Pure pop is a dying genre. Pop’s biggest names are quickly dropping the synths that once dominated charts the world over for the trap that is giving every sound loud rapper and their mother a number one. As a result, room for those pure pop artists is slowly becoming smaller and smaller. However, every so often, someone breaks through. Over two years ago, Sigrid wanted to be that someone. Two years on, Sigrid is that someone and her debut effort Sucker Punch is a marvellous introduction to pop’s next big thing.
After a string of hits, a number of which are included on Sucker Punch‘s tracklisting, Sigrid merely had to pull together a few filler tracks and put it out to get a hit debut album. Instead, the Norwegian 22 year-old took her time, and you can hear it across forty so minutes in which she allows us to dance along to her inner thoughts. The LP is fabulous showcase of what makes Sigrid someone to watch as she follows in the steps in some of pop’s finest. Credited on every track on Sucker Punch, Sigrid displays that sheer confessional determination to tell her own stories that made her predecessors like Taylor Swift, Adele and Lorde the global stars they are. Speaking of the latter, Sigrid’s vocals are laced with that same quirky unique tone that has always be a draw to Lorde. The combination results in 12 tracks filled with catchy hooks, pulsing synths and intimate lyricism that makes the singer even more endearing.
Along with the already released hits like ‘Strangers’ and ‘Sucker Punch’, songs like ‘Mine Right Now’, ‘Sight of You’ and ‘Basic’ seem like sure fire hits. That being said, there is something for everyone. ‘Level Up’ and ‘Business Dinners’ offer a more alternative pop that those hooky pop bangers while, ‘In Vain’ and album highlight ‘Dynamite’ provide the album with time to catch its breath as Sigrid strips everything back to just her voice.
‘Dynamite’ is a gorgeous piano ballad that closes the album, exploring herself and her relationship in a breathtakingly moment of pure vulnerability. In fact, the track is a so beautiful that even despite all the big bangers and tongue in cheek lyrics that come before it, this simple piano moment is the greatest sucker punch of them all. The album is meticulous in its detail and you never feel as if it’s the product of anything other than a 22 year old singer-songwriter, but it is this final instant that lets you know that it truly is Sigrid herself that is pulling all the strings in her career and what a career it will be.
Ariana Grande is at an odd point. In the middle of her biggest era of her career thus, less than six months out from her last album release and at the very peak of the industry. Many woman have occupied that spot before her and it’s safe to assume many will after her. However, what goes up must come down. What was once endearing becomes annoying, what was once incredible becomes boring, and so the cycle continues. It will be. An interesting moment to see if, how and when Grande falls. However, with the release of thank u, next, it’s safe to say it won’t be her music that brings about her downfall.
After topping our Top Tracks of 2018 list, Janelle Monaé proves once again as she takes the top spot here as well. An immaculate collection of fun, fierce and fabulous pop-funk-R&B magic layers itself over heartfelt, raw and pure lyricism, Monaé’s Dirty Computer perfectly captures the unique experience and outlook of Monaé, as a queer WOC in a culture that puts up walls against her. Dirty Computer isn’t just an album, it’s an experience, and only after you are done will you realize the masterpiece that Monaé has created.
A stunning ode to the power of not only faith but pure belief, Lauren Daigle’s Look Up Child is an otherworldly set that doesn’t get bogged down in its desire to be overtly Christian. This, allows the album to serve multiple purposes, as an expression of Daigle’s own religious beliefs, as well as just a fabulous album about passion and faith for those who don’t practice. Look Up Child is a gorgeous album that showcases a voice that deserves to be heard.
Country’s reigning queen of acclaim truly did it again with Golden Hour. With what may well be her crowning achievement, and is by far her most accomplished effort thus far, Musgraves has created an emotional knockout, a cohesive record full of heartbreak, healing and attempts to capture the beauty of life that picks you up, takes you in its arms and hugs you for 45 minutes before setting you gently down.
A mature debut from one of R&B’s most promising acts swings in many directions. From bangers to ballads, from catchy to pure experimental, the sister duo does it all and somehow retain cohesion. The album makes for a perfect breakthrough album that showcases the gorgeously diverse vocal ranges of the pair, and their ability to coin a lyric or two. If The Kids Are Alright is anything to go by, Chloe x Halle is a duo to watch.
One of the LGBTQ+ community’s most prominent acts, Years & Years have been producing great music for a while now. Palo Santo builds on that. A bare it all album, Palo Santo is pure pop escapism that aptly captures the experiences of the queer community. The record is sexy, intimate and vibrant from its get-go, and the band never second guess themselves, going all in with their explorations of sexuality and it’s complexities.
2018 was a great year for Hayley Kiyoko and one of her crowning achievements is the release of her debut album. Expectations is a gorgeous and catchy walk through pop perfection as Kiyoko rolls out bangers and ballads across the album’s 14 tracks, perfectly painting her feelings across the lyrics and beats for an intimate debut.
With their final album as a SYCO act, Little Mix left the generic beat drops and trend attempts in their Glory Days. With LM5, Little Mix embraced experimentation and went all in with the album. The result is the quartet’s greatest and most importantly authentic album of their careers. It’s by no means perfect, but songs like ‘Wasabi’, ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘The National Manthem’ finally crack the potential this band has had since day one, and hints at the brilliance they could finally achieve now they are free of SYCO.
Lily Allen has had a hard life, but she ain’t afraid to sing about it. No Shame truly lives up to its title as Allen spills her guts on subjects like drugs, divorce and motherhood. The album is a wonderfully unique record that is so acutely specific and detailed but together creates a marvellous story of a woman’s life.
Troye Sivan can be added to the history books as he becomes one of the few artists who have avoided the sophomore slump. 2018’s Bloom was anything but a slump, instead, it is full of vibrant life as Sivan meanders through the past and the present exploring the modern experience of being gay. The album is unapologetic, and deliciously positive, the perfect follow-up to Sivan’s Bloom.
A gorgeous delve into Americana, Carlile’s By The Way, I Forgive You puts her signature vocals to the test as she soars from high pitches to the lowest of whispers in the space of the words. The record is full of delicate acoustic and crashing drums back up Carlile as she beautifully and emotionally discusses hope and forgiveness in a rare, but a fabulously positive move for the singer.
