This year's soundtrack - on spotify.
1. Highwomen - The HighwomenThe Highwomen (Elektra, 2019)
2. Hot & Heavy - Lucy Dacus
Home Video (Matador, 2021)
3. Robber - The Weather Station
Ignorance (Fat Possum, 2021)
4. Every Time I Hear That Song - Brandi Carlile
By The Way, I Forgive You (Elektra, 2018)
5. Keeps Me Running - Esther Rose
How Many Times (Father/Daughter, 2021)
6. Nightflyer - Allison Russell
Outside Child (Fantasy, 2021)
7. Kokomo, IN - Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee (Dead Oceans, 2021)
8. Hard Drive - Cassandra Jenkins
An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Ba Da Bing!, 2021)
9. Bloodshot - Julien Baker
Little Oblivions (Matador, 2021)
10. Errors in the History of God - Biffy Clyro
The Myth of the Happily Ever After (Warner, 2021)
11. Searching for the Truth - Katie Pruitt
Expectations (Rounder, 2020)
12. Harmonia's Dream - The War on Drugs
I Don't Live Here Anymore (Atlantic, 2021)
13. I'm Through - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Georgia Blue (Southeastern, 2021)
14. Go Your Way - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Raise the Roof (Rounder, 2021)
Brandi Carlile - as a member of the Highwomen as well as via By The Way, I Forgive You - and Julien Baker have been the biggest artists of my 2021, both more or less on constant rotation throughout a year in which I listened to a lot of music. Ignorance has been there all year too, though it was only recently that I learned "Robber" was a metaphor for capitalism, making it even better. Every song on this playlist, and the albums they came from, has sunk in deep, but amongst them, "Hard Drive" stands out as a genuinely magical, hypnotically entrancing and - if I can claim this for what's still in the end just a pop song - ultimately healing moment in a year where such was very needed.
