(t5!) My Year In Lists 2022: Albums

Only albums that were officially released in 2020 are included in this list.
I go through in depth my system for ranking albums here, but it is essentially the average score of all the tracks in the album. For albums with tracks released in previous years, I carried over their score from those years to calculate the score for this year.
Only the initial release of the album is considered for the calculation. So, therefore, deluxe versions, extended versions, versions with digital bonus tracks, and such were not acknowledged.
LPs and mixtapes are included in this list. EPs, original scores and soundtracks, live recordings, DJ mixes, and compilation albums are not. Shout-out to Khruangbin and Leon Bridges’ Texas Moon EP and Ela Minus and DJ Python’s ♡ EP.
Just like in Everything Else, I am purposely excluding albums from the Phillippines due to any unconscious bias I may have, but a shout-out to Laughing in Milk by Ligaya Escueta and Fuzz Sounds by Spacedog, Spacecat.
You can follow along on Spotify as well.
And with that, here are dragon new warm albums of 2022 that I believe in.

#010: Nilüfer Yanya – PAINLESS
release date 4 March 2022
label ATO
genre musically diverse singer/songwriter

#3 on BrooklynVegan Top 50 Albums of 2022
#4 on Beats Per Minute Top 50 Albums of 2022
#5 on No Ripcord 50 Best Albums of 2022

Shameless | Midnight Sun | Company

“PAINLESS finds the UK singer in heartbreakingly strong form, delivering a dozen tracks in what’s quickly becoming her signature style.”
—A.V. Club

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#009: The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foreign Language
release date 14 October 2022
label Dirty Hit | Polydor
genre blissful pop | your favorite pop-rock records modernized

#2 on Coup De Main Best Albums of 2022
#2 on Dork Albums of the Year 2022
#3 on Gigwise 51 Best Albums of 2022

Happiness | Oh Caroline | All I Need To Hear

“There is something strangely satisfying about its consistency and confidence.”
—DIY Magazine

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#008: Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
release date 13 May 2022
label pgLang | Top Dawg | Aftermath | Interscope
genre greatest-rapper-of-his-generation rap

#1 on BBC Radio 6 Music Top 10 Albums of 2022
#1 on Complex Best Albums of 2022
#1 on KCRW 22 Best Albums of 2022

Die Hard | Rich Spirit | Mr. Morale

“Lamar is that far ahead of everyone else in the game.“
—Evening Standard

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#007: Rosalía – Motomami
release date 18 March 2022
label Columbia | Sony Music España
genre dark electronica | flamenco-flavoured pop

#1 on Les Inrocks Top 100 Albums of 2022
#1 on The Independent Best Albums of 2022
#1 on The Telegraph 10 Best Albums of 2022
#1 on The Washington Post Top 10 Albums of 2022

La Fama | Hentai | Como Un G

“Motomami is at once jarring, jagged, dissonant, experimental, yet sweet, tender, nurturing, and celebratory; it embodies these contradictions without trying to create a harmonious whole.”
—AllMusic

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#006: Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
release date 4 February 2022
label Ninja Tune
genre experimental post-punk | baroque pop fantasias

#1 on RIOT Albums of the Year 2022
#2 on DIY Magazine Albums of 2022
#3 on Beats Per Minute Top 50 Albums of 2022

Concorde | Haldern | The Place Where He Inserted The Blade

“In the most fantastic way, the tracks are a collection of surreal oddities that clatter, jangle and pounce on you without ever sounding out of place.”
—Gigwise

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#005: SZA – SOS
release date 9 December 2022
label Top Dawg | RCA
genre girl-next-door R&B

#10 on Coup De Main Best Albums of 2022
#10 on Good Morning America 50 Best Albums of 2022
#11 on Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2022

Kill Bill | Special | Open Arms

“Five years since her triumphant debut Ctrl signalled a turning point in alternative R&B, the singer returns with a boundary-pushing second album that both reimagines her lo-fi roots and fearlessly ventures into new territory.”
—The Forty-Five

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#004: Florist- Florist
release date 29 July 2022
label Double Double Whammy
genre quivering folk | intimate acoustic

#20 on Beats Per Minute Top 50 Albums of 2022
#27 on Pitchfork 50 Best Albums of 2022
#31 on Treble 50 Best Albums of 2022

43 | Dandelion | Feathers

“Florist delicately captures the place and time in which it was born and then sets it free from Sprague’s cupped hands as something to behold as wondrous.”
—Under The Radar

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#003: Beyoncé – Renaissance
release date 29 July 2022
label Columbia | Parkwood
genre a history lesson on dance music | the Queen’s DJ set

Cuff It | Break My Soul | Summer Renaissance

“The singer’s shape-shifting latest celebrates the escapist world of the club, whirling through genres and name-checking floor-fillers that have ruled discotheques and warehouses for decades.”
—Entertainment Weekly

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#002: Julia Jacklin – Pre Pleasure
release date 26 August 2022
label Polyvinyl | Transgressive
genre guitar-based confessional | millennial folk pop | raw yet intricate indie rock

#11 on Double J 50 Best Albums of 2022
#11 on Far Out Magazine 50 Best Albums of t2022
#14 on A.V. Club 30 Best Albums of 2022

Ignore Tenderness | I Was Neon | Moviegoer

“As a lyricist, she remains the understatement queen, ‘Let’s keep all our doctor’s appointments’ from ‘Be Careful With Yourself’ perhaps one of the most superbly subtle statements of devotion in recorded song. Nobody underdoes it better.”
—Uncut

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

#001: The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field
release date 16 September 2022
label Carpark
genre knockout rock choruses | melodic guitar rock

#7 on Good Morning America 50 Best Albums of 2022
#7 on Stereogum 50 Best Albums of 2022
#9 on Under The Radar Top 100 Albums of 2022

Best Left | Change In The Weather | I Told You That I Was Afraid

“The band’s third album is an exhilarating power-pop tour de force, replete with bristling guitar riffs and infectious harmonies.”
—Slant Magazine

Spotify | Amazon | iTunes

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