Luna's Picks: 2022 Albums of the Year
☆ By THE LUNA COLLECTIVE STAFF ☆
THE END OF THE YEAR SERVES AS A POWERFUL TIME FOR REFLECTION - and an even better time to look back at all the incredible new music we got to experience. After some years of isolation and no touring, artists were eager to share what they had been working on during the peak of the pandemic. Regardless of what genre you find yourself drawn to, we’re sure you found yourself diving into a new album left and right.
While the plethora of music we had this year was a treat, it made narrowing down our top 10 picks all the more difficult. From the creative process to the visuals that accompanied the rollout to everything in between, our writers took a deep dive into some of our favorite albums of this year. Read below for our picks, listed in no particular order.
The 1975 - Being Funny In a Foreign Language
Emerging amidst a year of rebirth and getting back into the groove, The 1975’s perfectly fitting album Being Funny In a Foreign Language is a tangible reflection of 2022’s celebratory liveliness. While people attempt to re-find themselves amongst the havoc and unrest of the last two years, the band is returning to their own sense of normalcy as they reunite with their quintessential indie rock sounds that dominated the early 2010s. Quite possibly their most identifying project to date, Being Funny captures the sounds that define The 1975 and wraps them in the evolution and experimentation of the albums that precede it. With an adoration for love as its lifeblood, the album feels like discovering happiness for the first time; creating a dual atmosphere of vibrant beginnings and confetti-showered endings. In this way, the album creates a sonic time capsule of the moods and atmospheres that dominated the year in which it was made.
The usual self-titled opener remains true to the band’s penchant for pretentiousness; lyrically the track is a self-cognizant critique of beauty culture, digital identities and the exploitation of adolescents. And yet, it retains the hopeful and refreshing spirit that runs throughout the entire project. Following in its wake is an impressively cohesive eleven-part blend of pop, jazz and synth sounds employing a rich symphony of multidimensional instrumentals.
LAUFEY - Everything I Know About Love
Everything I Know About Love is everything you imagine about love - flowery picnics in summer meadows, rose-colored glasses of fizzing champagne, the cool, summer breeze flowing through the air. Laufey flawlessly conveys the romantic, serene moments of love in a cinematic, orchestral manner. Equal parts nostalgia and modernity, the album intimately leads the listener through a journey of delicate melodies and angelic vocals.
The passion project of Icelandic singer and songwriter Laufey, Everything I Know About Love showcases the promising potential of the 23-year-old up-and-coming artist. Taking inspiration from her mother’s family, Laufey incorporates classical music influence into a mixture of jazz and bedroom pop, creating refreshing tunes that feel like a breath of fresh air in the bustling scene of modern music.
The 13-track album does more than ponder on rose-tinted thoughts of love- the lyrics keep the vivid orchestra and acoustic guitar grounded, with a clear sense of relatability and familiarity. Whether it be thinking about a mysterious, infatuating crush in “Beautiful Stranger”, or leaving behind melancholic heartbreak in “Hi”, Laufey brings the often overlooked experiences of intimacy into sight.
Everything I Know About Love is the type of music for rainy days spent on the couch, warm, glowing, summer afternoons, and midnights eating Chinese food and discussing the future. But it also pulls you from that dreamy comfort with the occasional quirky lyric and the tangible imperfection of what it means to love.
Alex G - God Save The Animals
Alex G is one of those artists that no matter what they release – it’s always good. Even if you like it immediately or have to take some time to let it grow on you – you always end up loving it. God Save The Animals was one of our highly anticipated albums this year. With “Blessing” as a first glimpse into the album, Alex G showed us that he can basically do anything and everything.
The album explores various themes, including faith, life, birth and youth. There’s a feeling of hope lingering throughout the songs, but the playful elements of this album bring that feeling out more. Looking back at his past albums, especially his earlier stuff, somber imagery consumed it and it always felt more nostalgic than reflective. Reflection is a big theme we can see in God Saves The Animals, as he takes the lessons he’s learned throughout his life and admires his progression. With different approaches to his songs, this album mainly showed us how versatile Alex G can be. If he became a hyper pop artist, we’d love it. If he brought back old early 2000s pop rock back into style, we’d thank him for it. So, thank you, Alex G – for giving us a sense of joy to take to the new year.
Wallows - Tell Me That It’s Over
What age would you call your prime?
Wallows’ sophomore album, Tell Me That It’s Over, begs this question and more. One might consider it difficult to follow Nothing Happens, Wallows’ 2019 debut album complete with charming angst and powerful drive, but Tell Me That It’s Over delivers as a beautiful continuation yet completely separate work of art from this alternative rock trio.
While Nothing Happens focuses on the fears of growing up too fast, Tell Me That It’s Over reflects on the fears of missing out on life’s special moments. Both intertwined with each other and able to stand on their own two feet, these albums are proof that if you need a song to relate to when you just can’t find the right words to express yourself, Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston have your back. You know it’s a good sign when it’s a very difficult task to pick out a favorite song from this album - they’re all just too good. Seriously.
The beauty of Wallows’ discography lies in their willingness to both let go and hold on at the same time. Riddled with nostalgia, yearning and hope, Tell Me That It’s Over is a masterful blend of everything Wallows does best, and we are so, so excited for everything they have coming next. Though our lives are going by, they make us feel like it's all just begun in the most hopeful of ways.
Omar Apollo – Ivory
Omar Apollo has been on the radar of R&B lovers for years, as early as 2017 since his first big hit “Ugotme”. It feels like we’ve grown up with the Hispanic singer throughout the years, his music allowing us to follow him through journeys of hopeless romance and all consuming love – and now, heartbreak and healing.
Apollo has been on the rise for quite some time, and in 2022 he blessed us more than once, with his latest album Ivory followed by the release of its extended brother Ivory (Marfil). Marfil introduces five more songs on top of the original 16-track album: “Endlessly” (full version to the interlude), “Highlight”, “Archetype”, “Saving All My Love”, and “Pretty Boy”. Ivory also features collaboration with R&B crooner Daniel Caesar on “Invincible” and reunites Apollo with Kali Uchis on “Bad Life”.
His earlier albums like Stereo (2018) and Friends (2019) gave us a look into soft, young infatuation that later grows into a deeply intimate relationship by the release of Apolonio (2020). Ivory seems to enter us into the newest phase of his love life, when the rose-colored glasses come off and we’re faced with the insecurity and self-realization that comes with complex love. Apollo’s longest album to date, while riddled with high-energy bangers, progressively tells a heartbreaking story. This might be best represented by the masses of Tiktok who blew up this line in Evergreen, users painfully lip syncing,“You didn’t deserve me AT ALL, AT ALL, AAAATTTT ALLLLLLL!!!!”
Sound-wise, Ivory has swapped out Apollo’s trademark electric guitar for vocal reverb and more acoustic-based tracks, even bringing out a mariachi to perform his corrido “En El Olvido” live for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert (a beautiful homage to his Mexican roots!) This album only proves further that Omar Apollo will continue to be a household name in this new wave of R&B, as he reminds his audience through honest tunes that change is a natural part of life and love.
WET LET - WET LEG
Cheeky, flirty, and a bit surreal, Wet Leg’s self-titled 12-track debut album takes listeners through the journey of being north of 25. A duo composed of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, Wet Leg hails from the small Isle of Wight. Their sound is anything but small. Wet Leg’s versatile vocals and boisterous backing band create a larger-than-life sound that tackles subjects like break-ups, doom scrolling, developing a homebody disposition, and accepting that life can suck sometimes. Wet Leg is music created by someone who has experienced the pandemic in their late 20s for someone who has also experienced the pandemic in their late 20s.
Unshockingly, songs titled Being In Love and Loving You detail break-ups instead of saccharine sweet relationships. These songs attempt to convey to album listeners that romantic love should be de-centered. Infatuation and delusion go hand in hand in these failed relationships. Angelica, I Don’t Wanna Go Out, and Too Late Now build upon this narrative of the tired and emotionally exhausted late 20 year old by observing that parties get less fun as you get older, life continues to move on around us as we age, and how to come to appreciate grocery store runs for what they are: the adult version of Chuck-E-Cheese. Too Late Now specifically grapples with the idea of grief in the mundane and feeling inadequate in your life path when comparing yourself to the lives of your peers.
Still, Wet Leg does not shy away from sex and intimacy in relationships. Wet Dream deals with the regret of sexting your ex and asks the seminal question of, “What makes you think you’re good enough to think about me when you’re touching yourself?” Chaise Longue also brazenly calls degrees “the big D.” These moments in the album showcase Teasdale and Chambers humor that create the balance for dealing with getting older and not being completely happy with your progress. Life can be sticky as you get older, but combat that with silliness. Decenter romance, but grieve your relationships. Above all else, however, Wet Leg loudly declares that you should honor yourself and practice self care.
Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights
Gemini Rights, Steve Lacy’s 2022 album released earlier this summer skyrocketed him into the charts, particularly with his hit song, “Bad Habit,” which became his first number one single on the Billboard charts. Although Lacy has been a part of the music scene since 2014 with R&B band, The Internet, he is just now gaining the immense recognition that he has always deserved.
Unlike his debut album, Apollo XII, this ten track collection is all about collaboration. Lacy is known to take on his work with a DIY approach as his past music was solely produced and written by himself. Gemini Rights is Lacy’s most polished project to date with help from various writers and producers.
The standout theme of this album is the heartbreak Lacy experienced from a past lover and/or relationship. Lacy seems to be the victim in the situation and he does not shy away from directly addressing that as a primary theme in the album. Love can be this amazing feeling that people experience, but with that comes risk taking and vulnerability, both of which Lacy reveals about himself in the album. Lacy took this risk, got his heart broken, but was able to write and produce this awesome album that tells listeners about his experiences.
Lacy’s album transports you into his experiences of love and heartache all while singing along to the catchiness of his funky, soul beats. The collection of songs is vibrant, catchy and flirty.
Mitski - Laurel Hell
Laurel Hell is a folk phrase used in the southern Appalachian mountains to describe being caught in a thicket of laurel, a pretty– but thorny– rhododendron bush. On her latest record, Laurel Hell, Mitski finds herself similarly trapped. Throughout the album, the singer-songwriter leads us deeper into these thickets in her relationships, her career, and within herself. The beauty of the record comes as Mitski stops fighting through the thickets, and pauses to assess the thorns’ painful charm.
Fitting perfectly into Mitski's established discography, the album combines both her early vocal forward ambient sound with her more recent forays into new wave and classic alternative pop. The album shines in its use of synthesizer, bass, and drums. Whether the instruments all drone together with Mitski’s voice or provide an upbeat background to devastating lyrics, they hold the record together like alternative indie pop glue.
Laurel Hell is a powerful exploration of the depths of heartbreak and the feeling of being lost that comes with facing dissatisfaction, and not knowing where to turn. As Mitski sings on “Love Me More” – one of the most up-tempo, yet brutally honest tracks on the record– “when I’m done singing this song/I will have to find something else/ to do to keep me here.”
As if there was any question about it before, with Laurel Hell Mitski has cemented herself among the greats of sad synth-pop music.
Djo - Decide
It’s still early but it’s safe to say, Djo and his second album, DECIDE, both age like fine wine. The musician moniker for the ultra-talented Joe Keery, Djo has been rallying for a psychedelic rock sound that has been largely ignored in the late 2010s–and it sure is working.
Compared to the 2020 debut Twenty Twenty, which largely resembles Keery’s previous songwriting style for Post Animal, DECIDE demonstrates artistic confidence and a noticeably stronger personal narrative. Following a traceable but not yet self-indulgent story arch of a struggling artist, there are more anti climatic moments in the album than glamorous highlights and stylistic flex. Much of the album feels somber yet spiritually energetic, deprecating but not to the point of loathing.
The musical magician that is Djo plays quite a few sonic tricks throughout the album. The first musical treat comes right at the end of the first track, where a seamless transition ascends and dissolves into the explosive, snarky and sophisticatedly hilarious single, “Gloom.” With “Fool” and “On and On” purposefully placed right besides each other on the tracklist, you are bound to feel a type of way about the highly technologized society with the two tracks’ goofy grooves and mind-numbing, kaleidoscopic sound effects. Obviously, there’s also the fan favorite, sunshiny-synth anthem that is “Change.” But the interlude following is the true secret jam that doubles as yet another sonic highlight. “Is That All It Takes” soars into the true climax of the record, as the last three tracks explore quite a stellar post-punk territory.
Simply put, no other album from the year of 2022 feels like Djo’s DECIDE. Keery’s interpretative sonic build and songwriting grant an ever-evolving, persisting and philosophical identity to the project. Sip on it, swirl the glass and watch it shimmer, you would need a while to make up your mind with DECIDE.
Bad Bunny - Un Verano Sin Ti
Named Billboard’s No. 1 album of 2022, in Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny (Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) reminds us of the diasporic joy and profound self-exploration that comes with living unapologetically and transparently. True to his art, Benito takes us on a versatile and melodically entrancing listening journey unlike we’ve experienced from his records before. This time around, he infuses the pulse of reggaeton with high-energy cumbia and ambient indie pop, to create a tracklist that reverberates innovation and warmth.
Staying true to his Caribbean roots, Benito recorded the 23-track album in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In it, he plays with a plethora of compelling experimental arrangements, exhilarating genre fusions, and velvety riffs that are reminiscent of the seaside backdrop the album was invented in. With this addition, Benito’s already vibrant discography becomes polychromatic and exceptionally resonant. The record is anything but abysmal, and it has 13 consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard 200 chart to substantiate this.
What’s most special about the album isn’t found in its selection of unexpected collaborations, or rich summery sound—it’s the glowing homage to Benito’s cultural influences. The project’s commitment to celebrating famed regional musicians and confronting deeply ingrained political idiosyncrasies. Centered around a wealth of traditional Caribbean sounds; bomba, cumbia-electro, bachata, mambo, and dembow, it offers an alluring euphonic patchwork accentuating the vivacity and zealous spirit of the dynamic coastal region.
Whether it’s a track on Side A, or Side B, listeners are instantly transported to an effervescent soundscape painted with the soft hues and charming elements of the beaches in el Caribe. The seafaring record is a vehicle for ecstasy, ingenuity, and healing that will outlast the tests of time. With its nostalgic yet nuanced undertones, the release preserves Benito’s beloved signature sound while simultaneously ushering in a contemporary pathway for him and other artists to explore next. More than anything, it shows that the singer is ever-evolving, learning and growing. If this eclectic album has any correlation it tells us that Bad Bunny is limitless.
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