Jacob’s Top In 2019
2019 was a good, if not quite great year in music for me. I got to see new and old favorite acts live, and the top dozen or so records were all very, very good.
Below, you’ll find the same lists I’ve been putting together for the past decade. I also put together two Spotify playlists, including my Top 25 Songs and the more expansive What’s Good In 2019. I hope you find something new to love.
1. Carly Rae Jepsen — Dedicated
This was my most-anticipated record for 2019, and Carly didn’t disappoint. I’m not sure whether every song on Dedicated fits The Jepsen Pattern, but I can confirm that the album is hit after hit after hit. Is there a better song about putting someone in the friend zone than “Happy Not Knowing” or a better pure melody than the chorus of “Now That I Found You?” Even the ridiculous song with the Popeye interpolation is good. Seeing these songs live this summer only compounded my regret for not going to see her perform up close and personal in the local strip mall venue in 2016 when she was still somehow being underappreciated. If she keeps putting out records like this, there’s no way that happens again. I can’t wait for Side B.
2. The Maine — You Are OK
I don’t think there’s any band that has matured better over time than The Maine. When I think back to seeing them open for Boys Like Girls and Good Charlotte (just before Metro Station) and listening to Can’t Stop Won’t Stop in 2008, there’s no way that I could’ve expected that the band (as good as they were at the neon pop stuff) would have turned into maybe the best pop rock band of the 2010s, or that they’d be able to do it largely independently. You Are OK is a fantastic capstone to that decade, continuing to expand the band’s sound while still fitting an obscene amount of hooks into almost every inch of the record. There’s so much confidence and creativity in this songwriting, from the way the album opening hits to how the band transitions between all of the different dynamics and textures to the strength of every single one of these choruses. (Insert a play on words about how they’re *more than OK*)
3. Nina Nesbitt — The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change
I came to this record without any expectations, and was hooked almost immediately. Full of honest, direct, and artful lyrics about being young and in and out of love, the record blends more subdued, intimate, moody guitar keyboard sounds with big, all-the-way-to-the-top percussion. And Nesbitt does the vocal equivalent, going from soft, almost whispered lines to huge, powerful notes sometimes within the same song. The way “Is It Really Me You’re Missing” masterfully builds and withdraws and builds again is what drew me to the album in the first place, but the rhythmic hooks of songs like “Colder” and “Loyal To Me” (which is like if “No Scrubs” were actually good) are a big part of what kept me saying “I really like that Nina Nesbitt album” all year long. The level of care that went into each of these songs really shows, and I can’t wait to see where she goes with the next record.
4. Mike Mains And The Branches — When We Were In Love
Any of these top five or six records could’ve ended up as my favorite of the year, and it feels like a slight to put When We Were In Love only at fourth. There’s so much to love about this album, from the way Mike throws his voice around to the way all of the guitar and synth tones are dialed in perfectly and how the drums hit. Keeping with the theme of most of my other favorite records from this year, this album isn’t hurting for hooks. Everything comes together best in “Swamp,” with the repeating “Do you remember when we were in love” and “Every day feels like waking up in the swamp, every day feels like waking up at the bottom” lines coming across so powerfully (the rest of the record isn’t quite as depressing as the closer). This band is criminally underrated, so do your part and get into this album as soon as you’re able.
5. Better Oblivion Community Center — Better Oblivion Community Center
I did a tweet last January about how I wasn’t envious of future me having to pick between this album and Dedicated at the end of the year, and I’m still not quite happy with having to do so (even though a few other albums crept in between them). “Would You Rather” from Bridgers’s Stranger In The Alps gave us a taste of what an album from Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst would sound like, but Better Oblivion Community Center takes it to another level. The songwriting is top-notch, with all of the weight, cleverness, and lyrical mastery you’d expect, and the varied instrumentation and ways they present their two voices keeps every song feeling unique. Let’s hope this isn’t the last time we get to hear them work together.
6. The Japanese House — Good At Falling
7. Lana Del Rey — Norman Fucking Rockwell!
8. Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties — Routine Maintenance
9. Bayside — Interrobang
10. Maggie Rogers — Heard It In A Past Life
11. Anna Tivel — The Question
12. Of Monsters And Men — FEVER DREAM
13. Coldplay — Everyday Life
14. From Indian Lakes — Dimly Lit
15. Emarosa — Peach Club
16. Camila Cabello — Romance
17. oso oso — Basking In The Glow
18. Norma Jean — All Hail
19. Bon Iver — i,i
20. La Dispute — Panorama
Top 5 EPs:
1. String Of Hearts — After Dark
2. Sainte — Bad Summer
3. Julia Michaels — Inner Monologue, Pt. 1
4. Simple Creatures — Strange Love
5. XYLØ — yes & no
Top 10 Songs:
1. “Broken Parts” — The Maine
2. “The Question” — Anna Tivel
3. “Now That I Found You” — Carly Rae Jepsen
4. “When I Need A Friend” — Coldplay
5. “We Talk All The Time” — The Japanese House
6. “Bury Me Anywhere Else” — Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties
7. “Prayers” — Bayside
8. “Is It Really Me You’re Missing” — Nina Nesbitt
9. “Overnight” — Maggie Rogers
10. “Happy” — Julia Michaels
I listened to a little over 2,500 new songs this year. Here are my top 25 in a convenient playlist: Top 25 Songs 2019
Best Album Art: City And Colour — A Pill For Loneliness
The physical version of this is somehow even more beautiful.
Favorite Live Show: Anberlin and I The Mighty at Irving Plaza in New York, NY, 7/6/19
It was a long five years between when I saw Anberlin say goodbye to Norfolk and when they returned for this tour. That both farewell and return sets played out like a greatest hits album is a testament to the strength of their catalog (though I think I’m at the point where I think they should give Lowborn a little more attention live), and it didn’t feel like they lost anything over the break. The songs still hit. Uncertainty about the future of the band made it easier to be grateful for the opportunity to see them again, and to really be present for the show. I hope it wasn’t the last time (especially if they keep bringing fantastic support like I The Mighty).
Biggest Surprise: Better Oblivion Community Center
I can’t say that I expected to get a project from Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst just a few months after the boygenius EP, let alone a surprise full album as good as this debut. Getting to see them perform together was icing on the cake.
Biggest Disappointment: La Dispute — Panorama
I like this album (you might’ve noticed it on the list above), but something about it still just hasn’t quite clicked for me the way the band’s past work has.
Best New Discoveries:
1. Nina Nesbitt
2. Anna Tivel
3. Maggie Rogers
4. Orla Gartland
5. XYLØ
Most Anticipated:
1. Every Time I Die
2. Phoebe Bridgers
3. Bleachers
4. The 1975
5. Elder Brother
6. Overcoats
7. Run The Jewels
8. Modest Mouse
9. John Mayer
10. Frank Ocean
Again, if you’ve ever got 18 hours to kill, here’s almost everything I liked this year, all in one handy playlist: What’s Good In 2019