The Best Albums We Found in 2021
After the global disaster of 2020, 2021 was meant to be everyone’s year. And although that worked out for a lucky few, for many others it was all just as confusing. Through bad and good, through pain and pleasure, music helps us explore our emotions. You can lose yourself in an album, even if that just means running away from the world for 45 minutes.
Art can act as a mirror, understanding your emotions and showing them back to you so you see you’re not alone, perhaps even teaching you how to deal with whatever you’re going through; conversely, art can be an escape, a distraction that takes you out of yourself and into another state of existence. We can consider the albums below as fitting into one or both of these ー though the categorisation may be different for different people. Each person is, after all, unique; musical tastes follow. Everyone responds to art differently, and it comes to us at different times.
Jack, Ed and Owen have decided to share with you our favourite albums of 2021: ten from each of us. As an added bonus, we’re slipping in a few albums from previous years that we’ve discovered in 2021, dating from the 1970s to the 2010s; they may not be new, but they are new to us, and we wanted to highlight them. After all, we can’t all keep track of new release dates, and things slip through the radar. Besides, In Sound Records, we’re used to uncovering gems from the past.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully it can give you a taste of what we were vibing to during the chaos of 2021.
Listen to our favourite tracks from these albums, all in one place!
Owen’s Picks
Number 1: Tinashe ー 333 [August 2021]
“A flowing exploration of experimental R&B, 333 stays smooth through disorientating mood switches and genre-blending. It’s unlike anything else I heard this year but still carries commercial appeal.
Tinashe’s touch is light and playful, teasing us towards her world of sexuality, spirituality and self-love as if with a feather duster. The first song Let Go convinces us that she is laidback and neo-soulful, but then proceeds to sound exactly nothing like the rest of the album. One of the boppiest songs in the mix, Shy Guy, finishes up as a barely-one-minute-long fakeout. Each track on 333 leaves you wanting more, just as the next takes you in an unexpected direction. Just like love, it is both excruciatingly painful and beautifully addictive.
The album is very much a spiritual experience in every sense of the word: quasi-religious imagery worms its way into instrumentals, and the music transcends the physical, floating between universes and concepts that you can never quite grasp.” ーOwen Atkinson
Rounding Out the Top 10…
Jazmine Sullivan ー Heaux Tales [January 2021]
Doja Cat ー Planet Her [June 2021]
Miley Cyrus ー Plastic Hearts [December 2020]
Lana Del Rey ー Blue Banisters [October 2021]
MARINA ー Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land [June 2021]
Slayyyter ー Troubled Paradise [June 2021]
Little Simz ー Sometimes I Might Be Introvert [September 2021]*
Albertine Sarges ー The Sticky Fingers [January 2021]
Laura Mvula ー Pink Noise [July 2021]
* Also a favourite of Jack and Ed’s from this year
Bonus finds
Charli XCX ー Pop 2 [2017]
Norah Jones ー Feels Like Home [2004]
Ed’s Picks
Number 1: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard ー Butterfly 3000 [June 2021]
“Butterfly 3000 is collection of songs designed to be listened to as one continuous piece. Roaring, squealing psych guitars give way to synth programming and MIDI sequences, and strong kosmische and ‘krautrock’ influences. Both complex and catchy, with many memorable melodic moments, the result is probably my favourite album of theirs so far.” ーEd Oldham
Rounding Out the Top 10…
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The LSO ー Promises [March 2021]
Howlin Rain ー The Dharma Wheel [October 2021]
Ryley Walker ー Course In Fable [April 2021]*
Shannon Lay ー Geist [October 2021]
Vanishing Twin ー Ookii Gekkou [October 2021]
Parcels ー Day / Night [November 2021]*
Mdou Moctar ー Afrique Victime [May 2021]
Greentea Peng ー Man Made [June 2021]*
Grateful Dead ー Olympia Theatre, Paris, France (5/3/72) [RSD June 2021]
*Also favourites of Jack’s from this year
Bonus Finds
Donny Hathaway - Live [RSD 2021, originally 1972]
Bill Fay - Time of the Last Persecution [RSD 2021, originally 1971]
Herbie Hancock - Man-Child [1975]
Jack’s Picks
Number 1: Babe Rainbow ー Changing Colours [May 2021]
“Changing Colours is a real cosmic trip, bringing jangly guitars and serious groove throughout, resulting overall in a kaleidoscopic dream of joyous sounds. Opening track ‘Zeitgeist’, with it’s incredibly catchy finger-picking riff capable of a contagious smiling, really sets the scene for what’s come. Babe Rainbow continue on their streak of fantastic albums with Changing Colours; in my opinion, it’s one of their best.” ーJack Doyle
Rounding Out the Top 10…
W.H.Lung ー Vanities [November 2021]
Courtney Barnett ー Things Take Time, Take Time [November 2021]
Rose City Band ー Earth Trip [June 2021]
Baad Acid ー Aboo/Sound [June 2021]*
Cleo Sol ー Mother [August 2021]
John Andrews & the Yawns ー Cookbook [May 2021]
Parquet Courts ー Sympathy for Life [October 2021]
Toumani Diabaté and London Symphony Orchestra ー Kôrôlén [April 2021]
Squid ー Bright Green Field [May 2021]
* Also a favourite of Ed’s and Owen’s
Bonus Finds
Bobby Charles - Bobby Charles [1972]
Neal Francis - Changes [2019]
Have we missed anything? Are there any albums you think we’d love that weren’t featured? Send us a message or leave us a comment on social media ー we’re always open to new suggestions!
Written by Owen Atkinson, Ed Oldham and Jack Doyle
PS: there were some Manx-made tunes that might have made the cut, but we saved them for a different list:
Read all about the best Manx-made music of 2021:
