The 22 Best Albums of 2022

As 2022 comes to a close, The Navigator’s Olivia England has compiled a list of her 22 favorite albums of the year. 

Dawn FM

By The Weeknd

Released: January 7

Genre: Synthwave, Synth Pop

Highlight: “Less Than Zero”

Best Lyric: “It’s 5 AM, I’m nihilist/I know there’s nothing after this” (“Gasoline”)

Continuing his wave of 1980s-inspired hits, Toronto’s The Weeknd returns. DAWN FM is a funk and electronic concept album based on a psychedelic radio channel.

CAPRISONGS

By FKA twigs

Released: January 14

Genre: Alternative R&B, Art Pop

Highlight: “thank you song”

Best Lyric: “Nah, but seriously, on a level, you’re beautiful/We’ve not got a long time here, so/Love yourself, know your worth and/F*ck crying over these stupid boys/That don’t even recognize the worth in themselves/Just tryna steal your youth” (“oh my love”)

Where FKA twigs’ sophomore album MAGDALENE was sorrowful, excruciating, and reflective, CAPRISONGS is self-loving, lively and entertaining. 

Ants From Up There

By Black Country, New Road

Released: February 4

Genre: Art Rock, Post-Rock

Highlight: “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade”

Best Lyric: “We’re all working on ourselves/And we’re praying that the rest don’t mind how much we’ve changed/So if you see me looking strange with a fresh style/I’m still not feeling that great.” (“Basketball Shoes”)

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Laurel Hell

By Mitski

Released: February 4

Genre: Art Pop, Synthpop

Highlight: “Valentine, Texas”

Best Lyric: “I start the day high and it ends so low/‘Cause I’m working for the knife/I used to think I’d be done by twenty/Now at twenty-nine, the road ahead appears the same” (“Working for the Knife”)

If My Wife New I’d Be Dead

By CMAT

Released: February 25

Genre: Alt-Country, Indie Pop

Highlight: “Nashville”

Best Lyric: “All you did was hurt yourself/And let me take the blame/I loved you like a mirror/So I guess I’ve done the same” (“I Don’t Really Care For You”)

Multitude

By Stromae

Released: March 4

Genre: French Pop, Art Pop

Highlight: “L’enfer”

Best Lyric: “Laissez donc ma maman/Oui, je sais, c’est vrai qu’elle n’est pas parfaite/C’est un héros et ce s’ra toujours fièrement/Que j’en parlerai, que j’en parlerai/J’suis un fils de pute, comme ils disent, après tout c’qu’elle a fait pour eux/Pardonne leurs bêtises/Ô, chère mère ils te déshumanisent, c’est plus facile/Les mêmes te courtisent et tout l’monde ferme les yeux” – “Leave my mom alone/Yes I know, she’s not perfect, it’s true/She’s a hero and I will always speak of her with pride/I’ll speak of her with pride, I’ll speak of her with pride/I’m a son of a whore as they say, after everything she’s done for them/Forgive them, they’re dumb/Oh dear mom, they dehumanize you, it’s easier for them)/But they also court you and everybody looks the other way” (“Fils de joie”)

Topical Dancer

By Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul

Released: March 4

Genre: Tech House, Dance Pop

Highlight: “Blenda”

Best Lyric: Are you polite or political?/Are you correct or cynical?/Are you as open-minded behind closed doors?/Would you join forces in this holy war?/Are you as offended when nobody’s watching?/Are you an attacker or a victim?/Do you carry the burden of this privilegе?/Do you see this guilt as leverage?” (“Esperanto”)

CRASH

By Charli XCX

Released: March 18

Genre: Dance Pop, Electropop

Highlight: “Lightning”

Best Lyric: “You say I’m turning evil/I’ll say I’m finally pure/Shine bright in my reflection/Think I lost myself before” (“Used To Know Me”)

MOTOMAMI

By ROSALÍA

Released: March 18

Genre: Art Pop, Neoperreo

Highlight: “SAOKO”

Best Lyric: ¿Tú ere’ el que pimpeas o te pimpean a ti?/Yo elegí mi lado desde el día en que nací” – “Are you the pimp or are you pimped?/I chose my side the day I was born” (“BIZCOCHUTO”)

AMERICAN GURL

By Kilo Kish

Released: March 25

Genre: Electropop, Synthpop

Highlight: “AMERICAN GURL”

Best Lyric: “I’ll admit to you, this was my always fantasy/But it slips between what I wanted and have known myself to be/Alone or with you there, cruel urge for something more/But I can’t be sure, I’m still following your lead” (“ATTENTION POLITICIAN”)

Melt My Eyez See Your Future

By Denzel Curry

Released: March 25

Genre: Conscious Hip-Hop, Boom bap

Highlight: “X-Wing”

Best Lyric: “Brung a mask for the whole day/We ain’t tryna get sick, so we walk around with no face/The USA is a cold place” (“The Last”)

Un Verano Sin Ti

By Bad Bunny

Released: May 6

Genre: Reggaeton, Latin Pop

Highlight: “Después de la Playa”

Best Lyric: “Quiere quedarse en PR, no irse pa’ ningún estado/Pero todo se ha complicado/Como si ser mujer fuera un pecado/La demonia ha despertado” – “She wants to stay in PR and not go to the states/But everything has become complicated/As if being a woman was a sin/The devil has woken up” (“Andrea”)

Preacher’s Daughter 

By Ethel Cain

Released: May 12

Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Dream Pop

Highlight: “A House In Nebraska”

Best Lyric: “Hide me there under the leaves/Nine going on eighteen/Lay it on me/Tell me a story/About how it ends/Where you’re still the good guy, I’ll make pretend/’Cause I hate this story/Where happiness ends/And dies with you” (“Hard Times”)

Dance Fever

By Florence + the Machine

Released: May 13

Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Pop

Highlight: “Free”

Best Lyric: “A generation soaked in grief/We’re drying out and hanging by the skin of our teeth.” (“Daffodil”)

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

By Kendrick Lamar

Released: May 13

Genre: Conscious Hip Hop

Highlight: “Mother I Sober (feat. Beth Gibbons)”

Best Lyric: “This time around, I trust myself/Please everybody else but myself/All else fails, I was myself/Outdone fear, outdone myself/This year you better one yourself” (“Count Me Out”)

Wasteland

By Brent Faiyaz

Released: July 8

Genre: Alternative R&B

Highlight: “GRAVITY (feat. Tyler, The Creator)”

Best Lyric: “What’s left of us?/What’s left of our lives?/It’s only you/It’s only me/It’s only us at the end of the night” (“LOOSE CHANGE”)

RENAISSANCE

By Beyoncé

Released: July 29

Genre: House, Dance Pop

Highlight: “VIRGO’S GROOVE

Best Lyric: “Damn, I love the burning of the dagger from the words that you say/Dancin’ in the mirror, kiss my scars because I love what they made.” (“COZY”)

6 years after her colossal album Lemonade, Beyoncé returns with a bursting collection of house and dance songs. 16 vibrant songs pay tribute to the Black queer community that made the project possible. 

The Forever Story

By JID

Released: August 26

Genre: Conscious Hip-Hop, Jazz Rap

Highlight: “Sistanem”

Best Lyric: “And as I lay myself to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep/Pressure makes me, the journey takes me/To places where history can’t stop or break me” (“Kody Blu 31”)

Natural Brown Prom Queen

By Sudan Archives

Released: September 9

Genre: Alternative R&B, Art Pop

Highlight: “ChevyS10”

Best Lyric: “Sometimes I think that if I was light-skin/Then I would get into all the parties/Win all the Grammys, make the boys happy” (“NBPQ (Topless)”)

Angels & Queens  – Part I

By Gabriels

Released: September 30

Genre: Soul, Funk

Highlight: “If You Only Knew”

Best Lyric: “There’s something to be said for peace/For the first time in a long time/The face in the mirror is me/Thе calm of the ocean deep/It’s truly divine and sweet/But I can’t liе the pain of you is all mine.” (“To the Moon and Back”)

Being Funny in a Foreign Language

By The 1975

Released: October 14

Genre: Pop Rock

Highlight: “About You”

Best Lyric: “You’re making an aesthetic out of not doing well and/Mining all the bits of you you think you can sell while the fans are on/Whimsical/Political/Liberal/With young people as collateral” (“The 1975”)

The Loneliest Time

By Carly Rae Jepsen

Released: October 21

Genre: Synthpop, Dance Pop

Highlight: “Anxious”

Best Lyric: “What happened was we reached the moon/But lost in space, I think we got there all too soon/But you know what? I’m comin’ back for you, baby?/I’m comin’ back for you!” (“The Loneliest Time (feat. Rufus Wainwright)”)

Over a decade into her music career, Jepsen returns with her sixth album, a strong collection of rejuvenating pop hits. From the cheeky “Beach House” to the energetic “Surrender My Heart”, each listener is bound to find a track that speaks to them.