I don’t know where I would be without music coloring my world and making even the dullest of days more interesting. It’s been a lifelong constant, there for me through every twist and turn as the seasons and years have gone by. If it’s not spinning on my record player or coming through my earbuds or car radio, there is always a tune stuck in my head.
In the spirit of reflection as we prepare to end 2019 and welcome a new year (and a new decade – whoa!), I wanted to share five special albums that have contributed so much to who I am and represent some of the milestone moments of my life as I grew up in the 2010s. Read on!
Born & Raised, John Mayer (2012)
John Mayer’s Americana folk masterpiece Born & Raised was released when I was 15 years old. This was the first “serious” album I listened to that resonated with me in a deeper way, leaps and bounds beyond the Disney Channel pop I had on rotation for so many years before. I distinctly remember spending that summer lying on my towel at the community pool, pink iPod nano by my side, feeling the sun soak into my skin and the wonder and adventure of every song wash over me.
From the wise but brutally honest and self-reflective lyrics (which hit even harder if you know a bit about John Mayer’s career and what led him to make this record) to the instrumentals that feel like wide open spaces, every piece of Born & Raised is a treasure in my eyes. And not to mention it was my first introduction to the folk genre, which I quickly fell in love with! All it took was the line “Joni wrote ‘Blue’ in a house by the sea” from the beautiful song Queen of California. I asked myself who Joni was and one Google search later…the rest is history.
I owe so much to this record for bridging the gap between my early and more formative teenage years, although I didn’t realize it then. It was a steady support for me as I saw reality for the first time, and a breath of fresh air as I reckoned with the sudden harshness and seriousness of the world I was growing up in. And I return to it over & over again whenever I need a reminder to keep exploring.
“‘Cause when you’re done with this world, you know the next is up to you.”
Top tracks: Shadow Days, If I Ever Get Around to Living, Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, A Face to Call Home
Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey (2014)
Did you really think I could write about albums that greatly impacted my life and not mention the queen herself?! I first encountered Lana Del Rey on Tumblr (as I did most indie-alternative artists in the early 2010s), where my dashboard was flooded with GIFs from her Born to Die music videos. Ultraviolence, though, is the album that really sealed the deal for me.
At the risk of over-romanticizing…every track on Ultraviolence is maddeningly gorgeous, gritty, tragic poetry. It might be my #1 album of the entire decade. This was also the start of my obsession with the idea of California as a symbol for total freedom and self-discovery, perfectly personified in Ultraviolence. The subjects Lana addresses – abusive relationships, affairs, drugs, loneliness – are complex spirals that demand to be unraveled, and the longing in her voice draws you into the dark mystery that surrounds them. She made me realize that it was possible to be nostalgic for eras, aesthetics, lives I had never lived.
On a more personal note, this record saw me through a confusing period of highs and lows. I graduated from high school and prepared for the great unknowns that would follow as I started college. I went on late night drives with friends in the summer twilight, faced crushing grief and loss for the first time, and struggled to figure out who I was. Everything felt huge and significant, but also like nothing mattered much at all…Ultraviolence helped me make sense of it.
Lana has faced criticism for being the “stereotypical sad girl” with her early music, but I think that is exactly what made her such an influential figure for me and many others as we wrestled with the heavy stuff of adolescence. Her music made me feel understood and seen, and truly confident in my own skin. Ultraviolence helped me process darkness and pain as part of life, but also taught me to transform it into something I could remove myself from, and that meant the world. It still does.
Top tracks: Cruel World, Brooklyn Baby, Old Money, Black Beauty
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Florence + the Machine (2015)
Ah, 2015…the year I fully embraced my destiny as a hippie, with the help of actual earth goddess Florence Welch! Once again, this album came at exactly the right time. When I was more disconnected than I’d ever been, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful helped me lean into my free spirited and emotional nature and allow myself to feel with full intensity, traits I am thankful for and still growing into every day.
If you know me, you know how sacred Florence + the Machine’s music is to me. This album is so significant, in fact, that I got the symbol from the back cover tattooed on my wrist in 2016 as an eternal reminder of its healing force in my life. I could go on all day about the unique place in my heart that Florence occupies (especially since I’ve been lucky enough to see the band live in concert twice and get the full experience), but I’d get too emotional so I’ll keep it fairly brief. Soothing and soaring are the main words that come to mind when I reflect on the awe-inspiring tracks on How Big, How Blue…these are the raw power anthems you can dance on tiptoe to when you’re alone in your room, cry your eyes out to, shout and stomp and free your wildest self to. What a blessing unto the Universe and all humankind.
Top tracks: What Kind of Man, Queen of Peace, Delilah, Third Eye, Which Witch
Melodrama, Lorde (2017)
Lorde is the hushed voice of the millennial generation, our reflection in the mirror, whispering the unique fears and desires that we all carry but dare not speak out loud. She paints a scene like no one else can, and she paved the way for mainstream indie-pop as we know it today with her critically acclaimed debut, 2014’s Pure Heroine. Many music outlets and fans would list that album on their “Best of the Decade” lists, and rightfully so. But for me, Pure Heroine was merely the introduction…Melodrama was the deliciously messy guts at the heart of the story.
The record also came out when I was a few weeks into a summer internship program in Los Angeles, and it added to the golden honey haze that I was already experiencing every day from living in my dream city. I was deeply moved by how effortlessly the album fell into everything I did, felt, and saw…I tried to paint a picture of my own by writing an end-of-year ode to Melodrama on my old blog, hoping to etch my memories of that fateful summer in stone. Even for someone who’s never gone through a breakup, Lorde sure knows how to write a relatable breakup album for the ages.
Top Tracks: Sober, The Louvre, Liability, Supercut, Perfect Places
Happiness Begins, Jonas Brothers (2019)
I may be on a permanent quest for lasting happiness, but my beloved Jonas Brothers have brought so much of it back into my life this year! After a tumultuous breakup in 2013 (that I never fully recovered from), the boyband kings are reunited and back on top of the pop music industry where they belong! To be honest, I probably would have loved the album they put out regardless of how it sounded because I’m a hardcore fangirl, but seriously…their new music is AMAZING. Even my boyfriend likes it (okay, just “Sucker” and “Only Human,” but still)!
Happiness Begins is the perfect summer soundtrack, with catchy synth beats and heartfelt lyrics and those beautifully smooth Nick & Joe vocals we all know and love. It’s the core Jonas sound, but upgraded to reflect who they are at this point in their adult lives. The upbeat jams and slow, emotional ballads make for a genuinely fun listening experience the whole way through. There’s a reason why JB was my most listened-to artist and the album took up the entirety of my most streamed songs on my Spotify Wrapped! There’s a reason Happiness Begins had I had it on rotation all summer and fall, and whenever I need a boost of energy this winter, you bet I’ll play it on repeat then, too.
I’ve cried, danced, and screamed the words to every song, especially hearing them performed live at the two concerts I went to with my dear friends! For the majority of this decade, if you had asked me if I thought they’d ever get back together, I would have painfully said no. A Jonas Brothers reunion, new album, and epic arena tour was the last thing I expected in 2019, but it gave me the refreshing burst of joy and passion that I was missing for so long. It’s exactly what I needed as I embark on my post-grad journey into adulthood.
Closing out the 2010s with the band whose music has been there for me since before it started….I can’t think of a sweeter ending or new beginning.
Top Tracks: I Believe, Don’t Throw It Away, Strangers, Rollercoaster, Comeback
No matter what music you like, I think each and every one of us can agree that the last 10 years were full of albums we will cherish and revisit for a long time. Here’s to the soul-speaking songs that became my friends and guides, to the artists who helped me find my way as I grew up this decade, and to all the music to come in the 2020s!
Bonus! Here are my favorite albums of 2019:
- Norman F****** Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey
- Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend
- i,i, Bon Iver
- Fine Line, Harry Styles
- The Highwomen, The Highwomen
- MAGDALENE, FKA twigs
- Jamie, Brittany Howard
- Cheap Queen, King Princess
- when we all fall asleep, where do we go?, Billie Eilish
- IGOR, Tyler the Creator