One of my favorite music podcasts, Pop Pantheon, did a roundtable on the best albums of the 2020s so far, and I live for a best-of list—so I’m doing one. Thank you for indulging me!!
Looking at a stretch of years instead of just one is fun because I inevitably miss some perfect albums the year they drop. A few of those made this list, and I’m sure there will be plenty more by decade’s end. (Will SOS finally grow on me? Only time will tell!)
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard? by Lana Del Rey (2023)
Is anyone shocked that I put a Lana album at #1? She’s released three records in the 2020s (with another on the way), but Ocean Boulevard is simply the best—delicate, raw, and her most darkly autobiographical (“I haven’t seen my mother in a long, long time”), yet still playful (hello “Peppers”). “A&W” might be the best Lana song I’ve ever heard, but I also love “Kintsugi,” “Fishtail,” “Paris, Texas,” the title track, and “Taco Truck x VB” (remixing “Venice Bitch” was just… chef’s kiss!). I’d cut “Margaret” and “Let the Light In” because I hate when she sings with men who aren’t the Weeknd or A$AP Rocky (Quavo is fine too)—someone needs to prohibit her from collaborating with white men who can’t sing. Ok back to the brilliance! The way she styled herself for the album art was so ahead of its time—two years later, you can’t walk into a clothing store without seeing big ribbons everywhere.
Miss Anthropocene by Grimes (2020)
Miss Anthropocene dropped right before the pandemic (February 2020), and I feel like everyone forgot about it! Or do they just hate Elon that much? But now that she’s cut ties with him (suing him over parental rights and denouncing his politics), can we go back to agreeing she’s a genius? Do I wish her voice was a little less nasally? 100%. But I still think she’s one of the best pop producers of our time, and Miss Anthropocene is filled with hits—“So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth,” “Violence,” “4AM,” “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around,” “IDORU.” My actual dream is for Grimes to produce a Taylor Swift album. I know it’ll never happen, but just imagine—Art Angels with more accessible lyrics, sung by Taylor? Would slay.
Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande (2024)
After years of resisting (despite enormous peer pressure from my gays), I finally became an Ariana stan in 2019 when I heard “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Incredible song title, obviously, but also—it’s a sexy R&B banger on which Ariana literally raps like Quavo?? Then I found out via numerous YouTube compilations that Ari is hilarious, can mimic anyone, and loves Best in Show (same). I liked Positions more than most, but Eternal Sunshine cracked it open for me—not only is it an ode to my favorite movie (Ari’s too), but it’s packed with moving, Mimi-esque ’90s R&B tracks about romanticizing people and having panic attacks (my shit). The “We Can’t Be Friends” video, which recreates scenes from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, makes me cry, as does “Imperfect for You,” which Ari said is a Rubber Soul reference (best Beatles album imo). I know Ariana unfollowed the Grammys after getting snubbed, and honestly, I would too if I ever followed them in the first place.
Songs of a Lost World by The Cure (2024)
I was not expecting a perfect Cure album this decade, but life is full of surprises! When you want your heart to feel heavy in a grandiose and melodramatic way, this is the record to spin. Lush, haunted, forlorn—sounds like wailing in a cathedral or staring longingly out of a rain-streaked train window.
Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain (2022)
I admittedly ignored this when it came out—probably because people compared her to Lana, and I tend to ignore any music people compare to Lana (see also: Folklore). But then I heard “Crush” on some mix while I was on the East Coast in the fall, wandering around bare trees, and it just hit. The vocal production is so layered and striking. Ethel herself calls it “dream pop worship music”—the vibe!! And like Grimes, she produces it all herself. I also love how after Preacher’s Daughter set her up to be a major alt-pop star in the vein of Lana, she turned around and dropped an experimental drone album called Perverts. (I’m actually listening to it right now—it’s my writing music.) I recently heard on Pop Pantheon that Ethel was contracted to work with Dr. Luke post-Preacher’s Daughter, and after one studio session—during which he audaciously suggested a traditional pop chorus—she broke the contract and made Perverts. Mood!!!
Inner Song by Kelly Lee Owens (2020)
The soundtrack to me smoking weed and spinning in circles in my room peak pandemic. Hypnotic, pulsing, and weirdly emotional—like floating on a cloud at the club.
Heaux Tales by Jazmine Sullivan (2021)
Just realized Jazmine did Brat green first! Daring, fun, raw—this is just a lovely album start to finish, a vibe and a mood, R&B at its finest.
Blue Banisters by Lana Del Rey (2021)
This dropped right when everyone was trying to cancel Lana for idiotic reasons I won’t even get into, and it was therefore unfairly overlooked. Notably, it’s her only recent album without Jack Antonoff, so it feels more her. Also I think it has her best vocals; her voice has never sounded better than on the title track. “Arcadia,” “If You Lie Down With Me,” “Beautiful,” “Violets for Roses,” “Thunder,” “Wildflower Wildfire,” “Nectar of the Gods,” and “Cherry Blossom” are all lovely, too. “Sweet Carolina” has some of my favorite, quintessentially Lana lyrics:
You name your babe Lilac Heaven
After your iPhone 11
"Crypto forever, " screams your stupid boyfriend
Fuck you, Kevin
Brat - Charli XCX (2024)
Enough words have been dedicated to Brat but I legitimately love this album and find it inspiring how Charli went from niche pop star for cokehead gays to being featured in a presidential campaign. Life is strange and beautiful!
Renaissance - Beyonce (2022)
Somehow, it took me a minute to realize how brilliant this album is. As an inveterate contrarian, I sometimes resist Beyoncé releases at first just because everyone else is frothing at the mouth. My initial take was that Renaissance was the Azealia Banks album I never knew I wanted Beyoncé to make—which still rings true. (And I’m not sure why that wasn’t more exciting at the time!) And when I recently compiled my favorite Beyoncé tracks, Renaissance was the most heavily represented album. It’s just technically perfect, inventive, extremely gay, and ideal for cardio.
Folklore - Taylor Swift (2020)
Yet another album I completely resisted when it came out. I ignored Taylor forever because I find her public persona, style, and bangs—especially the bangs—to be extremely grating. But after successfully avoiding her for decades, I was hanging out with a 7-year-old who wouldn’t stop playing her and was forced to recognize the brilliance. The bitch can write a hook, and her music penetrates my cold black heart. While I once had disdain for her utter lack of cool, I now kind of appreciate her dorkiness as unpretentious. One gains zero cultural clout from listening to Taylor, which somehow makes the music feel very pure. And I love how most of her songs are about throwing herself at someone with no interest in her—relatable! Having now listened to her entire catalog, I believe Folklore is her strongest, most moving album. Though despite many claims to the contrary, it sounds absolutely nothing like Lana. (Lana would sooner die than compare herself to a cardigan.) (And if there is any Taylor song that sounds like Lana, it’s “Wildest Dreams” from 1989, followed by “Gold Rush” from Evermore.)
God Save the Animals - Alex G (2022)
Whiny boy rock is so not my genre, but I just love this album. It’s weird and hypnotic, hazy and lo-fi—bedroom pop that feels like napping in the sun and falling in love.
MOTOMAMI - Rosalia (2022)
Zero idea what she’s saying but every second is fire. “SAOKO,” “CANDY,” “DIABLO,” “LA COMBI VERSACE”—it’s one banger after another.
Lana - SZA (2024)
Technically a double album and an accompaniment to SOS (2022), but it has 15 tracks that stand on their own, so I’m counting it as its own album. I lived for CTRL (2017), so I was hype for SOS—and I feel like I was the only person on Earth, certainly the only SZA fan, who felt just meh about it. CTRL was all about insecurity (my shit), and SOS felt like it was more about getting revenge (“I might kill my ex”), an impulse I find corny and annoying and way too Swiftian (derogatory). Lana isn’t CTRL, but it has more of the easy sexiness that drew me to that album. “BMF,” “Scorsese Baby Daddy,” “Kitchen,” and “Another Life”—all gold. Also I love that the album is called LANA :)
Hit Me Hard and Soft - Billie Eilish (2024)
2024 was my year of Billie. I previously found her too Gen Z to comprehend, but her duet with Lana at Coachella last spring just gutted moi. Not only did her voice bring me to tears, but she also thanked Lana for her entire career—bless you Billie for properly kissing the ring! After that, I was so excited for Hit Me Hard and Soft and it did not disappoint. “Birds of a Feather” is one of the prettiest, most romantic songs I’ve ever heard, and there are plenty of other gems, too—“Lunch,” “Wildflower,” “L’Amour De Ma Vie,” “Blue.” Billie’s voice legit makes me feel closer to God. (And unfortunately Instagram has brought to my attention—via numerous reels I didn’t ask for but don’t also necessarily object to—that she has massive and gorgeous breasts.) I truly believe that once she stops working with Finneas, it will be over for everyone else.
Honorable mentions (also on the playlist):
Rocky Top Ballads - Fine (2024’s Mazzy Star)
Caprisongs - FKA Twigs (the party mixtape I’d always wanted Twigs to make)
Running in Waves - George Riley (perfect vibey British R&B)
Raven - Kelela (this was on the original list and somehow disappeared)
Because of a Flower - Ana Roxane (sounds like a painting)