Honorable Mentions
These projects were interesting but for one reason or another didn't stick with me throughout the year.
Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars - I was looking forward to this album as I recently went back and listened to their acclaimed Twin Fantasy and the singles Gethsemane and CCF (I'm Gonna Stay With You) were solid. The album wasn't bad but I listened to once, thought it was enjoyable enough, and never felt much of a reason to listen again.
Viagra Boys - Viagr aboys - I think the Viagra Boys love has just missed me. I've gone back and listened to older albums as well and while I haven't disliked them it just hasn't clicked. I liked some tracks from this new album, especially Man Made of Meat, but overall it just didn't stand out for me.
Black Country New Road - Forever Howlong - I think I'm also biased against BCNR. I liked Ants from Up There well enough, but the absolute glazing it gets online as an album of the decade/millenium/etc. never made sense to me. This album wasn't as strong as Ants From Up There either, and the rollout did not get me super excited. For the Cold Country is a great song, I can take or leave the rest of the album.
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains - A new artist for me, this album released early in the year which I think benefitted it as there weren't many standout albums from the first few months of the year. A good album, and one that I should probably revisit, but ultimately it got overshadowed quickly by subsequent releases this year.
FKA Twigs - Eusexua - As a twigs fan I was excited for this and the two lead singles Perfect Stranger and Eusexua both were strong. However as the year has gone on I've not found myself thinking about or going back to the album much, and even when those tracks come on I feel mostly indifferent. Nothing offensive here and I enjoyed it at the time of release but definitely not the strongest twigs release in my opinion.
Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving - A great insight into the idea of "how much does one absolute banger track make up for a lackluster album?" Man I Need has taken over, it's a wonderful song and I think I'll be listening to it for a while. The rest of the album is not bad by any means, but is mostly pretty tame pop soul. Which is fun, but unremarkable.