2022: My Year In Music

The thing about priding yourself in your wide music taste is you have to be able to back it up. This year’s list features several artists and subgenres that I’ve come to appreciate only recently, after long periods of indifference or even resistance. That’s why this year’s list features albums from across the last 20 years, rather than any shortage of good music in 2022.

So, as always, enjoy my Christmas present to you all. A feast of highlights from my 2022 soundtrack, and a post-turkey cheeseboard of new music to bring you into the new year. If you want to join in, let me know which artists and albums you’ve discovered or particularly enjoyed this year in the comments.

Blue Weekend (2021) by Wolf Alice

My brother has been trying to make me a Wolf Alice fan since they released My Love Is Cool in 2015, and not without reason. A female-fronted British rock band with a sense of humour, they should be right up my street. But I found their early work a little too atmospheric for my tastes, and I’ve always  been content to shelve them alongside indie one-hit wonders like The Temper Trap.

But everything changed when Blue Weekend attacked. On this record, they experiment with the noise-rock formula that has served them well so far. Where their first albums’ double whammy of mumbled lyrics behind echoing walls of sound failed to inspire me, the imagination and craft of songs like ‘Delicious Things’ and ‘Feeling Myself’ keep me coming back for more.

This is an album of contradictions. Lyrically, tracks like ‘How Can I Make It OK?’ and ‘The Last Man on Earth’ are mired in fragility and uncertainty, yet here the band feel more at home than ever, and frontwoman Ellie Rowsell finally has room to showcase her true vocal talents. A vein of dry wit runs from track to track, yet their music has never felt more urgent and deliberate. The result? A masterwork of 21st Century rock, which has - my brother will be pleased to know - increased my fondness for Wolf Alice’s earlier work as well.

My Highlights: Delicious Things; Lipstick on the Glass; Smile; How Can I Make it OK?

Punisher (2020) by Phoebe Bridgers

Yes, this album did get an honourable mention on last year’s list. But Punisher has been so central a part of my musical landscape this year that it deserves a review of its own. You might think it’s rich for someone who labelled Wolf Alice’s early work ‘too atmospheric’ to be effusing about Phoebe Bridgers, but bear with me.

It’s a testament to Bridgers’ musical skill that arena rock fans like me find themselves enjoying her lilting, low-energy music. The melodies on Punisher are particularly entrancing (epitomised by tracks such as ‘Kyoto’ and ‘Savior Complex’), as is her ability to create drama and tension with the simplest of flourishes. An audience of thousands singing the title track along with her was a highlight of Glastonbury this year, and as thrilling a live moment as any U2 performance.

Not in genre, instrumentation or vibe is this an emo album. Yet it serves a similar function to me, as I imagine it does for many others. Its lyrics are honest, elegiac poems that explore overwhelming experiences. Yet they are bathed in spine-tinglingly immersive musical arrangements - a cathartic paradox that even My Chemical Romance would be proud of.

My Highlights: Punisher; Savior Complex; Graceland Too, I Know the End

Big TV (2013) by White Lies

Dark, baritone-led, post-punk bands are enjoying something of a golden age at the moment, with established acts like Editors and The National perhaps more popular than they’ve ever been. So this was the perfect time to revisit White Lies - a band I hadn’t listened to since the noughties. A friend of mine introduced me to Big TV not long ago, and it’s been a staple of my work soundtrack ever since.

This album is at once familiar and innovative. The singable hooks and potent electronic landscapes of ‘Mother Tongue’ and ‘There Goes Our Love Again’ recall Depeche Mode at their height, and truly live up to the sonic ambition of the record. But this is an addition to, rather than a replacement for, White Lies’ signature sound. The driving, bass-led arrangements and creative drum lines cement Big TV as a rock album - a true space-age rock album.

But despite the cosmic aspirations of the music, the lyrics could not be more earthbound. ‘Getting Even’ and ‘Tricky to Love’ tell of unreliable relationships, while the title track explores what it means to be at the mercy of a materialist society. This, combined with the new-age-inspired music, gives Big TV the feel of a dystopian novel - an album about the present, wrapped in the high-octane trappings of the future.

My Highlights: Big TV; First Time Caller; Mother Tongue; Be Your Man

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021) by Little Simz

Little Simz’ breakthrough album Grey Area was my favourite among the 2019 Mercury Prize nominees. Her vicious, unflinching approach to her craft meant that even as a relative minnow in the British hip-hop scene, she could hold her own with the best. Her next effort is more considered and introspective, but no less compelling.

Lyrically, Simbi is just as sharp as ever. From the outset, she glides effortlessly from armed conflict to class war to the moral battles within ourselves. Opening track ‘Introvert’ sets out her stall clearly, emphasising how inextricable the personal and political are. And this continues right up until the final track, where her personal and professional struggles are woven carefully with nods to other black women who have had to fight for their place in the spotlight.

It is musically where this album surprises and delights the most. Little Simz joins fellow Mercury nominees Kojey Radical and Ghetts in flawlessly blending seductive hip hop with other genres, from the jaunty R&B of ‘I love You, I Hate You’ to the African influences and ska beat of ‘Fear no man.’ It’s a diverse, mature album from an artist at the top of her game, and diverting from start to finish.

My Highlights: Two Worlds Apart; I See You; How Did You Get Here; Miss Understood

A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (2005) by Panic! At the Disco

One of my musical highlights of the year has been Hayley Williams' BBC Sounds show Everything Is Emo. Equal parts 'Intro to Emo' class and tour of the Paramore frontwoman's varied music taste, it's a pleasing combo of familiar tunes and new music to explore. And while it hasn't found me many new favourites, it has helped me dive further into artists I thought I already knew pretty well.

One such band is Panic! At the Disco, whose early work I knew very little of. Content with singles like 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' and 'Nine in the Afternoon', I went on to enjoy the opulent, polished pop-punk of their later albums. But little did I know what I was missing. If Vices and Virtues is the high-end music hall of their florid oeuvre, then A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out is the seedy but pretentious speakeasy down the road. And I mean that as the highest of compliments.

Acerbic lyrics fly past at breakneck speed, processing death, jealousy and criticism of their work with eloquent disdain. The punk aesthetic of the instrumentation belies the musical prowess that shows itself in brief a-cappella arrangements and well-chosen electronic elements. Panic! have always been the divas of the emo scene, and this pulsing cabaret of breathless drama and raw emotions is a perfect manifesto.

My Highlights: The only difference between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage; Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks; But It’s Better if You Do; I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Honourable mentions: 

• Of Brine and Angels’ Beaks (2021) by Azure - Voted ‘best unsigned band of 2021’ by readers of Prog magazine, Azure are all the evidence one needs that Prog Rock is alive and well in the UK. Adventure and scope, humour and tenderness - this epic sophomore album has it all, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store. Start with ‘The Jellyfish’
• Raw Data Feel (2022) by Everything Everything - Beating out Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Rina Sawayama for my pop album of the year, Raw Data Feel is as enjoyable as it is prescient. Its lyrics (co-written by a custom AI programme) find connection and hope within our demanding, tech-focused world, while addictive and nuanced melodies hold even the shortest attention span right until the end. Start with ‘My Computer’
  
• Birds with Broken Wings (2015) by Ben Caplan - A Johnny Cash for the 21st Century, Ben Caplan’s captivating voice guides us through existential heights and lonely nights with equal dexterity. One of few artists truly deserving of the term ‘troubadour,’ his gift for metaphor can spin even the most mundane threads of thought to gold. Start at the beginning

5 Concept Albums You Might Not Have Heard Yet

Like any other self-respecting rock fan, I'm a firm believer in the importance of the album. A curated collection of nine to fifteen songs is surely a better way to explore a period of an artists' creative journey than a series of disjointed singles strategically released for maximum radio time. The excessively manufactured sound of chart music in my teen years grated on me, not only because I wasn't a fan of the music, but because of the industry's apparent focus on grabbing attention rather than intriguing or delighting.

At the other end of the spectrum is the concept album - a work so intent on intriguing that it devotes a full-length record to telling a brand new story or exploring a single idea in great depth. So, never shy to review and share my favourite music with you, I've compiled five concept albums that I think make the best use of that precious 40-60 minutes. I hope you'll listen along with me.

Clockwork Angels by Rush (2012)

Whether or not the idea originated there, classic rock is the spiritual home of the concept album. Narrative lyrics, an abundance of sci-fi fans and a penchant for long, multi-episode tracks make Prog Rock the perfect genre for records that explore a single story or setting. Rush's 21st Century output is far from their most popular era, but if you're a fan of their more famous concept album - 1976's 2112 - then their nineteenth and final record is well worth a listen.

The dystopia of Clockwork Angels is more steampunk than the space-age 2112, a move reflected in the heavy guitars and synth-shy mix of the more recent record. But familiar hallmarks of Rush prevail through the heavier sound. Clean guitars and soaring melodies represent the hopeful, ambitious voices rebelling against an indifferent, mechanical world that favours chuntering bass lines and walls of distorted guitar. The result is a sound at once radio friendly and deeply atmospheric, a combination especially evident on the album's leading singles - 'Caravan,' 'BU2B' and 'Headlong Flight.'

In every sense, this album is an epic. Sweeping strings on "Halo Effect" and "The Wreckers" make even the more intimate moments feel larger than life. And the lyrics tell a cohesive story, each song accompanied by a short passage in the liner notes of physical releases. While the world in which the album is set may be fantastical, the themes explored could not be more relevant - we are warned not to accept the world as it's presented, to be careful what we believe, and to and to respond to cruelty and misfortune with love rather than violence. A stunning, focused album that makes a fitting final gift to the world from one of its finest rock acts.

My highlights: Caravan, BU2B, The Wreckers, The Garden

Trench by Twenty One Pilots (2018)

Of the albums on this list, Trench definitely has the most comprehensive world to explore. From cryptic online clues before the album's release to the deep lore explored in the lyrics, Twenty One Pilots work hard to immerse listeners in the dystopian city that the record's characters are trying to escape.

On Blurryface - the band's breakthrough album and predecessor to this one - the sonic landscape is deliberately raw and frenetic, as doubts and stresses attack from all sides. The music of Trench, on the other hand, is maturely crafted and cleanly produced. Pilots' famous genre hopping is still present, but the focal point of the album's narrative blends them all into a cohesive sound. The echoing piano, the drum machines, the reggae guitars all march to the purposeful beat of the banditos' attempted escape.

Like Blurryface, this album explores themes of friendship, loyalty and the drive to overcome one's insecurities; but exploring them through this allegorical setting emphasises the universality of these ideas. The banditos are running through the valley of Trench from the prison city of Dema, a reference to the Zoroastrian Tower of Silence, where corpses are placed to be eaten by vultures. But they are not merely saving themselves from their own vultures, they are a supportive collective. "Though I'm far from home," goes the final track, 'Leave the City'. "In Trench I'm not alone." The journey to self-actualisation is fraught with peril, but we can make it together.

My highlights: Jumpsuit, Neon Gravestones, The Hype, Nico and the Niners

Broadsword and the Beast by Jethro Tull (1982)

I was introduced to this album by my dad, and no car journey with him is quite complete without it. Though reviewers weren't kind when the album was released, it's a particular favourite of ours, and we're in good company - Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett puts it at number 9 in his list of favourite Prog Rock albums.

Despite its mixed reception, frontman and flautist Ian Anderson believed this album to house some of the band's best music, and I have to agree. The melodies are compelling and full of imagination, and the 80s synth leads blend remarkably well with Jethro Tull's trademark folky sound. Broadsword is full of moments that I listen out for every time - from the close harmonies in verse 4 of 'Clasp' and the reversed clap sound on 'Fallen on Hard Times.'

So what makes it a concept album? There's no dystopian narrative here, though for folk-rock giants like Tull, a fantasy-adjacent nautical aesthetic is much more apt. It's perfect for exploring the album's themes, too. Despite the lack of story, the ten songs are connected by a desire for the romance of a life of adventure, expressed through maritime imagery. The title tracks 'Beastie' and 'Broadsword' - one upbeat, the other quiet and brooding - both ask for the strength to face our fears head on. "I see a dark sail on the horizon," sings Anderson on the latter track, but he will not back down. "Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman." Fan-folking-tastic.

My highlights: Clasp, Flying Colours, Slow Marching Band, Seal Driver

Electra Heart by Marina and the Diamonds (2012)

 

From Ziggy Stardust to Sasha Fierce, character-based concept albums have been around quite as long as narrative or thematic ones, and Marina Diamandis' Electra Heart is an excellent example. Tongue firmly in cheek, she presents a brilliant pastiche of a materialistic wannabe popstar, each song like an entry in her diary that we cannot help but sing along to.

Marina has never been one for lyrical subtlety, but her persona's voice matches this directness perfectly. Through Electra's twisted desires, we see the hypocrisy of gender politics from a disturbingly innocent perspective. "I want to be a virgin pure / a 21st Century whore," she sings on 'Teen Idle'. "I want blood, guts and angel cake / I'm gonna puke it anyway." Electra is capricious, vindictive and vulnerable by turns. But who can blame her in a world that constantly betrays her sense of self?

The music is as much part of the pastiche as the lyrics. As James Christopher Monger says in his AllMusic review, "Diamandis is trying to expose the artifice of big-box pop music by using its own voice." Electra reveals her darkest secrets, and often contemplates her death on this album, yet the music is designed to keep us listening. Catchy rhythmic hooks and layered, Katy Perry-esque mixes will leave you wondering why choruses exploring mental illness and emotional manipulation are stuck inside your head. It's rare that a pop album with this much emotional depth is so accessible, and Electra Heart is a gift that gives more with every listen. 

My highlights: Primadonna, The State of Dreaming, Hypocrates, How to Be a Heartbreaker

Psychodrama by Dave (2019)

Using a concept album to explore an artist's own life is not a new idea, but Dave's first full-length record is a veritable coming-of-age story in musical form. Starting with an exploration of his childhood environment ('Black', 'Streatham'), Psychodrama uses the framing device of a therapy session to explore what it means to be a young person of colour in 21st Century London. With the concise eloquence that we have come to expect from the Brit-Hop scene, Dave contemplates the incarceration of his brother ('Drama'), his own role in consumer culture ('Screwface Capital') and his transition from a working class London boy to an international music star.

Dave's use of double and triple meanings laced with contemporary pop culture references give the lyrics depth without slowing down a fast-paced, indelibly contemporary album. "Only Ls I'm hiding in my closet have a V after," he quips on 'Environment' - some people may be out to watch him fail ('L' meaning loss), but he always bounces back with a win (a 'v'). L and V together stand for Luis Vuitton, perhaps a reference to his rich lifestyle, or to his authenticity and lack of real secrets. From the deft but unassuming lyricism to the varied musical styles, it's no surprise that a debut album filled with so much musical nous earned Dave the Mercury Prize in 2019.

But for me, it's the collaborations where this album really shines - Dave understands the power of a second voice to deepen meaning. Ruelle's ethereal contribution to 'Lesley' solidifies a female presence in this story of an abusive relationship and lends a spine-tingling end to an already haunting track. Dave's back and forth with J Hus on 'Disaster' contrasts brilliantly with the alienating voice of the therapist and his forced optimism. The album even ends with the voice of Dave's brother, calling from a prison phone, truly driving home the reality that this stunning debut is all about.

My highlights: Black, Location, Lesley, Drama

Adventures in Authorship #2: A Favourable Failure

By the end of the first post in this series, I was high on enthusiasm for writing a novel that I'm truly passionate about. This second instalment is about my first big bump in the road towards that goal.

After years of wanting to take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I had finally found myself in possession of the perfect combo: plenty of free time in November and an idea for a story that I was actually excited to write.

With a good amount of planning under my belt, the time was ripe to dive in and begin my novel writing journey. But it was my first NaNoWriMo, and I was not prepared for the challenge that lay before me.

NaNoWriMo

A quick refresher for anyone unfamiliar: NaNoWriMo is an annual challenge in which aspiring authors all over the world attempt to stop procrastinating and get on with writing that novel.

The goal is to write 50,000 words in November, which averages out to 1666 words per day. Even in a month where you have a lot of free time, that is a huge commitment, so it's no surprise that I didn't manage it. Having come out the other side of this intense month, I'm amazed anyone ever completes the challenge at all.

I came in at just under 23,000 words, a figure that would have disappointed pre-November Sam. If you'd told me back then that I wouldn't even manage half the word count, I might have sacked the whole thing off. Writing a novel is difficult enough without the prospect of missing your very first deadline by failing to reach an arbitrary word count.

However, lots of people fail NaNoWriMo. And I'm far from the first person to write a blog post about the positives I've taken from failing this gruelling challenge. But the whole point of failure is to learn, and there are lessons that I'll take with me as I continue writing. So here's what failing NaNoWriMo did for me as a writer...

Quantity Before Quality

Though I hate to admit it to myself, I'm a huge perfectionist. I find it hard to call something complete until I know it's as good as I can make it. While this makes me a good critic for my own work, it can really slow me down when it comes to creative projects. And it's definitely not compatible with a time-bound challenge like NaNoWriMo.

It's not that I can't write to a deadline. But it's one thing to come close to a submission date by editing a short story as I write; quite another thing to pore over every phrase of an entire novel. If I was going to come close to 50,000 words, I had to change tack. I had to force myself to do what lecturers and online articles had been imploring me to do for years - I had to grit my teeth and move on even if I wasn't 100% satisfied with what I'd written.

Though it was painful at first to abandon sentences that I felt needed more work, I wouldn't have made the progress I did make without it. But there was another benefit to this approach that I hadn't expected: leaving edits until later has actually improved the quality of my editing.

My preference for editing on the go stems from an aversion to the idea of multiple drafts - why would I completely rewrite something when I could edit what I'm already writing? But it's funny just how much more clarity I feel when giving myself a few days or weeks between writing and editing. Though this might sound like a no-brainer, it's a new discovery for me and I'm going to stick to it.

Living the Literature

While the shift from "edit as you go" to "just keep writing" was a pretty significant one for me, the biggest change in mindset was actually to do with time management.

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I like to structure my creative time. This helps me to make space in my schedule to further my projects, but sometimes I'm just shooting myself in the foot. I don't like sitting down to work on something unless I know I have a big chunk of time to do so.

Once again, NaNoWriMo put paid to my way of thinking. You don't write 50,000 words in a month by restricting your time - you need to have the world of your novel constantly in mind. Waiting 5 minutes at the tram stop? Note down what will happen to your protagonist next. Waiting for a jacket potato to bake? See if you can finish that difficult chapter.

If that sounds unhealthy, I don't mean it to. Of course I allowed myself to switch off when needed. But relegating creativity to long, uninterrupted sessions isn't always helpful. What NaNoWriMo taught me was to be ready for inspiration all the time, and always be ready to make progress when possible. Lots of my best ideas come outside of my writing sessions, and committing them to paper sooner rather than later has definitely paid off in recent months.

A Kick Up the Backside

Even in the optimistic days of early November, there was a small voice in the back of my head that told me I would never hit 50,000 words. What kept me going during the doubt was that, regardless of my total at the end, I would have a significant chunk of my novel written. A chunk that I had previously refrained from getting down onto the page.

It sounds obvious, but once December arrived, it felt so cool to have a big long document full of... my book! Concepts and characters that had lived for so long in my head were now real and telling the story that will eventually become my novel. Though I hadn't even reached half of NaNoWriMo's word count, the feeling of reading through the first chapters of my story was enough to make this technical failure feel like a roaring success.

I always knew writing a novel would be a huge task, but it's only now that I'm facing the enormity of the legwork involved. Even at points where I know what's going to happen, each word still has to be chosen and added to the seemingly endless ocean of sentences.

That's even before considering the huge time commitment needed to write a novel. My free time fluctuates a lot, so it's difficult to build the momentum that was so easy to come by in November.

My journey through the novel-writing woods is far from over. But NaNoWriMo gave me the space and motivation to step into this forest, and has given me the skills I need to stick to the path even when times are hard.

My authorship journey continues, and progress is slow but steady. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.