The Top 25 Albums Of The Year So Far

It's hard to believe that we've already knocked down six full months of 2015 — in fact, some of the albums that made this list last year still ring fresh in our brains — especially considering the sheer number of records that have already made their way across our desks and through our speakers and headphones since the year began.

Still, among the countless hours of music we have consumed over the past six months, some albums rose above the others to stand out from the pack — some effortlessly, some unexpectedly, some for their sonic revolutions and revelations, some for their significance, and some due to a combination of several or all of the above — and beyond.

As such, we've done our darnedest to pinpoint the full-lengths from Down Under and abroad that have so far defined 2015 for their own reasons. Of course, by its nature, it's an imperfect list, and we're sure you'll have some mighty strong opinions of your own, but here it goes: The Music's top 25 albums of the year so far (in alphabetical order)…

"Underlying old-style rhythm & blues and soul elements are allowed more rein."
— Ross Clelland

It hasn't taken long for US roots outfit Alabama Shakes to… well, to take root… in our brains — they've only been around since 2009 — but they were assisted especially so by their triumphant shake-up of a second studio full-length, Sound & Color, when it dropped back in April.

And, boy — it's a thunderous demonstration of the unique synergy achieved by the underlying parts that buoy vocalist Brittany Howard, who unequivocally possesses "one of those voices that comes straight out of her guts and heart and nails you to the wall".

Nail us up, then — this band is only going to continue to get better.

"Even those who have previously had a taste of Wonderland will once again involuntarily find themselves overwhelmed."
— Dylan Stewart

Jaysus, hasn't it been a year for local upstart Alison Wonderland? A warehouse party tour, a triple j feature album spot, an acclaimed debut album… we're honestly exhausted just reading about it.

And, moreover, she's been nailing it at every single turn. Run, the aforementioned first LP, is a remarkably mature set of songs from an Aussie artist who has not even yet begun, akin to a sonic drug trip where you don't wake up feeling shitty about yourself, while "undeniable youthfulness drips from every beat, every note and every lyric".

With influences from reggae to pop all interwoven into Wonderland's eclectic tapestry, you'd be doing yourself a disservice to simply assume all the machines have remotely impacted the album's warmth. Plus, she's absolutely killer live.

"The ugly bastard child of a fleeting tryst, 'Sour Soul' is a hip hop one-of-a-kind."
— Darren Collins

We'll be honest — we were probably as surprised as BADBADNOTGOOD themselves that their collaborative album with Ghostface Killah ever made it out into the world, and even more so when it turned out to be actually really good.

Here, the Canadian trio take their experience in minimalist electronica and deep jazz backgrounds and use them to full complementary effect  in line with Ghostface Killah's honed hip hop sensibilities, all components meshing seamlessly into a confronting, sometimes confusing, always contemporary, soundscape.

All up, Sour Soul is a remarkable exercise in compromise and confluence, and one you'd be silly to miss. 

"'I Just Can't Live Like This Anymore' is a self-deprecating shrug … concluding 'I'm getting older, but not any wiser.' But, yeah, he is." — Ross Clelland

Queensland-based musician Ben Salter is a rare class of troubadour, one who genuinely seems to emanate creativity at an almost tangible level. In addition to his renowned work with beloved local throwback outfits such as The Gin Club and Giants Of Science, Salter has kept an ever-present eye on his own pursuits, and with The Stars, My Destination, we get to reap the benefits.

Coming five years after Salter's previous full-length, his new work is full of personality and introspection — though the artist himself would contest that his latest batch of songs is "less personal" than perhaps we're used to — permeated, our reviewer says, "with a feeling of unsettled moving on or away". Also palpable is the sense that Salter is striving for something — emotionally, musically, intellectually — and the realisation that, with this assured release, he must have come excruciatingly close to finding it.

"Barnett has shrugged off the pressure and stuck to her guns with compelling results — all that sitting and thinking has paid handsome dividends." — Steve Bell

If 2015 doesn't go down in Aussie music history as The Year Of Courtney Barnett, then we are about to see some seriously unprecedented shit because, let's face it, Barnett's has been the 2015 to beat so far.

In and around the release of her universally acclaimed debut full-length, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett has seen her star rise exponentially at home and abroad — from wowing Ellen DeGeneres and smashing SXSW to dominating Aussie and US charts, nailing it on tour and popping up on Channel Seven, Barnett has been simply unbeatable in her upward trajectory since the beginning of the year. 

And, while the refreshing brand of diary-esque, witty talk-rock found on Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fool's errand to try and act like she hasn't made an indelible impact these past six months especially. 

"Rife with earworm melodies and slow-blossoming pop hooks."
— Steve Bell

Straight from the horses' mouths, Hot Ones is the best thing that Queensland veterans Dollar Bar have put out in 17 years together, bassist/vocalist Patrick McCabe telling The Music earlier this year: "I think it's one of those records that encapsulates well all of the stuff that a band has done so far".

In Dollar Bar's case, that's quite a bit — they were a prolific fixture of Brisbane's underground scene in the late 1990s, after all — but that doesn't mean Hot Ones reads like some haphazard mix-up of decades of disparity; rather, the album's cohesive, irreverent aesthetic amounts to "their most imperative offering since 2004's killer eponymous debut".

For the past six albums — from 2011's Save The Planet, Kill Yourself through 2013's Holo Pleasures — Mat Cothran has steered the Elvis Depressedly ship towards some pretty downcast waters, trading in sadness and heart-worn sleeves with the natural grace of foregone sad men such as Mark Linkous and Jason Molina, to the point of occasionally being actually concerning.

However, on LP #7, New Alhambra, the SS Elvis Depressedly has veered somewhat off-course, in the best possible way; though intermittent downtempo elements, reverb lust and preference for the lower end remain, there's a pop sensibility — and inevitable optimism — that shines through its all-too-short run time (only one song clocks in over the three-minute mark). Regardless, the band themselves describe the album as "an end times prophecy", one they hope "helps you to reflect on your life as we all prepare for the inevitable judgment of the world".

Hmm — maybe things aren't so different after all. Either way, New Alhambra carries some of the year's finest lo-fi-emo-pop on its shoulders and, despite the band's restricted renown Down Under, you'd do well to share the load.

"Harris' trademark harmonies stick like Tennessee honey to Crowell's sweet bourbon tones."
— Nick Atkins

Currently on-tour Down Under (one show to go!), veteran musicians and collaborators Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell prove that age is no barrier to remaining on top of one's game well after hairs have started greying and growing in odd places (really, ears?).

This time around, Harris and Crowell have taken their well-honed chemistry and pushed it even further, the former telling The Music that, although she's usually happy to simply sing other people's songs, "The one thing that Rodney really had in mind was that he wanted me to contribute more writing, and that we would write together."

It's a change — slight though it is — that has paid off in a big way, the pair complementing each other with aplomb on this, their second full-length collaboration. Six of the album's tracks are written especially by Harris and Crowell for the album and, as reviewer Nick Atkins put it, "when such strong production, songwriting and vocal talent are all in abundance, it's hard to come up with a dud." He's not wrong.

"The band has received many comparisons, but no one else is making music this earnest." — Roshan Clerke

Sydney-bred buzz act Gang Of Youths have already knocked over a national tour this year, and they've got an epic regional run of shows on the horizon — but that's to be expected when you're a band that has put out a debut album as venerated as The Positions has been since its release.

And, in some ways, it's completely unsurprising that the band's first LP has done so well — it is, after all, a simply stunning, incredibly evocative affair, tapping deep into frontman Dave Leaupepe's personal experience of his four-year relationship with a terminally ill woman to create "some of the most empowering sentiments to be found in modern rock music" that we've heard this year.

Hopefully, putting together album #2 won't be quite as emotionally trying — Leaupepe has earned that much at least after letting us all in so openly on the band's debut effort.

"The wait for this second effort has most certainly been worth it." — Kane Sutton

It's unarguably something of a Golden Age — or perhaps a Renaissance, to avoid accidentally disrespecting the outfits of eras gone by — for Aussie punk, at right at the forefront are Adelaide outfit Grenadiers.

The band's year got off to a cracking start with a triple j feature album spot in January, a top-20 indie charts debut the following month, and a ream of successes in the months since. Summer, Grenadiers' second album, might come a full five years after their excellent debut, 2010's Songs The Devil Taught Us, but the band have used the intervening time to their advantage, upping the collaborative nature of the creative process to achieve their newly assured soundscape.

That said, Summer wrestles with themes that belie its comical cover and simplistic title — as member Jesse Coulter told The Music: "After about five songs' lyrics were down, I started to realise there was this theme of alienation and aching to be a part of something while also feeling completely separate from it". Heavy stuff, but not so much that you won't enjoy — or, hey, relate to — the songs therein.

"The record has a continuous flow, as the music within is drool-inducing and will leave you glassy-eyed."
— Jonty Czuchwicki

Another Aussie act making considerable waves across the ocean, the neo-soul-meets-weird-funk of Hiatus Kaiyote is a rare example of a local band possibly being even bigger overseas than they are at home — and, frankly, that's our own misfortune.

Not that the band has remotely let that get in their way — from a dominant performance at the "clusterfuck" that was SXSW to making themselves known on the American charts, Hiatus Kaiyote are flying high at an international level that continues to elude even some of the most veteran of their peers.

Part and parcel of that worldwide success is undoubtedly owed to the thoughtfully constructed Choose Your Weapon, a "dreamboat of an album fuelled by sonic satisfaction" that is sure to leave you scrambling just to make sure you've heard every instrument, every note, every silence that emanates from its multi-layered, polyrhythmic blueprint.

"Even within individual songs, there's never any stagnation … 'Earthwalker' was no flash in the pan, and that In Hearts Wake are the real deal." — Dylan Stewart

In Hearts Wake surprised us all with their unexpected follow-up to 2014's Earthwalker, so it's not a fallacy to say that nobody really saw its success coming — at least, before we'd heard it.

Once Skydancer made its way through our speakers, though, it became plain as day that this was a special album — and it showed in every way, from its triple j feature status to its accompanying video game, massive national tour and top-two charts debut.

The fact that In Hearts Wake had to contend with the departure of drummer Caleb Burton only heightens the scope of the achievement, which rings out as proof that this band remain as impressive and intimidating as they've ever been.

"Mainstream hip hop … needed a saviour and, not to put too fine a point on it, that saviour is Kendrick Lamar." — Darren Collins

We were gifted To Pimp A Butterfly, from US-based hip hop luminary Kendrick Lamar, a week before it was due back in March, and to be honest we're super-glad we had those extra seven days with this record, the eagerly awaited follow-up to 2012's acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Against the dying soul of mainstream hip hop, Lamar hit us with a shock-and-awe campaign of brutal, no-punches-pulled missive "dripping in raw anger, sadness, love, hate and courage". What some saw as pretension, others saw a revolution — an audio Book of Revelations, even — resulting in our reviewer at the time putting in an early call for album of the year.

While we're not so assured of the remaining six months of 2015 to pre-emptively give it that title, it's undeniable that To Pimp A Butterfly gave the hip hop landscape a much-needed shake-up on release, and has far and away been one of the most culturally impactful albums so far this year.

"Ronson is the master of splicing together a genre's most prominent sounds to form a hyper-version of it and, here, a masterful funk-disco record." — Sevana Ohandjanian

OK, if we hear Uptown Funk one more time, we are liable to make Bruno Mars eat his own tiny hat — but there is so much more going on on Mark Ronson's excellent Uptown Special that it would be unfair to wholly define this release by its (for better or worse) wildly successful lead single.

Indeed, despite his hit song's brightly coloured, upbeat aesthetic, the Splendour In The Grass-bound superstar (who also has some sideshows lined up, what whattt) has actually presented a full-length dressed in mellow sophistication, a continued demonstration of his ever-evolving talents and interests.

And, oh, god, the guest list — from the aforementioned Mars to Aussie rocker Kevin Parker and the simply legendary Stevie Wonder, Ronson has gathered an impressive list of collaborators to bring Uptown Special into a league of its own.

"Stripped back, without the rambunctious, infectious rhythms of his brilliant band, his vocal is as tender, as pure, as questioning as Antony Hegarty or Jeff Buckley." — Dylan Stewart

If you like hats, thinkin' about things and old-timey sensibilities all tied together by considered instrumentation, remarkably heartfelt lyrics and utterly sublime vocals, then Marlon Williams' self-titled album may be just what your ears are looking for.

From humble roots across the ditch, through school talent quests and menial jobs to hopping Down Under to take up residence in Melbourne, it's been a long haul to where the singer-songwriter has found himself this year, but he's been greatly aided by the mature sounds emanating from his debut solo full-length.

This is largely because, despite overt influences and references to the countrified sounds of yore, Williams has managed to tap the zeitgeist of "right now" to craft, ironically, an essentially timeless record, "at times impossibly fun, at others bone-achingly beautiful".

"A distinctly Australian body of acoustic pop music that reaches for the decades rather than the years." — Roshan Clerke

Alex Gow has been captaining the Oh Mercy ship for quite a while now, and it may take a little while between drinks, but it's evident that he and his co-conspirators use every second to their advantage.

After all, the band's fourth studio full-length, When We Talk About Love, has been heralded since its release as an excellent demonstration of the seemingly boundless creative reserves in Gow's possession, "this time delivering a slice of pure pop perfection inspired by the lush and deailed music of the '60s".

The album's depth is reflected in its performance, too — Oh Mercy stepped out with the highest Australian debut on this past weekend's ARIA Charts, while an impending slot at Splendour and headline tour dates await to give fans a chance to hear its excellence in the live arena.

"Their interplay and the group dynamic as a whole are intriguing and magnetic, and … leaves one with an insatiable need for repeat spins." — Tyler McLoughlan

Pearls' consistently upward trajectory really began in the dying months of 2014, when they signed with Dot Dash/Remote Control Records ahead of this year's release of Pretend You're Mine — but it's not even close to slowed down, much less stopped, since then.

Not only have Pearls so far added the annual Reclink Community Cup to their CV, but they have well and truly asserted themselves as an essential mainstay of the Aussie live scene, their overarching sense of "saccharine glam" and boundless ream of "hooks as sleek as their creators" doing much to inform the band's live performances.

On record, it's no different — Pretend You're Mine simply shines as an alt-pop gem made all the more impressive for its status as their very first full-length offering together. And the undeniably communal vibe — found throughout in the shared vocals of their three members — doesn't hurt.

"The music is sparse and subdued for the most part ... but it's Keyes' lyrics that dominate proceedings." — Steve Bell

Sunnyholt is Aussie singer-songwriter Perry Keyes' fourth studio full-length, and a concept album, at that, but isn't really a standalone concern. After all, a second part to the tale of "an extended family fighting for a decent life … in the working-class western suburbs of Sydney" is due this year in the form of follow-up record The Great Western Highway — but that doesn't mean that Part One isn't able to rest on its own merits.

Indeed, within the winding musical and lyrical narrative woven by Keyes across his excellent new record is an effortless, evocative central thread, while his vivid descriptions and depictions of real-life Sydney scenery and Australian culture is as intricate as it is refreshing.

Simply put: it's powerful stuff.

"The album seems more structured than their previous work, and it's easier on the ear — it's going to open up a whole world of potential new fans for POND." — Kane Sutton

As world-beating as Tame Impala is, you couldn't for a second pretend that psych offshoot POND isn't garnering an almost equally impressive international reputation.

Not only are they apparently loved in Argentina, the band kicked off their year with the news that new full-length Man It Feels Like Space Again had made an impressive impact on the UK albums chart, confirming that both our friends in South America and the motherland now realise what Aussies have known for ages: POND are an act well worth time and effort (and, honestly, just wonderful people to interview), regardless of any fancy pedigree they might possess.

It might have dropped in January, but our reviewer's sentiment still stands with respect to this record: "The rest of 2015's releases are going to have a hell of a lot to live up to." Let's see what you've got, second-half.

""Without wanting to alienate their fans, Purity Ring take these steps towards accessibility on their own terms." 
—  Guido Farnell

Another act destined to wow Aussie crowds at Splendour In The Grass and some sideshows next month, Purity Ring's ascent has been simply remarkable from go to — well, we're nowhere near "whoa".

Indeed, even in praising new release Another Eternity, our reviewer gushed of the pair's 2012 debut Shrines that it was "almost perfect", and yet, astoundingly, the band has managed to never feel like they've fallen short in its wake.

Perhaps that's something to do with songwriter Megan James' somewhat detached approach to her craft ("Writing is a way that I can perceive myself from a bird's-eye view," she told The Music)… or maybe she and collaborator Corin Roddick just have truly boundless chemistry.

"Ruby Boots' ability to draw from a number of roots music styles is what cements 'Solitude' as a benchmark release."
— Chris Familton

Flame-haired West Australian songstress Ruby Boots — aka Bex Chilcott — has had something of a slow-burn journey to her present place of prominence but, really, following her signing to Lost Highway in January this year, we should've seen her meteoric rise coming a long way off.

This is especially so considering the undeniable quality of her debut full-length, Solitude, which was heralded with an expansive national tour in May following its April release and arrived as a wholly realised package well informed by several years cutting her teeth on the live circuit (and in our offices) and through a handful of EP and single releases prior.

The ultimate result is a highlight of the year so far, "the ups and downs of real life encapsulated in song", all drawn together through deep emotion, a thematic dichotomy of strength and frailty and an inescapable sense of character — and so much more.

"Shamir's instantly likeable debut proudly aims to show us a blinding good time." — Guido Farnell

We know that, of all the entries on this list, 19-year-old Shamir has the potential to be one of the most polarising, if not the most.

His hyper-colourful aesthetic, androgynous voice and ultra-eclectic aural influences make the up-and-coming artist something of an unexpected star, but he has nonetheless been knocking down pins pretty much every direction he's turned since debut EP Northtown, so it can't have come as that much a surprise when his first full-length Ratchet dropped and knocked our socks off.

It's a versatile, energetic, euphoric, reckless and youthful listen, and carries all the strengths and weaknesses therein, but the fact that it's so sharply designed to make you feel something — anything — reinforces the album's conceit that "life is for living and not drifting away to all the mellow fluff that's currently passing for popular music". Amen.

"'No Cities To Love' should be held up as the templaten for a band reconvening and reigniting." — Chris Familton

It's been a mammoth year for '90s revival acts, as old-guard bands awaken from long periods of dormancy to reap the benefits of new fans and new technologies denied them during their prime, and at the very front of that charge was iconic riot grrrl/indie-rock pioneers Sleater-Kinney.

Enter, in January, No Cities To Love, the trio's first new work in nine years and, in drummer Janet Weiss' own words, an impetus to "deliver the best versions of ourselves to this band".

"We figured, 'Why come back unless we're going to make a great record?' — that was the thought," she told The Music, and — lo and behold — they managed to meet their own goal and do exactly that.

"She delivers her vocals tenderly and layered with reverb … the thoughtfulness and space within each track marks SOAK as unique." — Dylan Stewart

SOAK, known to her mum as Bridie Monds-Watson, is a rare and wonderful musician, one whose physically diminutive frame belies her considerable presence, a fact made clear by her remarkable emergence as an act to watch less than five years into her professional career.

Hailing from Northern Ireland, SOAK became a fixture of our listening repertoire with her dominant debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, back in May. Even before its release, though, we were chomping at the bit for some full-length recorded work from the Shovels songwriter, having already been spellbound by the 18-year-old's mature and polished live performance.

Before We Forgot How To Dream is an album that balances minimalism with lush sonic flourishes — not always successfully — but its scope and ambition, not to mention what it suggests for the immediate future of SOAK's musical journey, more than make it a worthwhile contender among this field of standout releases.

"There's not too much angst on display across … 'Range Anxiety', a gentle progression from Twerps' 2011 debut." — Steve Bell

Melbourne indie-rock icons Twerps returned early this year with their second studio full-length, Range Anxiety, though we'd been gifted some sneak previews since late last year so when it did drop in January, its excellence was not exactly shocking — but, nonetheless, was still a welcome release.

It wasn't long before the masses started agreeing, either — by the time they hit Sydney, in May, they were playing to a packed-out room on consecutive evenings, rising above singer Marty Frawley's "self-diagnosis of the early stages of laryngitis" to infect everyone present with a totally different kind of disease, one that you should have no qualms about catching and, moreover, appears to be totally incurable.