This Isn't Just THE Album Of 2020, It Will Be Among The Best Of The Decade

When Miiesha's Nyaaringu was released in May this year, The Music reviewer Cyclone said that it "has to be a contender for 2020's Australian Music Prize". It was an early call on the album but an entirely accurate one. 

Why you ask? Well, for the first time ever on this list, an artist has beaten Tame Impala to the #1 spot for The Music writers' album of the year - such is the power of Miiesha Young and her stellar debut. 

It's been a triumphant 18 months for the Pitjantjatjara and Torres Strait Islander woman from Woorabinda, Central Queensland. Last September she appeared at BIGSOUND and within weeks of the event, she signed a deal with EMI Music Australia.  

Just over a year later, she secured her first-ever ARIA, taking out Best Soul/R&B Release (beating the likes of Genesis Owusu, KIAN, Tash Sultana and Tkay Maidza in the category). 

"I hadn’t quite found my sound yet and I didn’t know what was me and what I wanted to sound like," Miiesha told The Music on Nyaaringu's release.

"I guess that is something I’ll keep discovering. But I knew who I was as a person and where I came from, and so that’s what got me to write and sing about these things that led to Nyaaringu. Throughout the time I spent creating this piece with Steve [Miiesha's brother & manager] I really started piecing things together about who I am as an artist."

It was a long time between drinks for Tame Impala - aka Kevin Parker - when it came to albums and The Slow Rush was certainly worth the wait. 

"Kevin Parker is the kind of producer that can work in paradoxes," said reviewer Joe Dolan of the album on The Music's mid-year best of list. 

"He pulls from a plethora of styles and genres, yet his music remains cohesive. He overloads the senses with instrumentation but somehow it’s refined and elegant. It’s always felt as if Tame Impala has been a direct projection of Parker’s working brain, as it blends these elements together into a chaotic symphony.

"The Slow Rush does exactly what it says on the tin and continues to play into Parker’s cognitive dissonance."

It proved to be a fast favourite for established fans and newcomers too, with The Slow Rush becoming the most-sold new vinyl of the year in the UK release and picking up an impressive five awards at this year's ARIAs (Album Of The Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album, Engineer Of The Year and Producer Of The Year). 

Fiona Apple treated fans to an early release of her fifth studio album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, in April and in turn, they've treated her to making it one of the year's biggest releases. "So I guess the message in the whole record is just: Fetch the fucking bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation you’re in, whatever it is that you don’t like. Even if you can’t do it physically," Apple told Vulture of the album when it dropped. Fetch The Bolt Cutters is truly an album that will define the Iso-Age on future listens. 

Halsey's Manic, #4 on our list this year, feels so deeply personal that at times it feels like you're prying. The 25-year-old US artist cracks herself open with Manic, the follow-up to 2017's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, and lays it all out, building to powerful, spoken word, closer 929. A must listen. Jessie Ware's What's Your Pleasure? was a late contender on a lot of people's end of year list. Despite its June release, the album really found its feet in the last few months, forming part of this year's disco celebration along with artists like Kylie Minogue and Róisín Murphy. 

Pop megastar Taylor Swift's Folklore was a two-fold surprise. After a tumultuous 18 months surrounding the rights to her back catalogue, Swift surprised with a new album (and subsequently Evermore in December), earning her a whole slew of new fans with its folk and Americana leanings, and 'cool kid' guests like Bon Iver. 

US artist Perfume Genius impressed with Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, landing at #7 on this year's list, and earned critical acclaim all over. Reviewer Guido Farnell summed it up nicely saying the album is full of "brilliantly realised pop songs packed with instantly likeable melodies and hooks, but also with great emotional depth".

We see a reappearance from Australian artists on the list here, with the jangly Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever album Sideways To New Italy coming in at #8 and gained praise from all over, while Cable Ties again proved why they're amongst the best in the scene with the epic Far Enough. Both albums have already secured themselves a place on the Australian Music Prize longlist.

US sister trio HAIM, take out position #10 with their Women In Music Pt III; an album that gets deeply personal (Alana Haim grieving the loss of her best friend, Este Haim facing issues with Type 1 Diabetes and Danielle Haim's partner being diagnosed with cancer) and offers some of their strongest work to date. 

The Top Ten

1. Miiesha - Nyaaringu
2. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
3. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
4. Halsey - Manic
5. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
6. Taylor Swift - Folklore
7. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately 
8. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways To New Italy 
9. Cable Ties - Far Enough
10. HAIM - Women In Music Pt III

Past Winners

2019: Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
2018: Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
2017: Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
2016: David Bowie - Blackstar
2015: Tame Impala - Currents
2014: Chet Faker - Built On Glass
2013: Kanye West - Yeezus
2012: Tame Impala - Lonerism
2011: Bon Iver - Bon Iver
2010: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs