What your favourite album of 2022 says about you
You know how this works by now. One-line reviews, not about any of this year’s albums themselves but rather about the kind of person who would call that album their favourite.
The 2021 edition is here. The 2020 edition is here. There are some earlier ones over at Shortlist.com if you’re that desperate.
First, a bit of housekeeping
Q: Why isn’t my favourite album here?
A: I forgot it came out this year, probably. I’ve had a lot on.
Q: How dare you?
A: It’s an attack on myself as much as it is an attack on you. Unless you’re a good friend, in which case just flip those two things.
Q: Did you write all of these?
A: No, I got some help from friends for a handful of them. Blame whoever you want
Q: Why are there so many entries
A: I need an editor
Ok, great. Dive in.
- The 1975 — Being Funny in a Foreign Language
You have brought up A Little Life on a first date
2. Alexisonfire — Otherness
You found a Roadrunner Records free mailing list CD when moving house
3, Angel Olsen — Big Time
You have written Midge Maisel fanfic
4. Arctic Monkeys — The Car
Your old coke dealer now recommends you vintage wines
5. Beabadoobee — Beatopia
You are furious when you see footballers score goals who weren’t born when the iPhone was created
6. Beach House — Once Twice Melody
You have a Mubi account but use it to rewatch movies you’ve already seen
7. Beyonce — RENAISSANCE
You are 36 and haven’t been to a nightclub in 5 years, but you still think you might any day now
8. Big Thief — Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
You considered moving to Portland after watching the Nicolas Cage movie Pig
9.Black Country, New Road — Ants From Up There
You share ownership of a piano with a friend who lives in a different country
10. Camp Trash — The Long Way, the Slow Way
You have watched the movie Idle Hands from start to finish
11. Carly Rae Jepsen — The Loneliest Time
You refer to ‘Solar Power’ as “quite interesting and underrated, actually”
12. Charli XCX — Crash
You have a taxonomic ranking of Chupa Chups flavours
13. The Comet Is Coming — Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam
You’re annoyed at crypto guys for ruining Effective Altruism
14.Danger Mouse and Black Thought — Cheat Codes
You have two separate friend groups containing poets
15. Ezra Furman — All Of Us Flames
You have asked about the provenance of the olive when ordering a martini
16. FKA Twigs — CAPRISONGS
You have talked nebulously about your ‘sex playlist’ but it’s just ‘Blonde’ by Frank Ocean with the songs in a different order
17. Florence + The Machine — Dance Fever
You speak about The Barbican like it’s a family member
18. Gang of Youths — angel in realtime.
You have a ‘six degrees of separation’ game for professional athletes
19. George Ezra — Gold Rush Kid
You have been to Tiger Tiger for lunch
20. Harry Styles — Harry’s House
You own a copy of Brooklyn Beckham’s photography book and you don’t know if you like it ironically or sincerely
21. Hudson Mohawke — Cry Sugar
You need to have a lie down
22. Imagine Dragons — Mercury — Acts 1&2
You set aside a day every year to watch that episode of Scrubs where three patients die
23. Joyce Manor — 40 oz. to Fresno
You have in-state licence plates on your bedroom wall but can’t drive and the only part of the United States you have been to is Disneyland
24. Kendrick Lamar — Mr Morale & the Big Steppers
You’re off the hook with this one, congratulations
25. King Princess — Hold On, Baby
You have described your landlord as ‘one of the good ones’
26. Let’s Eat Grandma — Two Ribbons
You know the secret menu at the Hampstead Crêperie
27. Mallrat — Butterfly Blue
You got your first skateboard for your 24th birthday
28. Martha — Please Don’t Take Me Back
You have had a fight with a family member about The Trojan Horse Affair
29. Mitski — Laurel Hell
Your Halloween costume was a viral tweet that you tried explaining to an offline friend
30. MUNA — MUNA
Your strong opinions about Goldsmith’s students have done a 180 this year
31. Muse — Will of the People
You’re mad at effective altruism guys for ruining crypto
32. Nova Twins — Supernova
You’re sure you would have written a better version of The Matrix given the chance
33. PUP — THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND
You have considered pivoting to ‘Guy who really loves Lego’. You are childless.
34. Pusha T — It’s Almost Dry
You tell people your favourite rapper is Kendrick Lamar. Your favourite rapper is Drake.
35. Real Lies — Lad Ash
All your favourite films are Belgian
36. Rina Sawayama — Hold the Girl
You lied when you claimed you had never been to Trattoria Gloria
37. Rolo Tomassi — Where Myth Becomes Memory
If you see one more advert for a band’s ‘15-year anniversary album tour’ you’re going to punch someone
38. Rosalia — Motomami
After five years of going to Primavera, you’ve finally downloaded Duolingo
39. Sea Power — Everything Was Forever
Your Christmas present request this year was ‘gloves; big comfy gloves’.
40. Sharon van Etten — We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
You are writing a novel set in 2008. It is set then because that is when you started writing it.
41. Shygirl — Nymph
You DM’d Héctor Bellerín to see if he wanted to go for pints when you learned you were in the same city
42. The Smile — A Light for Attracting Attention
You quietly unfollowed Thom Yorke on social media in 2019 so you could continue enjoying Radiohead
43. Soccer Mommy — Sometimes, Forever
You started a substack to review media from the year you were born
44. Soul Glo — Diaspora Problems
The second anyone asks, you will immediately attempt the backflip that will kill you
45. Stormzy — This is What I Mean
You cashed out on your Morocco World Cup bet when Hakim Ziyech quit the team in February
46. Taylor Swift — Midnights
You really like the album ‘Melodrama’ by Lorde
47. Tove Lo — Dirt Femme
Your old pre-drinks playlist is now your gym playlist
48. Wet Leg — Wet Leg
You once dated a Skins cast member but not one of the famous ones
49. Weyes Blood — And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
You have finally agreed with your friends to stop pretending to like Lana Del Rey
50. The Wonder Years — The Hum Goes on Forever
You have strong opinions about the food at sports stadiums
51. Yard Act — The Overload
You are single-handedly attempting to rehabilitate The Mighty Boosh
