I’ve recently been going through every year in music for my thorough retrospectives, and as such I’ve been exposed to some fantastic albums. I wanted to talk about some of my favourites – this time looking at the 2020’s (or the first half of it, anyway!).
I reviewed thirty albums as part of this decade’s retrospectives (five per year), all of which were voted online as the best of their respective years. I’m picking my top 10 based on those original thirty. It’s possible I’ll miss out on some great albums, so I think these top 10’s should be viewed as companion pieces to those original retrospectives.
Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:
Top 10 Albums of the 2010’s
“Getting Killed” (Geese) – Every Song Ranked
“Ants From Up There” Songs Ranked
1984: The Year In Music
Honourable Mentions
I listened to thirty great albums from the 2020’s during my retrospectives, so it was almost impossible to pick the ten best. Here are 3 albums (with a bonus 4th) that almost made the cut:
Punisher (Phoebe Bridgers) was a pleasant surprise. I’d heard of Phoebe Bridgers but I wasn’t expecting her songwriting to be so mature.
I’m a fan of Vampire Weekend’s early work, so I was glad that Only God Was Above Us (Vampire Weekend) was just as good as their glory days.
I’ve turned into a bit of a Black Country, New Road fanboy as of late. Their 2025 album Forever Howlong (Black Country, New Road) was one of the best of last year.
And finally, I wanted to give a shout-out to one of my favourite albums that didn’t make the cut for some reason. The New Sound (Geordie Greep) is a chaotic yet incredible experience … but it must’ve been too out-there for critics because it didn’t make the top five highest rated albums of 2024.
10 – Javelin (Sufjan Stevens)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Will Anybody Ever Love Me?
- A Running Start
- So You Are Tired
Sufjan Stevens had two decades in a row where he barely missed out on my top ten, but for the 2020’s I felt I had to include his beautiful album “Javelin”.
This album has some really tender songwriting and laid-back production. My favourite song, “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”, is one I’ve played pretty much every day since I first heard it.
9 – Brat (Charli xcx)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- 360
- Von dutch
- Apple
There have been some fascinating Pop records in the 2020’s so far – even Charli xcx’s “Brat”, already a pop culture juggernaut, was a critical darling as well as a commercial success. Not many albums and artists can set a foot in both camps.
There’s some really crisp production across the board, and tracks like “360” and “Von dutch” are modern Pop bangers.
8 – Hellfire (black midi)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Welcome to Hell
- Sugar/Tzu
- Eat Men Eat
By far one of the most exciting yet off-kilter acts of the late 10’s and early 20’s was black midi. My favourite album of theirs is probably “Hellfire”, but it’s close.
Geordie Greep has such a chaotic songwriting and vocal style which I absolutely adore. I mean, who comes up with songs like “Sugar/Tzu” and “Welcome to Hell”?!? And who even has the quick, technical ability to play them?
7 – The New Abnormal (The Strokes)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- The Adults Are Talking
- Ode To The Mets
- Selfless
I love that the Strokes are still one of the most relevant Indie bands going today. They’ve been on the forefront of Alternative Rock for over twenty-five years now – that kind of longevity is extremely rare.
They’re still making earworms, especially “The Adults Are Talking”, and other tracks like “Ode To The Mets” and “Selfless” are just so cool. “The New Abnormal” is a new benchmark in modern riff-based Rock.
6 – Desire, I Want To Turn Into You (Caroline Polachek)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Welcome To My Island
- Sunset
- Bunny Is A Rider
One of the first Pop albums of the decade to win me over was Caroline Polachek’s “Desire, I Want To Turn Into You”.
This is a different breed of Pop – it’s the kind of adventurous songwriting and production I rarely see in the genre, especially this millennium, and songs like “Welcome To My Island” have been stuck in my head for months.
5 – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Kendrick Lamar)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Mother I Sober (feat. Beth Gibbons)
- Father Time (feat. Sampha)
- Purple Hearts
I kinda assumed that “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” would be a solid Kendrick album but not amongst his best … but I was way off. This could very well be a top three Kendrick album.
He’s only getting more mature with his songwriting as he ages, with songs like “Father Time” and especially “Mother I Sober” really catching me off-guard. The latter is a song so profound it almost transcends the album itself.
4 – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (Little Simz)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Woman
- Introvert
- Point and Kill
I can’t believe I’d managed to miss Little Simz until I did 2021’s retrospective. She’s one of the most creative, most unique voices in modern music.
I love the smooth production and the slick way she raps, and all three of my top songs – “Woman”, “Introvert” and “Point and Kill” – have been on repeat in my playlist for months.
Her 2025 album “Lotus” was another roaring success. I’ll definitely keep an eye on her artistic endeavours moving forwards.
3 – Getting Killed (Geese)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Trinidad
- Au Pays du Cocaine
- Cobra
Unlike most of the albums in this top ten, I was already familiar with “Getting Killed” because I hopped on the Geese train fairly quickly. It still holds up a year later.
Geese are one of the most exciting bands in recent memory, with frontman Cameron Winter providing some of the best singer-songwriting of this generation. The songs are all hard-hitting and they rarely go the direction you expect.
My favourites are “Trinidad”, “Au Pays du Cocaine” and “Cobra”, but I was just as impressed by songs like “Bow Down” and “Husbands”. Their next album can’t come soon enough!
2 – Imaginal Disk (Magdalena Bay)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Image
- Death & Romance
- Love Is Everywhere
“Imaginal Disk” blew everyone’s minds when it released in 2024 … but I didn’t listen to it for some reason. I rectified that mistake while making the 2024 retrospective, and yeah – this is one of the best albums of this millennium.
This has some of the tightest electronic production I’ve ever heard. Tracks like “Love Is Everywhere” and “Death & Romance” are such bops, and “Image” is one of the catchiest, most danceable songs of the decade.
This is one of those rare albums where every song is great. Each track compliments one other – every time I listen to one song I want to jump back into all of them!
1 – Ants From Up There (Black Country, New Road)
TOP THREE SONGS:
- Basketball Shoes
- The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
- Snow Globes
I’d heard whispers that “Ants From Up There” was a phenomenal album. I was led to believe that Black Country, New Road were one of the finest new bands of the decade. I didn’t believe the hype until I finally gave this masterpiece of an album a listen.
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard songwriting and performance on such an expressive scale – and a lot of that praise has to go to Isaac Wood’s incredibly tender and real vocals. The strain in his voice broke my heart in every song.
This is one of those rare albums where the second half is greater than the first. I do enjoy songs like “Chaos Space Marine” and “Good Will Hunting”, but it’s the one-two-three punch ending of “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade”, “Snow Globes” and then the soul-crushing “Basketball Shoes” which cemented this as a modern classic.
I’ve heard other Black Country, New Road projects since listening to this and I’m growing more and more confident that this is one of the finest bands of the generation. Will they ever top “Ants From Up There”? Probably not … but either way, I’m so glad that artists like them are still releasing incredible music such as this.
Aaaand that’s my list! If you liked this post and want to support me, please consider giving me a one-time donation. Even a few pence (or whatever currency you use) is fantastic! I’ve never monetized this blog before, but it would be great if I could do this comfortably and not have to worry about the yearly website domain costs. Thank you so much!
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