Sometimes you suddenly find yourself getting into the artists you were never all that interested in, and that was the case with Neil Young and Beyoncé for me. Plus, a debut album from one of last year’s most-hyped bands.
I kinda slowed down on the new music in the past few months, and music in general to be honest, because for some reason I’ve preferred listening to YouTube creators and podcasts lately. However I did find time for a few great releases from this and past years.
I picked up some great releases by the Australian artists after working through Double J’s Best of 2021 list, including a couple of impressive debuts and an intriguing musical re-invention.
I caught up with one of the most critically acclaimed albums from 2020, plus something old and something new (and something blue) by one of my Aussie favourites.
I found that while I still had enthusiasm for reading new books and watching new films and TV series in lockdown, when it came to music my overwhelming mood was to shut down, listen to the music I already loved, and not make much effort to get into something new. I did however make an exception for a couple of my favourite ladies, both making interesting pivots from their previous work.
This is usually the time of the year when I trawl through the Best Albums lists for the previous year; as it turns out some of my big favourites made pretty damn great records.