Regarding my favorite music this year, I’m counting down a Top 20 Albums list (instead of my usual Top 10 or 15) over the next few days. I wouldn’t say that I was necessarily more engaged with new music compared to past years, but I can’t deny the effort I put into looking for it. Spotify provides numerous paths towards finding it (particularly through its personalized “Discover Weekly” playlists) and naturally not everything clicks (I made it one-and-a-half songs through that much-praised Wednesday album before moving on.) To stumble upon a great new song/album or for longtime artists to seemingly emerge with one out of the blue is what keeps me stimulated and also motivated in the pursuit of more.

Here are some albums that didn’t make my Top 20 but are still worth further delving into (with a few footnotes):

• Boygenius, The Record
• Caroline Polachek, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
• The Coral, Sea of Mirrors*
• Depeche Mode, Memento Mori**
• Fever Ray, Radical Romantics
• Jake Shears, Last Man Dancing
• Jungle, Volcano
• Kara Jackson, Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?*
• Kate NV, WOW
• Kylie Minogue, Tension
• MAN ON MAN, Provincetown
• Metric, Formentera II
• The National, First Two Pages of Frankenstein
• Peter Gabriel, i/o***
• PJ Harvey, I Inside The Old Year Dying
• Shamir, Homo Anxietatem
• Troye Sivan, Something To Give Each Other
• US Girls, Bless This Mess

*Seriously considered placing these two in the Top 20.

**Entirely, unexpectedly their best in over two decades for what it’s worth.

***This came out on 12/1, so I may need more time to absorb it (even if it was released track-by-track throughout the year.)