2015 has been an interesting and successful year for artists and music. Here are my top 5 albums of the year; ones that I simply couldn't help myself from playing on repeat:
#5. The Weeknd's Beauty Behind The Madness
Abel Tesfaye, better known as, The Weeknd, has made a successful drug-infused pop album with Beauty Behind The Madness, and it's beautiful. The whole album is depressing lyrically, but still manages to make everyone and their mothers dance around their kitchens with upbeat songs such as the infamous "Can't Feel My Face". His Michael Jackson-esque vocals paired with chilling metaphors about drugs and emptiness are mesmerizing and are only amplified in greatness with the help from popular artists like love struck Ed Sheeran and the queen of depression herself, Lana Del Rey.
#4. Lana Del Rey's Honeymoon
Honeymoon definitely brings Lana back to the sound of her first two albums Born To Die and Paradise. It gives less hip-hop and an even more symphonic and haunting style like the Bowie referencing song, "Terrance Loves You". It's a hazy album that sounds as if it’s clarity has been filtered with a gramophone and includes a mixture of lyrics about love, drugs, depression, and of course the Americana way in California; all of which are the usual for Lana. It's hard not to be captivated by her music style that is certainly unique from other artists of today, and Honeymoon is yet again another intoxicating album.
#3. Twenty One Pilot's Blurryface
There is so much going on on the album Blurryface and while it is not connected in sound or style it is quite impressive and is overall a great album. With only two people in the band, they manage to create great tunes mostly with percussion by Josh Dun, and vocals, keyboard, and ukulele strumming by Tyler Joseph. Together they manage to combine different amounts of hip-hop and pop-rock to each song they have made, while even incorporating a bit of reggae like in "Lane Boy". Tyler's unique voice and rapping is what really makes this album great though. He goes from rapping in his own style to shouting words to singing graceful high notes all while trying to reveal "Blurryface" as Tyler's struggles in life that he battles and it works.
#2. Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear
I Love You, Honeybear is Josh Tillman's second album under the name of Father John Misty. Tillman's voice, his acoustic, strings, and horns make a nice sound altogether, plus it's amazing lyrically as Josh confesses his love to his wife while also mocking love and cracking jokes about himself and humanity. For example , "Chateax Lobby #4 in C for Two Virgins" is quite passionate as Tillman sings "You wrote a note in your perfect script/ 'stay as long as you want'/ and I haven't left your bed since", but in a later song he ridicules people in "Bored in the USA" as he sings "Is this the part where I get all I ever wanted?/ Who said that?/ Can I get my money back?". It's a great listen and insight on life coming from an interesting mind.
#1. Brandon Flowers' The Desired Effect
Much more upbeat than Brandon's first solo album, The Desired Effect is wonderful , and is the (my) number one album of 2015( I am a huge Killers and Brandon Flowers fan). It's artistically more pop than the usual art rock styled Killers album, with songs "Lonely Town" and "Still Want You", but it's still in Flower's Western heartland/ Springsteen-like favor lyrically and is never boring. It fits in as a classic of the 80's by even sampling Bronski Beat on the track "I Can Change", and that's always a great direction to head musically. It's impossible for any Brandon Flowers' fan not to swoon whilst listening to this album.
Thanks for reading, and have a great start to 2016!
-Tina
Thanks for reading, and have a great start to 2016!
-Tina