Tom Dunne: Here are my favourite albums in another great year for music
L-R: Gilbert O'Sullivan; Kendrick Lamar; Beth Orton
Someone asked me, “Was 2022 a good year for music?” It took me a second looking at my list before a broader truth dawned on me. “It always is,” I said.
If you love music, and pay attention, then each year, has folded into it, big triumphs and little treasures. You just need to listen.
It has been this way for as long as I have been lovingly compiling end of year lists. Some people make surprise returns to form, others arrive from nowhere, some blossom, some fulfil early promise and some bestride the globe. There is always someone pushing the envelope, discovering new highs and enchanting us.
This year I have loved albums from Elvis Costello, Big Thief, David Keenan, The Smile, Kae Tempest, CMAT, Pillow Queens, Kevin Morby, various friends of Phoebe Bridgers, Katy J Pearson, Lizzo, Weyes Blood, Turin Brakes, Belle and Sebastian, Paolo Nutini, Dry Cleaning, Wet Leg and many, many more.
But, alas, for the purpose of lists, and if the building was on fire and I could only rescue six from the embers of 2022, which ones? Well, It’s not exactly Sophie’s Choice, though my mind will return often to the ones I am leaving behind, but here goes:
He is operating on a different level to everyone else here. He is different gravy. It is razor sharp, inciteful, witty, emotional and as catchy as a Covid variant from Hell. He is the Lionel Messi of music. If he were a novelist he would win Pulitzers, if he directed films he would win Oscars. We touch the hem of his robe. It is an unfair contest and should be stopped.
I’m listening to this as I write and I was iffy about including it until Forever Young began. Phew! It has shades of The Blue Nile and Massive Attack’s Teardrop to it. I can think of no higher praise. Yes it is sad, it is you alone late at night contemplating the universe, but still. Sometimes the universe requires contemplation and Tom Yorke hasn’t a copyright on wistful sadness.
From the same seam of talent that brought you Big Star, The Go-Betweens, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, XTC, The Bangles and a myriad other chiming, guitar led, gorgeously melodic pop songs. It has a certain structure and follows certain rules, but when a band gets it right, like here, it transcends time.
The band are Canadian, this is their third album and they are based around the song writing talents of Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley. You could file this under, “Heavenly Indie Pop,” and you would not be wrong!
I didn’t think Cod Liver Oil and The Orange Juice could be topped, I thought it was a one-off slice of irascible genius. I was utterly wrong. This album, the banjo playing and the Dundalk accents on which it is carried is a wonderfully welcome breath of fresh air.
The Mary Wallopers tap in to a rich seam of Irish music. Much of that seam that owes its formation to our colonial past. It speaks of loss, pain, emigration and hopelessness at the hands of a colonist oppressor. It is a rich vein.
Baz Luhrmann has no respect for form or tradition. He approaches storytelling in a no holds barred fashion. He is making films to exhilarate and entertaining. He takes the same approach to the music in these films, handing Elvis originals to be toyed with by people like Tame Impala.
The results will probably leave some Elvis purists offended and disbelieving. But It will leave non purists and those for whom Elvis is distant historical figure, gasping for breath and asking who is this singing god and where has he been all my life? The new mixes just bring Elvis into the light of 2022, where he shines, majestically.
In a year of comebacks – Suede, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds- this stood out. In 1972 Alone Again (Naturally) spent six weeks as a US number One. With Nilsson, Paul McCartney and Randy Newman he was heralded as one of the song writing talents of the year.
That talent still burns bright. The melodies are superb, but it is his turn of phrase that remains startlingly sharp. Never a lazy word, never an obvious rhyme. Not to mention, the pure joy!
