Our albums of the year 2022

The one thing about this year is that it *feels* like a year. Like, a really long one. The good news: it’s also been packed full of incredible albums, including the big hitters like Beyoncé, The 1975, and Arctic Monkeys. To round off our coverage for 2022, we’ve put together some of our own personal favourites for Delilah’s first AOTY list. It’s in no particular order, other than alphabetically.

Crash // Charli XCX

Crash is Charli’s fifth studio album, packed with absolute bangers and collaborating with other influential artists in the queer music scene. Her world tour showed this album was made to bring people together, but it also made Charli one of 2022’s biggest artists; Crash was ranked highly in lots of AOTY lists, and with very good reason. This album is what Charli has called her major sell out era, yet it incorporates elements of her Vroom Vroom EP as well How I’m Feeling Now. If you haven’t listened to it yet the question is, why haven’t you?

Dirt Femme // Tove Lo

Tove Lo’s fifth studio album is not one to miss. With this being her first independent album, Tove Lo is very vulnerable through her lyrics which are juxtaposed by her electro-pop format that her fans love. It is clear that this album is close to heart for the artist with songs such as Suburbia and Grapefruit covering topics from stereotypical married life, whether to have children to eating disorders.This album is different to most pop albums as Tove Lo beautifully covers these topics whilst making you want to dance from how upbeat it is. Moreover, Tove Lo does what other pop albums shy away from: explicitly talking about sex, with Pineapple slice with SG Lewis being the perfect example. This song is a must listen for disco tits lovers as it is very sexually empowering and breaks the boundaries for what can be said about sex in a pop song. This album is truly perfect and shows how much Tove Lo has progressed in her career and life. The album is so versatile you could listen to this during a breakdown, on a night out, or any time you need a confidence boost.

Hold The Girl // Rina Sawayama

Hold the Girl is Miss Slaywayama’s second stunning studio album. She’s outdone herself again, creating an album with absolutely no skips and helping to tell a story from beginning to end. The overall theme of the album is accepting yourself for who you are, and healing the parts of yourself that have been forgotten; this is so clearly illustrated in Phantom and Send my Love to John. If you love her debut album, you will love the evolution of her sound for the second instalment.

Midnights // Taylor Swift

Despite not being the album we necessarily expected from Taylor, it is the album we needed from her. Midnights is an album written about her sleepless nights and her deepest emotions, some of which we have never seen before. The album’s promotion was perfectly orchestrated, including a series of TikToks to reveal the tracklist and keep us all on tenterhooks. Midnights broke lots of records with its release and, despite only coming out in November, it climbed so high on all charts that it practically made itself one of the year’s best albums.

Nymph // Shygirl

On Nymph, Shygirl spun an ethereal soundscape worthy of its name. Delicate, tender, and laced with a sharp tongue, the tracks on this record are as irresistible as she is; if it wasn’t already obvious that she’s a force of nature, after Nymph it was undeniable.

S.O.S. // SZA

After making us wait so long, SZA finally released her album towards the end of this year. In doing so she created a journey that makes you feel like an independent woman who needs no man; a self-confident human in which nothing affects you; someone who’s about to sob for hours on end without any stopping. She goes on to give you songs to dance to endlessly, including collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Don Toliver and more. This album is one of pure majestic artistry, and is set to be one of the best soundtracks for early 2023.

Tantrums // Xana

Canada’s queer answer to Taylor Swift, Xana released her debut album Tantrums in April. Following the lead of her viral single ‘Kitchen Light’, and with a confidence beyond its years, the record traverses love and heartbreak to an elaborate alt pop soundtrack. ‘Complex’ and ‘19’ are the album’s standouts: the former for its empowered, sensual energy; the latter for its heart wrenching punch to the gut.

5SOS5 // 5 Seconds of Summer

The Australian four-piece have come a long way from the earworm, pop punk infused hits of their early days. Experimenting across genres meant some records fell a little flatter than others, but on their fifth time out they’ve truly found who they are. 5SOS5 doesn’t immediately stand out as AOTY worthy, but it’s so damn catchy it’s easy to keep coming back to, and to keep finding new depths to pick up on. It might be over a decade since the boys first reached our ears, but they’re still proving stubbornly addictive.

Cover image courtesy of Sophie Peng via Unsplash. Image license can be found here.