Key track: ‘JU$T’ saw Run the Jewels, Pharrell and Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha make the case for prison and police abolition in the wake of corrupt police officers and state-sponsored violence. A lot of us screamed into our pillows in anger this year, but Run The Jewels channelled that emotion to make an instant rap classic. It made you want to sprint into the unknown. Rapper Killer Mike and producer/rapper El-P tore through police brutality, hatred-stoking media outlets and white supremacists with gatling gun-levels of devastation across a propulsive, electrifying effort that was loud as cannons.
In a year where most of our social interactions happened through a screen, RTJ4 felt like a wake-up punch to the face and a shot of tequila from your reckless best friend. Which is why ‘Run The Jewels 4 ‘was damn important. There were only so many loaves of banana bread you could bake before a wave of sadness hit and you wondered ‘what is the point?’ and apathy grew.
The 1975 albums test full#
A lot happened in 2020, a year that sometimes sped by but more often felt slow, frustrating and full of fear. Donald Trump looked to further change the world before being defeated in an election that took days before a decision was decided. Thousands of people around the world marched in protest of police brutality and white supremacy. In addition to the pandemic, another economic recession put the jobs and livelihoods of many in precarious positions. In a nutshell: You can describe 2020 in a number of ways, but the most appropriate word for the last 12 months is perhaps “memorable” NME said:“’Folklore’ feels fresh, forward-thinking and, most of all, honest.” Key track: ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’ From the glittering euphoria of Bon Iver collab ‘Exile’ to complex story-telling of ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’, ‘Folklore’ found Swift trying something entirely different – and sounding better than ever. The record meshed Swift’s masterful songwriting with introspective production courtesy of long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff and The National‘s Aaron Dessner (who worked on 11 of the 16 songs). Taking a step away from the glossy pop that’s been a staple of her past few records, she surprise-released an astonishing collection of indie-folk tunes that acted as a soothing balm during this strange time. In a nutshell: Taylor takes a trip to her cabin in the woods for the ultimate lockdown albumĪ lot of artists created isolation albums, but it was Taylor Swift’s ‘folklore’ that felt like the perfect accompaniment for the weird loneliness that’s permeated 2020. Words: Carl Anka, Elizabeth Aubrey, Dhruva Balram, Jordan Bassett, Mark Beaumont, Rhian Daly, Georgia Evans, El Hunt, Charlotte Krol, Ben Jolley, Damian Jones, Ilana Kaplan, Natty Kasambala, Dannii Leivers, Sam Moore, Hannah Mylrea, Matthew Neale, Caitlin O’Reilly, Kevin EG Perry, Stephanie Phillips, Nick Reilly, Will Richards, Gary Ryan, Ali Shutler, Tom Skinner, Thomas Smith, Andrew Trendell, Jenessa Williams, Kyann-Sian Williams, Sophie Williams Jordan Bassett, Commissioning Editor (Music) Here are 50 of the best, in the categorically and objectively correct order. There have been surprise albums, lockdown albums, politicised albums, divisive albums, unifying albums – and everything in between. Let’s hope we carry that generosity into the dawn of 2021.Īnd, yes, the music’s been banging too. I don’t know about you, but I have found people to be kinder, to have a greater sense of perspective, to value one another more. With absolute sensitivity towards those who have suffered the worst of Covid-19, there have been shards of light throughout this bleak year. Would it be a stretch to say that music has been the only consistently good thing since March? Perhaps it would be unfair. I’ve been recycling that line – nicked and repurposed from chatty man Alan Carr – since prehistoric times, but of course the words take on a different hue in 2020.
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