In no particular order, this is our agreed list of best LPs from the last year…

Remi Wolf, Juno

Favourite songs: Liquor Store and Street You Live On

This underrated artist and catalogue is set to rise in no time.

Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee

Favourite songs: Posing in Bondage, Slide Tackle, Be Sweet

A wonderful smorgasbord of dream pop extravaganza – as Michelle Zauner knows how to do best.

Rejjie Snow, Baw Baw Black Sheep

Favourite songs: Cookie Chips, Mirrors, Relax, Oreos, Skip to My Lou, Disco Pantz

The song, Cookie Chips, alone was enough to include Rejjie’s 2021 LP in this list. Including Cam O’bi, Snoh Aalegra and the late MF DOOM in your track list is a brilliant way to securing lo-fi and alternative indie RnB perfection. A jazz influence also creeps into the body of work in track Oreos alongside Rejjie’s socio-political lyricism. From the sampled backing track magic on Skip to My Lou to the disco bass centric Disco Pantz, pulled together with Tinashe’s glacier vocals, Rejjie Snow executed a great contender and follow up to his 2018 LP Dear Annie.

Lana Del Rey, Chemtrails Over The Country Club

Favourite songs: Dark But Just a Game, Tulsa Jesus Freak, Chemtrails Over The Country Club

Lana Del Rey, Blue Banisters

Favourite songs: Black Bathing Suit, Dealer, Interlude – The Trio

Lana was giving Ultraviolence realness in her two album releases this past year, with the inclusion of Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner on Dealer.

Wolf Alice, Blue Weekend

Favourite songs: The Beach ll, Lipstick on the Glass, Delicious Things, Smile, Play the Greatest Hits, No Hard Feelings, How Can I Make It OK?

Dream pop is the gift that keeps on giving and this is my hill. The bass and guitars intertwined until the very end of Delicious Things and HCIMIOK? are such a delight against the grain of Ellie Roswell’s vocals. The entirety of The Beach II is my haven – it just sounds like the perfect close to an emotional gig or a wonderfully crafted album. Like a YouTube comment states, No Hard Feelings makes you want to lay in a field with that low tempo guitar strumming and the soft side of Ellie’s vocals – its hit after hit. In contrast, the British band are punchier on tracks Smile and Play the Greatest Hits as they truly embody each emotion on this LP and make each song more and more relatable.

Doja Cat, Planet Her

Favourite songs: Been Like This, Get Into It (Yuh), Need to Know, Woman

One of our favourite badass womxn. After the ferocity of the album Hot Pink that cemented Doja’s icon status to us before she took off, Planet Her still had the infectious beats, rap flow and genre bending that Doja is known for.

Kanye West, Donda

Favourite songs: Junya, Praise God, Off The Grid, Jesus Lord

See our review here.

Dave, We’re All Alone In This Together

Favourite songs: Lazarus and System

The amount of times I’ve listened to this in the gym and been that girl from Shoreditch in Lazarus – main character energy only for summer.

slowthai, TYRON

Favourite songs: feel away, CANCELLED, MAZZA, nhs, adhd

The East Midlands rapper was one of my top artists of the year and the James Blake collaboration on feel away will forever remain one of the best songs of the year. The insatiable beat to the track adhd is extremely on point as Tyron Kaymone Frampton bears his mind onto the project, and similarly does so with the poignant tribute to the nhs. The CANCELLED video with Tyron and Skepta acting out scenes from American Psycho is contrastingly chilling yet artistic.

Olivia Rodrigo, Sour

Favourite songs: deja vu and drivers license

After I first watched the video for drivers license from a The Cut article based on a Disney love triangle (yeah you read that right) that I was randomly reading from Twitter – I was shocked at the genuine talent and promise pouring from this girl I didn’t know but who was starring in the HSM remake. She has the hallmarks of Taylor Swift’s songwriting and storytelling but with the strength in voice of Hayley Williams of Paramore and Avril Lavigne in this nudge to emo and pop punk. Although I had higher hopes for the album as a full piece, I can’t lie that deja vu was very much on repeat when the video came out – even Olivia’s performances of this single were top standard.

GoldLink, HARAM!

Favourite songs: Extra Clip, 202, Spit On It, Evian, Raindrops, Twin, Wild and Lethal Trash!

Not going to lie, this has been a key part of my gym soundtrack since it came out. That Extra Clip intro track runs the hardest beats wise and merges effortlessly into 202. Despite the criticism that GoldLink received for this LP, I feel it still shows his distinctive, out of this world rap flow and contrastingly I found that the megaphone/overproduced effects on his voice added to the tracks. And of course, he can’t go wrong with collaborations. Adding PinkPantheress to Evian made for a nostalgic garage-sounding track followed by Flo Milli on the acoustic and GoldLinks-esque Raindrops.