James Brown sang “It’s a man’s world.” There is still far too much truth in these words in far too many board rooms, bed rooms, and oval offices. But not in music. In every genre from pop (Beyoncé, Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish) to country (Highwomen, Ashley McBride, Kacey Musgraves), hip hop (Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion) to rock (Sheer Mag, Jenny Lewis, Sharon Van Etten), artsy (St. Vincent, Weyes Blood, Nilüfer Yanya) to folksy (Big Thief, First Aid Kit, Courtney Marie Andrews) to soulful (Solange, Janelle Monea, Brittany Howard), women have dominated my Spotify account. Some men creep in towards the bottom of this list, but my favorite albums this year all belong to women. I’m hoping this trend will spread to presidential politics. Lizzo / Cardi B 2020?
1. Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
On NFR! Lana longs for pristine couples smiling and sipping Cherry Coke on white yachts, Lauren Canyon parties, and convertibles cruising the PCH while the Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash sing about summer parties and snowless Decembers. Instead, she finds blood on the walls while summer fades and a slew of wannabe poets, unfaithful boys, Bowery Bums, serial killers, and a blonde Kayne West livestream on her iPhone. It’s hard to listen to this album and not yearn for the white-washed watercolored nostalgia of Norman Fucking Rockwell. (Side note: This is the first, and probably last time, that I agree with Pitchfork).
Song pick: hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have (but I have it)
2. Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
For decades, patriarchs, neighbors, movies, magazines, advertisements, and even plastic dolls have been telling women what they should look like and how they should behave. Lizzo don’t give a fuck. Yes, Barbie, Dove, and Aerie have tried to push back against the Victoria Secret bodyopoly, but their messages feel like poodles facing a pack of Rottweilers. Songs like “Juice,” “Soulmate,” “Tempo,” “Lingerie”, and “Like a Girl” (which, not incidentally, evokes an ad campaign for tampons) are wolves in this dogfight.
Song pick: Juice
3. Britney Howard – Jaime
Between Jaime and Sound and Color, her 2015 release with the Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard has made two of my favorite albums of the decade. Like Sound and Color, there are no wasted notes on Jaime. The roots to soul, funk, r&b, rock, and country are strong, but Howard repackages them to make a sound that is all hers.
Song pick: Georgia
4. Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
Once I was able to get beyond the excessive strings (I rarely tolerate more than one bow per song), I started to see the big wide open spaces, and questions, Weyes Blood ponders on Titanic Rising. The lyrics remind me of Martin Buber and “Everyday” reminds me of Elliott Smith, but Titanic Rising has its own feel – a perfect soundtrack for staring up at the heavens on a quiet, moonless night.
Song pick: Andremeda
5. The Highwomen – The Highwomen
Willie, Waylon, Kris, and Johnny, the original Highwaymen, are four of my favorite musicians. On this album I like Brandi, Amanda, Natalie, and Maren even better. The title track, “Highwomen” rewrites a dirge for working class men as a tribute to women persecuted for being freedom riders, preachers, witches, and refugees. “If She Ever Leaves Me” is a beautifully written and performed country song about anxiety, love, and heterosexual hubris. My favorite track, though, might be “My Name Can’t Be Mama” which complements Brandi Carlile’s 2018 track “The Mother” in documenting the ambivalence that most (if not all) parents feel but rarely (if ever) speak aloud.
Song pick: Highwomen
6. Craig Finn – I Need a New War
Craig Finn’s songs have been inspiring me since I first heard him sing about Boys and Girls in America with the Hold Steady. We lifted our band’s name from his lyrics, so it’s no surprise that her routinely occupies a spot on my year-end-favorite-lists. The characters in Finn’s songs have aged from townies smoking joints beneath the underpass to disabled war vets with unpaid electric bills, but his lyrics are still as real and poignant as ever. Finn also released one of my favorite singles, which, although not on I Need a New War, perhaps explains his transition from the boisterous Hold Stead rock anthems to his more somber solo work: “Punk is not a fair fight.”
Song pick: Magic Marker
7. Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka
Kiwanuka is sort of a male-version of Brittany Howard’s Jaime. The lyrics are personal and spiritual, while the music is rootsy yet eclectic (and never derivative). Kiwanuka is a solid follow-up to 2016’s Love & Hate, which was probably my favorite album of the decade.
Song pick: Living in Denial
8. Orville Peck – Pony
A masked, gay Sub Pop recording artist singing Cowboy ballads in a Roy Orbison drawl? Sign me up.
Song pick: Queen of the Rodeo
9. Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee
I thought that 2011’s Stone Rolling was a big step up for Saadiq, and I like his first album since then, Jimmy Lee, even more. This is what I imagine Curtis Mayfield would sound like today if his sound continued to evolve after Superfly.
Song pick: The World is Drunk
10. Lillie Mae – Other Girls
There was something familiar about this album that I couldn’t quite place until I read that Lillie Mae plays with Jack White’s touring band and records with his Third Man label. Much like White’s recordings with Margo Price or Loretta Lynn, the songs on Other Girls blend modern sounds with familiar melodies and timeless stories. I especially like the opening track, “You’ve Got Other Girls for That,” probably because it reminds me of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”
Song pick: You’ve Got Other Girls for That
Want More?
You can listen to tracks from these albums as well as some of my other favorite music from 2019 on Spotify.