Nubya Garcia – SOURCE
As far as debut jazz albums go, Nubya Garcia’s SOURCE is one of the most complete ans sublime projects of 2020. The London-based saxophonist has been at the forefront of this incredibly exciting UK jazz scene, and seeing her live adds to her incredible aura as an artist and performer. This new project exceeded all expectations, with incredible piano-led moments that are complemented by emotive saxophone leads and rhythmic drumming. The whole project is just exceptional, and Nubya Garcia will continue on this trajectory of greatness, as will everyone involved on this mesmeric project. A joyful and stunning listening experience indeed. Read more
Pa Salieu – Send Them To Coventry
Pa Salieu, one of my Breakthrough Artists of the Year, has come through with one of my favourite UK releases in a very, very long time. Send Them To Coventry is an animated, colourful release with some of the best produced beats I’ve heard in 2020. The way he’s able to flow from track to track, the differing voices he uses and the varied rhythms, melodies and energies throughout are so infectious. I’ve listened to tracks like “No Warnin'” featuring Boy Boy, “Informa” featuring M1llionz and “My Family” featuring BackRoad Gee on repeat since this project dropped, and loud, unapologetically. The composition of the tracks throughout the album are incredible, and for a debut mixtape this project will go down as a timeless classic. He has made Gambia, Coventry and the UK proud, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here. Read more
J Hus – Big Conspiracy
J Hus is a certified UK legend. At this point I don’t think anyone would dispute this fact. Since the release of his timeless 2017 classic Common Sense, the incredible artist has gone from strength to strength musically, and Big Conspiracy is the accumulation of his greatness. Colourul, animated and soulful compositions, hard-hitting and melodic tracks that feels so smooth and poetic. His introspection makes for an engaging listen, but it’s really the dynamic, jazzy and soulful production that makes this a truly amazing listen. It came out in January, and for the last 12 months I have enjoyed the living shit out of this album. J Hus, you are a phenomenon, and I hope you continue growing and thriving musically and in life because you deserve all the love and recognition in the world. Read more
Ego Ella May – Honey For Wounds
Ego Ella May released the smoothest, emotive, and beautiful soul album of the year, hands down. She fully serenaded us with Honey For Wounds, an incredibly textured and personal body of work that sounds as smooth as honey and features some of the softest and most ethereal melodies and textures I’ve listened to this year. It’s an empowering body of work that showcases her range as a vocalist potently. The production is stellar, and the cohesiveness of the album as a whole is what makes it such an enjoyable and ethereal listen. It’s sequenced perfectly, flowing beautifully from track to track. There’s so much emotion in her voice that it’s impossible not to be enamored by her incredibly emotive and powerful voice. A truly amazing body of work from an artist who deserves her flowers. Read more
Moses Sumney – Græ
Yeah, this album is probably the most emotive and powerful piece of music I’ve listened to this year. Moses Sumney’s artistic aura is so incredibly beautiful. On Græ, he grew leaps and bounds artistically, with a masterful body of work that is absolutely stunning throughout it’s 2 disc, 20-track project. The delicate melodies led by emotive keys and synths are so beautifully textured and composed that with each and every track sounds like it’s floating in heaven. The production is also dense with strings that just add so much depth to his music, but it’s incredibly soft, emotive and stunning vocals that make this such a memorable listening experience. The most beautiful piece of music I’ve listened to all year, and a true testament to his artistic aura. Read more
And there we have it – 25 incredible albums that have shaped 2020 for me personally this year. It’s been an amazing year for music despite the awful reality of 2020. To a hopefully better 2021- Happy New Year!
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