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.