TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2015

2015 was a great year for new music The albums in this collection rose to the top for me and most closely reflects my musical interests throughout the year. 

10. Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

Courtney Barnett turns everyday moments into sharp, memorable songs. Her guitar playing is loud and loose, and her lyrics tumble out like a conversation. She finds humor in doubt and clarity in the middle of confusion. The album feels raw and honest, without trying to be deep. It just tells the truth. 

9. Olafur Arnolds & Alice Sara Ott, The Chopin Project

As a child, Icelandic composer Olafur Arnolds would sit with his grandmother and listen to Chopin. It was the counterpoint to his time spent in various hardcore/metal bands. Years later, after her passing, Arnolds sought to revisit Chopin, but on his own terms. Partnering with German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott, Arnolds blends Chopin piano compositions with original compositions inspired by the composer. Employing vintage instruments, ambient soundscapes, and electronic textures, Arnold has created a gorgeous, contemporary classical work of art that has become one of my favorites.

8. Tobias Jesso Jr., Goon

Goon is the debut album from Tobias Jesso Jr., introducing him as a songwriter rooted in classic piano pop traditions. The record leans on simple, uncluttered arrangements built around piano, strings, and gentle percussion, giving space to his unfiltered voice and earnest lyrics. Themes of heartbreak, longing, and fragile hope run throughout, delivered with a directness that feels unguarded. Drawing inspiration from artists like of Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman, Jesso Jr.’s songs carry with them a timeless quality.

7. Andrew Combs, All These Dreams

Andrew Combs’ debut album, All These Dreams, sounds like it belongs to another time, but it does not feel stuck there. He sings with a calm tone, backed by clean arrangements and smooth pacing. The songs move slowly but never drag. There is space in the sound, and it lets the emotion land quietly. The album draws on classic country and early 70s pop influences but filters them through his own personal lens.

6. The Charlatans, Modern Nature

Modern Nature, arriving nearly 25 years after The Charlatans’ debut, was shaped by loss yet never weighed down by it. The band finds light in rhythm and warmth in melody, with Tim Burgess sounding calm and clear as the songs move with ease. Britpop and psych influences color the record without overwhelming it, and the songs carry a natural flow that feels unforced. The result is an album that plays like a fresh start without needing to declare one.

5. New Order, Music Complete

Music Complete marked New Order’s return to full-length albums after a ten-year break, and their first without founding bassist Peter Hook. The record feels focused and fully engaged, pulling from the band’s early dancefloor instincts while still sounding modern. Synths pulse with precision, guitars cut through clean, and Bernard Sumner’s vocals carry both weariness and warmth. Guests like Elly Jackson and Iggy Pop add texture without distracting. It is not a reinvention, but a reminder that New Order still knows how to move bodies and say something in the process.

4. Natalie Merchant, Paradise Is There 

Natalie Merchant revisits the songs from Tigerlily with more patience and less urgency. Her voice has changed, and so have these songs. They are slower, softer, and more reflective. The arrangements focus on strings and space, letting the words stand out. It is not a trip back in time, but a new way of seeing the same path. The album marks the 20th anniversary of Tigerlily, her debut solo release after leaving 10,000 Maniacs.

  

3. Barna Howard, Quite A Feelin' 

The songs on Barna Howard’s second album, Quite A Feelin’, ruminate on his relationship with home. Now entrenched in Portland, Oregon, many of the album’s tracks immortalize and reflect on the Eureka he once knew, while others focus on the relationships that define his new home out west. Small town life has long been celebrated in country and folk music, but Barna’s knack for capturing his own deeply personal nostalgia resonates in a rarely universal way. Every track on this album is special and it’s one of the many reasons that I come back to this album over and over again.

  

2. Destroyer, Poison Season

Poison Season is the tenth Destroyer album and follows Kaputt, my favorite record of 2011. Where Kaputt leaned on soft rock haze and saxophone, Poison Season uses strings, horns, and loose piano lines to create a different kind of atmosphere. Dan Bejar’s lyrics remain elusive, suggesting more than they explain, and the songs move with a film-like rhythm, drifting in and out of focus.

Bejar has said this is the first record that came close to matching his idea of himself as a singer, and you can hear that in the way the arrangements frame his voice. The record feels both bigger and theatrical without being showy, and full of moments that stay with you even when the meaning slips away.

1. Belle and Sebastian, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance

After nineteen years, Belle and Sebastian show no intention of slowing down. On Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, their ninth album, they embrace a more dance-oriented direction while holding onto their trademark lyrical wit and melodic sensibility. Synths, disco grooves, and touches of electronic production run throughout, but the songwriting stays rooted in Stuart Murdoch’s sharp observations and the group’s knack for rich, tuneful arrangements. The result is a record that expands their sound without losing any of the charm that has defined their music from the start.