See all best of 2021 coverage.
2021 Best of | Best albums | Best songs | Irish albums | Irish songs | Podcast episodes | Guest selections
20.
serpentwithfeet
Fellowship
The Baltimore-LA artist serpentwithfeet’s ‘Fellowship’, is a gentle ode to close friendship created with Sampha and Lil Silva. “I’m so thankful for my friends, my friends / I’m thankful for the love I share with my friends,” is at the centre of the song’s simple and direct message.
One that resonated at times when seeing your besties was off the cards.
19.
Tyler, The Creator
Wilshire
The penultimate song on Tyler’s Call Me If You Get Lost features the rapper getting loose and telling am expansive detailed story of a failed lust-filled relationship of two lovers going behind a mutual’s back.
18.
Soda Blonde
Small Talk
Typifying the elegant and memorable songwriting found on Soda Blonde’s debut album of the same name. ‘Small Talk’ channels the spirit of Fleetwood Mac’s 80s period and in Faye O’Rourke, the band have a vocalist that can twist notes memorably like Stevie.
17.
Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar
Family Ties
Whatever Kendrick’s recent screed actually means for his music career (is he doing one more for TDE and that’s it? Is he quitting music? Probably the former not the latter), a Kendrick feature on a proper rap track is always welcome, as per ‘Family Ties’ from his cousin Baby Keem.
Kendrick basically gets his own beat and verse on the song and his appearance in the video always suggests he actually wants to be there, as well as the fact that it’s on his own label PGLang.
There’s just no-one rapping with as much verve and versatility as Lamar, and Keem with this and his album Melodic Blue has established himself as a true going concern. ‘Family Ties’ is one to pour over the lyrics to.
“2021, I ain’t takin’ no prisoner
Last year, y’all fucked up all the listener
Who went platinum? I call that a visitor
Who the fuck backin’ ’em? All been falsified
The facts mean this a vaccine, and the game need me to survive”
16.
Madlib
Road Of The Lonely Ones
‘Road Of The Lonely Ones’ is a lesson in sample usage. Building a track out of the The Ethics’ gentle falsetto doo-wop song ‘Lost In A Lonely World’. A beatless source allows Madlib to calibrate his trademark jazz drums with it, creating something new. See also ‘The Call’ and its sample source.
15.
Peggy Gou
I Go
Peggy Gou channels an imagined UK rave past on ‘I Go’, built on a propulsive kick-drum rhythm and ’90s acid-style synths. Bright, encouraging and opening-hearted, the tune has a gorgeous;y robust outro too.
“The lyrics are inspired by a note I wrote on my phone in 2019, staring at myself in the mirror of an airport toilet – I looked so exhausted but there was no way I wasn’t going to keep going! “I Go” is basically me motivating myself, finding courage and returning to a feeling of innocence. I hope people feel the same sense of positivity when they hear it.”
14.
For Those I Love
Birthday / The Pain
The For Those I Love album is my favourite Irish record of the year, and on a record that brandishes pain, grief and friendship ‘Birthday / The Pain’ is on the surface the most euphoric song on the album, thanks to its sampling of the 2018 soul song by The Sentiments’ California Soul ( a deep dive into the samples is here).
Except, the narrative is a harrowing account of encountering violent death growing up, and the resolve from dealing with such trauma is found in close friendship.
13.
Pinkpantheress
I Must Apologise
PinkPantheress is so interesting, we essentially did a whole podcast on her “new nostalgia” garage and drum & bass bedroom pop style.
Her introductory mixtape to hell with it dropped in October – collating her brief singles to date. We are talking 18 minutes long but there’s enough earworm melodies and hooks here to keep you hitting the repeat, but I must choose one, and ‘I Must Apologise’ samples the 90s dance classic ‘Gypsy Woman’ by Crystal Waters.
12.
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra
Movement 6
Promises is a stunning record, a slowly unfurling cascade of music with spacious beauty. It’s hard to pick just one Movement but the orchestral lifts on ‘6’ really soar like so few passages of music this year.
11.
Charli XCX, Caroline Polachek, Christine & The Queens
New Shapes
Two Charli pop bangers in a year. ‘New Shapes’ has her pop pals on assist. The interplay between the three powerhouses sparkles with each verse, though Caroline Polachek’s turn unadorned in the bridge magetises the focus on what a beaut of a vocal it is. They’ve got it.
