A few of the albums that defined 2019, in a non-exhaustive, unranked list
Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
Having completed a trilogy of sorts with the release of Modern Vampires of the City in 2013, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig confessed to needing a break from music. Amongst other things, Koenig wrote an animated show for Netflix called Neo Yokio that starred Jaden Smith and Jude Law, joined forces with Jake Longstreth for the Apple Radio show Time Crisis that has a cult following of its own, and settled down in L.A. with Rashida Jones to have a child.
The other band members, Chris Baio (bass) and Chris Tomson (drums), likewise busied themselves with solo records and leading lives that touring doesn’t allow for. The lengthy hiatus gave multi-instrumentalist and producer, Rostam Batmanglij, ample time to reflect on his own trajectory, resulting in his decision to leave the band in 2016 to focus on his solo efforts and producing career. The band also signed a big money deal with Sony after a lengthy relationship with the UK’s XL Recordings.
While the departure of Batmanglij could have been crippling given his massive role in shaping the band’s sound, it ended up allowing Koenig & Co. to experiment more. In this case, it meant taking inspiration from jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish, and loosening up their precise style to make room for a more relaxed approach.
This resulted in a record that was unlike anything Vampire Weekend had done before. The lead single, “Harmony Hall,” is a clear standout on the record and not just for its lengthy five-minute run time. In many ways, the track builds upon the sound the band cultivated on songs like “Hannah Hunt.” While not as sparse as that 2013 effort, it bears resemblance in that it doesn’t overdo it with instrumentation, and instead lets Koenig’s voice shine. The production throughout — again handled by Ariel Rechtshaid after his work on MVOTC — is polished enough for insertion into radio and movie trailers, but not overly precious or pristine.
Where MVOTC found Koenig grappling with Judaism and mortality in morose fashion, Father of the Bride sees a more relaxed version that suits the band’s temperament now that they’re all in their mid-thirties.
Other standouts include “This Life,” “Unbearably White,” and the frenetic “Sunflower.”
The National – I Am Easy to Find
Given that they’ve been making music together for close to two decades and have families to raise, the members of The National could have been forgiven for turning in their guitars to spend more time with their families. This is especially true when considering that the dynamic between the band has often been prickly. Being wedged between two sets of brothers hasn’t always suited lead singer Matt Berninger’s style, and his studio feuds with the Dessner twins are well documented.
With their creative wills often clashing, the band contemplated hanging it up after 2017’s Sleep Well Beast, but an unlikely intervention by a third-party ensured we got to hear the excellent I Am Easy to Find.
Long an admirer of the band’s work, famed indie film director Mike Mills reached out to the band in a bid to direct a video for them, but ended up taking on a much more ambitious project.
Fueled by snippets of work that Berninger sent him while touring behind SWB, Mills found himself taking on the newfound role of producer. The director’s creative input and leadership both helped the band feel like they were doing something fresh despite this being their eighth full-length, and kept conflicts between Bernigner and Aaron and Bryce Dessner at bay.
Ever productive, Mills even took it upon himself to write and direct a short film that used I Am Easy To Find as its score. Starring Alicia Vikander as its main character, the film chronicles Vikander’s life from birth till death. In many ways, the film’s acute focus on life’s trivialities that in turn makes them profound has been The National’s own bread and butter since their inception.
While The National have always welcomed the songwriting talents of Carin Besser, Berninger’s wife and former New Yorker fiction editor, they have always been chastised for their distinct maleness. I Am Easy to Find might have assuaged those critics, as it found Berninger often taking a backseat to a motley crew of female singers including Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle, Kate Stables, and Sharon Van Etten. Significantly, longtime David Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey also figures prominently on “You Had Your Soul With You.”
While The National will always concern themselves with a very particular white-collar, middle-class form of malaise, they should be credited for showing such malleability this late in their indie rock careers.
Gunna – Drip or Drown 2
The year was still young when we were blessed with Drip or Drown 2, the best solo effort by Gunna to date.
After stealing the show on Travis Scott’s “Yosemite” in 2018, expectations were high for the Atlanta native’s solo effort the following year.
Signed to Young Thug’s YSL Records, Gunna is a rapper cut from the same cloth as Thugger. Where Young Thug is all about his twitchy, off-the-cuff delivery, Gunna’s monotone flow is smooth as butter.
Seizing on the success that “Yosemite” and other guest features had on the charts, Gunna aims to replicate what made those efforts listenable. The result in Drip or Drown 2 perhaps rivals Young Thug’s own debut album, So Much Fun, for rap record of the year.
Where others might have leaned on guest input, Gunna’s larger-than-life confidence meant he could rely on himself to capture listeners’ attention.
“Outstanding” could be the best track on the mixtape, while tracks like “On A Mountain” and “Richard Millie Plain” closely rival it. Gunna is also a huge fan of lawyers who he praises on “Outstanding,” where he raps: “Went to court and didn’t have to debate, Jewish lawyer that handle the case.” With Drip or Drown 2, Gunna cemented himself as a bonafide star worthy of the limelight.
Clairo – Immunity
As much as they are derided, millennials’ resourcefulness and ability to make their way in a world not geared towards their success is impressive. Nowhere is this more important than in digital spaces, where young teens are seizing upon the valuable creative skills they have and disseminating their work with great aplomb using the internet.
Clairo is a young musician who exemplifies this kind of resourcefulness in her meteoric rise from recording in her bedroom, to being a critically-acclaimed musician listened to the world over.
With her initial Soundcloud offerings featuring a lo-fi bedroom pop sound, Clairo drew an audience of young women who both related to her wide range of emotions, and the limited means of creation at her disposal. Clairo has credited having few tools with fueling her creativity, saying in an interview with Beats 1 that “there’s something so cool about just using your laptop.”
For her full-length debut, Clairo joined forces with Rostam Batmangli, of ex-Vampire Weekend fame. The former member of the indie rock band has helped artists like Lykke Li and Charli XCX reach new heights and Clairo was no different.
Seizing upon her already apparent boatloads of talent, Batmangli added some sonic flourishes that added a new layer of polish to Clario’s beautiful songs.
“Bags” is a great entry point to the record’s distinct form of melancholy, while the whole album serves as a worthy soundtrack to those wracked by seasonal depression during the winter.