1. Olivia Rodrigo, "Sour." Adele's and Kacey Musgraves' slow-burning divorce albums fizzled compared with this volcanic breakup record. The 18-year-old arriving star's sourness was as raw as punk rock — "Brutal" might even be the punk song of the year! — but the ultra-catchy songwriting and production sweetened the songs enough to be highly palatable for kids and adults alike.
2. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Raise the Roof." The unlikely collaboration between the golden rock god and ethereal bluegrass/folk queen works just as well the second time around, with well chosen gems by Calexico, the Everlys and Allen Toussaint elegantly reinvented with an A-team of neo-twang players.
3. Little Simz, "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert." The sly-tongued British rapper (Simbiatu Ajikawo) ambitiously mingled cool retro-soul samples and urgent string arrangements with gritty and gruff lines about classism, racism, licking wounds and loving yourself.
4. James McMurtry, "The Horses & the Hounds." While Nashville country stars shoveled tequila and whiskey down our throats in 2021, the Texas folk-rock vet served a richly blended cocktail of authentic rural American tales and gravel-road groove.
5. Arlo Parks, "Collapsed in Sunbeams." Somehow, a young West London woman's jazzy and poetic bedroom pop became the most universally soothing jams coming out of COVID.
6. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, "Bloodstains & Teardrops." The octogenarian hero of New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indian scene tapped his city's reggae and blues roots to address its modern woes.
7. Lucy Dacus, "Home Video." Like a church-camp version of Craig Finn's Hold Steady tales, the Virginian millennial rocker revisited memories of untamed youth with an uncynical sweetness and heart-piercing acuity.
8. Japanese Breakfast, "Jubilee." Michelle Zauner followed up her bestselling memoir based on her mom's death by having some much-deserved fun with her weird but wistful electro-pop band, equal parts Abba and Flaming Lips.
