Every year I count down the year’s best albums. This year was going to be no different, and I started planning my Best Albums of 2020 list on Spotify as soon as the year started.
You’ve heard it everywhere, but it bears repeating – 2020 was a year unlike any other. Particularly for musicians. In a year where touring was canceled, musicians had to find new ways to promote new music. But being quarantined also gave them plenty of time and opportunity to write, record, and release new music.
I’ve put together what I thought were the most noteworthy and best albums of 2020 below. Unlike in years past, I chose not to rank them and I’m offering no context, explanation, or description of them.
You can check them all out on my Spotify playlist “Best Albums of 2020” HERE or in the Spotify Web Player Below
SAULT // Untitled (Black Is) & Untitled (Rise)
Taylor Swift // folklore & evermore
Rina Sawayama // SAWAYAMA
Ben Seretan // Youth Pastoral
Tennis // Swimmer
Lido Pimienta // Miss Colombia
Yves Tumor // Heaven to a Tortured Mind
U.S. Girls // Heavy Light
Sufjan Stevens // The Ascension
Agnes Obel // Myopia
Open Mike Eagle // Anime, Trauma and Divorce
Soccer Mommy // color theory
Run the Jewels // RTJ4
Phoebe Bridgers // Punisher
Låpsley // Through Water
Laura Marling // Song for Our Daughter
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit // Reunions
Fleet Foxes // Shore
Fiona Apple // Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Bob Dylan // Rough and Rowdy Ways
Moses Sumney // græ
Perfume Genius // Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Porridge Radio // Every Bad
TORRES // Silver Tongue
Adrianne Lenker // songs
Nadia Reid // Out of My Province
Rufus Wainwright // Unfollow the Rules
Badly Drawn Boy // Banana Skin Shoes
Land of Talk // Indistinct Conversations
HAIM // Women in Music, Part III
Emma Louise // Lilac Everything
Dua Lipa // Future Nostalgia
Bruce Springsteen // Letter to You
Bonny Light Horseman // Bonny Light Horseman
Boniface // Boniface
Lianne La Havas // Lianne La Havas
Ashley Ray // Pauline
Julianna Barwick // Healing Is a Miracle
Jónsi // Shiver
The Killers // Imploding the Mirage
Thundercat // It Is What It Is
Nubya Garcia // Source
Waxahatchee // Saint Cloud
This Is the Kit // Off Off On
What were your best albums of 2020? Contact me, or enter a comment below!
Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.