I don’t need to tell anyone reading these words that 2020 has been a tough year. The last few months have, in many ways, been like living through a nightmare and slowly realizing you don’t get to wake up from it. Thank God, then, for the music. A few major artists delayed their new albums because of COVID-19, but the ones that stayed the course and released their art into this uncertain world have had an unusual opportunity to make a mark as much more than background music. In the depths of quarantine, I certainly used music as something of a life raft, looking to Fridays and new album releases as rare bright spots in weeks packed with bad news, or building huge emotional connections with the records on this list. I frankly can’t remember a year that had a stronger first half in terms of music releases. I guess someone out there knew we fucking needed something good to break the deluge of bad.
My Top 20 Albums of 2020 (So Far)
- Katie Pruitt – Expectations
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Reunions
- Caitlyn Smith – Supernova
- Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
- Ken Yates – Quiet Talkers
- Brian Fallon – Local Honey
- Hailey Whitters – The Dream
- Will Hoge – Tiny Little Movies
- Tenille Townes – The Lemonade Stand
- Mandy Moore – Silver Landings
- Ingrid Andress – Ladylike
- Kelsea Ballerini – kelsea
- Butch Walker – American Love Story
- John Moreland – LP5
- All Time Low – Wake Up Sunshine
- Ashley McBryde – Never Will
- Maddie & Tae – The Way It Feels
- Green Day – Father of All Motherfuckers
- Kip Moore – Wild World
- Steve Moakler – Blue Jeans
Honorable Mentions: Bravely, Field Report, Gabby Barrett, Gone West, Haim, Kenny Chesney, Radnor & Lee, Robert Francis, Sam Hunt, The 1975