Mid-decade review: Album of the decade so far

Sharing our longlist for 'album of the decade so far' - and the poll for you to decide!

Having introduced our mid-decade review project and the esteemed cast of writers weighing in on the debate yesterday, today, we come to our first category: album of the decade so far.

Each of the seven writers were tasked with selecting their top three albums from 2020-2024, explaining their thought process. Below, each shares this and, in addition to the 21 albums selected, two also join the longlist due to being 5-9 Albums of the Year via the Album of the Month podcast: Heavy Heavy by Young Fathers and Romance by Fontaines D.C.

Out of the 23 albums, the top eight from the poll will be reappraised in a special Album of the Month podcast in which we will select our outright winner. The list and poll below with our reasoning for the selections provided underneath! Vote in the poll below for your favourite. Deadline is 7pm on Saturday, 7 June.

What is the best album of the decade so far?

• The Armed - Ultrapop
• Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
• Black Country, New Road - For the first time
• Charli XCX - BRAT

See All Options

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Andrew Belt - 5-9 editor

Being a documenter of years via top albums, I already had a fair idea of which albums would come on top. Reappraising those from further back, however, provided surprises and a top 3 from my own personal longlist of 15 which I wasn't expecting rather weirdly. So, commiserations Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (Little Simz), Song for Our Daughter (Laura Marling), Ohms (Deftones), Blue Weekend (Wolf Alice), Raw Data Feel (Everything Everything), Beach Day (Another Sky), Gigi's Recovery (The Murder Capital), Imaginal Disk (Magdalena Bay), Silence is Loud (Nia Archives), Sniff More Gritty (Du Blonde), A Celebration of Endings (Biffy Clyro) and Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Fiona Apple) - all fantastic albums, but falling narrowly short of my top three. Instead, what did were the following:

Du Blonde - Homecoming (2021)

Remarkable that this album almost never came to light as Beth Jeans Houghton (AKA Du Blonde) considering quitting the industry. Happily, they didn't and their first self-produced LP was a rip-roaring scuzzy rock effort, mainly focusing on relationships, backed by a stellar cast of guest contributors including Ezra Furman and Andy Bell. At just shy of 25 minutes, the catchiness, 'snackability' (easily consumed) and profundity of the album has seen me regularly return to it in the years since its release.

Little Simz - NO THANK YOU (2022)

Arriving unexpectedly at the end of 2022, just a year on from the majestic Sometimes I Might Be Introverted, NO THANK YOU sees Simz take aim at plenty of characters in the music industry. The fire in Simz's belly fuels this tight collection of 10 songs which lean on the epic instrumentation perfected on her previous album, while taking on more gospel music influence. Sharp lyrics, diverse music and trademark Simz delivery, this less-heralded release than SIMBI allows for no slack and edges it - just.

English Teacher - This Could Be Texas (2024)

The only debut in my trio, the acclaim which greeted its release was fully justified, as was last year's Mercury Prize win. Addressing stereotype bias, family illness, relationships and a whole load more, the indie band chronicled the varied subjects eloquently and augmented the traditional guitars and drums set-up with other stringed instruments, allowing many songs to soar to even greater heights. Whether they match this effort in the years to come is yet to be seen, but the beehive of ideas on offer here suggest that, regardless, what comes next will intrigue.

Karl Blakesley - LeftLion Music Editor and 5-9 Album of the Month podcaster

For Those I Love - For Those I Love (2021)

There are few albums that have had an intense emotional impact on me – in the 2020s or indeed ever – quite like this record from Dublin-based producer and songwriter David Balfe. Heartbreaking yet life-affirming, devastating yet euphoric, deeply personal yet profoundly resonant – it is a powerfully written and beautifully uplifting meditation on life, love and loss. Winner of the Irish Choice Prize and my 2021 Album of the Year, this album absolutely had to be on the list. A life-changing and unforgettable experience, it is an album that makes you want to seize every tiny, seemingly insignificant moment on this earth – and what could be better than that.

Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There (2022)

While this album may have only finished third in my Top 50 Albums of 2022, Black Country, New Road’s sophomore effort has definitely left a lasting impact in the years since its release. Painting an imaginative and heartfelt collage of indie, post-punk, folk and jazz, the influence of the record can be heard in countless other bands that have since also broken through. While their other output both before and after has been admirable, for me personally, nothing can touch what Black Country, New Road captured during this last flight together as the original iteration of the band. Sonically adventurous and unconventional while also emotionally hard-hitting, this remains a very special record.

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (2020)

With lockdown such a big part of the early 2020s, I knew I wanted to nominate an album that perfectly encapsulated that dark period of time. While Charli XCX’s OG lockdown record How I’m Feeling Now was considered, as was The Weeknd’s modern pop classic After Hours, in the end I landed on this sophomore outing and my 2020 runner-up AOTY from the incredible Phoebe Bridgers. As Phoebe herself describes Punisher, it is “like a diary about your crush during the apocalypse.” Based on that description, if there was ever going to be a record built for the COVID-inflicted early 2020s, Punisher was going to be it. From her ode to tour life on 'Kyoto', grappling with atheism on 'Chinese Satellite', to the dramatic, scream-fuelled crescendo of 'I Know The End', Punisher transformed Phoebe into one of the 2020s’ big breakout stars and continues to be an absolute tour de force.

Honourable mentions:

• Ness by Hayden Thorpe

• Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz

• Raw Data Feel by Everything Everything

Matthew McLister - Freelance writer and creator of indie music website Blinded by the Floodlights

Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia (2022)

Wunderhorse - Cub (2022)

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under (2021)

This was very tough! Fontaines had to feature (each of the three released this decade were in contention, but Skinty Fia is easily their most consistent - and best - since their debut). Wunderhorse's debut instantly went down as an alt-rock classic that has aged like a fine wine, and Sam Fender's sophomore release has to go down as one of the great albums released by a British artist period.

Adam Reeve - Dead Good Music Editor

Charli XCX - BRAT (2024)

Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman... (2023)

Black Country, New Road - For the first time (2021)

As someone who listens and (tries to) feature as many albums as I can, this was difficult. But for as much as I hear great albums, I only return to a few, which I do for these. QOTSA were an obvious choice, but In Times New Roman... felt like a re-energised version of the band following the harrowing days that surrounded their last album. Black Country, New Road are a band who have delivered on all releases so far, including their newest, but there's something about their debut that makes it stand out. BRAT is...brat. You can't deny how much impact it has made.

Some honourable mentions would be Romance by Fontaines DC, This Is Why by Paramore, Exactly As It Seems by Home Counties, Volcano by Jungle, Big Ideas by Remi Wolf and No Name by Jack White.

Phil Taylor - Music Observer blog founder

The Howl and The Hum - Human Contact (2020)

This feels like an era-defining album, coming in the midst of the Covid uncertainty and speaking perfectly to that situation we all found ourselves in. It features some exquisite and rather under-appreciated songwriting.

Dolores Forever - It's Nothing (2024)

A debut album that radiates honesty, and a good old-fashioned album in the best sense: 10 tracks, each well-crafted and strong enough to stand alone, combined into a coherent whole.

Francis of Delirium - Lighthouse (2024)

Rich and evocative; deeply nostalgic; and dwelling on love, in its various phases, with very relatable honesty.

What missed out...? So much! Each year since 2021 I've put together a top 10 albums of the year, and that process itself has been difficult. So you could say that at least 40 or 50 albums could have been included here! A few specific ones that were close are Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT (a captivating pop record with an almost perfect flow, subtle and often unexpected changes in energy, and an overarching sense of determined focus; sadly overshadowed by the brat summer); English Teacher - This Could be Texas (it felt era-defining in some ways and propelled the band to great things although it didn't feel quite well-rounded enough to make my top); Holly Humberstone - Paint My Bedroom Black; IDLES - TANGK (a magnum opus, driven by love, real love in all its forms); SPRINTS - Letter to Self (massively hard-hitting, superb romp through post-punk missives, but perhaps their live experience is even better so the album missed out on that front).

Danny Kilmartin - Music journalist

Run the Jewels - RTJ4 (2020)

The duo’s magnum opus. Rush-released against the backdrop of a worldwide lockdown and protests over the murders of George Floyd, Armaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor; Killer Mike and El-P rail against racism, poverty, corporatism and other unjust external forces without virtue signalling. An honest call for tolerance, respect and unity, with inspired production ('Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)'), samples ('The Ground Below') and features ('Just' featuring Pharrell and Zack de la Rocha, 'Pulling the Pin' featuring Mavis Staples and Josh Homme), it captured a moment perfectly and remains a landmark for contemporary conscious hip-hop.

The Armed - Ultrapop (2021)

Much like Refused’s 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come, The Armed’s breakthrough could be considered the antithesis of a prophecy. For all it’s sonic innovation, it lacks any natural heirs. However, Ultrapop is a singular, seminal work worthy of its title. The mysterious collective embraced undeniably catchy melodies and maximalist production, fusing their established angular metallic hardcore style with elements of electronica, shoegaze, noise and industrial music. The results vary from exhilarating to sublime. An incredibly forward-thinking album.

Lankum - False Lankum (2023)

Nobody has revolutionised Irish folk music the way Lankum have, and False Lankum is a real tour de force. Equal parts nihilistic, bleak and overwhelmingly sublime, the band make use of dissonant drones and cacophonous crescendo masterfully. The group’s most ambitious work to date, it’s no doubt a challenging listen in terms of length and accessiblity, but it’s a constantly rewarding one.

Kevin Alexander - Indie music writer

The Chemical Brothers - For That Beautiful Feeling (2023)

Speaking of what's old is new again:

Hearing those opening big beats on 1995's Exit Planet Dust, who'd have guessed that almost 30 years later, The Chemical Brothers would still be going strong?

It's been quite a ride for Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, from scrappy upstarts in the big beat genre to their status as elder statesmen today. Through it all, the duo have consistently iterated, changed up their style, and pushed up against the corners of their sound.

In a genre known mainly for putting out singles, the two bet the other way, putting out records that worked as a whole rather than something that felt like a compilation slapped together with an "LP" sticker thrown across the front.

The result is an excellent discography that is difficult to force rank.

That streak continues with For That Beautiful Feeling - their 10th album. Once again, each track could stand alone if needed, but this record works beautifully as a complete work, with each track segueing seamlessly into the next.

One of the advantages of longevity is that you know what works and what doesn't. You're also afforded the freedom to stretch your legs a bit. To be clear, there is no mistaking this for anything but a The Chemical Brothers record, but it feels like they've taken some of the best parts of earlier records and reimagined them into new tracks and a fresh sound. Listening, I was sometimes reminded of earlier concussive dancefloor fillers like 'Three Little Birdies Down Beats' and the transcendent vibe of No Geography.

They have also reunited with Beck for 'Skipping Like A Stone', having previously collaborated on 2015's 'Wide Open' from their Born In the Echoes album. On a record full of strong candidates, this is my runaway favourite. The best music hits you at a gut level, elicits a visceral reaction, and will remind listeners of nights on a pulsing dancefloor with friends and parties still going as the sun rose.

Until this release, No Geography and Exit Planet Dust were tied as my top The Chemical Brothers records. I kind of liked the idea of my faves also being bookends of their discography. That's now changed, with For That Beautiful Feeling being AOTY material. Having it at the top was both a quick and easy decision. The album's second half is especially strong, but again, the entire record works as a whole.

Rowlands and Simons are only improving with age, and this gorgeous record bears that out.

Sweeping Promises - Good Living is Coming For You (2023)

Depending on how you look at it, Good Living Is Coming For You sounds like the sort of slogan you'd see on Soviet agitprop posters or hear Peggy Olson come up with in a strategy session for Tupperware. Both are true.

After spending time in Boston and Austin, Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug landed in Lawrence, Kansas, and hit their stride. The result is beautiful chaos—what Romeo Void might've sounded if they'd indulged their post-punk impulses. I had a chance to interview the duo right after the record's release, and during our chat, frontwoman Lira Mondal described their sound as "voracious, wild-eyed, grabbing-with-both-hands YOLO energy."

Bottom line: someone described this band as "The B-52s if they never saw the Sun." I can't say it any better than that.

Wussy - Cincinnati Ohio (2024)

I don't know what it is about this band, but man, they strike a chord in me that few other bands can hit. Readers may recall that their 2005 Funeral Dress record recently made my 100 Best Albums list, clocking in at #52. It was—and is—a sublime record. And 19 years later, so too is the Cincy band's latest release, the aptly titled Cincinnati Ohio. This is the band's first record in six years and the first since the death of guitarist John Erhardt.

Wussy records are gem after gem, just waiting to be discovered. There is a dogged determination, and sometimes there is desolation. There are always good melodies and painting of vivid pictures.

In this record's case, the opening track, 'The Great Divide', kicks things off in a cinematic fashion, pulling listeners in immediately. Its counterpart on the B-side is 'Inhaler' - a six-minute belter. Both are highlights on a record stocked with top-notch tracks.

On paper, this band shouldn't work; Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver's voices couldn't be any more different, but together, they shine. Joe Klug and Mark Messerly's driving rhythm section combines well with jangly and/or acoustic guitars running across the top.

It's Americana one minute, shoegaze the next. But everything's here in just the right amount, and it all makes for a vivid snapshot of the very real people leading very real lives in middle America….and for an incredible album.