Matt's Books and Music

[This post is part of a large project in which I am going through the popular music released in each year. Please see the note at the bottom of the post re: omissions and limitations.]

Introduction

What a year 2020 was! For some of us, the first pandemic year made it hard to find the motivation to get even the most basic things done. But, Taylor Swift is not ‘some of us’, and she responded by producing two brilliant albums, which brought her into new-to-her genres (folk and indie pop) and new depths to her already generational songwriting. In my rating system, both Folklore and Evermore scored over double the third-placed album, and between the two albums, she claimed seven (!) of the top ten songs of the year. But that also makes talking about it pretty boring. So while Taylor Swift will dominate the rankings below, I won’t say much more about her here.

Aside from the Taylor Supremacy, what stands out most to me about 2020 in music is the beginning of the rise of a new generation of stars. While in terms of the Zeitgest, this emergence didn’t really fully blossom until 2024 (remember, 2023 was dominated by Taylor and Beyoncé, who’ve been around since the ‘00s and ‘90s respectively!), for me this really began in 2020: Phoebe Bridgers and Ava Max came third and fourth in my artist rankings, and Gracie Abrams and Gatlin both had top ten songs for me.

Top 10 Albums

1. Folklore (Taylor Swift): This is the album that made me — and countless other cynical music lovers — a fan of Taylor Swift. The stripped down production of long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff and new collaborator Aaron Dessner perfectly highlights some risk-taking and genre-bending songwriting. I’m not a person who has many ‘no-skip’ albums, but this is one of them.
2. Evermore (Taylor Swift): This is often thought of as Folkore’s ugly stepsister, but, even if Folklore may be more consistently great, for me at least, the highs on Evermore hit harder (”Long Story Short” and “Tis the Damn Season”, I’m looking at you.)
3. Future Nostalgia (Dua Lipa): This was a huge album and I can only wonder what it could have been had we all been able to dance to it in the clubs instead of our bedrooms. The dance end of the pop spectrum rarely gets the credit it deserves, but this is a spectacular album, with five songs making my end-of-year playlist.
4. Punisher (Phoebe Bridgers): If Future Nostalgia highlighted production, Punisher highlighted songwriting in a way rarely seen outside of the Taylor Swift oeuvre. The fact that the album finished so high for me despite only having one song in my top 60 (”Kyoto” at 20) shows just how consistent and solid it was.
5. Heaven and Hell (Ava Max): There’s something to be said for making fun music — especially when times are tough. Highlights “Kings & Queens” and “My Head & My Heart” pushed this album into my top 5.
6. Cape God (Allie X): While this album didn’t quite hit the highs of some of Allie X’s previous work, the sum is greater than its parts, and the album’s consistency earned it a deserved place in the top of my end-of-year rankings.
7. Chromatica (Lady Gaga): I’m far from a Lady Gaga stan, but with three songs in my end-of-year playlist (“Supid Love” (24), “Rain on Me” (52), and “ENIGMA” (59)), I couldn’t not have this album in the top 10.
8. Heartbreak Weather (Niall Horan): If you’d have told me in 2015 that Niall would be the member of One Direction with my personal favourite solo career, I’d have laughed. But his growth as a singer, musician, and artist goes to show just how much a difference hard work can make. This was a sweet album and I wish it had not been overshadowed by the pandemic (in the worst timing possible, it was released March 13, just as North America was shutting down.)
9. Strangers / Lovers (Dagny): Every music lover has a few pet artists whom they love far more than their general fame and success might suggest. Dagny is one of these for me. I just really enjoy what she does.
10. Under My Influence (The Aces): While perhaps a bit uneven, this is a very fun album that shows a lot of promise for a still young group.

Other Albums of Note

• After Hours (The Weeknd): It paints me to say this as a fellow Torontonian, but The Weeknd’s music has never really resonated with me. But the impact this album had is undeniable.
• The Otherside (Cam): It’s hard for country albums to stand out from the crowd for me, but this is a genuinely gorgeous collection of songs.
• Kid Crow (Conan Gray): One of the themes in these posts will be a strange lopsidedness towards female artists, so I feel invested with the emergence of promising male artists, especially in the pop space. This is Gray’s first full album and shows a lot of promise that I hope will one day be fulfilled. (Spoiler alert for 2025’s year-end, but I don’t think Wishbone got there.)

Top 10 Songs

1. “my tears ricochet” (Taylor Swift): There are few forces in contemporary art stronger than an angry and scorned Taylor Swift. This tour de force is as heart-wrenching as it is a shiv to the side of her former label. (Favourite lyric: “And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?”)
2. “cardigan” (Taylor Swift): The final act of Folklore’s ‘teenage love trilogy’, this song beautifully evokes the comfort of being with someone who truly sees us. (Favourtie lyric:”You drew stars around my scars / But now I’m bleedin’”)
3. “long story short” (Taylor Swift): The only true pop song on either of Swift’s 2020 albums, for my money, this is one of the most underrated songs in her extensive discography. (Favourite lyric: “Actually I always felt I must look better in the rear view”)
4. “I miss you I’m sorry” (Gracie Abrams): While it would take another four years for Abrams to hit it big, this beautifully-written song was a sign of things to come. (Favourite lyric: “And I know you said that we’re not talkin’ / But I miss you, I’m sorry”)
5. “exile” (Taylor Swift, feat. Bon Iver): Very few of Taylor Swift’s collaborations stand out for me; this is the clear exception. The feeling of displacement and loss always cuts deep, and the back-and-forth between two estranged lovers who have very different experiences of their relationship hits hard. (Favourite lyric: “You’re not my homeland anymore / So, what am I defending now?”)
6. “august” (Taylor Swift): This first act of the ‘teenage love trilogy’ tells the story of a teenage betrayal from the perspective of the  ‘cheated with’. We often think of Summer songs as being joyful and light; this is steamy and sultry, and devastating. (Favourite lyric: “August sipped away like a bottle of wine / ‘Cause you were never mine”)
7. “betty” (Taylor Swift): The second act of the trilogy tells the story of the foolish seventeen-year-old James as he works up the courage to beg his girlfriend for forgiveness. This is country-music storytelling at its finest. (Favourite lyric: “Slept next to her, but / I dreamt of you all summer long”)
8. “Physical” (Dua Lipa): I mostly gravitate towards songwriting, but there’s a time and a place for songs that just make you want to let loose on the dancefloor. And that’s why Dua Lipa exists. (Favourite lyric: “Who needs to sleep when I’ve got you next to me?”)
9. “Talking to Myself” (Gatlin): I can’t get enough of this standout track from Gatlin’s debut EP. The lyrics may be simple, but they evoke the sense of discombobulation that accompanies a break up. (Favourite lyric: “I got used to your voice / Like it was my own”)
10. “Midnight Sky” (Miley Cyrus): It says a lot about Stevie Nicks that any song that interpolates “Edge of Seventeen” ends up being amazing. Here, Miley Cyrus does a great job of putting a new and entirely-Miley spin on the classic rhythm and chord progression, creating something special. (Favourite lyric: “Fire in my lungs, can’t bite the devil on my tongue”)

Other Songs of Note

Further down the playlist are some songs that are worth mentioning.

• “San Francisco” (Niall Horan): As lovely a love song as you’ll find, for me this was the clear standout from Heartbreak Weather.
• “Blinding Lights” (The Weeknd): You could barely leave the house in 2020 and 2021 without hearing this song. A ranking based on global reach and impact would have this right at the top instead of in the middle like it is for me.
• “Resonant Body” (Maggie Rogers): 2019 was Rogers’ breakout year, but in 2020 she released a bunch of her older unreleased work. This haunting song with a powerful message deserves more attention than it gets.

Most Surprising Inclusion

• “Freak” (Doja Cat): Rap and hip hop are genres that are underrepresented in my lists, so it was a bit disappointing that one of the few entries that made the cut by an artist in these genres is retro-inspired doo-wop. But it’s undeniable.

Notable Song that Missed the Cut

• “Body” (Megan Thee Stallion): This fell juts short of my top 60 but is still one of the sounds of the year.

[Note: It’s of course impossible to listen to everything, so while I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible, omissions are inevitable. For consistency’s sake, I’ve gone with the year music was released, rather than when it became popular. Any ratings or rankings are my own and entirely subjective. This has nothing to do with objective quality but is simply reflective of my personal taste.]