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”

Whilst their sophomore album Sémaphore was released back in January this year (and stands as one of our favourite records of 2019), French dream-pop band Requin Chagrin, the brainchild of lead singer Marion Brunetto, have been touring extensively throughout France and working on the visual interpretation of their most recent single “Rivières”.

The track follows in a similar vein as a lot of their discography; deceptively upbeat, freewheeling surfer style guitars that hide depths of melancholy and heartache. There’s a yearning, a desperate sense of urgency and pining to “Rivières” that stems from those very same guitars. When they’re allowed to ring out uninterrupted, they entangle with Marion Brunetto’s vocals in such a way that the sadness is amplified.

Having said this, with “Rivières”, Requin Chagrin have taken what could’ve been an overdone metaphor – the image of heartache and sadness as drowning – and given it a physical embodiment that’s not overly melodramatic.

The lyrics do possess the majesty and poetry of the sublime. There’s a sense of being in awe of nature and an appreciation of the beauty and vastness of water. Brunetto sings “Au delà des ruisseaux/Oh les rivières n’ont pas dormi/Ton nom les déchaîne” which translates to “Beyond the streams/Oh the rivers did not sleep/Your name unleashes them”. This displays perfectly a consuming passion that she doesn’t manage to free herself from despite the passing of time. Deep in her emotional memory, she recalls the skin of her lover and, because of these trigger thoughts, she feels both vulnerable and aroused. The several metaphors of raging water and rivers beautifully express the sexual desire, her inner storms, and the difficulties to weigh the anchor and move on.

This is all beautifully encapsulated by the video accompaniment that shows the four-piece becoming steadily engulfed by water, the falling rain drenching them as they stoically play on with reckless abandon, becoming literally soaked in their own sadness. It closes with a singular warped note playing out as their equipment reaches the bottom of the now fully submerged room. Drowning in your own sorrows never sounded or looked so good.

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Requin Chagrin will be playing in La Boule Noire (Paris) on February 6.

Just like her moniker suggests it, Requin Chagrin (Shark Chagrin in English) depicts contrasted indie pop soundscapes, combining the strength of a ferocious predator with a seaside melancholia. Behind the oxymoron, one can find the mastermind, singer-songwriter, producer and musician Marion Brunetto. Brought to our ears a few years ago by the French vivid label La Souterraine, Requin Chagrin is now ready to unveil her second album Sémaphore on KMS Disques, the imprint of Indochine‘s frontman Nicola Sirkis. Unlike her self-titled debut project that she crafted on her own, Sémaphore is a collaboration with producer Adrien Pallot, known for his work for the likes of La Femme, Fauve, Grand Blanc and Moodoïd.

Taking distance from the lo-fi surf pop of her previous project, her new song, the title track of the album, offers a more sophisticated structure and a thicker sound. The summery, sepia-tinged echoes of this cocktail of dream pop and psych-pop can still be enjoyed on the beach though. This time, her coastal atmosphere offers a fascinating duality between complicity and rivalry, as seen in the the accompanying video that she co-directed with Simon Nozat. Watch below.

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