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A Few of My Favorite Albums of the Decade

The past decade has been quite an interesting one for music. As streaming services have begun to dominate the music listening industry, “full-length releases started to feel on the verge of becoming an antique”. Hip Hop music has taken over as the most-streamed genre, by far, and Electronic Dance Music has begun to cross over into the mainstream. Further, music has changed quite a bit in the past decade, leading to some of the most diverse (and seemingly genre-less) albums ever released. With that being said, here are my 10 favorite albums that have released in the past 10 years.

Taylor Swift - 1989

Swift’s departure from country music (she referred to it as her first official pop album) is easily my favorite album that she’s made. Though the album covers nothing new thematically (its filled with love songs), she abandons most of her acoustic ballads for 80′s indebted synth-pop (a genre that is somewhat common on this list).

Boygenius - Boygenius

The first release from Boygenius (the group comprised of indie rockers Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker) is a brilliant Indie Rock project filled with beautiful harmonies. Their name, they say, is a “nod to the way we can carelessly lean on gender to telegraph meaning. A boy can be an individual genius, while women in indie rock are all the same” For me, the highpoint of this 6 song EP is the lyric “I wish I was on a spaceship, just me and my dog and an impossible view...” I won’t pretend I haven’t felt this way before.

MUNA - Saves the World

Another album that is deeply indebted to 80′s synth-pop, Saves the World is one of my favorite albums of both 2019 and the decade. “Saving yourself is the key to saving the world,” they say, explaining the title. You can’t function as an activist if your personal fiascos need attention. This is referenced right away, on Number One Fan, a song about being your own number one fan (obviously), which also happens to be one of my favorite records from this album.

Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

Truthfully, I’ve never really enjoyed country music. This album (a country-esque album with a huge variety of different influences), however, is one of my favorites in recent memory. She aims for a world in which futurism and traditionalism meet (as evidenced by mixture of vocoders, strings, and disco beats). Personally my favorite part of this album the song Happy & Sad, on which she asks “Is there a word for the way that I'm feeling tonight? Happy and sad at the same time.”

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d City

As Pitchfork first wrote, “Listening to this album feels like walking directly into Lamar's childhood home and, for the next hour, growing up alongside him.” Lamar’s story-telling abilities are unparalleled, and this album is proof. Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe and Backseat Freestyle are two of my favorite songs off this album, but the skits on this album are easily my favorite part - on no other album have I heard anything like them.

The 1975 - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it

This is both my favorite and (likely) most-listened to album of all time. The hugely ambitious sophomore album from the 1975, filled with witty lyrics and sharp observations, is a difficult, but rewarding listen. The 80′s synth-pop influences are again present (though this time they’re complete with sax solos), along with gospel-esque songs (that, funnily enough, address singer Matthew Healy’s atheist beliefs), tear-jerking acoustic ballads like Nana, and somber interludes like Please Be Naked and the title track. Truthfully, there is something for everyone on this project.