The 22 Best Albums of 2022
We spared no expense. We left no stone unturned. We argued and battled until we finally agreed on this list. Behold, the best.
By: Exile Staff
The 2022nd year on Earth was a flourishing one for music.
As the dust from the pandemic settled, several music giants emerged with returns to the airwaves.
Pop had Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and The Weeknd return, rap welcomed back Kendrick, Pusha T, and Denzel Curry, while electronic veterans like Flume and Odesza each dropped records of their own. Everyone from Slipknot to the Arctic Monkeys to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s made a comeback.
It’s a welcome and encouraging sign for 2023, but before we close the book on 2022 - our staff locked themselves in a room until everyone agreed on the 22 very best albums this year had to offer. (Full playlist here)
And these are they.
Steve Lacy
Gemini Rights
July 15th, 2022 / RCA Records
Gemini Rights is an instantly affable open-faced sandwich of neo-funk, pop, and R&B. The sophomore album from Steve Lacy is a tad more refined than his previous work and a significant step in his already impressive career. There is no filler; Gemini Rights is a tightly packed, wonderfully paced record teeming with creativity, vulnerability, and an undeniable fresh quality.
Porridge Radio
Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
May 20th 2022 / Secretly Canadian
The third full-length from the Brighton rockers "is a table where everybody has a seat; indie-rock, post-punk, emo, and a host waiting to blow out the candles on their birthday cake as one guest screams ad infinitum, "I DON'T WANT TO BE LOVED."
It's hard to imagine the band making another record that is better than this. It's precisely what Porridge Radio is built to do, and they executed it masterfully. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky perfectly plays to their strengths. It's powerful and emotional, led by Dana Margolin's vocals, which are truly the star of the show.
Bonobo
Fragments
January 14th, 2022 / Ninja Tune
There simply isn’t a single weak point across the latest 12 songs from Bonobo. It is pristinely produced, throbbing, and shimmering with down-tempo and deep house aesthetics that will warm you like a fireplace in the winter. Fragments sits between the drug-fueled IDM of the experimental Jon Hopkins, and the hypnotic repetition of Four Tet, giving you accessible gratification in bite-sized pieces.
Viagra Boys
Cave World
July 8th, 2022 / Year0001
Wacky doesn’t begin to describe the sounds of Cave World. Formally ‘post-punk’ but throwing down art-rock, punk, country, rock, dance, and electronica - it’s an eclectic mashup of different sounds bustling with energy.
Top it off with vocalist Sebastian Murphy drawing comparisons to Iggy Pop, with his eccentric delivery and humorous lyricism - you might think Cave World would end up being a mess.
And it is. A blast of a mess. From its paranoid musings on the pandemic to its cheeky perspectives on evolution - Cave World is a bass guitar forward record that will make you want to drive too fast.
black midi
Hellfire
July 15th, 2022 / Rough Trade
On the borderline of ‘too-talented-for-their-own good’ black midi’s third full-length, Hellfire, feels like an expansion of character; it is the coming together of all their previous works and is full of sonic tact. This is their most exciting and eccentric work yet.
Here, black midi embraces a new level of anti-authority and anti-capitalist meaning while pushing the technical abilities of their unique math-rock/metal and progressive rock. It is dense and complex listening, demanding an effort from the listening that will be rewarded with each listen.
Pusha T
It’s Almost Dry
April 22nd, 2022 / GOOD Music / Def Jam
Pusha T’s fourth studio album, and first in four years, It’s Almost Dry, showcases everything he does well. Consistent and reliable, Pusha T has become a go-to for a classic hip-hop sound. The album is littered with samples and has the fingerprints of production greats Kanye and Pharrell. Each track is filled with earworms, sharp lyricism, and Pusha T’s signature flow.
The Smile
A Light for Attracting Attention
May 13th, 2022 / XL Recordings
There’s beauty glowing and throbbing throughout A Light for Attracting Attention. It is a professional and class record that fits together like a nice 1000-piece puzzle. Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead joined forces for a more focused, polished-sounding record.
While the riffs and concepts are a stripped-back and simplified-sounding Radiohead, there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for listeners as A Light for Attracting Attention is a grooving rock album with a playful side.
Denzel Curry
Melt My Eyez See Your Future
March 25th, 2022 / PH and Loma Vista
When you think consistency, you think Denzel Curry. With his fifth studio album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, Curry continues to take steps forward. Ambitious and layers, the album is incredibly reflective, both towards himself and the world. It's more accessible than previous works and melodic, further establishing Curry as one of our current great rap artists.
Soul Glo
Diaspora Problems
March 25th, 2022 / Epitaph Records
The best band in punk and hardcore right now, Soul Glo is groundbreaking and criminally underrated. With a pummelling urgency, Diaspora Problems is beyond exciting. It’s loud, brash, rough around the edges, breaks through with comedy, and pushes boundaries with vulnerability. It’s everything you should demand from your punk rock and more. It is essential listening.
Danger Mouse & Black Thought
Cheat Codes
August 12th, 2022 / BMG
A perfect partnership - Danger Mouse and Black Thought joining forces with each artist leaning into their craft. On one side, Danger Mouse goes deep into his bag of production tricks, with each song bubbling with perfect samples and the warmth of familiarity. On the other, Black Thought doesn't take a single bar off. Each time he opens his mouth, a thoughtful and inventive verse emerges. Cheat Codes is energetic and fresh - its organic sound breathes life into its listener's soul, forcing toe-tapping and head-nodding throughout.
Jack White
Fear of the Dawn / Entering Heaven Alive
April 8th / July 22nd / Third Man Records
Impressively, Jack White released two albums over three months in 2022, each sitting in opposite corners of the rock genre. First, Fear of the Dawn, which had White flexing his rock muscles with cold solos and quintessential Jack White oddities. Then came Entering Heaven Alive, a softer, slow-burn, and personal record highlighting the power of simple songwriting. The two-album offering gives the listening audience plenty to enjoy while showcasing his inventive sides, further establishing his importance and legacy to rock n’ roll.
FKA Twigs
CAPRISONGS
January 14th, 2022 / Young & Atlantic
There are few, if any, current artists who can push experimentation as effortlessly as FKA Twigs. And while CAPRISONGS pulls back from the extreme genre-bending of her past works, it remains a complicated fuzzy ball of sonic enjoyment. There is much more enjoyment, melody, and catchiness on CAPRISONGS compared to her other works, and the result is a shining new star for the FKA Twigs universe.
Kendrick Lamar
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
May 13th, 2022 / PGLang, Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records
Kendrick Lamar couldn't release just another rap album. As he has done in the past, it had to be something beyond ambitious and ahead of the game. With Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Lamar hands over a highly detailed, dense, complex, and hard-to-digest record that is as profound as it is raw. It's barely music - it's art in its truest form. An artist highlighting
JID
The Forever Story
August 26th, 2022 / Dreamville and Interscope Records
The best rap album of the year - an immaculate and monumental achievement for JID, who didn’t waste a single word anywhere throughout the record. Sounding like an artist out to prove something, The Forever Story is powerfully ambitious. The album flows as easily as JID’s flow, urgently blasting 808s in one minute to effortlessly bringing in big choir swells in another. An essential listen.
Alex G
God Save the Animals
September 23rd, 2022 / Domino Records
As awful as the album cover is - God Save the Animals is an intimate and beautiful indie-folk record. It finds a way to sprawl across many genres yet sounds completely cohesive. Understated and subtle, Alex G’s songwriting shines through with simplicity - with introspective thoughts and uncomplicated riffs. His already ninth studio album, God Save the Animals, sees Alex G take another step forward.
Wet Leg
Wet Leg
April 8th, 2022 / Domino Records
The self-titled debut album from Wet Leg adamantly refuses to take itself too seriously or have any deep meaning. Its singles became viral sensations and left the media asking the lazy question - "does Wet Leg live up to the hype?" Well, if you expected this album to be a gimmick, you'd be fantastically mistaken, as Wet Leg is a powerhouse album of hooks and clever riffs from start to finish.
Weyes Blood
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
November 18th, 2022 / Sub Pop
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is a mature record mixing the sound of country ballads, baroque rock, and warm indie folk together. Her vocal performance has a red glow, a timeless sound that engulfs and hypnotizes you with a relentless grip.
Words like elegant, intellectual, majestic, meditative, lush, grandiose, and hopeful are just a handful of synonyms for the record, and the combination of descriptors simply won’t work for any other album in the last five years - it is a special and unique album that will undoubtedly be her magnum opus.
Fontaines DC
Skinty Fia
April 22nd, 2022 / Partisan Records
Skinty Fia is a nose-dive leap into defining their sound and separating themselves from the so-called field of post-punk challengers. Three albums into an already impressive career, Fontaines DC continues to carve out their own sound.
The album is a very intense listen despite its slower and gloomy sound. Don't bother throwing it on when you're tidying the apartment. Skinty Fia is an album that demands your attention (rightfully so) and marks the absolute pinnacle of a band that is still shockingly closer to the beginning than the end of their career.
Big Thief
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
February 11th, 2022 / 4AD
A sprawling and masterful indie-folk record that can dip from sorrowful fireplace ballad to stand-up and jig. A double album, Big Thief unleashes the full force of their creative ability, holding back nothing. Throughout 20 songs, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You never wavers in quality or substance; it is as heartwarming as it is impressive.
Beyonce
Renaissance
July 29th, 2022 / Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records.
After two years of a global pandemic, Beyoncé returned with an album everyone needed. Embracing just about every type of dance music, from 90s house to techno to disco to afrobeat - Renaissance as a pure dance album is a 10/10 good time. Rarely does an artist with literally nothing left to prove bring such fury to their project, and Beyoncé delivers a powerful return to the sweaty and uncomplicated release of the club dance floor.
Jockstrap
I Love You Jennifer B
September 9th, 2022 / Rough Trade
It's one thing to put out a record that is so exciting and rewarding to listen to - and it's an entirely different thing to do it on your debut. The debut record for Jockstrap, I Love You Jennifer B, crackles with ideas and influences, offering a little something for everyone. It's bold and will keep you guessing with each new listen through its art-pop foundation. Jockstrap is way ahead of its peers in pop experimentation and execution, and this is only the beginning.
Black Country, New Road
Ants From Up There
February 4th, 2022 / Ninja Tune
Many of the albums that made this list garnered points for being a really good time to listen to.
Music to dance to, music to sing out the car window, and music to nod your head to.
Ants From Up There is not fun at all. It’s an emotional listen, drenched in heartbreaking moments or paths that lead to a giant cathartic release. Black Country, New Road masterfully blended their signature sound of post-punk and art-pop into a record that will scream at you and make you feel. The sound of departure is even more at the forefront when you consider that frontman Isaac Wood announced he would leave the group just days before it was released into the world.
Filled with sincere observations, reflection, sorrow, and hope, Ants From Up There is a gratifying experience from top to bottom. It’s not all sad; there is beauty in the breakdown. Like leaving a powerful movie - this is an album you will never forget once you hear it.
