homage to the roots of jazz, a genre that was inextricably linked to the civil rights movement in the sixties. Underpinning the visceral lyrics of police brutality, activism and self-love, the samples and beats have a modern edge and urgency, in part due to the genius collaboration with futuristic electronic jazz outfit Flying Lotus and saxophonist Kamasi Washington. To Pimp A Butterfly captures a very special moment in music and politics that will never be emulated with such impact again.
Beyoncé — Lemonade (2016)
Bey leaves us in charge of picking up the pieces as she sings of infidelities between her husband Jay Z, in what is a certain career highlight. The record has it all: an angsty rock driven tune with Jack White; innovative sampling of Isaac Haye’s single ‘Walk On By’ in the epic rnb romp ‘6 Inch’; and politics in the form of lyrics denouncing gun violence and racism in ‘Daddy Issues’ and ‘Freedom’.
An album highlight is ‘All Night’, a gorgeous ballad that acts as a beacon of hope and redemption through the album’s recurring theme of unfaithfulness. Yes, this album really does slay in every way possible. Flawless pop.
Jeff Rosenstock — Worry. (2016)
The 2010s has given us meme culture, mass gentrification, the rise of Amazon, increased rent, the most extreme politics we’ve seen in generations, and, as a result, more reasons than ever to feel anxious. Jeff Rosenstock tackles all of these themes and more head on in his poppy punk rock masterpiece Worry with an infectious energy that is truly breathtaking.
From the grandiose, rock opera-esque opener ‘Beg To Explode’ to the anthem ‘Festival Song’, you’ll find yourself partying to the apocalypse, and there’s unfortunately nothing you can do about it. A hug in those dark moments.
Stella Donnelly — Beware of the Dogs (2019)
If there was an album that managed to absolutely capture a moment in time, it’s this. The debut album from the then-26-year-old Australian explores gender power imbalance in the age of Trump and increasing conversations about sexual assault, all delivered with a sublime blend of lyrical sweetness and biting sarcasm.
You’ll be reading her lyrics in poetry anthologies studied by students in decades to come, when they’re trying to come to terms with what life was like as a millennial in the weird 2010s decade.
Orville Peck — Pony (2019)
Country music has had something of a renaissance in recent years, but this time, it’s with a real twist. Orville Peck is at the pinnacle of such developments, and we truly believe music lovers will look back on him in years to come in the way we now have come to think of Bowie and the like. The masked, queer country musician borrows classic country motifs and techniques, but with a real contemporary feel, with as strong a visual as sonic aesthetic.
The sinister vibrato, glossy bass range and almost shoegaze-like soundworld come together to create an ambient, powerful album, beautifully curated from start to finish. He’s a proper old-school crooner, doing things just a little bit differently, carving a path for a whole new strand of music. It’s exciting stuff.
Richard Dawson — 2020 (2019)
Richard Dawson is as an honest storyteller you will ever hear, made even more poignant through his raw Newcastle accent. In 2020 it’s pretty much all doom and gloom in Britain. We meet lyrics of floods, unhappy civil servants, fragmented local communities and lots more.
But what elevates the album goes beyond the lyrics. Chugging guitars, wild twangs of acoustic guitars and fantastical folk harmonies make this release a moment in Britain that has been well and truly captured in time.
Onwards into the 2020s we go, with Richard’s words ringing in our ears.
