By Lilli Banks
2016 was such a wonderful year for creating, producing, and putting out new music. I was flooded with new albums and singles which made my top two choices for this year quite difficult. I decided that my two favorite albums of 2016 are I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It by The 1975 and Disappear Here by Bad Suns.
#1: I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It by The 1975
I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It is an album compiled of 18 songs. It’s quite a different sound than their debut album. The song has some upbeat songs with lots of instrumentals and songs that tell new stories. Matty Healy, lead singer and writer, has a spectacular vocabulary that creates a picturesque scene for the listener as the music itself creates the atmosphere. The album goes deeper into the writer’s life with his mother’s postpartum depression and questioning his identity, etc. Thanks to the language he uses and innovative uses of instruments, the songs take you to place where he is and puts you in the writer’s position. I find the album to be enticing from beginning to end especially with the way he takes you into his world. One of my all-time favorite songs, Loving Someone is featured on this album. It has become the anthem for the LBGT community, which is quite close to my heart. The song portrays a message that has the entire crowd at a show, screaming the lyrics. I was lucky enough to be one of the people screaming in the crowd after a heavy event in the United States. Hearing these songs live was something I was expecting to be quite similar to the studio album. Since The 1975 use a lot of beats and sounds from computers, I expected that sort of experience. It surely changed my world to hear it live. They created that strong atmosphere on stage which was brilliant to witness. It is an album that truly got me to fall in love with The 1975 and is now one of my favorite albums.
#2: Disappear Here by Bad Suns
Disappear Here by Bad Suns also reigns in my top two albums for 2016. As a sophomore album, some artists tend to change their sound and venuture more. They definitely experimented a bit more, but they were still able to capture the same sound and excitement that the first album, Language and Perspective had. Bad Suns music is perfect for jamming with your friends, your windows down, and the wind flying through your hair. This album kept that liberating feeling that I got with the first album. Disappear Here was the first single released off the album and definitely brought in a new crowd. It also brought such high anticipation for the release of the full album.There is not a single song off the album that I skip or wait for it to end. I was lucky enough to see 10 of the new songs on their Disappear Here tour. I am quite in love with Daft Pretty Boys, Love Like Revenge and Maybe We’re Meant to Be Alone. I was able to ask Christo, the lead singer and writer, about MWMTBA after the show. I grew even more of a love for the song. I hope to hear Love Like Revenge live when they go on their Heartbreaker Tour (there will be a gallery or review for that so stay tuned!). I highly recommend giving this album a listen and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Honorable Mentions:
(some albums were not released this year)
First Impressions of Earth – The Strokes
The 1975 – The 1975
COIN – COIN
The Balcony – Catfish and the Bottlemen
Blossoms – Blossoms
Disappear Here – Bad Suns
The Altar – BANKS
Glitterbug – The Wombats
ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI – The 1975
Wiped Out! – The Neighbourhood
afterlifemagazine.com 