1. Perfume Genius
Too Bright
The real art pop. Full of beauty and rage, worthy of old-school PJ Harvey.
2. Charli XCX
Sucker
The teen-angstiest pop album of the year is also the catchiest.
3. Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence
The fuck-you record of 2014 is, incidentally, also the perfect soundtrack for crying yourself to sleep.
4. The Juan Maclean
In A Dream
An analog lover’s dream. Loneliness and aging have never sounded more future-forward.
5. Tink
Winter’s Diary 2
A versatile, playful and nuanced singer/songwriter who always sounds like she means it.
6. La Roux
Trouble In Paradise
Punchy and beautifully produced – plus it’s a concept album about the unsustainability of mass tourism.
7. Owen Pallett
In Conflict
This ambitious, sweeping album is also specific and deeply personal – enjoyable on many levels.
8. Dum Dum Girls
Too True
Dee Dee Penny solidifies her rep as a morning-after balladeer to be reckoned with.
9. Tinashe
Aquarius
Big, shiny R&B full of unexpected details. Finally, someone put the bedroom back in “bedroom musician.”
10. Mariah Carey
Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse
Mimi delivers gorgeous vocal after gorgeous vocal on this satisfyingly eccentric album.
