Best Albums of 2018

theartsdesk's music critics pick their favourites of the year so far

by TheartsdeskWednesday, 31 October 2018

Robyn's Honey doesn't disappoint

Disc of the Day reviews new albums, week in, week out, all year. Below are the albums to which our writers awarded five stars. Click on any one of them to find out why.

Baxter Dury, Etienne de Crécy and Delilah Holliday - B.E.D. ★★★★★ A small but perfectly sleazy work of sweary, cynical brilliance

Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks ★★★★★ The fourteenth volume in the Bootleg Series is a keeper

Brad Mehldau Trio - Seymour Reads the Constitution! ★★★★★ Prolific improvising pianist creates the apotheosis of the piano trio

The Breeders - All Nerve ★★★★★ Kim and Kelly Deal - plus reconciled bandmates - prove gloriously unaffected by time

Joan Baez - Whistle Down the Wind ★★★★★ No rust, but plenty of diamonds in her final album

Jon Hopkins - Singularity ★★★★★ Dazzling rollercoaster of an inner journey

LUMP – LUMP ★★★★★ Collaboration between Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay of Tunng is a beautiful, odd little gift

Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage ★★★★★ Long-awaited follow-up to 2012 debut is wonderfully weird prog-odyssey

Robyn - Honey ★★★★★ Long-awaited album from beloved Scandi icon doesn’t disappoint

Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son ★★★★★ Stunning blast of stirring gospel and politics

The Go! Team - Semicircle ★★★★★ A triumphant fifth album from Brighton mavericks

Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing ★★★★★ Still standing tall: Willie Nelson in late, great mode

Xylouris White - Mother ★★★★★ The simple magic of two maestros interlocking their styles continues to intensify

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more New music

Cat Burns finds 'How to Be Human' but maybe not her own sound A charming and distinctive voice stifled by generic production

Todd Rundgren, London Palladium review - bold, soul-inclined makeover charms and enthrals The wizard confirms why he is a true star

It’s back to the beginning for the latest Dylan Bootleg Eight CDs encompass Dylan’s earliest recordings up to his first major-league concert

Ireland's Hilary Woods casts a hypnotic spell with 'Night CRIÚ' The former bassist of the grunge-leaning trio JJ72 embraces the spectral

Lily Allen's 'West End Girl' offers a bloody, broken view into the wreckage of her marriage Singer's return after seven years away from music is autofiction in the brutally raw

Music Reissues Weekly: Joe Meek - A Curious Mind How the maverick Sixties producer’s preoccupations influenced his creations

Pop Will Eat Itself, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - Poppies are back on patrol PWEI hit home turf and blow the place up

'Fevereaten' sees gothic punk-metallers Witch Fever revel in atmospheric paganist raging Second album from heavy-riffing quartet expands sonically on their debut

theartsdesk Q&A: Soft Cell Upon the untimely passing of Dave Ball we revisit our September 2018 Soft Cell interview

Demi Lovato's ninth album, 'It's Not That Deep', goes for a frolic on the dancefloor US pop icon's latest is full of unpretentious pop-club bangers

Yazmin Lacey confirms her place in a vital soul movement with 'Teal Dreams' Intimacy and rich poetry on UK soul star's second LP

Solar Eyes, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - local lads lay down some new tunes for a home crowd Psychedelic indie dance music marinated in swirling dry ice

Follow @theartsdesk