My favourite albums of 2022

Thomas Wilson

Sunday, January 01, 2023

This is a list of my favourite albums of 2022. They're not the best records, they're my favourite.

In 2018 and 2019 I made a real effort to create some (nicely art-directed) lists like this. Then I let them rot and for three years I didn't want to write another favourite post until the other ones were back online and beautiful.

I don't have to resurrect those past pages to start at making another one.

So this is a brutalist, small list of albums I loved that were released in 2022.

Some of them stayed on rotation for months. Some of them I wanted to keep special, and only played them on the good speakers through my dad's vintage B&O hifi. Some of them are records that I found myself thinking about a lot. Some of them are records I struggle to recommend to people, but think they're just good.

The Albums

  • Underwater, Ludovico Einaudi. January 21 2022 (Classical, YouTube link).
  • aubades, Jean-Michel Blais. February 4, 2022 (Classical, Bandcamp link).
  • Cognition, Wilkinson. February 11, 2022 (Electronic, YouTube Link).
  • The Line is a Curve, Kae Tempest. April 8 2022 (Poetry? Hip Hop? YouTube Link).
  • Exercise Your Demons, CLIFFDIVER. May 6 2022 (Pop Punk, Bandcamp link).
  • How To Be Alone, All Better. May 6 2022 (Pop Punk, Bandcamp Link).
  • Blue Hours, Bears Den. May 13 2022 (Folk/Rock, YouTube link).
  • Kings of the New Age, State Champs. May 13 2022 (Pop Punk, Bandcamp link).
  • Sondar, The Wrecks. June 10 2022 (Rock, YouTube Link).
  • Leap, James Bay. July 2022 (Singer Songwriter, YouTube link).
  • End of an era, Loveless. September 2022 (Pop Punk, YouTube link).
  • hugo, Loyle Carner. October 21 2022 (Hip Hop, Bandcamp link).
  • Midnights, Taylor Swift. October 22 2022 (Pop, YouTube link).
  • Into the Past, Driveways. October 28 2022 (Pop Punk, Bandcamp link).
  • King's Disease III, Nas. November 11 2022 (Hip Hop, YouTube link).
  • Tender, Lady Maisery. November 11 2022 (Folk, Bandcamp link).
  • NO THANK YOU, Little Simz. December 12 2022 (Hip Hop, YouTube link).

Albums I want to spend more time with

There are some records that came out this year that I want to spend a little more time with. I think I could really love them, but I've not given them the time yet.

  • five seconds flat, Lizzy McAlpine. April 8, 2022 (Singer-Songwriter, YouTube link).
  • Incase We Crash, Incase we Crash. July 15 2022 (Pop Punk, Bandcamp link).
  • Stick Season, Noah Kahan. October 14 2022 (Folk, YouTube link).
  • Escape That, Sam Sweeney. October 21 2022 (Folk, Bandcamp link).
  • worm food, Cavetown. November 4, 2022 (Singer-Songwriter, YouTube link).
  • Conditions of a Punk, half-alive. December 2 2022 (Alt Rock?, YouTube link).
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