18.

Chairlift - Moth

[Columbia]

New York art-pop duo Chairlift have always proven to be intelligent and forward-thinking with their brand of music, and their third album takes this even further. On Moth Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberley’s symbiotic relationship seems to have developed even further, and thus they’ve created their most inventive, intriguing and best album to date. Musically, Chairlift continue with their multi-coloured, rose-tinted and infectious creations. Their sound is more detailed and textured than ever, making use of sax, horns and various synthesizer patches to build up their glitchy, enlivening rhythms. The result is nothing short of joyous.

Although the stylishness and groove that Chairlift manage to set into every track on Moth suggests that they’re very “cool” and “hip” in the modern understanding of the words, the lyrics that Polachek delivers always bring their songs down-to-earth and make them very relatable. Who could help but be tickled by the call-out to a crush of “Romeo” (“Hey Romeo, put on your running shoes, I’m ready to go). I can never help but choke back a little tear of happiness when I hear the utter devotion of “Crying In Public.” And then the way that Polachek celebrates the beauty of a perfect give-and-take relationship in the prideful “Show U Off,” is just marvelous. I haven’t even mentioned the heady dynamism of singles “Ch-Ching” and “Moth To A Flame.” Throughout the album, no matter what she’s singing about, the combination of her effervescent personality and the music’s undeniable vibrancy is winning every single second it’s on.

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Below you can see my top 50 albums of the year list.

50| Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - EARS
49| Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits
48| Daughter - Not To Disappear
47| The Avalanches - Wildflower
46| Beyonce - Lemonade
45| Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
44| Gold Panda - Good Luck and Do Your Best
43| James Blake - The Colour In Anything
42| Lambchop - FLOTUS
41| Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger
40| Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow
39| Camp Cope - Camp Cope
38| Cymbals Eat Guitars - Pretty Years
37| Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP
36| Mary Lattimore - At The Dam
35| Woods - City Sun Eater In The River Of Light
34| White Lung - Paradise
33| Solange - A Seat At The Table
32| Wild Beasts - Boy King
31| Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
30| Marissa Nadler - Strangers
29| Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat To Earth
28| Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
27| Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.
26| Whitney - Light Upon The Lake
25| Kedr Livanskiy - January Sun
24| Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing
23| Steve Gunn - Eyes On The Lines
22| Pantha du Prince - The Triad
21| Cass McCombs - Mangy Love
20| Cavern of Anti-Matter - void beats/invocation trex
19| Olga Bell - Tempo
18| Chairlift - Moth
17| Mitski - Puberty 2
16| Anderson .Paak - Malibu
15| Underworld - Barbara, Barbara we face a shining future
14| Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat
13| Savages - Adore Life
12| DIIV - Is The Is Are
11| Frank Ocean - Blonde
10| Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
09| MONEY - Suicide Songs
08| Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
07| A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
06| Nicolas Jaar - Sirens
05| Angel Olsen - My Woman
04| Parquet Courts - Human Performance
03| Preoccupations - Preoccupations
02| ANOHNI - Hopelessness
01| Blood Orange - Freetown Sound