After a year that involved the Lionesses bringing it home, the Queen's death, and coming 2nd in Eurovision, 2022 has been a crazy year. But what are some of our writers' favourite albums of the year.
'Skinty Fia' by Fontaines D.C.
The world got just that little better on the 22nd April when Irish post-punkers Fontaines D.C. released their third studio album Skinty Fia. After almost a two year wait, the quintet did not disappoint with a ten-song collection of some of the best songs to be released this year.
Fontaines D.C. have always been utterly unique across their whole discography, as this album cements their everchanging techniques whilst sticking true to their own identity outside of their home turf. Fontaines ensure that we won’t forget their Irish roots as Skinty Fia explores their dissatisfaction that comes with being Irish in England. A colourful alloy of heart wrenching love songs and political passion, for me, this album covers all grounds. Even in the epitome of a love song (because you can’t argue with a song called ‘I Love You’) we are faced with political spite - ‘every young man wants to die’. This song is particularly interesting as its subject is not a person, but instead a country, seeking out the different types of love we can feel.
Lead singer Grian sings, chants, and drones out his lyrics which are as interchangeably extravagant as they are callous. It translates into powerful contemporary poetry that not all musicians are capable of – and this poetry is only enhanced by their menacing guitars and forceful drums.
Undeniably fierce and just as menacing, Skinty Fia is by far one of the most exciting albums to have been brought into the light this year. Bring on album 4.
- Lucy Bower
'Midnights' by Taylor Swift
From Martha to MUNA, Harry to Healy, 2022 has been littered with personal musical highlights. I was captivated by Lizzy McAlpine and entranced by Florence + The Machine, but there was only one who had me in a complete and utter chokehold.
The winner, unsurprisingly, was Taylor Swift’s Midnights, a musical autobiography of “13 sleepless nights throughout [her] life”.
Although last year saw two re-records, Midnights is Swift’s first complete body of new work since the surprise releases of 2020’s indie-folk duo folklore and evermore.
Midnights is simultaneously personal and impersonal – its delicately confessional yet metaphorical approach to “a journey through terrors and sweet dreams” allows Swift to delve into the self-intrusive darkness of midnight, all while keeping an arm’s length from her listeners. The best artists are generally the scrupulously self-aware, and Swift is no different.
Encompassing influences from across her past repertoire, Midnights could well be Swift’s most sonically diverse material yet. Synth-pop beats reminiscent of 2014’s 1989 meld with cryptic lyrical narratives strikingly similar in style to the poeticism of folk/more. Dreamlike sentiments allude to Lover (2019), while the appearance of more vengeful themes would not be out of place on 2017’s reputation. It is an amalgamation of each and every version of herself Swift has presented us with in a cleverly crafted and multi-faceted offering.
And Midnights only shines brighter in its 3am edition, where 7 additional tracks continue the precedent set by the “magic thirteen”.
While it would be far too bold to say it’s her best album yet – Swifties love all their children equally, and it is not without its weaker moments – Midnights is certainly a worthy addition to an already remarkable back-catalogue. Just as the 13th track declares, Swift continues to prove that she truly is a mastermind.
- Rowan Christina Driver
'CRASH' by Charli XCX
CRASH seems a fitting name for Charli XCX’s fifth studio album, given its momentous impact within this year’s pop catalogue. A decade of producing bangers, from mainstream to experimental, has established Charli as a master of her craft. And yet, it seems as though she arrived at a new peak this year.
Our first taste of the album arrived in early September of last year. The punchy production and breathy, pre-chorus falsettos of ‘Good Ones’ introduced the exaggerated popstar persona that would prevail across each track on CRASH. Unsurprisingly, Charli delivers a fresh sound, blending classic pop customs with futuristic risks. Take ‘New Shapes’ as a prime example: that avant-garde, synth arrangement simply shouldn’t work as well as it does.
The album’s third single, ‘Beg For You’, was notably bound to be a smash with the ultimate sample of September’s ‘Cry For You’. Guest appearances from names like Rina Sawayama and Caroline Polachek equally promise an electrifying listen. Nonetheless, it is not exactly like Charli couldn’t have pulled off a completely solo feat, as proven by anthems too stubborn to leave your head, such as ‘Lightning’.
I think I speak for all dancefloor-fillers and pure-pop-lovers when I thank Charli for her contribution to our 2022 playlists. Miss XCX certainly kept us fed.
- Dan Finch
'Being Funny in a Foreign Language' by The 1975
On the 14th October 2022, The 1975 released their fifth studio album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language. It's silly and profound and I absolutely love it.
The album conveys this overwhelming sense of yearning, while simultaneously harbouring some of the most questionable lyrics you'll hear - "think I've got a boner but I can't really tell"? - the fact that they can somehow pull this off is an ode to the band's sheer musical genius.
It's their shortest album yet, at 43 minutes long, yet it still manages to cement itself as their best work to date, by taking on this new, streamlined approach to their artistic vision, which is all about love, to which Matty Healy has to say: "don't fuck it, you muppet!".
This isn't even to mention my new favourite song ever, 'About You'. Oh my god, is it devastating. Anyone who also went through a breakup this year can likely rival me in the amount I've cried to the words "something about you, that now, I can't remember...". It's as beautiful as it is haunting, and well deserving of its 28 million+ Spotify streams.
'Being Funny in a Foreign Language' - it's sincere, absurd and heartfelt, and it's my top album of 2022.
- Zahra Hanif
'Renaissance' by Beyoncé
Yet another sonic reinvention from the consummate pro.
Beyoncé’s most recent album, Renaissance, is as sharp, suave, and sexy as we have come to expect from her work. However, never one to rest on her laurels, Beyoncé’s desire to keep pushing her musicianship, image, and artistic vision remains clear to see – or rather, to hear.
Renaissance, as the title suggests, signifies a rebirth. It marks yet another musical renewal in Beyoncé’s career, drawing a sharp contrast to her previous solo album, Lemonade (2016). It also, though, reflects the contemporary spins put on 1970s disco, 1980s dance, and 1990s house that constitute the album’s core motifs.
But perhaps most importantly, Renaissance is a love letter to the queer community. It is dedicated to Beyoncé’s Uncle Jonny, who died of an AIDS-related illness over 20 years ago. His influence on a young Beyoncé is spotlighted in both the lyrics (“Uncle Jonny made my dress / That cheap spandex / She looks a mess”, on ‘Heated’) and in her fresh adaptation of the classic house music that he so loved.
I imagine that Renaissance will be an album that most of you will have heard of. But if you haven’t yet taken the time to listen to, I strongly suggest hitting play, turning the volume up as far as your living situation will allow, and, as Queen Bey commands, “Release the love, forget the rest”.
- Martha Lilli Probert
'Fear of the Dawn' by Jack White
Jack White has made a reputation as one of the most ambitious and zanily experimental artists in rock for the past decade. His departure from his White Stripes days led to quite the opposite of him basking in his past glory and settling down, instead choosing to sample every possible colour from the musical palette with each solo album and each getting as consistently crazy. Following the funky and electronic slap of 2018’s Boarding House Reach, Fear Of The Dawn shows White going harder than ever with skull-rattling riffs and an All-Cream-No-Oreo sugar rush of genre bending.
Songs like 'The White Raven' and 'What’s The Trick?' are buzzing powerhouses akin to Captain Beefheart highlights doing powerlifts. 'Into The Twilight' combines shrill backing vocals and keys with contrastingly heavy drums and riffs that really shouldn’t work from any other artist. But it’s 'Hi-De-Ho' that is the album’s crown jewel of wonderful bizarreness, with an eerie Cab Calloway sample, illegally hard bass and complete 180 flip into hip hop with Q-Tip.
Fear Of The Dawn is my album of 2022 out of its unparalleled meshing of the rock genre into twisted and wonderful new shapes simply because Mr White can.
- George Neal