Welcome to the sixth part of the top 50 albums of the year, according to the RIFF staff that reviewed hundreds this year. If you’re just now joining us, you can check out parts one, two, three, four and five to catch up with everyone else.

Part six includes rockers Evanescence coping with loss on multiple levels, the more-the-meets-the-the-eye pop of former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham, the still raw but fuller sound of Julien Baker and U.K. hitmaker Sam Fender.

50. Julien Baker

Little Oblivions – Matador Records – Domenic Strazzabosco

Since her 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle, the vices, addiction and sexuality of Julien Baker have featured heavily into her work and are ever apparent on her new album, Little Oblivions. But unlike the previous work, Baker’s newest explores a much louder, sonically wider style, proving to be an outstanding product of both her musical and personal growth.

From start to finish, the album is loud compared to the quiet and restrained sound of her previous work. Where before her voice would glide sweetly alongside her acoustic guitar-picking, the new songs clash and bang, build and swell. Little Oblivions features bass and drums, banjos and synthesizers, and of course, guitar, resulting in her lyrics and singing at times being absorbed in the passion.

49. shame

Drunk Tank Pink – Dead Oceans – Ben Schultz

On paper, Drunk Tank Pink might seem unbearable to some people. Forty-one minutes of some British gutter-punk howling about urban alienation while guitar, bass and drums do their best to imitate a steel mill or a migraine? No thank you very much. Rather get clipped by a double-decker bus. It’s true, shame’s sophomore album won’t be to all tastes. Those seeking something closer to conventional songcraft should start with the London post-punkers 2018 debut, Songs of Praise, whose anthemic tunes and ringing guitar hooks are more immediately accessible. However, listeners whose ears have already attuned to the likes of Wire, Gang of Four and The Fall can proceed directly to the latest LP by those bands’ unkempt nephews.

One key to the power of shame’s music is the howling gutter-punk mentioned above, frontman Charlie Steen. His low, throaty bellow—which is closer to Henry Rollins than to Mark E. Smith or Jon King—grounds Drunk Tank Pink’s clanging, screeching riffs and rapid-fire drumming. It gives the songs’ search for beauty and connection amid the drudgery of city life a vividness that the band’s musical forbears didn’t always achieve. For those willing to hear what Steen has to say, the clanging and screeching will soon take on a rough beauty of their own.

48. Faye Webster

I Know I’m Funny Haha – Secretly Canadian – Red Dziri

Faye Webster consolidates her coveted spot in the indie folk/alt-country scene with I Know I’m Funny Haha. Overflowing with personality, the album has already wowed most of the lucky listeners who crossed its path–including Barack Obama, who included “Better Distractions” on his Summer ’21 playlist. Throughout, Webster mixes irony and sincerity with an uncanny ability to draw lines between and across the two.

It’s near impossible not to succumb to the charm of the impeccable arrangements, the soft glow of the production and Webster’s omnipresent invisible smirk. The mark of a great songwriter, Webster doesn’t have to spell it all out to be understood. Few lines are as simple and impactful at the same time as “You make me wanna cry… in a good way.” Funny enough, there’s a high chance this line might also encapsulate the exact feeling you get when listening to this album.

47. Vince Staples

Vince Staples – Blacksmith Recordings/Motown – Tim Hoffman

Some might think this is a quick one-and-done affair since the album is so short. However, it’s actually a complex and fully fleshed-out conceptual piece of work where Vince Staples looks inward to reflect on his traumatic past and how it informs his character today. It’s a somber atmosphere with semi-ambient and lo-fi instrumentals. Staples recounts how he’s haunted by the specter of gang violence—as he’s both grown wary of and is simultaneously drawn to it.

He raps seemingly directly to listeners on “ARE YOU WITH THAT,” asking us if we’re willing to accept him for who he is as someone tied to street politics. “LAW OF AVERAGES” opens with a sample of a choir performance that begins skipping like a warped cassette tape over muffled guitar playing. Staples raps about how he doesn’t trust those around him to not try and come after his money, especially those who try to posture as friends or lovers. Subsequent tracks explore how Staples feels called back to gang life, despite his desire to distance himself from it. The LP is a brief but honest exploration of the artist’s past growing up in dangerous circumstances, and how those experiences continue to shape him.

46. Leon Bridges

Gold-Diggers Sound – Columbia Records – Domenic Strazzabosco

Bridges’ voice and lyrics consistently deliver comfort and ease. On his third studio album, Gold-Diggers Sound, he further explores the styles of R&B and soul from his previous records while integrating poppier beats and synthesizers. “Motorbike” is both romantic and visceral. “We don’t stop but the time do/ Lovers in another life, let me remind you/ Look back, see me behind you,” he sings. It’s not hard to conjure images of riding through a bustling city while still feeling like the only two people in the world.

The mid-tempo “Don’t Worry,” a duet with Ink, is perhaps the best song here. Running over six and a half minutes, it features verses from each singer’s perspectives, instrumental tangents and harmonizing. Their voices build on and elevate each other perfectly. You can easily picture Leon Bridges building the songs in the studio, wondering big questions about life, then pairing them with a sultry beat.

45. Black Midi

Cavalcade – Rough Trade Records – Tim Hoffman

London trio Black Midi has been labeled as being post-punk, experimental, noise and math rock. It doesn’t quite do the band justice. Cavalcade, plays like a fever dream pressed onto 12-inch vinyl. The band’s surreal, polytonal, ambient and syncopated performance comes across as deeply inspired by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band’s lauded masterpiece Trout Mask Replica. However, when Geordie Greep, Cameron Picton and Morgan Simpson aren’t totally throwing out the rules of common songwriting with conflicting melodies, tempos and esoteric lyrics, they take a more subdued approach on calmer pieces with ample jazz influence to contrast the utter chaos. The album manages to stir minds with subversive songwriting structure and the challenging prose of its lyrical content.

44. Sam Fender

Seventeen Going Under – Interscope Records – Domenic Strazzabosco

Sam Fender wrote Seventeen Going Under through the pandemic as he finally spent more time alone and less time observing those around him. He’s 27 now and within just the first song’s lyrics, it’s clear the album is set out to explore the angst of what 17 feels like and how those years inform the decades to come. He sings of rustling with police, cheap alcohol and a kind of rowdiness that comes from an urge to assert one’s masculinity.

On “Aye,” however, there’s more sensitivity to Fender’s words, which show how coming of age in the 2000s comes with seeing increasing globalization, the domination of social media and seemingly endless political turmoil. He gets personal too, singing about his relationship with his dad on “Spit of You.” Throughout he remains steadfast, never giving up on himself.

43. Lucy Dacus

Home Video – Matador Records – Domenic Strazzabosco

On Lucy Dacus’ third solo album, Home Video, she tells coming-of-age stories pulled from childhood memories. How religion was taught to be cherished, how discovering sexuality was confusing and how teenage relationships felt like they’d last a lifetime. She channels stories of the church and crushes on girls into poetic lyrics, paired alongside quieter tracks with ambient noises and easy electric guitar playing.

Home Video is an achievement in storytelling and nostalgia. Emphasized by intimate lyricism and the unique perspective of a millennial still growing and learning, the songs are penned entirely by Dacus, who also plays guitar, piano and synths on each of the tracks. Her words are conversational, written in long verses and often lacking the traditional verse to chorus structure. Evanescence

42. Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham – Reprise Records – Sam Richards

The first solo album from Lindsey Buckingham in a decade sounds as if it could have been the second disc of the fine 2011 solo release, Seeds We Sow. That isn’t a bad thing at all; far from it. The new self-titled album is full of songs that meld pop hooks ranging from pleasant to glorious with instrumentation—layers of acoustic guitars, in particular—that give the songs a subtle edge while maintaining, even magnifying, their sweetness.

Lindsey Buckingham is a true solo effort, with the guitarist playing all the instruments and doing all the singing. And if there’s a lack of the immediacy of his classics like “Go Your Own Way,” there’s a depth of musicality that hits just as fast. It’s an upbeat, frequently delightful album that, on the surface, may seem a bit quaint. But these songs are more complicated, musically and lyrically, than might be apparent on the first listen. And with most of these songs, that first listen will suck you in, anyway.

41. Evanescence

The Bitter Truth – BMG – Mike DeWald

Lyrically, The Bitter Truth is both a response to the challenges Evanescence faced (the death of family members, isolation, a global pandemic, etc.) and a look at hope on the horizon.

The sound is a cross between old and new. Evanescence is raw and biting, fusing both down-tuned hard rock with the musical complexity of classical music. While these Evanescence songs aren’t the radio-ready anthems of the band’s breakthrough, Fallen, they harken back to the urgency and immediacy of its earliest work. The Bitter Truth is also proof that Amy Lee is simply one of the best vocal powerhouses in rock, to the point where it’s almost taken for granted. Long live Evanescence.

50. Julien Baker. 49. shame. 48. Faye Webster. 47. Vince Staples. 46. Leon Bridges. 45. Black Midi. 44. Sam Fender. 43. Lucy Dacus. 42. Lindsey Buckingham. 41. Evanescence.

The 108 best albums of 2021: 40-31 >>