You could be forgiven for thinking of 2021, then labelled a year of “languishing” by the New York Times as one of stasis where music was concerned. We took comfort in artists making unexpected returns—most miraculously, ABBA with their first album in forty years, the patchy but true-to-form Voyage (with its legitimately great single “Don’t Shut Me Down”) but also long-awaited new stuff from Kings of Convenience (after an absence of 12 years), Arab Strap (15), Liz Phair (11), Jose Gonzalez (6) and other acts adhering to the usual 3-5 year cycle between releases, from Aimee Mann and Martha Wainwright to Tori Amos and Twin Shadow.
Fortunately, many of my favorite tracks came from out of the blue: Mia Doi Todd’s loving yet sharp boho paean to the “Music Life”, The Felice Brothers keeping in check with the gallows humor of the times on “Jazz On The Autobahn”, Emm Gryner (with help from Rob Wells) going giddy EDM-pop with “All Love All The Time”, Rufus Wainwright also taking to the dancefloor with his Ampersounds collaboration “Technopera”, The War on Drugs perfecting their anthemic retroisms on “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” and Middle Kids offering up their own anthem for the ages with the bighearted “Stacking Chairs”.
I want to single out three more songs. First and foremost, resembling Jane Siberry speaking/singing over Kaputt-era Destroyer, Cassandra Jenkins’ breakthrough single “Hard Drive” emerged as both a wonder and a turning point. Arriving when I (and many other people) needed it the most, it beautifully conveyed renewal and resilience following such an extreme period of turbulence and loss.
When I first heard “Chaise Longue”, I immediately pictured Wet Leg as Brit versions of the disaffected teens played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke in the 2017 film Thoroughbreds. Thankfully, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers were far droller than that, their mostly spoken post-punk a prospect both familiar and, in this climate, totally refreshing. Strung together with quotable, cheeky lyrics (“I went to school, and I got the big D”), their debut single was a gas and a tonic to all of this year’s troubles.
In the past, I’ve casually admired both Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen but never would’ve guessed how sinuously their voices would blend together. In this standalone duet, against a Springsteen/Spector-like wall of sound, they sang of a will to survive that many of us could relate to following a year-plus of crisis, heartbreak and uncertainty. “Like I Used To” was both a lament and a promise, the yearning in Van Etten’s and Olsen’s voices deeply resonant as we looked to the future.
2021: Take a Deep Breath, Count With Me
- Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue”
- Liz Phair, “Spanish Doors”
- ABBA, “Don’t Shut Me Down”
- Emm Gryner/Rob Wells, “All Love All The Time”
- Cassandra Jenkins, “Hard Drive”
- Japanese Breakfast, “Be Sweet”
- Gruff Rhys, “Mausoleum of My Former Self”
- Lindsey Buckingham, “On The Wrong Side”
- Rostam, “4 Runner”
- Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen, “Like I Used To”
- Ampersounds feat. Rufus Wainwright, “Technopera”
- LUMP, “We Cannot Resist”
- Quivers, “Gutters of Love”
- Kings of Convenience, “Fever”
- Field Music, “No Pressure”
- Aimee Mann, “At The Frick Museum”
- Mia Doi Todd, “Music Life”
- Arlo Parks, “Black Dog”
- Yola, “Stand For Myself”
- Arab Strap, “Here Comes Comus!”
- Julie Doiron, “You Gave Me The Key”
- Caroline Polachek, “Bunny Is a Rider”
- John Grant, “Billy”
- Tori Amos, “Flowers Turn to Gold”
- Molly Burch, “Control”
- Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine, “Back To Oz”
- Middle Kids, “Stacking Chairs”
- The Coral, “Lover Undiscovered”
- Virna Lindt, “Once”
- Lord Huron, “Not Dead Yet”
- The War On Drugs, “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”
- Twin Shadow, “Alemania”
- Martha Wainwright, “Hole In My Heart”
- Pearl Charles, “What I Need”
- The Weather Station, “Tried To Tell You”
- Another Sky, “It Keeps Coming”
- Jose Gonzalez, “Visions”
- Saint Etienne, “Penlop”
- Fruit Bats, “The Balcony”
- The Felice Brothers, “Jazz on the Autobahn”
Haunted Jukebox 