Best of 2019: Music
Vampire Weekend
Pi Culture’s ‘Best of 2019’ series highlights the favourite things we’ve seen, heard and read this year. In this article, our writers share the best music of 2019.
Father of the Bride - Vampire Weekend
It feels a little odd to write about such a summery album in cold, festive December. However, reflecting on my favourite albums of 2019 this one has to come out on top. Father of the Bride is a quirky, clever and playful album. Vampire Weekend uses unpredictable melody lines, off-beat rhythms and a pick 'n' mix assortment of instrumentation to create fantastically detailed and distinct sounds that actually work. This album dances around the genres of folk, electronic, indie rock, psychedelic pop, funk, blues and alternative. Personally, I hate country music but this record creatively employs uncool country features to cast a subversive light on themes of nostalgia, love, marriage, whiteness and the church. Lyrically, Father of the Bride is folkloric. The narrative perspective drifts between lead singer Ezra Koenig (as the protagonist/husband) and featured artist Danielle Haim (as a wife figure) as they reflect on their past. Listening to this record is like glimpsing into a conflicted yet quaint life story. Father of the Bride is a light-hearted album that doesn't take itself too seriously, but also shouldn't be underrated.
P.S. My favourite tracks are “2021”, “Big Blue”, “Unbearably White”, “My Mistake”, “Harmony Hall” and “Sunflower”. (I’m indecisive, okay?)
Livvie Hall
Perception EP - Joy Crookes
Every time Joy’s husky yet glittering vocals float into my earphones, I ask myself what I was possibly wasting my time listening to before I discovered Hurts on my YouTube recommended. Drawing upon genres of jazz, soul, R&B, and rap, with clear influences of the late Amy Winehouse, Sade, her music evokes calm and thought, as establishes her creative authority on her own terms in every song without fault. But it’s the ingenuity and honesty of her lyrics that really entrance, as she interweaves symbols of London in “London Mine”, femininity in “Man’s World” and her dual culture; writing both love letters and reacting to political trauma, but without compromising on the playfulness and wit that make the British youth what it is. She has a beautiful knack of creating an ambience in three minutes that lasts far beyond the end of a song, and it’s the unbridled emotion that makes it happen. Her artistry extends to her music videos, which pay homage to both her Bangladeshi and Irish heritage. For instance, in “Since I Left You”, she recreates a photograph of her grandmother in her native village, as sings through tears “You dined on my demons when I was just seeking/For someone who I could call home/You saw our future but mine was without you/You knew that I needed to go”. Her music is what everyone needs, no question about it.
Valeria Fernandes-Soriano
i,i - Bon Iver
After distorting and hiding his voice in 22 A Million, Justin Vernon pushes himself beautifully to the forefront of music in i,i. I loved every track on this album. I could hear influences from every stage of his musical career and it made it feel luxuriously dense with sound for my ears to devour. The distinction of layers, being able to hear individual samples, is such a treat in a world where I believe a lot of music is overproduced. From the beautiful simplicity of harmonies in “U (Man Like)” to the mechanical space like soundscape created in “Jelmore”, i,i, is easily my album of the year.
Rosie Hough
assume form - James Blake
I must admit that my relationship with music is somewhat estranged. I jump between single to single listening obsessively until I cannot bear hearing the chords once more. However, in 2019 this changed for me with the release of James Blake’s Assume Form. I now obsessively listen to thirteen songs. Collaborations with Travis Scott, Moses Sumney, Andre 3000 and Rosalía exhibit Blake’s established position at the centre of chart friendly “chill” music. This is particularly clear within the first few songs however the grips of the chart loosen when coming to the end of the album, as Blake introduces various voice manipulations and disconcerting rhythms. A particular highlight is “Power On” and the final track “Lullaby for my Insomniac”. Once the album is forgiven for its commercial focus, the ethereal yet sometimes unsettling sound of this album is the perfect accompaniment to stressful days in the library.
Laura Toms
ma - Devendra Banhart
Banhart’s musical evolution has charted a winding route. In Ma, although he has left his bearded folk roots, Banhart’s characteristically haunting voice floats on as his always arresting lyrical balancing act is overlayered with a medley of genres ranging from his roots in folk through jazz and pop genres. His command of so many languages (four here) brings another dimension of a kind of familiar otherness to his song writing, and the crooning Portuguese of “Carolina” evokes the romantic idealism that his music has always earnestly chased.
Jamie Singleton
Norman Fucking Rockwell! - Lana Del Rey
Rated as the Guardian’s best album of 2019 and a 9.4 on Pitchfork (the highest ever attained by a solo female album in this decade), NFR! Is Lana Del Rey’s pièce de résistance. If her previous works dripped with an unbridled nostalgia for the glory days of old America, her latest record subverts that, accepting the harsh reality of being an American today. “The culture is lit and I had a ball”, she croons in “The Greatest”. Still, classic Lana-isms persist: songs about shitty men, lilting melodies, and her hypnotic, soulful voice. A personal favourite: the sorely underrated romantic ballad “How To Disappear”.
Kay Ean Leong
Ghosteen - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
“I’m speaking about love now,” sings Nick Cave in the titular song of the album Ghosteen. The singer-songwriter says it best both in his lyrics and on his website The Red Hand Files: “Ghosteen is a migrating spirit.” This is the first album the band produces after the death of Nick Cave’s son, and it naturally deals with themes such as grief. Strikingly, however, the album is devoid of feelings of anger or hopelessness. A spiritual calm, ethereal lyricism and eclectic sound permeate the album’s ambience. Marking the end of a musical trilogy, Ghosteen migrates past defined musical space to morph into an anthem of faith and visions.
Deya Boyadzhieva
Lover - Taylor Swift
The next time someone comes at me claiming Taylor Swift only writes breakup songs, I’ll point them towards Lover. The AMA Artist of the Decade promised an album that would serve as a “love letter to love”, and boy did she deliver: the songs narrate the love we have for our friends, family, S/Os, life, selves and even country (or not). Like the eras that came before, Taylor continues to experiment with her sound and style: “It’s Nice to Have a Friend” relies heavily on steel drums and a Canadian children’s choir; meanwhile “London Boy” features a cameo from Idris Elba, and St Vincent collaboration “Cruel Summer” is a stylish 80s throwback. Through it all, the whimsical storytelling technique that weds all Taylor’s albums together is powerfully present.
India Abbott
Here Comes the CowboY - Mac demarco
When I saw “Cowboy” in the title, I was upset. Mac DeMarco is one of my absolute favourite artists, and the possibility of him replacing the guitar with a banjo felt just short of betrayal. Nonetheless, I gave the album a try and I have to say that I ended up really enjoying it. Much like his other works, this album draws you in through its soothing, pleasantly peaceful melodies and instrumentals. Some songs are, as is the case with most albums, better than others, but overall, this release was a definite highlight of this last year.
Izabela Zawartka
Dogrel - Fontaines DC
In April this year, Irish band Fontaines DC proclaimed their ascendency over Dublin in the rain and, with those lyrics, the musical landscape of 2019. Though the five-piece frequently references the post-punk canon, from Joy Division to The Fall, it is impossible to truly pin them down: Dogrel’s complex navigation of their hometown and identity sets Fontaines DC aside from other bands. Combining a raw and raucous sonic urgency with lyrical poeticism, Fontaines identify themselves as a band for a new and disaffected generation torn between reality and romanticism.
Emily Hufton
Igor - Tyler, the creator
Tyler, the Creator’s fifth studio album starts off with a punchy intro repeating, “they gon’ feel this one” because they really will. The break-up album is a beautiful combination of bass lines, trembling synths, instrumental breaks, falsetto, harmonies and Playboi Carti’s barely coherent baby-voiced rap on the famous “EARFQUAKE”. Despite the incredible variety, the result is not restless or messy. It is a carefully executed story with a rollercoaster of sounds and emotions, as he says what all us feel from, “Don’t leave, it’s my fault”, to “Are we still friends? Can we be friends?” When IGOR dropped, Tyler urged people to do the first listen all the way through without any distractions, “no checking your phone no watching tv”. That is exactly what I did and, if you haven’t already, what I urge you to do as well.
Assel Issayeva