Jon’s favorite music from 2020 part 1
Hailey Witters - The Dream
With a voice and style somewhere between Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, Hailey Witters is one of my favorite new country discoveries. The wistfulness in her songs is just so...😭
Kiana Ledé - KIKI
My favorite R&B album of the year. My favorites are the duet with Lucky Daye (whom I LOVED, and was fully robbed on American Idol...*checks notes* 16 years ago), Forfeit, and Feel A Way. Every single song is a full MOOD.
Lady Gaga - Chromatica
A fully welcomed return to her electro-pop roots, with some pretty great visuals to boot. The 911 music video is definitely my favorite music video of the year (the references! The reveal at the end!) And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the BANGER that is the Sir Elton John collab Sine From Above. Oh, and I guess there’s that other collab that everybody had as their most played song.
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
I knew she was a star the first time I heard Last Dance (one of my picks for my fave music from 2016(!)), and Don’t Start Now from 2019 set the bar incredibly high for her, but I was still not prepared by how incredible her sophomore album was. Physical was really the biggest case of Shoulda-Been-Bigger of 2020, for sure.
Vistas - Everything Changes in the End
If I have to describe Vistas with one idea - it would be “Outside Lands afternoon from 2010′s”. This album reminds me of some of my favorite indie (”indie”) bands from that time - The Wombats, The Vaccines...every bands that started with a “The”. Summer got me through a few sunny days where we were stuck inside.