Our critic’s picks, from righteous old-school hip-hop via euphoric retro pop to classic American songwriting
1. A Swayze and the Ghosts: Paid Salvation
Ivy League; September
The antidote to 2020 bar none: 12 tracks of guaranteed instant uplift from a bunch of righteous Tasmanian garage punks who banished boredom and torpedoed fear with their debut album.
2. Frazey Ford: U Kin B the Sun
Arts & Crafts; February
More music as functional medicine: Ford’s ecstatic, smeared soul vocals didn’t mask the depth of her hard-won wisdom – or her faith in progress. Equal parts country, folk and soul, this was an album about travails overcome that built its own dulcet world into the bargain.