Below, belatedly, are my favorite songs from 2021. And here are a few of my favorite moments from them:
- The line in James McMurtry’s “Canola Fields” when he says/sings, “Cashing in on a twenty-year crush/You can’t be young and do that…”
* - The bouncy chorus of “Next Best Thing” by The James Clark Institute, though I wish the words that accompanied it were a bit more singalongable.
* - The way Alison Amador, doing her best Susan Tedeschi, lifts her voice at the end of the end of of the line, “Why am I right again…”
* - The last 45 seconds of “Like a Photograph” when Yola keeps singing “Who said life was like a river/That was going to roll on forever” as the music swells.
* - The way Angel Olson and Sharon Van Etten’s voices mingle on the chorus of “Like I Used To.” I wonder if they recorded that together or did it remotely? Exquisite regardless.
* - No-No Boy’s perfect New York City details in “Tony Ramone,” and the Rattlesnake-era Lloyd Cole drawl he delivers them in.
* - The strings on Francis Lung’s “Unnecessary Love,” which isn’t really from 2021 but I liked better than anything on Francis’s 2021 album. Sorry Francis!
- Almost Criminal, Jesse Malin
- Paprika, Japanese Breakfast
- Hypotheticals, Lake Street Dive
- Next Best Thing, The James Clark Institute
- Timing, Alisa Amador
- Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy, The Explorers Club, Lannie Counts
- The Fine Line of a Quiet Life, FUR
- Mirrorball, The Catenary Wires
- Heart of Gold, Molly Burch
- Complex, Tristen
- Sick of Spiraling, Bachelor
- Like a Photograph, Yola
- Like I Used To, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen
- Canola Fields, James McMurtry
- Not Dead Yet, Lord Huron
- The Real Thing, Parker Millsap
- Tony Ramone, No-No Boy
- I Know I’m Funny haha, Faye Webster
- The Sway, illuminati hotties
- Unnecessary Love (Strings), Francis Lung
- bon iver, mxmtoon