This year music reemerged and blossomed again. At the end of what seemed like an eternal spring, live performances graced our fields and sticky floors again with a summer of reopenings, accompanied by the real winners of the year, crowds. But enough of that sentimental business. When it comes to the music, it was a splendid year for guitar based indie, alternative and rock acts. Let’s delve in to my awards for this year.
Artist of the Year: Sam Fender
This one is inevitable coming from me. But even non-biased onlookers would have Fender up there as a contender. At the start of the year there was reasonable excitement surrounding murmurings of a second album in the works. Alongside such rumours however was criticism from some questioning whether he will ever achieve his potential following the pandemic and a series of cancelled shows due to illness. My word hasn’t he exceeded expectations. Despite only one album released by summer 2021, he dominated festivals, demonstrating more than assured main stage shows at Boardmasters, TRSNMT and of course memorable slots at Reading and Leeds. But that was just the beginning for Sam, or to quote a highlight off his latest album, he was only ‘Getting Started.’
Album two’s release date came in October, achieving his second number one by outselling the rest of the top five combined. It’s definitely an effort exhibiting similar lyrical and sonic prowess as his first but this time it’s smoother and more well-rounded. A month later the UK charts were breached again. Yet this time it wasn’t the album charts but remarkably the top ten of the UK singles charts, something that hasn’t been accomplished by a guitar-centered artist since Arctic Monkeys’ 2013 ‘AM’ glory days, rendering it not just significant for Fender, but a critical moment for younger indie, alternative or rock artists who may have felt uninspired during the ongoing pandemic. This is all due to the joy of TikTok, where ‘Seventeen Going Under’s’ destructively dazzling line “I was far to scared to hit him, but I would hit him in a heartbeat now” has reverberated out of phone screens globally, resulting in Fender ridiculously having over five and a half million monthly Spotify listeners. In the space of a few months he became the UK’s hottest guitar based artist, as next year he headlines festivals, continues his arena tour into the spring, is in contention for three BRIT Awards, makes his debut appearance at Glastonbury, and will undertake his grandest show ever by headlining Finsbury Park. However what’s more impressive is throughout his rise he remains faithful his working class origins, being an ambassador for The Big Issue and his songs amplifying social issues into public discussion. With just about everyone from Springsteen adoring parents to young admiring fans seeing an appeal in Sam, 2022 is set for even more mainstream attention.
Honourable Mentions: Wolf Alice, Japanese Breakfast, The War On Drugs, St. Vincent, Inhaler
Songs of the Year:
It’s almost impossible to choose one song so I picked three and you didn’t know how tempted I was to make ‘Seventeen Going Under’ the outright winner. Call me indecisive. In their own ways they encapsulate what it has felt like for live music to be prominent in our lives once again.
>‘Be Sweet’ by Japanese Breakfast-Someone I was introduced to only following critical acclaim for her third album Jubilee was Michelle Zauner who heads indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. Alongside opener ‘Paprika,’ ‘Be Sweet’ is an instant classic, an immensely catchy and glimmering track reflecting a painful desperation for something or someone you can’t have. Like its buoyant sound, it reminds us to relish all the good and bad that comes with freedom and therefore “believe.”
>‘New Age Millennial Magic’ by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard-2021 saw this gem of a tune emerge from the depths of Cardiff, boasting a 70s glam-rock style, another stupidly catchy chorus and a proliferation of satire, self-criticism and sarcasm. I don’t know how ‘New Age Millennial Magic’ hasn’t revelled in more exposure because it’s truly one of the most annoyingly entertaining anthemic numbers I’ve listened to all year and I can’t wait for their debut album in 2022.
>‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’ by Holly Humberstone-Very much in contrast to the other two is Humberstone’s title track from her sophomore EP, a piercingly relatable tale of lockdown isolation, claustrophobia and depleting mental health. Holly’s vocals are gorgeous particularly in this song and sonically it’s her most ambitious yet, blending mellow electronic synths with tender guitar strokes. I don’t think there are many artists that both lyrically and in sound depict stories as successfully as she does in her own brooding style.
Honourable Mentions: ‘Glasgow’ by The Snuts, ‘Seventeen Going Under’ by Sam Fender, ‘How Can I Make It OK’ by Wolf Alice, ‘West Hills’ by The Killers, ‘Beaches’ by Black Honey, ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ by Dry Cleaning
Album of the Year: Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice
There were many great experimental and intriguing albums this year. I’ve gone safe however with Wolf Alice’s first number one album just purely because of how enjoyable it is. Already having a timeless feel to it, Blue Weekend is quite literally a cinematic experience, especially as a music video was generated for every song in the record. As always, Wolf Alice are defined by their versatility, with Blue Weekend their least awkward and most accomplished album yet and one of the most polished albums of the last few years. The earlier pop rock woozy moments sit adjacent to heart-wrenching gentle love songs all while bolstered by the punk infused ‘Play The Greatest Hits’ and the majestic ‘Smile’ that balances ominous grunge with a resplendent shimmering poppy chorus. The centerpiece of the LP though is ‘How Can I Make It OK,’ the delicate Fleetwood Mac-inspired heartbeat that initially calmly plods before eventually hammers into euphoria, a simultaneously haunting but striking tune that encapsulates everything Wolf Alice. Sandwiched between ‘The Beach’ and ‘The Beach II,’ the album is such a fulfilling experience that will no doubt be a future classic, destined to propel them to the tops of festival bills.
Honourable Mentions: Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender, Daddy’s Home by St. Vincent, I Don’t Live Here Anymore by The War On Drugs, Home Video by Lucy Dacus
Debut Album of the Year: Bright Green Field by Squid-If the Talking Heads were reborn into the wave of post-punk, post-Brexit bands we are experiencing currently they wouldn’t be too dissimilar to Squid. Only in Bright Green Fields the Brighton band are even more experimental. 2021 has been a fantastic and important year for debuts, with The Snuts, The Lathums and Inhaler achieving number one albums, the first artists to do so with their debuts since Sam Fender in 2019 and the first traditional indie or rock bands to attain such commercial heights with their first efforts since Blossoms in 2016.
Squid didn’t hit the peak of the charts. But by no means does this make their debut less enthralling. This is a downright crazy album but I think it works wonderfully with blazing trumpets, saxophones, cow bells, (you name it) all whilst creating an underbelly of rage through social commentary. One by one the songs consume and spit you out, ostensibly in a messy way but with multiple listens you realise there’s a unnerving sense of control in the way the tracks directly address problems in our Capitalist world. Commencing with ‘G.S.K’ and the nine minute highlight ‘Narrator,’ distorted synths and jangling math-rock guitars shove you into this realm of consumerism brought to you by the wailing singer-drummer Ollie Judge, a voice that only works in the context of Squid’s demanding multi-layered uncomforting authority. I particularly love ‘Paddling’ and LP closer ‘Pamphlets,’ two pieces of art that so alluringly fluctuate between various tempos through deployment of both roaring and plucky guitars. Admittedly you have to be in the mood and to say the project is not for everyone is an understatement. But there hasn’t been a more unique and entertaining debut album as Squid’s all year round. Noisy festival tents and low-roofed sweaty venues await.
Honourable Mentions: It Won’t Always Be Like This by Inhaler, W.L by The Snuts, For the first time by Black Country New Road, New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning, Modern Tricks For Living by Low Hummer
Keep a look out for more posts on expectations for next year’s music. Have a good Christmas!
