EPIC is the word to describe the latest album from Vampire Weekend. 18 tracks, all killer, no filler. Some of Ezra K’s best songwriting on show. It’s certainly not as quirky as other VW albums now that Rostam left, and has more of a country / Paul Simon vibe running through it. But at the end of the day the quality of the songs shines through. Even a couple appearances from Haim can’t ruin the joyous summery mood.

Total cheat of an entry, this was technically released in 2018 and I totally missed it, but early in 2019 I heard Sports and was immediately in love with its oddness and humor. After that tracks popularity they released this deluxe version in 2019, hence its eligibility for my list. Get past the dreadful band name and Viagra Boys are a brilliantly scuzzy post-punk marvel and Street Worms is a brilliant full length crammed with great tracks.

Oh dear, I think i’m having some kind of mental breakdown here. Im putting this at number four because.... I dont know.... it’s too long?!?.. and .... and.....there’s three better albums this year! Ugh. It doesn’t feel nice though. This album in some respects has some of The National’s best songs on it. Light Years, Rylan, Not in Kansas and Where is Her Head are all perfect. Then theres the usual brilliant album tracks - Oblivions, You Had your Soul with you, Hey Rosey. My problem with it is that it’s a little one dimensional, it stays at the same pace for most of the listen and from beginning to end it’s a long slog. However, pick out 7-8 of the tracks on their own and they would happily sit nicely on a best of.

Ezra is so prolific right now he’s appeared in 3 of my last 5 end of year lists. This is his punk album. But it’s not really punk in the traditional sense, just angrier Ezra Furman. It’s fantastic and honestly I need to listen to it more cos every time I hear it I find something new, whether it be in the lyrics or the melody which just makes me smile.

Argh! What’s happening, in another year this would be number 1. It’s just as good as Love and Hate his last album, with a few more african tinged beats and a tad more soul. It’s a really nice progression though and cements Michael as one of the most beautiful singer / songwriters of this generation.

Topping many an indie list this year is Fontaines DC debut Dogrel. A bit like the thinking mans Definitely Maybe it’s deserving of the plaudits, for me though its half brilliant, half average. Definitely one to watch for the future though.

Lizzo makes it mainstream! Avid followers of this blog will note she has had TWO previous entries over the years and friends of mine have been shouting about Lizzo for years all the way back to Batches and Cookies in 2013 so its so nice to see her break through this year and become one of the biggest artists in the world. Truth Hurts is the track that gave her the leg up, but this album has so many bangers on it - Juice, Tempo and Water Me. Its her most complete album and a fully deserved billboard #1 smash.

Bon Iver continue to wind me up with the stupid made up language and nonsensical song titles. Yes, there’s some magic in this album hence its appearance in the top 10, mainly on tunes like Hey Ma and U (Man like). But they’re fighting an uphill battle with me this year because of stupid song titles and the fact they wanted $300 for seats on the floor at their arena show.