Flick through my 2022 Spotify Wrapped playlist and those who know me best won’t be surprised by what they find. Architects, the UK’s preeminent metal group who grapple with progressing their sound further on the classic symptoms of a broken spirit – check. Foals, the indie delights who continue to sweep all before them, and adorned new, summery vibes with latest album Life Is Yours. Check.
Also present are Alexisonfire, Rolo Tomassi, and Zeal & Ardor among many others, but all indicative of how my go to listens span the spectrum of hardcore and metal, to straight edged indie/rock. Though amidst the sea of guitars and riffs stands one artist much unlike the others.
Maggie Rogers released her second album, Surrender, this year, and listening to it was a profound experience as circumstances lined up all by chance. Her yearning for a sense of escapism on “Horses”, and overall natural energy in the music and poignant lyrics matched exactly the time and place of what I was going through.
Admittedly, my music habits are male-artist dominated – a result of my penchant for the heavier genres – Rogers cut through the wall of metal and rock like a golden ray of sunshine. It’s deeply personal and intimate, as at various times windows are opened directly into Rogers deepest feelings and anxieties: “Anywhere With You” aches with a heartfelt outpouring of affection and honesty: “all I’ve ever wanted is to make something fucking last; I’d go anywhere with you”.
But Rogers also displays a mature, nuanced development since her wide-eyed, folk infused indie debut. For many 2022 has been a year of things getting back to normal. But reminders of what the world went through/is going through have never been too far away, and the closing “Different Kind of World” speaks to both that existential feeling and how when we reconnect, all starts to feel right again.
For me, no other album in 2022 came close to resonating at such a deep, personal and evocative level. Although Everything Everything’s Raw Data Feel was stylistic and cinematic, and Rolo Tomassi’s Where Myth Becomes Memory was powerfully captivating while Foals’ offering was nostalgic and sugary sweet; Surrender reverberated through to my core. A snapshot of a meaningful, formative summer – it’s by far my Album of the Year.
Two More Essential Albums from 2022:
Everything Everything – Raw Data Feel
Rolo Tomassi – Where Myth Becomes Memory
Musical Experience of the Year:
2022 felt like when live music finally returned to a sense of pre-pandemic normality. The crowds were buzzing and enthusiastic, couple that with a stellar line-up and you have my musical experience of the year: the ever brilliant, headlining Biffy Clyro supported by Architects at the London O2 Arena in November. No other gig matched the catharsis of finally seeing Architects live – even if their set was limited to only their newest two albums.
Track of the Year:
Foals – "2001"
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