Every year I’ve written one of these and every year the introduction is the same old bullshit. Here’s the damn list
20. Utada Hikaru- Bad Mode
We began our year very strong with Utada Hikaru’s beautiful Bad Mode, easily her best work since returning from hiatus. Features a hell of a strong opening run, breathtaking production and two amazing lengthier tracks which are definitely the standouts here. Definitely one of the most beloved J-pop releases of 2022, it is well deserving of it’s spot in the top 20.
19. Haru Nemuri- Shunka Ryougen
Haru Nemuri continues her fantastic run of albums with her followup to Haru to Shura, Shunka Ryougen. While a little long in the tooth, fans will still be treated to the artist doing what she does best, including some of her best tracks to date like the mighty “Déconstruction”, the amazing title track and my personal favorite, “Bang”.
18. Perfume- PLASMA
Perfume’s latest is one of the biggest returns to form of the year, this one’s incredible. Yasutaka Nakata lately has been putting out some of the best compositions of his career, and that is no exception for this record either. A familiar theme kept popping up this year with artist that have been around for a while- and that is that most of their new output has been a return to roots for a lot of them. Perfume here haven’t sound this ‘classic’ since JPN and that really is a treat for fans. This is an excellent J-pop release and definitely my favorite from the Japanese mainstream in 2022.
17. black midi- Hellfire
black midi gifted us with their most baroque and ambitious rock opera to date. There is absolutely nothing negative I can say about the incredible musicianship the band show on this album, which kept surprising me at every turn. Lyrically it’s both hilarious and profound, forever twisting your emotions throughout it’s short but exhausting (in the most positive way possible) runtime. This one’s a definite must hear for fans of the band and might just be the one album for newcomers to slide into their amazing world of experimental rock.
16. Harry Styles- Harry’s House
Yeah baby, Harry Styles on a deadgrandma list! While always respecting his solo output, I’ve never been able to really get into a record by him this much before. While some will argue the influences here are only surface level, I think that it works in his favor and never overshadows Harry himself. And it’s catchy as hell- I found myself coming back to it way more than I expected. For me, this is this years “Future Nostalgia”- a record I went in expecting something pleasant but forgettable but ended up being one of my faves for the year. Lyrically it’s not too deep- but that’s irrelevant when it’s just so much fun to listen to. As the Guardian commented, pretty much every song here could be released as a single and for a massive pop album- that’s the most you can ask.
deadgrandmablog 