Every year brings its share of ups and downs and 2022 was no different. While the music never stopped during several years of COVID, it still felt like it came back in a big way this year. Here in Western Australia, our opening borders signalled not just the arrival of the virus, but also a return to international touring acts, stadium shows, festivals and more. Whether you were after a tune for the dance floor or the headphones, artists from near and far offered a soundtrack for the highs and lows of a year of turbulence and rejuvenation. These are the albums that X-Press writers have named as their standouts of 2022.
22. Show Me The Body Trouble the Water
With just the eerie tones of a plucked banjo and singer Julian Cashwan Pratt’s cathartic drawl, Show Me The Body create so much tension in their songs that when it all kicks in it feels like an explosion. Drawing from hip-hop, sludge metal, electronica and more, the New York hardcore act salvage melodies from the wreckage, daring you to follow them into their surreal world of carnage. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
21. Stella Donnelly Flood
Perth singer Stella Donnelly showed us what a talented songwriter she was in 2019 with her first album Beware of the Dogs, and has done it again with her new album Flood. With the music often softening to a backdrop behind her powerful lyrics, Donnelly has once again captivated fans with an album that is both cohesive and addictive. – APRIL HANCOCK
20. Danger Mouse and Black Thought Cheat Codes
Two incredibly talented titans and prolific like-minded souls, Danger Mouse and Black Thought have had many legendary collaborations over the years. DM is a certified super-producer through his work with Gorillaz, Broken Bells, Gnarls Barkley, Beck, The Black Keys and MF DOOM. While BT is one of the greatest and most respected rappers to ever spit rhymes, from his band The Roots, to countless guest appearances over the years, and recently his own Streams of Thought EP series. But this is a different beast. A labour of love born from mutual respect. They have teased a full album together for many years – the demos for some of these tracks go back almost 20 years, since they first teamed up on Mad Nice, a bonus track from Danger Doom – Danger Mouse’s legendary collab album with the late, great MF DOOM. Finally the boys have delivered, and it’s worth the wait.
Cheat Codes is a no frills, straight-up old-school hip hop record. There’s nothing too flashy about DM’s production, cutting up old soul, funk and psych rock samples, setting just the right backdrop for BT, whose powerhouse rapping is solid, smooth, lyrically dense and dextrous. Such is the respect these two command, the list of guests on the album is in itself legendary – Run The Jewels, Raekwon, Michael Kiwanuka, Joey Bada$$ – all turn in stellar efforts, while a real surprise and highlight is a treasured posthumous verse from MF DOOM on Belize. The only thing that detracts is the ridiculously high expectations of the long-awaited LP from two of the best to ever do it. – ALFRED GORMAN
19. Arctic Monkeys The Car
Far from their garage rock beginnings, The Car shows how much Arctic Monkeys have evolved over the years. Alex Turner is indulgent in his song writing on this album, which creates some moments of genius, but also some lines that are a bit cringeworthy. Whilst previous album, Tranquility Base Hoteland Casino, featured no guitar, The Car weaves it in nicely through neat little riff lines that help tie the songs together and gives a nod to their younger years. Body Paint sounds Bowie-esque, and lends a hint at Turner’s intentions with the album. This one is for their legacy. – KIERRA POLLOCK
18. Carla Geneve Learn to Like It
Albany-raised, Perth-based artist Carla Geneve is shaping up as one of Western Australia’s best ever songwriters. Learn to Like It bats much deeper than just the high-rotation singles like Dog Eared and The Right Reasons, with each track revealing a story and feeling of its own. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
17. Soul Glo Diaspora Problems
New York hardcore punks Soul Glo don’t just have something new to say, but a new way to say it. Diaspora Problems is whirlwind of fury and fun from beginning to end, cramming punk, metal, hip-hop, garage and more into riotous blender. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
16. Spacey Jane Here Comes Everybody
Freo band Spacey Jane’s second album brought them another wave of success this year. The four-piece have grown enormously since 2020’s Sunlight, and their fans have been with them every step of the way, with Here Comes Everybody deservingly voted the top album of the year by triple j listeners. It’s the relatable experiences conveyed in the lyrics that have made this album such a hit, with twelve tracks perfectly portraying the feeling of growing up in a sympathetic and engaging way. – APRIL HANCOCK
15. Sharon Van Etten We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
Sharon Van Etten’s transition from cult indie-folkster to brooding electro-rock queen began on 2019’s Remind Me Tomorrow, and came to fruition on this 2022 follow-up. Opening track Darkness Fades sets a spooky tone for this record as the New Jersey songwriter takes listeners on a journey through electronica, alt-rock, sorrow and celebration. Never before have someone’s “Mistakes” seemed so euphoric. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
14. The 1975 Being Funny in a Foreign Language
On Being Funny In A Foreign Language, The 1975 stopped trying so hard to put ten different genres into one album, and started to focus on what they are good at; indie-pop bangers and ballads. Happiness and About You are highlights, with the latter helping to hold up the back half of the album. Lyrically, Matty Healy appears more vulnerable, and sonically the band are elevated by the addition of trumpets and strings throughout the record. The 1975 really are ‘At Their Very Best’ on this one. – KIERRA POLLOCK
13. Julia Jacklin Pre Pleasure
Julia Jacklin continues to grow in stature and confidence as a major Australian artist, moving towards piano-based songs and lusher production here on her third album Pre Pleasure. These songs are slow-burning and refuse to leave your consciousness for days, delving into subjects from Catholic education to strained family relationships, each coolly dissected and appraised. While Pre Pleasure feels like a stepping stone to a bigger statement yet to come, this makes it all the more essential for the present. – GORDON JONES
12. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Endless Rooms
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever got mixed reviews for their third album, released in June, but several months on the depths and layers of this work are pretty obvious to anyone who wants to listen. Recorded during lockdown in rural Victoria, Endless Rooms draws on their post-punk influences (Television, The Go-Betweens) to somehow make white, male guitar rock interesting again, an achievement of its own in 2022. Spiky, pointed and political, totally deserving of your time and attention. – GORDON JONES
11. Harry Styles Harry’s House
Harry Styles has gone from strength to strength. Coming off his rock/pop crossover Fine Line, he’s embraced his AOR instincts more fully and delivered a modern day soft rock masterpiece in Harry’s House. The songwriting is sharper than ever and the lyricism edgier – songs like Keep Driving are a bit darker than what we’re used to from the former child star. Generally it just helps that the songs are catchier than ever – it’ll be hard to get Music for a Sushi Restaurant, As It Was, Cinema and the world music-inflected Daydreaming out of your head. Listen to this and embrace your inner Patrick Bateman. – MATIJA ZIVKOVIC
10. Spoon Lucifer on the Sofa
You wouldn’t classify Spoon’s return to rock as a return to form. They’ve never been out of form. Indie rawk’s most reliable rabble-rousers may have mostly ditched the synths, but their first record in five years is great because of its concision and consistency, standard Spoon traits through and through. It ensures that the odd experiment, such as Jack Antonoff co-write Wild, stand out for the right reasons. – HARVEY RAE
9. Angel Olsen Big Time
It’s been an eventful few years for Angel Olsen, releasing several diverse records, postponing several tours, coming out to her parents, then losing both of them within two months – but she’s come out the other side in a good place, and produced one of the best albums of her impressive catalogue. On Big Time Olsen gets deep and introspective, bares her heart and soul, and taps into her country music vein – something she’s always had within her, but finally embraces. Big Time sounds warm, laidback, self-assured and even upbeat. Olsen fronts a tight, polished band who pump out a big Americana sound, all led by her incredible, dynamic voice that can range from a soft whisper to a full-blown howl.
Opener All Of The Good Times starts off effortlessly smooth, as she declares “I can’t say that I’m sorry, when I don’t feel so wrong anymore.” The title track Big Time was co-written with her partner Beau Thibodeaux and is the most swinging, pure, country-tinged tune she’s ever penned, as she croons about coffee, sunshine and kisses. While closer Chasing The Sun may be the most gorgeous song she’s written yet. The album even comes with a short companion film featuring Angel wandering through some dream-like sequences. Overall Big Time is a superb, complete, artistic work. – ALFRED GORMAN
8. Alvvays Blue Rev
It’s been five years since an Alvvays release but they’ve returned revitalised with Blue Rev. They’ve fleshed out their sharp-as-ever indie pop songwriting with a bit of experimentation, as on the echo-drenched Very Online Guy. But generally it’s short, sharp blasts of beautiful indie pop noise as on Pharmacist, the jangly After the Earthquake, the shoegazey blaster Easy on Your Own? and the beautiful Pressed, which particularly highlights the subtle Celtic inflections of frontwoman Molly Rankin. It’s the album’s secret weapon, painting all these tracks with a fine coat of ethereal splendour. – MATIJA ZIVKOVIC
7. Dry Cleaning Stumpwork
On their second studio album, South London post-punks Dry Cleaning both expand and tighten their sound without losing any of their minimalist charm. With irresistible hits like Don’t Press Me and Gary Ashby, Stumpwork crams in more deadpan than a thousand of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Days. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
6. Kendrick Lamar Mr Morale and the Big Steppers
Kendrick Lamar’s fifth album has been so divisive it’s tempting to believe people don’t think it’s as good as his best albums. They’d be wrong. Arguably a more impressive artistic statement than his world-beating Damn., it may not contain a Humble, but this is some of K.Dot’s most personal and best lyricism, coupled with edgier production. A thought provoking double album you can also dance to, he’s still at his confronting best when shedding light on the uncomfortable topics, as with Auntie Diaries, United in Grief and Crown. – HARVEY RAE
5. Big Thief New Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Big Thief’s New Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a gift that keeps on giving. With 20 songs to unwrap over the course of 80 minutes, the Brooklyn quartet’s fifth studio album somehow still feels like it’s bursting at the seams with ideas. Each track reveals something new, as Adrianne Lenker and co. pull alt-country apart before our eyes and weave it back together with a colourful sense of dare. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
4. Cate Le Bon Pompeii
Cate Le Bon’s sixth album, Pompeii, was subtle and restrained yet masterful. Retaining only a minuscule amount of the ragged-edges that characterised her breakout album (2019’s Reward), the Welsh artist returned with a more sophisticated and colder musical palette. Accompanied by lyrical themes of hope and despair, Le Bon, like the rest of us, sounds unsure of how to deal with a world gripped by the pandemic. But unlike us, she is able to form an answer in art-pop of the highest quality. – MICHAEL HOLLICK
3. The Smile A Light for Attracting Attention
The Smile’s A Light for Attracting Attention was a mixed bag of rock outbursts, paranoid synths and well-worn grooves from Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. The album’s rough and ready production is a nod to the COVID-19 lockdown origins of the project and provides the album’s compositions a mobility and freedom that separate it from its Radiohead counterparts. As a result, A Light… can stand tall its own right in the garden of brooding paranoid and starkly brilliant rock music. – MICHAEL HOLLICK
2. Methyl Ethel Are You Haunted?
Perth’s own Methyl Ethel continue to show us music in a different light. While Jake Webb has been delivering inventive art-pop for some time, Are You Haunted? is more focused than its predecessors, with each track revealing more of its author’s expanding sonic ambitions. From the wrenching slow burn of opener Ghosting, to the more upbeat tracks like Matters and Proof(featuring Stella Donnelly), Are You Haunted? comes together in a danceable collision of technology and imagination. – BRAYDEN EDWARDS
1. Fontaines D.C. Skinty Fia
The year’s best record sees the already great Dublin band come into their own completely. From the outset its intensity is almost overwhelming, an artistic statement based on the old school tension-release strategy of post-punk but elevated by incredible songwriting, epic arrangements and the production of Dan Carey. Penultimate track I Love You might be the year’s, and the band’s, best song. It forms part of a closing trilogy that also includes the propulsive, near-industrial title track, and noisy finale Nabokov, lifting the record into the category of a future classic. “I did you a favour!” is frontman Grian Chatten’s oft-repeated final sentiment. He’s not wrong. – HARVEY RAE
