25 of the best and worst albums of 2020 (so far)

Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia: Compared to her inoffensive but forgettable debut, Dua Lipa’s sophomore effort ‘Future Nostalgia’ is a bold reawakening. Lipa is more confident and self-assured than ever. Her vocals are smoky rich but liable to breaking like a wafer at any moment in a bizarrely satisfying way. A cohesive, pulsating, disco-tinged dance-pop album that marks a second coming of a pop star who’s not afraid to broaden her horizons.

Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters: Fiona Apple’s diary-like musings, pliable vocals and love of over-the-top theatrics give shape to humour and heartbreak on ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’. Using GarageBand and leaving in unedited, sprawling takes, the singer-songwriter wades through the good and bad. Bursting with first-hand accounts and everyday percussive sounds, ‘Fetch…’ is vivid enough to warrant an off-Broadway dramedy.

The Weeknd — After Hours: Abel Tesfaye takes his usual brand of overindulgence and excess dressed up in a mould of alternative R’n’B and sprinkles it with electro-pop musings. While the mild reinvention of his sound swept in much praise at first, ‘After Hours’ leaves a lacklustre aftertaste and may not enjoy the memorability and longevity of some of The Weeknd’s previous efforts.

Lil Uzi Vert — Eternal Atake: ‘Eternal Atake’ is an 18-track galactic adventure grounded in Uzi’s eclectic brain. The 25-year-old artist comes in strong on his second album, energetic and impatient in one breath, before momentarily slowing down to soak in his own emotion on the next. One of the best-selling albums of the year in America, ‘Eternal Atake’ is ambitious, assertive and personal, as Uzi shows he’s unafraid to drop by different planets on his journey home.

Selena Gomez — Rare: While Selena Gomez promised that ‘Rare’ would dive into her personal ups and downs over the past few years, ‘Rare’ leaves something to be desired as far as ‘baring it all’ goes. You get the feeling Gomez’s experiences have gone through several filters only to be wrapped up in gleaming production. Gomez undoubtedly delivers solid pop tracks, but they make for easy background listening, rather than the kind of gripping catharsis Gomez is no doubt capable of.

Halsey — Manic: Halsey’s ‘Manic’ is an ode to the singer’s 2000 pop-rock influences, taking those chaotic, daring, ultra-personal, and sometimes self-pitying lyrical cues from contemporary pop-punk bands — think Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance — and delivering her own take. Some pop stars will offer a window into their lives, but Halsey breaks in the door. Managing to be both imaginative and stripped back, serious and fun, Halsey is a rare breed of pop-rocker in today’s carefully curated and over-produced radio feed.

Mac Miller — Circles: From the first note of Miller’s muddled delivery on opening track ‘Circles’, the pain of his loss lights up, like salt in a wound. The singer-songwriter’s sixth album, released posthumously, sees Miller reiterate his ability to hypnotise and mesmerise and bewitch with his heavy and unhurried vocal delivery, taking us on a meaningful journey that is as effortlessly vulnerable as it is sonically inventive. “I ain’t politicking, I ain’t kissing no babies,” Miller proclaims, making clear his position — not a public figure, but a private artist with a public platform.

Kesha — High Road: Kesha’s album feels a tad too ‘been there, heard that’. Sonically, it’s just a few years too late. But, there’s still a charm to its utter Kesha-ness. The pop star’s signature mix of spoken and sung lyrics combine to create a fun, high-energy and explicitly forthcoming album. Kesha’s candour on songs such as ‘High Road’ is appreciated. That being said, it would be more exciting to see Kesha reinvent pop, rather than revisit her tried-and-trusted version of it.

Lil Wayne — Funeral: Lil Wayne’s ‘Funeral’ is a hard-hitter but falls at the wayside when it comes to overall coherence. If you’re looking for smooth transitions and strong thematic cohesion, this might be a jarring listen, but if you take it for what it is — unreleased emotion and artistic expression spread out over 24 tracks more akin to a mixtape than an album — then you’ll enjoy Wayne’s usual bouts of urgency.

Louis Tomlinson — Walls: Louis Tomlinson is the last of his One Direction members to release a solo album, but the Britpop-inspired ‘Walls’ proves to be worth the wait. A pop-rock effort that leans further towards the latter, Tomlinson finds his voice in this Oasis-tinged, indie wonderland. Following a difficult few years of personal loss and public scrutiny for Tomlinson, ‘Walls’ is an honest, warmly sung and guitar-driven window into the kind of genre-straddling music Tomlinson excels at.

Green Day — Father of All [Expletive]: At only 10 tracks and 26 minutes long, ‘Father of All [Expletive]’ still manages to be all over the place. Despite our love for Green Day, the listenability of this upbeat album as a whole is supremely limited — especially that it starts off with two tracks that sound strikingly and bafflingly similar.

Justin Bieber — Changes: There was so much potential for Justin Bieber to give us something memorable; this is his first album in five (pretty eventful) years. But, while 2015’s ‘Purpose’ altered the route of pop music and set the bar for Bieber’s peers, the bar drops right back down with ‘Changes’, a watery, mediocre offering that sounds more like a collection of B-sides than it does a new phase of a formidable pop star.

BTS — Map of the Soul: 7: BTS’ fourth consecutive album to go to No 1 in America, ‘Map of the Soul: 7’ is irrevocably fun and masterfully curated. BTS have proven themselves kings of fresh and catchy pop, hitting the genre from every angle. Here, the South Korean group foray into a variety of sonic soundscapes from doors that are no doubt familiar, yet somehow, feel like they’d never been opened before.

Megan Thee Stallion — Suga (EP): At nine songs long, Suga seems long for an EP, short for an album. But really ‘Suga’ says exactly what it needs to say in under 30 minutes — Thee Stallion is a law unto herself here, unbothered, unfiltered, unstoppable. Her flow is cold and hard, her lyricism forthright and unambiguous as she explores her sensuality. Plus, she delivers gems that even her detractors can learn from, like: “Another [expletive] shining ain’t gonna dim my light.”

Niall Horan — Heartbreak Weather: Niall Horan’s feel-good album mixes notes of joy and nostalgia to create a sensory experience that feels both like falling in love and out of it. Horan breaks up his upbeat, full-bodied tracks with piano-led ballads like ‘Put A Little Love On Me’, which hold their own in the midst of a pop-heavy body of work.

Hayley Williams — Petal for Armor: Split into three sections of five songs each, ‘Petal For Armor’ is Hayley Williams’ first solo album, away from the pop-punk Paramore. Williams bares herself at her quietest, most restrained, possibly most vulnerable; the album is a spacious canvas for Williams to travel across, flicking a speck of calm blue paint in one corner and smearing a handful of angry red in another. A bravely stripped back yet rich effort from one of the generations most energetic songstresses.

Kehlani — It Was Good Until It Wasn’t: Cohesive and with a strong point of view, Kehlani is at her most compelling on her alt-R‘n’B offering ‘It Was Good Until It Wasn’t’. Using candour and her smoggy vocals to track the gritty breakdown of a relationship, Kehlani dives right in and holds back nothing with album-opener ‘Toxic’, then traverses the dips and peaks of a lost love.

Charli XCX — How I’m Feeling Now: In case you missed it, Charli XCX made ‘quarantine album’ a thing. The singer-songwriter decided to put out an 11-track pop album tracking her lockdown feelings; but, don’t let that fool you. There’s nothing quiet or subtle about ‘How I’m Feeling Now’; if anything, it uses distortion, electronic chaos and blaring melodic declarations to pulls us right out of the monotony we’re stuck in.

The Used — Heartwork: The Used are back in top form on the heavy-hitting rock record ‘Heartwork’, marking their eighth studio album. Despite a rich discography, The Used have managed to hold onto their edge and the unsettling sincerity of their screeching rock sonics and confrontational lyrics. On ‘Heartwork’, they’re just as emotionally purging to listen to as they’ve always been.

PartyNextDoor — Partymobile: A laid-back, stretched-out and low-key third album from Canadian alt-R‘n’B singer-songwriter PartyNextDoor, ‘PartyMobile’ is a slow-wandering album about love and lust that, in the style of Party’s fellow Canadian Abel Tesfaye, juxtaposes blunt lyricism with doughy delivery, and in the style of mentor Drake, takes a page out of ‘Marvins Room’ on the diaristic track ‘Split Decision’.

KSI — Dissimulation: Sonically diverse and lyrically tight, KSI’s debut album ‘Dissimulation’ is a massive step forward for the UK rapper’s credibility. A member of the comedic YouTube crew ‘Sidemen’, KSI first gained celeb status as a vlogger. He’s become known as the guy who boxed Logan Paul. But the rapper has always had his head in the rap game and has now evolved his antagonising flow to a new degree on ‘Dissimulation’, showcasing his own growth and confidence. With features from heavy-hitters such as Offset, Rick Ross, Jeremih and Lil Pump, it’s no wonder ‘Dissimulation’ debuted at No 2 on the UK album charts.

Lady Gaga — Chromatica: If there was any doubt that disco-pop is making a comeback, Lady Gaga puts it to rest with ‘Chromatica’ — a fully nostalgic, yet totally inventive synth-infused album that lyrically encompasses Gaga’s search for freedom, and melodically, her desire to always reinvent her sound. The album is cohesive, fun and danceable, which for Gaga, tends to be a killer combo.

Chloe x Halle — Ungodly Hour: The 28-second intro sets the mood for the rest of the album, featuring the opening lyrics: “Don’t ever ask for permission, ask for forgiveness,” against an angelic chorus of oohs. The R‘n’B album explores spirituality and sin and marks a new phase for sisters Chloe and Halle (it’s their second album) as they explore a more mature sound and subject matter. One thing remains: their voices are as chillingly captivating as ever.

Bob Dylan — Rough and Rowdy Ways: Bob Dylan’s croaky, fragile and delightfully matured voice is a salve for the soul at a time when very little feels solid and absolutely nothing feels whimsical. There’s a transportive quality to Dylan’s blues and folk offerings — whether you’re a diehard or casual admirer, maybe even a nonbeliever, the 79-year-old singer-songwriter finds a way to anchor you to him. Releasing his first album in eight years, Dylan makes up for lost time with single track runtimes as long as 17 minutes.

John Legend — Bigger Love: ‘Bigger Love’ is exactly what it says — an all-encompassing album where Legend’s versatile vocal performance is backed with upbeat and uplifting sonics that spell out love without having to say it out loud.