Usually, the Western pop category is the easiest list to put together, but this year proved difficult, and it was all I could do not to go on a last-minute listening binge to try and find more albums to bulk up the quality of this list. Nonetheless, despite an absence of heavyweights, and most of the great pop albums sprouting from the debut category this year, there were still some good albums released this year, as long as you aren’t looking for any game-changers.
For example, it is practically redundant to include Ariana Grande: thank u, next is an album you will be hearing a lot of during awards season next year, and for good reason. The album seems to have reached a wider audience than last year’s Sweetener, perhaps because of its dramatic, but relatable story line, or maybe because of Grande’s always immense voice and steadily maturing approach to songwriting. Max Martin still appears on the album, but his influence seems largely absent, with moody R&B taking precedence over hummable hooks. We’ve been spoiled with Grande content so it seems greedy to voice high expectations for her next project, but it’s hard not to anticipate what she will come up with next.
Other female soloists making this list include Maren Morris, who still clings to the country in her country-pop, and Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You, the breakout star of the year, but not Taylor Swift or Carly Rae Jepsen. I’ve already spoken about my ambivalence toward Lover, which has only increased the further we get from its release, but Jepsen continues to rankle me. I have listened to Dedicated many times since its release, and each time it simply fails to spark the same joy as E-MO-TION; maybe my expectations were simply too high. There were enough fun songs on the album like “Julien,” and “Now That I Found You,” to make the honorable list, but not enough to elevate it to the same playing field as its 2019 peers.
Rounding out the list we have a few male soloists, including Post Malone, who continues to fascinate and frustrate, with his almost scary instinct for hooks that work despite bearing very little melody, but whose lyrical content belies any sense of growth or intellectual curiosity. Khalid’s Free Spirit may have been a disappointment to many as a follow-up to American Teen, but I quite like the languorous vibe emanating off of this collection of nap-enhancers. As a compliment, that comes off as back-handed, but I mean it in the best possible way. There are some inexcusable inclusions on this list that I’m loathe to defend, suffice to say they surprised and delighted, and it became increasingly apparent to me as 2019 wore on that that was the best I was going to get from a pop record this year. One of these is an outlier: the Charlie’s Angels Original Soundtrack (not to be confused with its score). Normally, this list would never include soundtracks that are merely curated-collections of pop songs, but I am the lone cheerleader for this year’s fluffy iteration of Charlie’s Angels, which was produced by Ariana Grande. Immediately upon hearing this soundtrack, I knew this would be the best thing about the film, and audience and critical reaction confirms this. Grande co-executive produced this short and tidy little jewel of pop hits which is composed of original material featuring a yearbook of 2019’s most popular from Normani to Kim Petras. This film might have been dubbed Forever 21: The Movie when its trailer came out, but I can’t think of a soundtrack that better captures the roller coaster that is third-wave feminism, for better and worse. It’s not reinventing pop, breaking barriers, or changing narratives, but its bright, cheesy, inconsequential Max-Martin-penned effervescence is something I think we all needed a slice of in 2019 — and I know my 1999-self would have eaten it up. And I repeat: pickings were slim.
Ariana Grande: thank u, next // Red Soda: Decades to Midnight
Various Artists: Charlie’s Angels (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) // Nina Nesbitt: The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change
Adam Lambert: Velvet: Side A // Lizzo: Cuz I Love You
Maren Morris: Girl // Emarosa: Peach Club
Khalid: Free Spirit // Post Malone: Hollywood’s Bleeding
Honorable Mentions
DAWN: New Breed
Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated
blink-182: Nine
Sarsa: Zakryj
Veronica Maggio: Fiender Är Tråkigt
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