Top ten albums of 2020

10. Fontaines DC – A Hero’s Death
9. Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
8. Destroyer – Have We Met
7. Nick Cave – Idiot Prayer
6. Jarv Is… – Beyond the Pale
5. Sault – Untitled (Rise)
4. Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You
3. Run the Jewels – RTJ4
(I presumably own all four of their albums because they were free downloads; it’s fast and aggressive rap, but to my ears refreshingly old skool sounding)
2. Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
(If you like Meredith Monk, you may love this. The title was inspired by a line spoken by Gillian Anderson in the crime series The Fall, in which she played an ice-cold detective investigating a serial killer on the loose)
1. Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways
(Dylan delivers in the darkest of times)

I still listen to new(ish) bands, honest (Color Theory – Soccer Mommy; The Slow Rush – Tame Impala; Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa; Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers; Set My Heart on Fire Immediately – Perfume Genius and YHLQMDLG – Bad Bunny, for example, are also worth hearing), but I’ve been listening to Bob, Bruce, Nick and Jarvis for thirty years for a reason – I love them!

Despite being a bad year for mankind, it’s been a pretty good one for music – I like to think all these albums were produced during lockdown and reflect it in some way, but most were probably created before. Nevertheless, it would easily be possible to compile another list of top 10 albums which were produced during and influenced by lockdown, containing such gems as Taylor Swift’s Folklore, Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now and The Black Hole Understands by Cloud Nothings.