The 25 best Australian albums of 2021 – NME.com

From a faltering vaccine rollout to the stop-start journey back to concerts, 2021 has been an exhausting rollercoaster that no one wants to relive so NME wont try to do that here.

Instead, wed like to invite you to celebrate yet another year of fantastic music made by talented artists out of so-called Australia. Here we have veteran acts still probing new creative corners; ambitious up-and-comers trying to put their stamp on well-worn sounds; songwriters crafting honest and personal missives; and artists chasing joy wherever they scent it.

Heres NMEs list of the 25 best Australian albums and EPs of 2021.

Karen Gwee, Regional Editor (APAC)

Words: Greta Brereton, Nick Buckley, Mikey Cahill, Matt Doria, Alex Gallagher, Jackson Langford, Joshua Martin, Craig Mathieson, Belinda Quinn, Jared Richards, Anna Rose, Andrew P. Street, Caleb Triscari, Doug Wallen, Cyclone Wehner and David James Young

You Am I have kept the dream alive since 1989. That longevity comes down to the bands inimitable chemistry, and nowhere is that more evident than on The Lives Of Others. The album was made in two different cities during last years lockdowns, but despite its fractured genesis, it plays out as You Am Is most astute work to date.

Thanks in no short part to its marriage of compelling rock and dejected narration, The Lives Of Others sees the rockers navigate a whirlwind day in the city, their perspective steered by songs that capture their creative spirit. An easy highlight is Rosedale Redux, a scorcher that bolsters the albums foundation of resilience. AR

Key track: Rosedale ReduxLike this? Try this: Regurgitator, Custard

Ashwaryas debut EP is an enticing pick n mix of pop flavours that leaves you hungry for the next hit. The Melbourne-based singer pays homage to her musical heroes with elements of 2000s pop and R&B, but ties it together with dynamic production that feels uniquely her own.

She moves seamlessly between tracks made for the mainstream (COMIN@ME), breakup ballads (LOVE AGAIN) and energetic nods to her own cultural heritage (BIRYANI, which features Hindi verses and Bhangra drums).

Bold, compelling, and refreshingly eclectic, Ashwaryas Nocturnal Hours is a powerful alt-pop debut that will keep you on your toes. GB

Key track: BIRYANILike this? Try this: CXLOE, Banoffee

After weaving generational trauma into pop for her years-in-the-making 2020 debut album Look At Us Now Dad, Martha Brown focused on the present for its swift follow-up. Tear Tracks is a break-up album, through and through, Banoffee capturing all-consuming obsessions and the most embarrassing thoughts of a break-up and using the trappings of PC Music-indebted electro-pop to channel earnestness.

Working with producers Petro, Ceci G and Charles Teiller, Banoffee creates an album of gentle synth-pop frustrations, letting her (and listeners) feel out and thrash through feelings big and small. JR

Key track: I Hate ItLike this? Try this: Eilish Gilligan, Collarbones

Comprising members from other reputable Aussie acts (Miami Horror and Slum Sociable), Telenova burst on the scene with a firm understanding of whats needed to cut through. Instead of drawing from their past work, this trio have created a trip hop-esque palette with imagery that is conjured up as much in your minds eye as it is in your headphones.

The anchor of the Telenova allure is vocalist and filmmaker Angeline Armstrong, who deliberately chose to spin narratives about outlaws and mystique instead of personal and banal stories of love and heartbreak. Their debut EP Tranquilize is a refreshing change of pace for listeners looking for a bit of cinematic drama in their lives. CT

Key track: BonesLike this? Try this: The Marias, Tennis

A long, lonesome road of personal history runs through Liz Stringers sixth solo record. From her childhood and upbringing, to her sobriety, to her always-the-bridesmaid career as a singer-songwriter, no stone is left unturned. Throughout it all, however, Stringer is undeterred.

Her songs are equal parts heart and soul, backed by resplendent folk-rock and a voice that cuts directly through the bullshit. You can feel Liz Stringer all the way through First Time Really Feeling, from the career-best title track to the breathtaking guts-spill of My History. It aims for the heart, hits the target and lingers in the head for time to come. DJY

Key track: First Time Really FeelingLike this? Try this: Alice Skye, Cash Savage & The Last Drinks

Landing just months after theyd won triple js Unearthed High contest for 2020, Taste Of Me pins Teenage Joans less as up-and-comers, and more as the born-to-be queens of Australian pop-punk, keen as pie to take their throne.

Taste Of Me is a break-up record dont be fooled by the lens of cruisy, carefree coolness, not to mention the booming hooks, soaring riffs, and copious singalong moments. Coupled with colourful production befitting repeat listens see the subtle, sizzling tambourines on Therapist, and all the quirky sound effects sprinkled over Apple Pie Teenage Joans debut paves their way to a bright future. MD

Key track: Ice CreamLike this? Try this: Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers, Mum Friends

Had Open Fire been released before Mike Nogas too-early death, hearing him intone I dont want this body / I dont want this soul over funereal keys would have been alarming; now it sounds painfully prophetic.

Whats worse is that its a stunning album, with upbeat highlights like the driving title track and Little Birdy Big Bears gabble of a lyric. But its the elegiac moments like No Body No Soul and the gentle Breathe For Me that hit hardest. Heartbreakingly, the final lines of the album are If I keep holding on. If only. AS

Key track: Open FireLike this? Try this: Liam Finn, Gareth Liddiard

I need to tell the world a story, sings June Jones on her second solo album. Those stories are incredibly frank, whether shes reckoning with an overdue ADHD diagnosis (Remember) or committing to the hard work of talking things out (Therapy).

Between those diaristic revelations and Joness striking vocal flourishes, Leafcutter dramatically peels away layer after layer of personal truth against a balmy electro-pop backdrop thats all the more impressive for being self-produced on a secondhand laptop. This is an intimate reflection on Joness daily life not just as a trans woman, but as a unique soul striving for resolution. DW

Key track: TherapyLike this? Try this: Ngaiire, Geoffrey OConnor

Jack Ladder (real name Tim Rogers) had a choice before album number six: Look after fans with more sardonic soliloquies, pelvic crooning and night-time boogies like on 2018s Blue Poles, or make a triumphant return to the brooding majesty of 2011s Hurtsville?

Fuck that, he said. Hijack! instead soars on strings from Sam Lipman as Ladder sings over wicked waltzes about characters he met at rehab and, sure, the time he nearly died in the Blue Mountains fires, paralysed by fear and inebriation. He delivers it all with a tired, knowing grin. Single Leaving Eden is a whole new genre: baroque n roll. MC

Key track: American SmileLike this? Try this: Donny Bent, Kirin J Callinan

Jaguar Jonze has sent shockwaves through the industry in the fight against toxic masculinity and rape culture. But equally worthy of headlines is Deena Lynchs brand of art pop, which is gripping, gorgeous and grisly all at once.

Her pandemic EP Antihero builds on the gunpowder grooves and nightclub shimmer of its predecessor Diamonds & Liquid Gold, amplifying the snarling bite of her Telecaster that tears through the mix like a hot knife through butter. Lynch soars overhead with her striking vocals, confidently delivering messages of staunch resilience and fearless self-empowerment. Despite the EPs title, Jaguar Jonze hasnt been reluctantly dragged into the spotlight shes rightfully seized it for herself. MD

Key track: Curled InLike this? Try this: Warpaint, Wolf Alice

One of the fun things about listening to a band with two singers is oscillating between a favourite. Good Mornings Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair politely one-up each other over their sixth major release Barnyard: Parsons draws first blood with the breathy, ennui-soaked Too Young To Quit then Blair squares up on Depends On What I Know, which sounds like the Velvet Underground meets Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.

And on it goes, making for an all topsy, no turvy album of humble indie pop classics and Good Mornings most cohesive work yet. MC

Key track: Matthew NewtonLike this? Try this: Dick Diver, Terry

Since 2018, Tkay Maidza has moved away from the EDM-hype tracks that made the then-Adelaide teen a fixture on the Australian festival circuit. The finale of her Last Year Was Weird mixtape trilogy is a 22-minute victory lap across genres and styles.

Where lesser artists might lose themselves in the mix, Maidza flexes the versatility already on display in Vol 2, freeing herself and long-time producer Dan Farber from overthinking things. Whether its the laid-back piano-rap odyssey of Eden, the neo-soul heartbreak of Breathe or a trap track about besting three Kims Kardashian, Lil, and Possible Maidza makes it sound easy. JR

Key track: Kim (featuring Baby Tate)Like this? Try this: Tei Shi, Princess Nokia

Hiatus Kaiyotes third album Mood Valiant is their most ambitious to date. Balancing the rhythmic skill of math-jazz, heavy funk and bossa nova with slow-burning cinematic strings not to mention ambient animal vocalisations and Casio-esque drum programming Mood Valiants seamlessness almost defies logic.

As Nai Palm pushes her voice to its limits (shes never sung so high or low on any other record, shes said), the thoughtful, precise arrangements evolve, never remaining stagnant. On this record, Hiatus Kaiyote are a four-piece that flow together like water rapids, swelling and eventually stilling in perfect unity. BQ

Key track: Blood And MarrowLike this? Try this: Jaala, Esperanza Spalding

Me And Ennui Are Friends, Baby is difficult music. Unlike the full-band arrangement of its predecessor Please Daddy, the only things youll hear are Sarah Mary Chadwicks sickly howl and her fingers lifting off the keys of the piano.

Chadwicks lyrics are characterised by gentle brutality (Death comes first / Dont wanna talk about the break-up); love is infected by the same wound that it heals: Mothers never love me / Baby, thats why you should. And Me And Ennui is also laced with humour in the sense that Chadwick dangles listeners over the void and tells them a joke right before she lets go. JM

Key track: Me and Ennui Are Friends, BabyLike this? Try this: Mount Eerie, Daniel Johnston

Has any other record so vividly channelled the fragile tensions and underlying fears of the past two years? Gaz and co. mine ready-made nightmare fuel conspiracy theories, tech dystopia, reactionary politics, the pandemic for the sprawling, esoteric noise-rock of their most sonically adventurous album yet, visceral and unsettling in both thematic scope and sonic execution.

Fiona Kitschin and Erica Dunn shine on Suburbiopia and New Romeo Agent respectively, and album three feels altogether like the bands most collaborative affair: a locked-in, symbiotic organism even when the band are at their most experimental and abstract. It may not make for simple listening, but Deep States is a triumph for one of Australias most inventive bands. AG

Key track: G.A.F.F.Like this? Try this: MOD CON, Party Dozen

The Prince of Darkness last two records were a lacuna in his gothic canon, mourning the death of his son Arthur in freeform elegies. Carnage, written and released amid global catastrophe, marries those somber forms with flashes of aggression that havent been heard since Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!.

Carnage is a sermon from Caves lockdown balcony pulpit but rather than being literal, the songwriter channels the apocalyptic circumstances into abstract pathos. Travel might be impossible, he posits, but the transcendence of love, social change, and memory can still be found in the mind.

On this record Cave is both a beat poet lothario Im a Botticelli Venus with a penis / Riding an enormous scalloped fan (White Elephant) and a preacher of eternal love The morning is beautiful and so are you (Balcony Man). Those two modes are mirrored in the instrumentals: a tensile battle between synthetic minimalism and strings, often within the same song. Its his most digestible work in a decade. JM

Key track: White ElephantLike this? Try this: Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders

Indie pop turns sour and brooding on The Goon Saxs third album, as the Brisbane trio document fumbling for meaning in ones 20s. Louis Forster, James Harrison and Riley Jones swap instruments and vocals alike, stoking acute emotional interplay. Soon after Forster resignedly sings Lets just get high again on opener In the Stone, Jones challenges that impulse to disassociate: Do you think its better, not feeling any of this at all?

More anxious and anchored in post-punk than the bands previous records, Mirror II is newly noisy as well, settling into shoegazing dirges amid synth interludes and distorted drum machine. Written in a tiny Queensland share-house after Forster relocated to Berlin (cue a few German lyrics on Bathwater), the album is stilted, angst-ridden and almost suffocating at times. But the trios pure pop instincts havent faded, as proven by Joness intensely dreamy Tag and Harrisons askew outlier Carpetry. DW

Key track: In The StoneLike this? Try this: EXEK, Kiwi Jr.

Yolngu rapper/singer Baker Boy broke out in 2017 with Cloud 9 proudly declaring his Blakness in Yolngu Matha and English. On his joyous debut, Gela, its title referencing his skin name, Baker Boy flexes his voice, artistry and, yes, dance moves.

Danzal Baker celebrates his cultural heritage, Gela opening with the traditional Galpu song Announcing The Journey, performed by Glen Gurruwiwi. Baker also furnishes more party jams in the mould of his carefree hit Cool As Hell the housey Headphones (featuring a soulful Lara Andallo) and the exuberant My Mind (a team-up with G Flip) are two such highlights.

But a defiant Baker also delivers protest anthems. In Survive, with monologue by actor Uncle Jack Charles, he addresses First Nations Australian experiences of intergenerational trauma, while emphasising resilience. Ultimately, Gela extols community and collectivity. It showcases Baker Boy as a pop star with purpose. CW

Key track: SurviveLike this? Try this: Yothu Yindi, Birdz

Life is gory and boring sometimes, Hannah Joy astutely repeats in the final seconds of Middle Kids second studio album. The indie-rock trios lead singer and lyricist aimed to do away with metaphor this time around and instead directly address her flaws and experiences. The obvious consequence of this decision is Today Were The Greatest makes for an honest listen, but it also gives the listener the chance to connect with the record more intimately.

Stepping away from the rocky instrumentation of debut album Lost Friends and follow-up EP New Songs For Old Problems, the band explore a tender new sound to complement the wounds Joy has chosen to expose. Now armed with two LPs that stand securely apart from each other, it leaves us wondering how Middle Kids sound will evolve in the years to come, and what facets of Joys life she wishes to explore next, if at all. CT

Key track: QuestionsLike this? Try this: Spacey Jane, Ball Park Music

Rhinestones plays like a transmission from the spirit world. Standing under a gauzy veil of plucked guitar strings, reverb and gentle whispers, Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang lasso warped fragments of popular music into their orbit.

For the first time, HTRK decided to immerse themselves in the music of others while making an album. The new approach coincided with the launch of Haunted Brunch, their NTS Radio show inspired by a trip to the Victorian ghost town of Walhalla, drawing them to gothic country and eerie folk music.

Rhinestones is also a delicate tribute to live-to-air radio a format that creates a psychic connection between its listeners who relinquish their taste to the whims of the airwaves in a collective listening experience. Underpinning it all is an exploration of the pure power of friendship thoughts of people we once knew that have drifted away, or reconnecting at a time when many of us have been forced apart. Recorded during a time of separation, its an album celebrating that which connects us. NB

Key track: Kiss Kiss And RhinestonesLike this? Try this: Jessica Pratt, Julie Byrne

If you listen closely to Ngaiires third album 3, youll hear an artist that composes from their gut. Vibrant and alive, 3 was born out of Ngaire Josephs return to her home country Papua New Guinea for the first time in two decades. Then after a near-death experience while giving birth, which left the artist with severe chronic pain, Ngaiire gained newfound clarity; with 3, she refused to sacrifice her honesty to a music industry over-represented by white gatekeepers.

Propelled by Ngaiires smoky yet agile voice, these soulful, electric R&B songs often soar into cathartic climaxes. She sounds as if shes digging her heels in, refusing to let anyone diminish or warp her identity, her desires, or her sound. Meticulously planned, complex harmonies sink deep into your bones, warming you from the inside. 3 is a revelatory record about loving hard, surrendering to that love and to the pain that inevitably follows, and, then ultimately, letting go. BQ

Key track: 3Like this? Try this: Milan Ring, Little Dragon

The flatly forthright title of Alice Skyes second album gives you a precise insight into who she is as an artist: uncompromisingly honest and deeply relatable. The Wergaia, Wemba Wemba songwriter sings delicately of the person she wants to be on opener Stay In Bed Im working on myself to get better at it but becomes enveloped by who she really is on Grand Ideas: Everything I have is too heavy to hold / Everything I do feels out of my control.

The entire album ruminates in desertion, loneliness and devotion, over both gentle and grungy guitars with woozy piano and restrained production courtesy of Jen Cloher. But the gut-punches come in Skyes unbound lyricism, which has you feeling every throb of pain she does. She keeps you transfixed with her singular, spotlight vocals, but leaves you emotionally winded with lines like The part of me that hates me really loves you / Enjoy my party trick, Ill break my own heart for you. JL

Key Track: Everything Is GreatLike this? Try this: Lucy Dacus, Sarah Mary Chadwick

Strip back everything a good artist knows and theres nothing left. Strip back everything a great artist knows and youre left with bedrock brilliance.

On her third album Courtney Barnett stood still and took stock of her world, the isolation of pandemic life allowing for both visceral self-examination and the gentlest of yearning. Whether its saying goodbye to a former love on Before You Gotta Go or hoping for a first spark of romantic recognition on If I Dont Hear From You Tonight, the Melbourne singer-songwriter compresses her wry wordplay and guitar melodies down to an intimate essence thats deceptively casual in its unadorned brilliance.

With Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa as her instrumental foil and co-producer, Barnett has found that a single chord or stressed syllable can be the key to unlocking a compelling song. Things Take Time, Take Time is full of such pocket universes. CM

Key track: Take It Day By DayLike this? Try this: Mitski, Jonathan Richman

A floor tom booms out under the rumble of a guttural bass-line. A guitar, electric in every sense, seethes and snarls. A belligerent chant atop the entire fray, to ensure everyone within a 50km radius is well aware that said chanter has arrived. This is the sound of Guided by Angels, which opens Amyl & The Sniffers second album Comfort To Me, but its also something else: lightning in a bottle.

The Melbourne outfit finally have recorded material that captures the all-encompassing intensity of their ramshackle live shows. Comfort To Me is a cocksure and confident record (as on the single Hertz, which buzzes with triumphant escapism), but its also not afraid to show a different side amid the frenzied mosh see the stark, desperate Knifey. We needed to make a whole new thing, the fiery Amy Taylor told NME earlier this year. Higher production and all that, we wanted it to sound fucking awesome. Theyve definitely succeeded. DJY

Key track: HertzLike this? Try this: White Dog, C.O.F.F.I.N.

Boundaries dont exist to Kofi Owusu-Ansah. As Genesis Owusu, he is an artist who thrives in and is liberated by chaos, never once willing to stifle his ambition or his emotion. That unwavering tenacity led the Canberra artist to his debut album Smiling With No Teeth, which is his cathartic and singular response to the intertwining menaces of mental illness and societys deep-seated anti-Blackness.

Steered through his own psyche with the help of deftly chosen collaborators, like Kirin J Callinan and Michael DiFrancesco, Genesis Owusu leaves no punch unpulled and no moment unmilked on Smiling With No Teeth. From the raucous opening moments of On The Move! and the breathless sprints of The Other Black Dog, Owusu bombards with distorted vocals and barrages with frantic percussion. He beckons us to get lost in his internal hall of mirrors with him, staring into the rippling confusion of Centrefold, the funky confidence of Dont Need You, the existential pondering of Gold Chains, the ecstasy of A Song About Fishing and beyond.

As Owusu continues to dance through his own neuroses, he learns over a melange of crunchy hip-hop, crooning R&B, scattered avant-funk and then some the dance is never really over. Smiling With No Teeth doesnt provide the tidy closure other tales scramble to provide, but Genesis Owusu isnt here to give us neat hes here to give us reality. JL

Key Track: The Other Black DogLike this? Try this: JPEGMAFIA, Phil Fresh

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The 25 best Australian albums of 2021 - NME.com