We'd be foolish to believe that because of her quiet demeanor, or her flow that's sneaky instead of showy, Simz should be mistaken as timid. In this classic fairytale of a hip-hop album, where The Crown's Emma Corrin serves as both narrator and Little Simz's subconscious ("A question, if I may - what's a girl like you want in a place like this?"), the dragon to be slayed is the fundamental misunderstanding of introverts as shy and uncertain, operating at stark disadvantages in an extrovert's world. ◆ Listen to an interview with Allison Russell The album ends with another wanderer's chanson, transformed through Russell's narrative into the kind of anthem sung around a fire in a city alley: "Where in the world are the joyful motherf******? Show 'em what you got in your heart." -Ann Powers Recorded in community with her Nashville people, including her partner JT Nero, Yola, Erin Rae and the McCrary Sisters, these songs touch down in country, gospel, blues, folk rondelays, Caribbean diasporic rhythms and troubadour balladry as she unfolds her story like the squares of a quilt threaded with her tears and her blood. "Oh my Montreal, can I dream of you tonight," she begins in her radiant alto, slipping a French verse into a chanson that begins Outside Child's journey from childhood sexual abuse to a fugitive adolescence to healing in the arms of chosen family and rock and roll. Allison Russell, long a light of the Americana scene, recovers her own saga of abuse, escape and recovery in a song cycle as enriched by its multifaceted musical vocabulary as by her poetic lyrics.
There are many ways to tell a story: Words are only one. ◆ Watch Arlo Parks' Tiny Desk (home) concert Whether it's the visceral pain of Charlie, who longs to "feel somethin' for once" on the track "Hurt" or Millie, who "tried to talk the pleasure back into being alive" on "Hope," Parks encapsulates the sense of anxiety that's become a staple of pandemic life and assures us that we're not alone. With the savvy of an industry veteran, the 21-year-old London artist brings a refreshing vulnerability to the landscape of pop through detailed and relatable character sketches. In January, Arlo Parks came out swinging with her debut full-length, Collapsed In Sunbeams, which went on to win the Mercury Prize for Album of the Year, certified Parks as Best New Artist at the Brit Awards, and garnered her nominations in the same categories at the upcoming 64th Grammy Awards. One of the year's most powerful releases has been my companion for the entirety of 2021. When I begin compiling my list of favorite releases at the end of any given year, I have to refamiliarize myself with those earlier album drops, as records that came out in the latter half of the year have the advantage of being top of mind.
Or listen on the streaming platform of your choice. (As a bonus, you can find our list of the 100 Best Songs of 2021 here.) You'll find something fortifying to build you up for the road ahead. Even when slight they are composed, with a sense of purpose. Many of these albums are stacked with great songs, but these aren't snacks. There's plenty of fun, but little escapism.
Everywhere on this list you'll find the thrill of artistic revelation, musicians finding themselves, willing something new into reality. Our list of the year's 50 best is topped by an album that was unmatched in concept, songwriting or performance, but it had so much good company. So maybe that's why, when we sat down together to discuss which albums we loved the most over the course of 2021, NPR Music's staff and contributors found ourselves drawn to albums by artists making breakthroughs, moving forward with clarity, without balking at the obstacles falling in their way. If the year presently coming to a close was a dance, it'd be a hesitant shuffle, tentative steps toward - or heyyyy, maybe away from? - an uncertain future.
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