Uncut’s 50 best new albums of 2019 – Uncut.co.uk

50 SHANA CLEVELANDNight Of The Worm MoonHARDLY ARTIts title inspired by Sun Ras The Night Of The Purple Moon, the second solo LP from the La Luz singer and guitarist moulded the interstellar jazz auteurs cosmic bent to her own fingerpicked acoustic guitar. As wonky chord sequences echoed Syd Barretts solo work, and pedal steel and synths provided an eerie, psychedelic air, Cleveland sang of grief, dreams and nameless terrors in the Californian darkness.

49 STEPHEN MALKMUSGroove DeniedDOMINOWhile last years Sparkle Hard was Malkmuss most accessible effort to date, here the songwriter explored his more outr interests with this basement electronic album. Despite a troubled gestation, Groove Denied turned out to be a laidback triumph: its laptop production was hazily vintage, reminiscent of early Cabaret Voltaire and Human League, while its inspired tracklisting gradually took the listener from machine-tooled abstraction to more traditional, guitar-based songs.

48 LIZZOCuz I Love YouNICE LIFE/ATLANTIC2019 found Minneapolis-based singer/rapper Melissa Viviane Jefferson propelling her whipsmart rhymes, bodypositive message and occasional flute solos into the mainstream, with third album Cuz I Love You reaching the Billboard Top 5. A savvy, boisterous antidote to moody rap nihilism, the album placed Lizzo firmly in the lineage of Outkast and Missy Elliott, with the latter turning up to anoint her successor on the irresistible Tempo.

47 NRIJABlumeDOMINOThe debut album by this Domino-signed supergroup exemplified why the new wave of British jazz has been such a breath of fresh air. Despite featuring a number of the scenes major players saxophonists Nubya Garcia and Cassie Kinoshi, trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, trombonist Rosie Turton and more it never felt like anyone was queuing up for a solo, instead striving to fashion a supremely harmonious blend of 70s astral jazz and contemporary global flavours.

46 LAMBCHOPThis (is what I wanted to tell you)CITY SLANGUnder Kurt Wagners tutelage, Lambchop are an object lesson in how a band can evolve gracefully. The work begun on 2016s FLOTUS exploring the possibilities of electronica was sustained on the immersive, thought-provoking This (is what I wanted to tell you), which navigated a path through the organic and the electronically adjusted, aided by sometime Bon Iver drummer Matt McCaughan, Calexico trumpeter Jacob Valenzuela and Nashville veteran Charlie McCoy.

45 SLEAFORD MODSEton AliveEXTREME EATINGIts getting shitter! Sleaford Mods a raw and uncompromising duo remain a difficult band for horrible times. Unsubtle but penetrating observers of the UK, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn here presented a bleak, if occasionally tuneful, world informed by our toxic domestic politics, without ever actually being sucked into the mire. Check the promo clips of the singer putting the bins out and walking disdainfully around the neighbourhood of Eton College itself.

44 ROBERT FORSTERInfernoTAPETEWhen Robert Forster announced the release of a new Go-Betweens boxset last month, he did so safe in the knowledge that his latest album stood shoulder to shoulder with the work of his celebrated former band. Inferno brought his customary wit and elegance to bear on a set of wonderfully pithy songs about ageing, family, climate change and the artists place in the world.

43 WH LUNGIncidental MusicMELODICJames Murphy has taken a lot from Manchesters musical heritage, but WH Lung reversed the flow with their strong debut album. With the group originally intended as a studio-only outfit, Joseph E, Tom S and Tom P paid painstaking attention to the eight songs on Incidental Music, carving their sparkling electronic rock with one eye on New Order and the other on Berlin-era Bowie.

42 FAT WHITE FAMILYSerfs Up!DOMINOA remarkable turnaround for Britains scuzziest band, whod previously lost their way attempting to live up to their dissolute reputation. But relocating to Sheffield, they mainlined some of that citys synthpop sleaze, adding strings and sax to produce a compelling album of dank disco cabaret, with deliciously murky lyrics to match.

41 BILLIE EILISHWhen We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?DARKROOM/INTERSCOPEThe years pop phenomenon, courtesy of Bad Guy a record of such creepy delivery and intention it threatened to darken the skies at a radiant Glastonbury Eilish had no problem extending her vision to a full album. Here, production by her brother Fineas OConnell gave off a padded-cell ambience, which well suited songs falling somewhere between 90s R&B, Dr Dre and Nine Inch Nails.

40 VAMPIRE WEEKENDFather Of The BrideCOLUMBIAOnce, they tapped out bookish Afroindie from the confines of a Columbia University dorm room. But Vampire Weekends fourth album was a genuinely cosmopolitan effort. Six years in the making, it gleefully mashed up all manner of musical styles the glorious Harmony Hall alone veered from 70s folk rock to 90s gospel house, via Gilbert & Sullivan but at the heart of it all, singer Ezra Koenig remained charmingly vulnerable.

39 BONNIE PRINCE BILLYI Made A PlaceDOMINOWill Oldham has been busy over the last decade, reworking his own catalogue and paying homage to his heroes. I Made A Place, however, is something else: his first collection of new, selfpenned songs since 2011s Wolfroy Goes To Town. A continuation of his work rather than a reinvention, this is a stately, sophisticated set of country-rock songs, the likes of This Is Far From Over certainly a match for those of his songwriting idols.

38 75 DOLLAR BILLI Was RealTAK:TILIn 2016, Rick Brown and Che Chen issued a debut Wood/ Metal/Plastic/ Pattern which purported to come from Brooklyn, but which seemed to have emerged from a different continent altogether. Three years on, their second, larger record expands on that initial promise. Alive with Tuareg guitar electricity and longform drone, I Was Real proposes a kosmische of the earth: capable of easeful travel across great distances, while always retaining something solid underfoot.

37 THE MURDER CAPITALWhen I Have FearsHUMAN SEASONWhile they match fellow Dubliners Fontaines DC for fire and fury, The Murder Capital processed their anger through a more angular post-punk sound on their debut album. Rhythms stutter la Joy Division or early Cure, while vocalist James McGovern sounds, at times, like a young Ian McCulloch; Dont Cling To Life and the lengthy Green & Blue are as epic and dramatic as the Big Music of the early 80s, helped along by Floods atmospheric production.

36 DAVEPsychodramaNEIGHBOURHOODStreatham rapper David Dave Omoregie may have capped a triumphant year with a starring role in Top Boy 3, but his debut album Psychodrama the recipient of this years coveted Mercury Prize was no generic gangster chronicle. Sounding preternaturally wise, he tackled racial inequality, mental illness and domestic abuse over brooding strings and needling piano, although the slinky Location proved he could still cover the rap bases.

35 STURGILL SIMPSONSound & FuryELEKTRASimpson has never been one to stand still, creatively speaking. His first album, High Top Mountain, was a traditional country effort but since then he has moved away from heartlandcourting endeavours. Sound & Fury presented another big shift in direction for Simpson this time with anime visuals, strutting disco-boogie, grunge and pulsing modern blues joining the party. However nuts Sound & Fury became though, Simpsons commitment to heartfelt songcraft remained reassuringly intact.

34 FONTAINES DCDogrelPARTISANMy childhood was small/But Im gonna be BIG! The opening declaration of Fontaines DC singer Grian Chatten is alive with the irrepressible momentum of the young band going places. This debut, sure enough, surges onward through post-punk styles big and small, from The Fall to REM, to Prolapse and Idlewild. Always energetic, generally cathartic, occasionally see Television Screens in particular revelatory, they alight on moments of thundering lyricism quite their own.

33 THE RACONTEURSHelp Us StrangerTHIRD MANBack after an 11-year hiatus, Jack White and his co-conspirators picked up where they left off with Consolers Of The Lonely. Thats to say, anyone fearing the kind of indulgences White brought to last years solo album Boarding House Reach will have enjoyed the more conventional rock leanings of Help Us Stranger. The vibe was uncluttered and exuberant including a cover of Donovans Hey Guy (Dig The Slowness) while the attendant tour was among the years live highlights.

32 KIM GORDONNo Home RecordMATADORAfter the serious noise of her Body/ Head project, we were probably unprepared for the vibrancy and colour (even jokes) of No Home Record. Working with art-pop producer Justin Raisen, Gordon framed her Mark E Smithlike observations (see for details especially: Air B&B) within compositions which vaguely alluded to her past as the first lady of US noise, while never leaning on it to help her determine her future.

31 MICHAEL KIWANUKAKiwanukaPOLYDORThis expansive third album from the British-Ugandan singer fulfilled the early promise of his previous efforts. Full of beguiling melodies, affecting lyrics, sharp playing, rich arrangements and sympathetic production, Kiwanuka confidently delivered multiple pleasures. Strings wash, choirs purr, and the balance of analogue and electronic overseen by Kiwanuka, Brian Danger Mouse Burton and hip-hop multiinstrumentalist Inflo was expertly maintained. Kiwanukas references Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye are given psychedelic goosing, as on first single You Aint The Problem.

30 JESSICA PRATTQuiet SignsCITY SLANGThe epithet LA-based singersongwriter tends to conjure up notions of sun-kissed escapism, but Jessica Pratts enchanting third album was more Muswell Hill than Laurel Canyon. Her plucked guitar and strange, waiflike voice was gilded with occasional flute, piano and creaky synths that made it all sound like a tape reel discovered in someones loft, untouched since 1967 or perhaps even 1667.

29 TRASH KITHorizonUPSET THE RHYTHM Post-punks not dead! After a fiveyear rest to pursue other projects among them the very good Shopping and Bas Jan Rachel Aggs, Gill Partington and Rachel Horwood reconvened for this fine third album. For sure the trio fluently speak the language of 1980: spare production, articulation of every note, songs called things like Dislocate. More impressive, though, is how Aggs guitar flourishes and the sparing use of sax and piano make it all more than the sum of its parts.

28 JENNY HVALThe Practice Of LoveSACRED BONESFollowing on from her Blood Bitch album, a high-concept investigation of blood, from menstruation to vampire movies, the seventh album by Norwegian artist Hval turned love into a kind of visitor attraction. A work of immersive, textured synthesiser and billowing trance, The Practice Of Love was paced like a DJ set, incorporating stunning drops in tempo see the spokenword contributions of Vivian Wang on the title track and thoughtfully ecstatic highs.

27 THE NATIONALI Am Easy To Find4ADSomething of a surprise, coming hot on the heels of 2017s Sleep Well Beast, the bands eighth studio album was inspired by a collaboration with filmmaker Mike Mills. As a consequence, I Am Easy To Find saw the band expand to include a cast of female vocalists (including former Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey) guiding and redirecting the songs away from Matt Berninger. It paid off: I Am Easy To Find continued The Nationals uninterrupted creative trajectory.

26 ANGEL OLSENAll MirrorsJAGJAGUWARThough this Asheville-based singer-songwriter has always reinvented her sound, moving from earthy folk to raw post-punk to lusher pastures, her fourth record proved to be her most extreme transition yet. Here, industrial synths and scything avant-garde string arrangements collided to bring a dramatic, gothic grandeur to Olsens ruminations on lost love and emotional isolation. Above the turbulent arrangements, her voice provided a mighty and quivering constant.

25 NEIL YOUNG WITH CRAZY HORSEColoradoREPRISEA timely reunion marking the 50th anniversary of Youngs first record with Crazy Horse Colorado also found Nils Lofgren, newly promoted to full-time member, adding appropriate musical lift and heft to proceedings. There were customarily heroic jams like Milky Way but also a vein of melancholia, as best heard on Olden Days, that helped underscore the losses Young experienced during a difficult 2019, including his former wife Pegi and long-serving manager Elliot Roberts.

24 THE SPECIALSEncoreUMC/ISLANDThe bands first new material since they reformed 10 years ago, Encore is at its best when it not only honours The Specials past a mournful trombone solo or a dive into the ska vaults but pushes in new directions, too. A cover of the Equals Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys, for instance, offers imposing taut funk. Elsewhere, Terry Halls soul-bearing reports of his struggles with mental health add poignancy, while the socio-political barbs reinforce their role as vital cultural commentators.

23 ALDOUS HARDINGDesigner4ADThree albums in and New Zealander Hannah Aldous Harding remains impressively tricky to pin down. Recorded with utilitarian precision in Bristol and Wales, aided by John Parrish and Huw H Hawkline Evans, Designers brisk, catchy folk-pop initially felt like a startling contrast to the heavy drama of previous album Party although a sense of unease seeped through into the albums crespuscular second half.

22 LEONARD COHENThanks For The DanceCOLUMBIAYou want it even darker? How about this from beyond the grave work put together sensitively by Cohens son Adam? Compiled from late-doors studio recordings and then complemented by performances by the likes of Beck, Feist and Cohens sometime vocal partner Jennifer Warnes, the tone ranges from deep wisdom and finality (The Goal) to the wryly seductive (Her nipples rose like bread, Len whispers on The Night Of Santiago). A slim but essential volume.

21 RHIANNON GIDDENS feat FRANCESCO TURRISIThere Is No OtherNONESUCHOf the projects Giddens has been involved in since 2017s Freedom Highway, There Is No Other might just be the finest. A collaboration with Italian multiinstrumentalist Turrisi, it addressed the other of the title through its examination of Islamic influences on Western music: thus the title track mixed banjo with Middle Eastern percussion, Giddens impassioned vocals meshed with lute on Ten Thousand Voices, and a take on Ola Belle Reeds Gonna Write Me A Letter highlighted the blues explicit links to Africa.

20 BRITTANY HOWARDJaimeCOLUMBIAThis striking solo debut from the Alabama Shakes singer swapped stirring Southern soul for something more intimate and experimental. Marshalling a small group of skilled players, including jazz pianist Robert Glasper, she explored Prince-style purple funk, neo-soul and even electropop as a backdrop for moving ruminations on race and relationships.

19 PETER PERRETTHumanworldDOMINOPerretts sudden, miraculous reappearance back in 2017 with his first solo album proper, How The West Was Won, was one of the more surprising returns of recent times. Fortuitously, Humanworld was every bit as good as, and at points even better than, its predecessor. Made with his sons Jamie and Peter Jr joining him on guitar and bass, Humanworld foregrounded Perretts gifts for compressing all the drama of lifes ups and downs into simple, unpretentious pop.

18 JENNY LEWISOn The LineCAPITOLLewiss fourth solo album evoked the expensive sounds of prime Fleetwood Mac, and featured some of the finest players of that hallowed era, from Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner to Benmont Tench and Don Was. On The Line was resolutely not a period piece, however, its sumptuous production only serving to better highlight the bleeding edge of Lewiss lovelorn ballads, from the wayward Taffy to the deliciously lugubrious Hollywood Lawn.

17 MODERN NATUREHow To LiveBELLA UNIONA move from inner London to the fringes of Epping Forest encouraged Jack Cooper to abandon Velvets wannabes Ultimate Painting and focus on this inspired urban-rural hybrid, driven by tight motorik rhythms but rich with the cadences of British folk rock. Effusive sax breaks from Sunwatchers Jeff Tobias sealed the deal.

16 SHARON VAN ETTENRemind Me TomorrowJAGJAGUWARIts been a busy time of late for the New Jersey native motherhood, acting and a counselling degree while further changes were in evidence on this, her fifth studio album, which found Van Etten edge away from guitar towards piano and vintage synths. The results were often gloriously catchy the Springsteen-esque Seventeen though elsewhere songs like Jupiter 4 evoked the pulsing drones of Suicide and the dissonant hiss of Memorial Day shared the corrosive atmospherics of Lows Double Negative.

15 BON IVERi,iJAGJAGUWARHis Wisconsin wood cabin long since overgrown, Justin Vernons fourth Bon Iver album was an experiment in musical crowdsourcing, finding starring roles for everyone from Bruce Hornsby to former Spank Rock rapper Naeem Juwan. Continuing the revelatory exploded view songwriting approach of 2016s 22, A Million, but with real musicians and singers taking the place of samples and effects, it found thrilling new ways to convey moments of soaring, communal joy.

14 RICHARD DAWSON2020WEIRD WORLDFor his follow-up to Peasant, Newcastles folk auteur turned his keen eye on 21st-century life, singing of racism, soul-sucking jobs, homelessness and mental illness: Its lonely up here in Middle England, he laments on Jogging. To match the coarse subject matter, Dawson swapped the harps and strings of Peasant for electric guitar, drums and synths; Black Triangle, then, recounts the desperation of a UFO obsessive over wailing metal, while the gruelling Fulfillment Centre dissects damaging consumerism over Tuareg rhythms.

13 OH SEESFace StabberCASTLE FACEAs in life, as on record. Manic intensity is the John Dwyer way, his energies for keeping Oh Sees on an unforgiving schedule of writing, playing and recording mirrored in the brisk-tempo garage motorik that is the stuff of Face Stabber. Always different, always the same, here the band occupy some reassuringly familiar space to last years Smote Reverser: their thundering double drummers are the propulsion for their turbulent passage into guitar orbit.

12 JULIA JACKLINCrushingPOLYVINYLThe slacker thrills of Dont Let The Kids Win, Jacklins 2016 debut, did little to suggest the depths of raw emotion that the Sydney-raised songwriter would plumb for its powerful follow-up. Jacklins extraordinary voice, wracked lyrics and the slow, sparse electric pulse suggested early Cat Power or Low, with Head Alone a demand for space, both emotionally and physically, and the closing Comfort a cautious resurfacing after romantic and touring troubles: Ill be OK/Ill be alright

11 CATE LE BONRewardMEXICAN SUMMERFor her fifth solo LP, Carmarthenshires Cate Le Bon left behind the acidic guitars and tumbling krautrock of 2016s Crab Day for a softer bed of pianos, marimbas, saxophones and synths. The result, mostly written in isolation in the Lake District while Le Bon was studying furniture-making, was a slow-burning triumph, a grower that took many listens to reveal its enigmatic, intoxicating centre.

10 WILCOOde To JoydBpmThroughout their storied 25-year career, Wilco have consistently questioned themselves and their creative purpose. So Ode To Joy their 11th studio album found Jeff Tweedy and his co-conspirators once again recalibrating their sound and direction. Ode To Joy stripped everything back to its key components, favouring a hushed, spacious palette on which Tweedy could transmit his songs about mortality, love, the state of the world and more. Also: their Wilcovered CD for Uncut was pretty amazing, we humbly thought.

9 BIG THIEFUFOF4ADThe quartets second album of the year, Two Hands, also picked up some appreciation from our writers, but their superb first LP of 2019 made the biggest impact. Adrianne Lenkers songs, from the weightless Cattails to the ominous Jenny, were never less than stunning, but they were elevated by the sensitive, sinuous arrangements: one moment Big Thief could sound as folky and rootsy as a campfire singalong, the next as expansive and airy as the cosmos high above.

8 BILL CALLAHANShepherd In A Sheepskin VestDRAG CITYAfter Dream Rivers spacious meditations on the natural world, six years later we find Bill Callahan keeping things within four walls. Bliss would be overstating it Callahan is too nuanced a writer for that but this is a record far more domestic than watery. Now a husband and father, here Callahan admits us further than ever before into his private world. The sound is as intimate as the sentiment, even if the record occasionally hints at strange currents beneath the tranquil surface.

7 BRUCE SPRINGSTEENWestern StarsCOLUMBIAA change of pace from the sturm und drang of the E Street Band, the longdelayed Western Stars found Springsteen at his most autumnal and meditative. The songs were bleak narratives and lingering pen-portraits of fading actors, injured stuntmen and jaded lovers ruminating on their unhappy lot. The lush orchestrations and ambitious, sophisticated arrangements felt closer to 60s West Coast folk-pop than Springsteens usual beat. As a consequence, Western Stars was an unexpected and welcome stylistic detour.

6 JOAN SHELLEYLike The River Loves The SeaNO QUARTERThe Kentucky singer and guitarist has quietly proved herself to be one of the finest songwriters of recent years, and her sublime fifth album was naturally entrancing. Recorded in Iceland with her adept collaborators Nathan Salsburg and James Elkington, with a little help from Will Oldham and a few local musicians, these 12 acoustic tracks are gossamer-fine, sometimes profound and utterly timeless.

5 LANA DEL REYNorman Fucking RockwellINTERSCOPEA thematically rich record crazy love during end times Norman Fucking Rockwell positioned the singer-songwriter somewhere between Eve Babitz and Carole King. Over baroque piano ballads and dazzling folk, the albums narrators found themselves adrift in Del Reys deeply seductive vision of California, populated by neer-do-wells and fly-by-nights. References to Laurel Canyon, Dennis Wilson and CSN cast a retro haze; but Norman Fucking Rockwell is very much Del Reys own vision. Witness Venice Bitch, the nine-minute epic that crowned this elegant and complex album.

4 THE COMET IS COMINGTrust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep MysteryIMPULSE!Having put a rocket up the jazz scene with last years incendiary, politically charged Sons Of Kemet album Your Queen Is A Reptile, Shabaka Hutchings channelled that fervour into the return of his cosmic synthnsax outfit, The Comet Is Coming. As with the best spiritual jazz records, Trust In The Lifeforce was equally blissful and raging, both out-there and in-here the most intoxicating collision of beats, jazz and apocalyptic visions since DJ Shadow discovered David Axelrod.

3 PURPLE MOUNTAINSPurple MountainsDRAG CITYI spent a decade playing chicken with oblivion, revealed David Berman in the opening number of what was tragically to prove Purple Mountains first and last album. Day to day, Im neck and neck with giving in. We know now that oblivion won. But Bermans generous final act was to give hope to others by excavating the darkest recesses of his psyche with such eloquence and humour, all set to his unique brand of endearingly louche country-rock.

2 NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDSGhosteenGHOSTEEN LTDIf Skeleton Tree loosened the moorings, then Ghosteen found Cave boldly cutting the rope, severing all ties with the glowering caricature of old. Instead, this was an epic, dreamlike odyssey through grief and towards hope, accompanied by migrating spirits and galleon ships, sick babies and Jesus freaks, all engulfed in whirls of analogue synths and spectral, multi-tracked voices. As he sang, Its a long way to find peace of mind but it was a journey that enriched us all.

1 WEYES BLOODTitanic RisingSUB POPLast year, our Albums Of The Year poll found seasoned veterans like Low and Yo La Tengo discovering new sonic methods to convey their apprehension and sense of displacement during these complex times. Similarly, our 2019 survey shows how many of our other core artists have also grappled with ways to articulate their responses to an increasingly tumultuous world. For Wilco, Lambchop, The Specials and Brittany Howard, for example, their albums during 2019 mixed both personal and political themes with uplifting results.

The same is true, too, of Weyes Bloods Natalie Mering whose fourth album Titanic Rising, released in April, confronted the problems facing us all head on. Her 2016 LP, A Front Row Seat To Earth, had begun to consider our planets fate; but the themes that recur in Titanic Rising proved to be weighty: climate emergency, the decline of natural resources and the struggle to find emotional connection in an increasingly technological world. For the front cover of Titanic Rising, Mering submerged an entire bedroom, complete with teddy bear and laptop. Show me where it hurts, she whispered at the end of opener A Lots Gonna Change; you could be forgiven for thinking she was addressing Earth itself.

Weyes Blood ushered in 2019 with Andromeda a swooning update of early-70s West Coast pop, filled with sci-fi wonderment, where Mering transformed her earthy quest for love into a celestial concern. The rest of Titanic Rising, meanwhile, is an exercise in baroque post-modernism, full of lavishly orchestrated and structured compositions. Titanic Rising also showcases Merings remarkable alto part Judy Sill, part Nico that lies between folk and torch singing. There is a dignity and otherness at work here: her voice sweeps robustly over swelling crescendo of Something To Believe, while A Lots Gonna Change finds her delivery softer and more intimate. By the end of the year, Mering was sharing the stage of the Hollywood Bowl with Lana Del Rey and Zella Day, singing three-part harmonies on a cover of Joni Mitchells For Free. An indication, if you need one, of Merings breakthrough with this remarkable, transcendent album.

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Uncut's 50 best new albums of 2019 - Uncut.co.uk