2019 in Review: What We Liked in Music, Part 2
Released on December 13, 2019, this standout album from producer-musician extraordinaire KAYTRANADA almost missed the cutoff. Thank goodness it made it. If I were to drink a fancy cocktail on a rooftop overlooking a cityscape at midnight, this is the album I'd spin on repeat. Leveling his work up again and again, he brings in an all-star lineup of collaborators to mesh with the beats he so effortlessly creates. From Kali Uchis to Mick Jenkins to GoldLink to Tinashe to Estelle, there's no lack of hip-hop and R&B bravado on BUBBA. Best listened to without any shuffling.
- Sarah Brooks
Marina - Love + Fear
Marina, formerly known on stage as Marina and the Diamonds, released Love + Fear when she was 33 and her message was one of acceptance and maturity. The evolution of Marina began with angsty The Family Jewels, which transitions between challenging her current state and then celebrating the outlaw lifestyle. This arc includes “Are You Satisfied?”, “Obsessions,” “Guilty,” and “The Outsider.” In 2012, Marina gave us Electra Heart, which is the alter ego she embodied with wigs, midcentury baby doll dresses and a facetious embrace of gender inequalities. On her 2015 album Froot, Marina accompanied her operatic vocals with personal growth and exploration of her sound. And here we are in 2019 with Love + Fear, where she’s grown into herself and learned from past mistakes; learned to enjoy things without questioning. On this two-part album, Marina honors nature literally with songs like “Handmade Heaven” and “Orange Trees.” And unlike before when Marina hyperbolized on bad luck and mistakes, Marina shares her love for others and laments her previous internalizing.
- Elif Geris
After a seven-year long hiatus, Meg & Dia, a band fronted by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, made a surprise return to the music scene with a brand new album. Their fifth album happysad strays from their alt-rock roots and explores a brighter, electronic sound, a new venture for the sisters who have once built a fanbase through dark, gritty, and angst-filled songs, fitting of Myspace pages and Warped Tour stages. Contrary to their lighthearted tunes in tracks like "Lit Match" and "American Spirit," the verses tell vulnerable tales of bittersweet emotions, fears, anxieties, and insecurities, a change of pace from their more concept-driven lyrics in the past. Meg & Dia's happysad is filled to the brim with honesty and self-reflection, the perfect album to accompany you as you make way for a new year.
- Pearl Tiffany Shin