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

If 2010 musically felt like it had one foot in the 2000s and one in the 2010s, 2011 felt like a full step into the new decade. Recession pop mostly disappeared, and the year saw decade-defining songs like “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Shake It Out,” and “Titanium,” and the emergence of decade-defining artist Adele. It was also a good year for male artists for me, with male-driven music accounting for five of my top ten albums, and six of my top ten songs.

On a personal note, 2011 started with my life in crisis, and music was one of my coping mechanisms. So, a lot of my favourites from the year are deep cuts acordingly. The thing is, while an artist like Only Son may seem really esoteric now, when I was finding this music, Foster the People and Adele seemed just as obscure. One just never knows how the fates of the music industry will work things out!

Top 10 Albums

1. 21 (Adele): While not her first album, this is the album that catapulted Adele from emerging bluesy English singer to superstar. This wasn’t a warning shot of things to come; it was a bullseye.
2. Ceremonials (Florence + The Machine): I’m not sure any album utilizes Florence’s haunting voice as effectively as this one. It’s also a deep album, with four songs making my best-of playlist.
3. 4 (Beyoncé): I feel like this is an oft-forgotten Beyoncé album, but it’s deep with hits and is deserving of this top-3 spot.
4. Torches (Foster the People): This album is a lot more than just the propulsive mega-hit “Pumped Up Kicks.” In particular, “Houdini” and “Helena Beat” shine with their infectious beats and hooky hooks.
5. Lupercalia (Patrick Wolf): While he’s evolved into a more low-key, outré, indie artist in recent years, on Lupercalia Wolf applies his thoughtful indie songwriting to ‘80s-inspired pop arrangements to great effect.
6. Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay): I did not expect Coldplay to appear on any of these best of the 2010s lists, since they feel like a very ‘00s band to me. But this quirky concept album has some great music on it that I cannot deny.
7. Born This Way (Lady Gaga): There are few greater challenges in the music industry than to follow up a massive album like Gaga had with The Fame. But, led by such inescapable singles as “Born this Way” and “Edge of Glory,” this album proved that Lady Gaga was no one-album wonder.
8. Who You Are (Jessie J): Since Jessie J’s career didn’t take off like anyone expected (some context about which she shares on her strong 2025 album), it’s easy to forget just how huge this album was. But it deserves to be revisited.
9. Collider (Sam Roberts Band): If the last two albums made this list because of their hits, this album from Canadian indie staple Sam Roberts made the top ten because of its depth and all ’round strength.
10. Searchlight (Only Son): Speaking of indie artists, this album from Only Son feels like a throwback to the 1970s twisted to fit twenty-first-century sensibilities.

Other Albums of Note

• Birdy (Birdy): This album of stripped down, atmospheric covers introduced the world to Birdy, whose music would have an outsized impact on the decade’s music, at least for me.
• Prisoner (The Jezabels): Aussie rockers The Jezabels had a real moment with this album, led by songs like “Catch Me” and “Endless Summer.”
• Mischievous Moon (Jill Barber): While she found success with a sound on the intersection of blues, jazz, and Americana, here Barber moves in a more mid-century direction. And, led by the sultry “Tell Me,” it works really well.

Top 10 Songs

1. “Shake It Out” (Florence + the Machine): When Florence is at her best, as she is here, no one can express the deep longings of the soul better. (Favourite Lyric: “And I am done with my graceless heart”)
2. “Rolling in the Deep” (Adele): I remember the exact moment I heard this song for the first time; that’s how good it is. And six months later it had taken over the world. (Favourite lyric: “The scars of your love remind me of us”)
3. “My Body” (Young the Giant): The propulsive percussion and guitar riffs perfect capture the spirit of this song about the relentlessness of the human drive for more. (Favourite lyric: “My body tells me no / But I won’t quit ’cause I want more”)
4. “Houdini” (Foster the People): This oft-forgotten song combines brilliant hooks with lyrics that express the tension between the desire for success and the fear of failure (Favourite lyric: “Focus on your ability / Focus on your ability”)
5. “Pumped Up Kicks” (Foster the People): Every generation has its song that is deeply disturbing but nonetheless an absolute bop. This song, about a school shooting, was millennials’. (Favourite lyric: “You’d better run, better run, faster than my bullet”)
6. “The City” (Patrick Wolf): This song about the pressures of big-city life is even more relevant today than it was fifteen years ago. (Favourite lyric: “Won’t let the city destroy my love”)
7. “The Edge of Glory” (Lady Gaga): Lady Gaga doing her Lady Gaga thing to great effect. (Favourite lyric: “I’m on the edge of glory / And I’m hangin’ on a moment with you”)
8. “Titanium (feat. Sia)” (David Guetta): DJ David Guetta took a song that had been bouncing around a few different artists and sent it into the stratosphere, with Sia’s help. (Favourite lyric: “You shoot me down / but I won’t fall”)
9. “Magic” (Only Son): This retro-styled song benefits from strong lyrics and a soaring strings-laden production. (Favourite lyric: “To open up my hand / And show everything to you — / Magic.”)
10. “Not In Love” (Crystal Castles with Robert Smith): A hard-driving dance cover of a 1983 Platinum Blonde song, this is euphoric. (Favourite lyric: “And we were lovers / Now we can’t be friends / Fascination ends / Here we go again”)

Other Songs of Note

• “Stronger” (Kelly Clarkson): While I’m always impressed with Kelly Clarkson’s talent, I’ve generally been less enthused with the direction of her music. This song, though, is a huge exception. It’s pure, defiant joy.
• “a thousand years” (Christina Perri): While it feels like something more out of the 1990s than 2010s, this song, which was featured on the Twilight soundtrack was everywhere in 2011. And, once I decouple it from the movie, I can recognize that’s it’s pretty great.
• “Somebody That I Used to Know” (feat. Kimbra)” (Gotye): Speaking of songs that were everywhere, this was so omnipresent in 2011-12 that a lot of us got really sick of it. But now that enough time has passed, all the reasons it became popular in the first place are reasserting themselves.

Most Surprising Inclusion

• “Desperate Measures” (Marianas Trench): This was a top-20 hit in Canada, but Marianas Trench has not found much success outside the country. But this song hits hard and, I think, seems to be an appetizer for the more audacious, less ‘emo’ music they’d do later in the decade.

Notable Song that Missed the Cut

• “Drunk on Love” (Rihanna): I have nothing to say about this other than it just didn’t work for me as well as it did for millions of others.

[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.]