Looking for a connecting thread among the albums AllMusic editors chose as their favorites of 2021 may be a futile task, but that doesn't mean there was a lack of consensus. Our staff agreed upon the merits of a few of the year's major albums, finding Promises, the shape-shifting collaboration between Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra, quite enchanting. New Long Leg, the first album from British post-punk upstarts Dry Cleaning, caught the fancy of several editors, as did Stand for Myself, the sophomore set from the Americana powerhouse Yola. Get past the shared passion for Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee and Sons of Kemet's Black to the Future and you'll discover a wealth of records unified only by the fact that they captured the imagination of our staff. We were enamored with exquisite work from the Weather Station and Lindsey Buckingham, galvanized by the debut of post-hardcore unit Turnstile and the bold pop return of Laura Mvula, and enjoyed inspired comebacks from British pop legends Saint Etienne and grunge rocker Jerry Cantrell. Each of these artists and many others gave us more than enough reasons to love 2021.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raise the Roof
Jack Ingram/Miranda Lambert/Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham
Torres - Thirstier
Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days
The Weather Station - Ignorance
Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny Ha Ha
Snail Mail - Valentine
Liz Phair - Soberish
Toby Keith - Peso in My Pocket
Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future
Yola - Stand for Myself
Billy F. Gibbons - Hardware
The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy
Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barn
David Crosby - For Free
The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore
Dr. Lonnie Smith - Breathe
Heather Phares
Tamar Aphek - All Bets Are Off
Art d'Ecco - In Standard Definition
Buffalo Daughter - We Are the Times
Chvrches - Screen Violence
Clark - Playground in a Lake
Cloud Nothings - The Shadow I Remember
Colleen - The Tunnel and the Clearing
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Grouper - Shade
Helado Negro - Far In
LoneLady- Former Things
Loscil - Clara
Mogwai - As the Love Continues
Mouse on Mars - AAI
Ora the Molecule - Human Safari
serpentwithfeet - Deacon
Towa Tei - LP
Torres - Thirstier
Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou
The Weather Station - Ignorance
Arca - 'Crown'
Anika - 'Never Coming Back'
Karen Black - 'You're Not in My Plans'
The Breeders - 'The Dirt Eaters'
Lucinda Chua - 'Until I Fall'
Clark - 'Small'
Cold Beat - 'New World'
Deerhoof - 'Scarcity Is Manufactured'
Dry Cleaning - 'Scratchcard Lanyard'
Noga Erez - 'You So Done'
John Grant - 'Boy from Michigan'
Hard Feelings - 'Running Out of Time'
Liars - 'My Pulse to Ponder'
Piroshka - 'Scratching at the Lid'
Pom Poko - 'Look'
Sleaford Mods - 'Mork N Mindy'
Ty Segall - 'Feel Good'
Twin Shadow - 'Sugarcane'
Wet Leg - 'Chaise Longue'
Xeno & Oaklander - 'Poison'
Tim Sendra
Dot Allison - Heart-Shaped Scars
Astral Brain - The Bewildered Mind
David Christian & the Pinecone Orchestra - For Those We Met on the Way
Cola Boyy - Prosthetic Boombox
The Coral - Coral Island
Dummy - Mandatory Enjoyment
Jorge Elbrecht - Presentable Corpse 002
Guardian Singles - Guardian Singles
Idle Ray - Idle Ray
Madlib - Sound Ancestors
Mess Esque - Mess Esque
Makthaverskan - For Allting
April March - In Cinerama
Geoffrey O'Connor - For as Long as I Can Remember
Ovlov - Buds
Painted Shrines - Heaven and Holy
Rat Columns - Pacific Kiss
The Reds, Pinks & Purples - Uncommon Weather
Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying to Tell You
Special Friend - Ennemi Commun
Alpine Decline - 'I Got Up (Just Like John Sinclair Told Us To)'
Aly & AJ - 'Listen!'
Matt Berry - 'Summer Sun'
The Catenary Wires - 'Face on the Rail Line'
Chime School - 'Talking My Time to Tell You'
Cola Boyy - 'Don't Forget Your Neighborhood'
Dry Cleaning - 'Scratchcard Lanyard'
E. Vax - 'Karst'
La Luz - 'In the Country'
Marinero - 'Beyond the Rainbow Tunnel'
Mac McCaughan - 'Dawn Bends'
Meatbodies - 'Night Time Hidden Faces'
Monnone Alone - 'Feel It Disappearing'
New Bums - 'Tuned to Graffiti'
Nightshift - 'Outta Space'
Pearl & the Oysters - 'Soft Science'
Power Supply - 'Infinity'
Julia Shapiro - 'Wrong Time'
Smile Machine - 'Pretty Today'
Swansea Sound - 'I'm Okay When You're Around'
John Bush
Lord Huron - Long Lost
Guided by Voices - Earth Man Blues
John Tejada - Year of the Living Dead
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000
Lone - Always Inside Your Head
Refreshers - Way U Smile EP
Remember Sports - Like a Stone
Intr0beatz - Irregularity EP
IAN SWEET - Show Me How You Disappear
Iceage - Seek Shelter
Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction
Summer Salt - Sequoia Moon
Wasuremono - Let's Talk, Pt. 1
La Luz - La Luz
Middle Kids - Today We're the Greatest
Painted Shrines - Heaven and Holy
Shannon and the Clams - Year of the Spider
sir Was - Let the Morning Come
Kit Sebastian - Melodi
LUMP - Animal
John Tejada - 'Sheltered'
Intr0beatz - 'You Know 106'
Aleksi Perälä - 'FI3AC2152120'
Men I Trust - 'Tides'
Joy Orbison & Léa Sen - 'better'
Amon Tobin - 'Phaedra'
Leon Vynehall - 'Mothra'
Batu - 'Melts into Air'
Lone - 'Realise'
Sophie - 'BIPP [Autechre Mix]'
Park Hye Jin - 'I Need You'
Clive from Accounts - 'Gravitate'
Mandy, Indiana - 'Alien 3 [Daniel Avery Remix]'
Ducks Ltd. - '18 Cigarettes'
Parannoul - 'Beautiful World'
Wasuremono - 'Eating Up the Sky'
Still Corners - 'Crying'
Jordana & Magdalena Bay - 'Push Me Away'
Goth Babe - 'Laurelhurst'
Lord Huron - 'Long Lost'
Matt Collar
Kilbey Kennedy - Jupiter 13
Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force - Dear Love
Nortonk - Nortonk
Hayley Williams - Flower for Vases/Descansos
Matthew Sweet - Catspaw
Yuma Uesaka/Cat Toren/Colin Hinton - Ocelot
Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
Joe Lovano - Trio Tapestry: Garden of Expression
Field Music - Flat White Moon
The Joy Formidable - Into the Blue
Theo Croker - Blk2Life/A Future Past
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
Bremer/McCoy - Natten
Roy Hargrove/Mulgrew Miller - In Harmony
José González - Local Valley
Laura Mvula - Pink Noise
Keshave Batish - Binaries in Cycle
Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade
Doja Cat - Planet Her
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Marcy Donelson [Spotify albums/singles]
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
William Doyle - Great Spans of Muddy Time
Idle Ray - Idle Ray
Damien Jurado - The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania
Elizabeth & the Catapult - sincerely, e
Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force - Dear Love
Media Jeweler - The Sublime Sculpture of Being Alive
Charlotte Cornfield - Highs in the Minuses
Penelope Isles - Which Way to Happy
Massage - Still Life
Marissa Nadler - The Path of the Clouds
Dorothea Paas - Anything Can't Happen
Danny Elfman - Big Mess
Squid - Bright Green Field
Lost Horizons - In Quiet Moments
Pearl & the Oysters - Flowerland
Illuminati Hotties - Let Me Do One More
L'Rain - Fatigue
Buck Meek - Two Saviors
Bachelor - 'Back of My Hand'
Idle Ray - 'Last Show'
Massage - 'Anna'
Elizabeth & the Catapult - 'together, alone'
The Catenary Wires - 'Mirrorball'
Francis Lung - 'Bad Hair Day'
Ducks Ltd. - '18 Cigarettes'
Chime School - 'It's True'
Sindy - 'Horror Head'
Ohtis/Stef Chura - 'Schatze'
PACKS - 'New TV'
Justus Proffit - 'Big Mistake'
Wet Leg - 'Too Late Now'
Piroshka - 'Scratching at the Lid'
Big Thief - 'Change'
Another Michael - 'Big Pop'
Coco - 'Last of the Loving'
Sondre Lerche - 'Dead of the Night'
Lambchop - 'A Chef's Kiss'
Remi Wolf - 'Grumpy Old Man'
Thom Jurek
William Parker - Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World
Gretchen Parlato - Flor
Gary Bartz/Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge - Gary Bartz JID006
Mon Laferte - Seis
Joanna Connor - 4801 South Indiana Avenue
Natural Information Society/Evan Parker - Descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
James Brandon Lewis - Jesup Wagon
Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future
Eric Bibb - Dear America
Ches Smith/We All Break - Path of the Seven Colors
Marisa Monte - Portas
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Sue Foley - Pinky's Blues
Darius Jones - Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation)
Chelsea Carmichael - The River Doesn't Like Strangers
John Carroll Kirby - Septet
Irreversible Entanglements - Open the Gates
Bomba Estéreo - Deja
Karol G - KG0516
Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
Andy Kellman [Spotify]
Cleo Sol - Mother
Rochelle Jordan - Play with the Changes
Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant
Gerald Cleaver - Griots
Chelsea Carmichael - The River Doesn't Like Strangers
Laura Mvula - Pink Noise
Wayne Snow - Figurine
Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8
Kenneth Whalum - Broken Land 2
K, Le Maestro - Whip Music
John Carroll Kirby - Septet
Terrace Martin - Drones
Zo! & Tall Black Guy - Abstractions
BeMyFiasco - Where I Left You
Sherelle - Fabric Presents Sherelle
L'Rain - Fatigue
Leon Vynehall - Rare, Forever
Irreversible Entanglements - Open the Gates
Andy Stott - Never the Right Time
Peyton - PSA
Jessie Ware - 'Remember Where You Are'
Wayne Snow - 'Seventy'
Rochelle Jordan - 'Already'
L'Rain - 'Two Face'
Durand Jones & the Indications - 'Witchoo'
Jamire Williams - 'When It Gets Dark'
Zo! & Tall Black Guy - 'Talkin' to Myself'
George Riley - 'Power'
Leon Bridges - 'Steam'
Peggy Gou - 'I Go'
Herbert - 'Gold Dust'
Madteo - 'Str8 Crooked'
Darius - 'Equilibrium'
Leon Vynehall - 'Mothra'
Emma-Jean Thackray - 'Say Something'
Boys Noize - 'Affection'
Tyson - 'Red Handed'
Grimm Lynn - 'Whateva U Need'
Tammy Lakkis - 'Notice'
James Christopher Monger [Spotify]
Turnstile - Glow On
Steve Gunn - Other You
Field Music - Flat White Moon
Converge/Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I
Ed Dowie - The Obvious I
José González - Local Valley
Jerry Cantrell - Brighten
Tonstartssbandht - Petunia
Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
Richard Dawson & Circle - Henki
La Luz - La Luz
La Femme - Paradigmes
Orquesta Akokán - 16 Rayos
Helloween - Helloween
Laura Mvula - Pink Noise
Bomba Estéreo - Deja
Yola - Stand for Myself
Gojira - Fortitude
Altin Gün - Yol
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Wet Leg - 'Chaise Longue'
Aimee Mann - 'Burn It Out'
Mother Mother - 'I Got Love'
Timothy Monger State Park - 'Knight Errand'
LoneLady - '(There Is) No Logic'
John Francis Flynn - 'My Son Tim'
Curtis Harding - 'Hopeful'
Alicia Walter - 'Prelude'
Frøkedal - 'Set Your Spirit Free'
Sam Fender - 'Seventeen Going Under'
William Doyle - 'And Everything Changed (But I Feel Alright)'
Dry Cleaning - 'Strong Feelings'
Eera - 'Ladder'
Men I Trust - 'Organon'
The Weather Station - 'Tried to Tell You'
µ-Ziq & Mrs Jynx - 'Unheard Melodies'
Mary Lattimore - 'We Wave from Our Boats'
Wolf Alice - 'The Last Man on Earth'
C Duncan - 'Alluvium'
Jungle - 'Romeo'
Timothy Monger
St. Lenox - Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for Our Tumultuous Times
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Ed Dowie - The Obvious I
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood
Steve Gunn - Other You
Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
Polo & Pan - Cyclorama
Mocky - Overtones for the Omniverse
Paul & the Tall Trees - I Understand
Squid - Bright Green Field
Zoos of Berlin - Here and There Fading and Riding
Rodrigo Amarante - Drama
Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham
Aaron Dilloway/Lucrecia Dalt - Lucy & Aaron
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Tristen - Aquatic Flowers
José González - Local Valley
Yola - Stand for Myself
La Femme - Paradigmes
Wet Leg - 'Chaise Longue'
ABBA - 'When You Danced with Me'
The Moons - 'Today'
Nite Jewel - 'Anymore'
Francis Lung - 'Bad Hair Day'
Mdou Moctar - 'Chismiten'
Petite Amie - 'Adiós'
The Fratellis - 'Living in the Dark'
No-No Boy - 'The Best God Damn Band in Wyoming'
MARINA - 'Purge the Poison'
Helloween - 'Out for the Glory'
serpentwithfeet - 'Hyacinth'
Marisa Anderson/William Tyler - 'Lost Futures'
American Culture - 'No Peace'
Ryley Walker - 'Rang Dizzy'
Andrea von Kampen - 'Water Flowing Downward'
Hearty Har - 'Radio Man '56'
The Sad Song Co. - 'Away Until Christmas Morning'
James Yorkston & the Second Hand Orchestra - 'Struggle'
The Small Breed - 'Remember a Dream'
Paul Simpson [Spotify]
Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
L'Rain - Fatigue
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti
Sherelle - Fabric Presents Sherelle
Various Artists - Tresor 30
Various Artists - Sounds of Pamoja
CFCF - Memoryland
Ouri - Frame of a Fauna
Your Old Droog - TIME
Low - HEY WHAT
PinkPantheress - To Hell with It
Little Snake - A Fragmented Love Story, Written by the Infinite Helix Architect
Cadence Weapon - Parallel World
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood
Backxwash - I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out of Sound
The Bug - Fire
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
Siete Catorce - 'Todo'
Jayda G - 'All I Need'
Anz - 'Unravel in the Designated Zone'
Arlo Parks - 'For Violet'
L'Rain - 'Suck Teeth'
Burial - 'Dark Gethsemane'
Saint Etienne - 'Pond House'
Bruiser Wolf f/ Danny Brown - 'I'm a Instrument'
RXK Nephew - 'Early Age Death'
Tim Reaper - 'Teletext'
Ouri - 'Shape of It [Harp Version]'
ZULI - 'Tany'
Xiu Xiu with Liz Harris - 'A Bottle of Rum'
Noname - 'Rainforest'
LSDXOXO - 'Dying for It 2021'
Kode9 - 'The Jackpot'
Suzi Analogue - 'Fast'
Hannah Jadagu - 'Think Too Much'
PinkPantheress - 'Noticed I Cried'
Lovetta Pippen - 'Picture'
Neil Z. Yeung [Spotify]
Coldplay - Music of the Spheres
Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort to Me
Lil Nas X - Montero
Yola - Stand for Myself
Tori Amos - Ocean to Ocean
Tetrarch - Unstable
Twenty One Pilots - Scaled and Icy
Ours - Ours
Limp Bizkit - Still Sucks
Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
Turnstile - Glow On
Garbage - No Gods No Masters
Jerry Cantrell - Brighten
The Killers - Pressure Machine
Gojira - Fortitude
Tribulation - Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
Twelve Foot Ninja - Vengeance
Andy Mineo - Never Land II
Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight
Yola - 'Dancing Away in Tears'
Lil Nas X - 'That's What I Want'
Halsey - 'I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God'
ATB x Topic x A7S - 'Your Love (9PM)'
Daya - 'Bad Girl'
Lexie Liu 刘柏辛 - '有吗炒面 ALGTR'
VOLA f/ Shahmen - 'These Black Claws'
Dua Lipa - 'We're Good'
The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber - 'STAY'
Sia and David Guetta - 'Floating Through Space'
Imagine Dragons - 'Wrecked'
Bo Burnham - 'Bezos I'
Billy Idol - 'Bitter Taste'
HEALTH + Nine Inch Nails - 'Isn't Everyone'
Masked Wolf - 'Astronaut in the Ocean'
Laufey - 'Street by Street'
Moby f/ Gregory Porter and Amythyst Kiah - 'Natural Blues [Reprise Version]'
Adele - 'Oh My God'
Western Education - 'Midnight Sky'
Swedish House Mafia with the Weeknd - 'Moth to a Flame'
James Wilkinson
The Coral - Coral Island
Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying to Tell You
Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8
Cool Ghouls - At George's Zoo
Silver Synthetic - Silver Synthetic
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Kings of Convenience - Peace or Love
Steve Earle & the Dukes - J.T.
Tele Novella - Merlynn Belle
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Lael Neale - Acquainted with Night
James Yorkston/The Second Hand Orchestra - The Wide Wide River
Kiwi Jr. - Cooler Returns
Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
Esther Rose - How Many Times
Goat Girl - On All Fours
Jane Weaver - Flock
The Catenary Wires - Birling Gap
Nick Waterhouse - Promenade Blue
Cheval Sombre - Time Waits for No One
Rich Wilson
Bicep - Isles
Daniel Avery - Together in Static
Don Zilla - Ekizikiza Mubwengula
Face to Face - No Way Out But Through
Fiddlehead - Between the Richness
Hannah Peel - Fir Wave
Hovvdy - True Love
Hurry - Fake Ideas
Inigo Kennedy - Eyes Closed in the Sun
London Modular Alliance - Portable Sanctuary
Lucy Dacus - Home Video
Luis Vasquez - A Body of Errors
Mikey Erg - Mikey Erg
Mildred Maude - Sleepover
Mogwai - As the Love Continues
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Carnage
Pinegrove - Amperland, NY
Planetary Assault Systems - Sky Scraping
Sincere Engineer - Bless My Psyche
Squid - Bright Green Fields
David Crone
Lil Ugly Mane - Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern
C. Tangana - El Madrileño
Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
Tyler, The Creator- CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
Wiki - Half God
IU - LILAC
Aesop Rock/Blockhead - Garbology
The Bug - Fire
N. Hardem - Verdor
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Nas - King's Disease II
Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future
Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Madlib - Sound Ancestors
José Mauro - A Viagem Das Horas
Jhay Cortez - Timelezz
Your Old Droog - TIME
James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart
McKinley Dixon - For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her
Ka - A Martyr's Reward
James Blake - 'Say What You Will'/'Show Me'
Mustafa - 'The Hearse'
Japanese Breakfast - 'Paprika'/'In Hell'
Tyler, The Creator - 'SAFARI'/'HOT WIND BLOWS'
José Mauro - 'Variação Sobre um Antigo Tema'
Ka - 'I Need All That'
J Balvin f/ Jhay Cortez - 'La Venganza'
C. Tangana - 'Párteme la Cara'/'Muriendo de Envidia'
K-Trap - 'Warm'
Lil Ugly Mane - 'VPN'/'Cold in Here'
Aesop Rock/Blockhead - 'Abandoned Malls'
Bizarrap/L-Gante - 'L-Gante: BZRP Music Sessions #38'
Madlib - 'Chino'
Wiki f/ Jesse James Solomon - 'Drug Supplier'
Nas - 'Death Row East'/'Moments'
Dave - 'Survivor's Guilt'
PinkPantheress - 'I Must Apologize'
Skyzoo - 'Culture-Ish'
Big Scarr - 'I Would Keep Going'
Doja Cat - 'Kiss Me More'/'Get into It (Yuh)'