Firstly, albums are not a thing of the past! Lof of people have claimed that this format was not relevant anymore in the streaming era, but the artists below have proven the contrary this year. Albums remain the best way to fully express an artistic direction and a vision.

Then again, it’s never easy to definitively rank albums so we guess that this list is only a photography of our tastes at this very moment. In one year, it could be totally different…

Finally, if you like any of these releases, and we’re sure you will, don’t forget to support the artists. Streaming is a good start, but it’s unfortunately not enough.

On Friday, we will unveil our Best Tracks of 2019 and you can already check the 20 EPs and Mixtapes that made our year. But for now, here are our 50 favourite albums of the year (you can also browse the entire list with our Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page).

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50. Konradsen – “Saints and Sebastian Stories”

49. Sneaks – “Highway Hypnosis”

48. Tobi Duchampe – “The Saddest Game.”

47. Kelsey Lu – “Blood”

46. PAT – “Love Will Find A Way Home”

45. XUXA SANTAMARIA – “Chancletas D’Oro”

44. Toro y Moi – “Outer Space”

43. The Japanese House – “Good At Falling”

42. Dorian Electra – “Flamboyant”

41. Bodywash – “Comforter”

40. Holly Herndon – “PROTO”

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39. Stella Donelly – “Beware of the Dogs”

38. Black Belt Eagle Scout – “At The Party With My Brown Friends”

37. Carla dal Forno – “Look Up Sharp”

36. Octo Octa – “Resonant Body”

35. TR/ST – “The Destroyer – Part 1”

34. Sharon Van Etten – “Remind Me Tomorrow”

33. Thom Yorke – “Anima”

32. Common Holly – “When I say to you Black Lightning”

31. Jessica Pratt – “Quiet Signs”

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30. Boy Harsher – “Careful”

29. Two People – “First Body”

28. Charli XCX – “Charli”

27. Nilüfer Yanya – “Miss Universe”

26. Yeule – “Serotonin II”

25. Noah – “Thirty”

24. Crumb – “Jinx”

23. Morabeza Tobacco – “Morabeza Tobacco”

22. Tyler, the Creator – “IGOR”

21. Clairo – “Immunity”

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20. Angel Olsen – “All Mirrors”

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19. Aldous Harding – “Designer”

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18. 100 gecs – “1000 gecs”

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17. Danny Brown – “uknowhatimsayin¿”

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16. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Dedicated”

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15. JPEGMAFIA – “All My Friends Are Cornballs”

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14. Sir Babygirl – “Crush on Me”

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13. Chromatics – “Closer To Grey”

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12. Men I Trust – “Oncle Jazz”

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11. FKA twigs – “MAGDALENE”

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10. Lana Del Rey – “Normal Fucking Rockwell!!”

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9. Weyes Blood – “Titanic Rising”

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8. Jenny Hval – “The Practice of Love”

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7. Maria Somerville – “All My People”

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6. Requin Chagrin – “Sémaphore”

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5. Big Thief – “U.F.O.F.”

(It was really not easy to decide and it could have been “Two Hands” as well)

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4. Caroline Polachek – “Pang”

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3. Grace Ives – “2nd”

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2. BEA1991 – “Brand New Adult”

(and artwork of the year)

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1. Erika de Casier – “Essentials”

Following up on “All Mirrors“, Angel Olsen has unveiled the second single off of her upcoming album. Titled “Lark”, the intense, 6 minute-long track depicts the struggles following a breakup. About this cathartic new track, Olsen explained:

[su_quote]“Lark” is a song that took many years to finish. The disjointed feelings and verses of this song began to make sense as a way for me to exercise a kind of journey through grieving, a kind of personal struggle. The message of the song developed at first from an argument I once had with someone about trust and support. Later, I pulled from recurring themes in my life as a musician and as a human that dreams for a living. It’s easy to promise the world to those we love, but what about when our dreams change and values split?[/su_quote]

The epic song also comes with a beautiful, cinematic video, which was, like the previous video, directed by Ashley Connor. Of the video, Connor detailed:

[su_quote]“Lark” is the cathartic release we all ask for but so rarely get, an anthem to scream on the tops of hills or in the back of a truck or just in the privacy of our own home. We cried on beaches, we broke bones, got wet, rolled in the grass, danced around a fire with friends and gave each other a lot of hugs — an apt exploration of every broken heart we’ve ever had.[/su_quote]

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Three years after My Woman, and two years after her rarities collection Phases, Angel Olsen will unveil her fourth full-length album later this year. Described as bold, unexpected, vulnerable and introspective, the record takes a deep dive towards internal destinations and revelations. “In every way–from the making of it, to the words, to how I feel moving forward, this record is about owning up to your darkest side, finding the capacity for new love and trusting change even when you feel like a stranger,” she explains.

Initially planned as a double record consisting of stripped-back solo songs and full-band arrangements of the same songs, the album was finally turned into a single project as she stated: “[I] needed to separate these two records and release All Mirrors in its heaviest form. . . It was impossible for me to deny how powerful and surprising the songs had become. The truth is that I may have never allowed this much sonic change in the first place had I not already made an account of the same songs in their purest form.”

The first single, which is also the title track of the album, is already available. As its title suggests it, “All Mirrors” is about (self-)perception and reality. “I chose this one as the title because I liked the theme: the theme of how we are all mirrors to and for each other,” says Olsen. “Even if that is not all of it, there is always an element of projection in what we’d like to see in people and scenarios and in the way we see ourselves in those scenarios, with those people.” The epic and orchestral single also comes with an Ashley Connor-directed video that you can watch below.

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Angel Olsen – “All Mirrors” tracklist:

01 “Lark”

02 “All Mirrors”

03 “Too Easy”

04 “New Love Cassette”

05 “Spring”

06 “What It Is”

07 “Impasse”

08 “Tonight”

09 “Summer”

10 “Endgame”

11. Chance”