The Best Albums of 2022: #5-1

This is it! Thanks for reading the earlier entries in this series, and if you haven’t you can find the previous one here, as well as part one. We’re ready to finally take a look at the five best albums of 2022, and truly, they’re some of my favorites in the last few years. From new-age folk to rap, and even a reemerging band eager to return with a big splash, there’s something in this top 5 for everyone. Without further delay, here are the best albums of 2022!

#5 – Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

I consider Big Thief to be the most impactful band of the last decade for a myriad of reasons. At the top of that list is a consistency in quality albums and memorable songs that few other outfits can match since the start of the millennium. While the hushed, folk-infused stylings of Adrienne Lenker and company aren’t as flashy as a band like The Strokes or as radio-friendly as The 1975, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You reminds us that the understated brilliance of Big Thief is much harder to foster than it seems.

Between 2016 and 2022, Big Thief released five nearly-perfect albums. If Dragon Warm… suffers from anything, it’s the 20-song tracklist. However, even that doesn’t include a single song unworthy of repeat listening. “Simulation Swarm” is the standout track on this record and proved that newcomers are still out there waiting to discover the best-kept secret outside of indie rock. As the band looks to continue its conquest to keep folk relevant in the indie scene, there is no one more capable of handling it with care. All the while, Lenker will continue to solidify her claim as the top songwriter in all of active music today.

#4 – Ethel Cain, Preacher’s Daughter

In 76 minutes, Ethel Cain does not shy away from her pop instincts. Underneath the melodies and haunting vocals, however, is an Americana tinge that is unmistakable and perfectly fitting for her. Specifically, it is fitting for her gothic undertones in aesthetics and instrumentals. There is no massive moment on Preacher’s Daughter, but rather interpolations on the same theme of drawn-out dread dreams that haunt contemporaries like Lana Del Ray and Weyes Blood.

Cain’s success in painting a portrait of pop as a shade of callousness embedded deeply in the American psyche is masterful. For a debut record to have such a strong sense of theme and purpose is not uncommon, but it rarely feels this full of potential moving forward. With explorations of family trauma and the hope for a better future in her lyrics, Cain is saying that the best is yet to come despite the lasting impact of harm. It’s an optimism that embraces staying realistic that feels so germane to our current place in time.

# 3 – JID, The Forever Story

A breakout album in rap is always an exciting moment for an emerging artist because it never comes at the start of a career. It’s almost always the culmination of multiple mixtapes, EPs, and even full-length albums. JID is no exception on his fourth effort, The Forever Story. JID’s ability to flex and form to any beat at a second’s notice is an easy skill to note in his delivery. However, the level of reflection and thought scrapbooked together for the entire story told in this 2022 release confirms his artistry as a generational.

Hints of his past works (his bread-and-butter) ruminate over the 66-minute record, but this feels new for JID in a few massive ways. Firstly, he’s a heart-first lyricist that found room to get even more personal on this set of tracks. He is also a masterful rapper that pushed his limits beyond what he knows by demonstrating a commitment to expand his arsenal of flows. The tale told in The Forever Story is a patch in the quilt of the Black American experience and one that we’re honored to have seen so deeply and carefully displayed across the record’s offerings.

#2 – Alex G, God Save The Animals

Alex G is known well in indie circles but has yet to establish his name in the mainstream. It’s entirely on purpose too. For every ounce of talent Alex G demonstrates in each album he releases, he’s equally comfortable and committed to releasing interesting works with no intention of any of it making him a big name. Despite that, he is one of the most interesting artists of the past 20 years because his work defies his own lack of need for acceptance or conformity. Instead, he sets the pace for where indie rock will head years after his latest project releases.

God Save the Animals has hints of Radiohead’s Kid A, not in musicality but for what a major modification to approach can do for an artist. I’d argue that despite his eclectic style, Alex G hasn’t had this much of a pivot in his work in some time. In interviews, he attributes some of it to exploring themes of our existence and religion. God Save The Animals offers insights into the mystery of our being here while also giving humanity some credit for the beauty all around us, or at least the capability to acknowledge and honor it. We could always do more, but sometimes doing something means everything.

#1 – Alvvays, Blue Rev

Alvvays had two great indie rock albums under their belt before 2022. Blue Rev could have easily harkened back to their 2010s releases. Instead, they’ve adopted a futuristic vision for what guitar-driven pop rock can do to stay progressive and relevant in the years ahead. No band this year produced a record this transformative that feels so fitting to their style. It’s simultaneously sticking to the Alvvays brand while pushing things forward, which is truly the dream for a band beyond their initial releases.

The 80s stylings on this record emerge as a piece of the future rather than the past, thanks to the band’s ability to modernize the best of melodic-driven rock through dynamic, diverse melodies. Fighting to stay in-pocket is the trick every songwriter who specializes in catchy vocals has to battle, but Molly Rankin nails it every step of the way. With some of the most interesting lyrics and vocals of the year equally dispersed on every track of the 14-song, 39-minute Blue Rev, Alvvays spaced themselves from other 2022 releases healthily to earn the Best Album of the Year accolade.