What decade is this again?
It's a fair question for a number of reasons, including the droves of recordings released in 2022 that prominently sampled, repurposed or recycled hits and obscurities from bygone decades.
Consider SZA's "SOS," which samples both Beyonce's 2007 song "Listen" and The Gabriel Hardeman Delegation's 1976 gospel chestnut, "Until I Found the Lord (My Soul Couldn't Rest)."
Or consider Nicki Minaj's "Super Freaky Girl," which builds on both Rick James' 1981 funk-rock classic "Super Freak" and the 1815 children's rhyme "Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Moe."
Then there's Taylor Swift, whose "Midnights" was by far the bestselling album of 2022. Her new song, "Question ..." interpolates her 2014 song "Into the Woods."
The blurring of the decades was brought into even sharper focus by two of the most memorable — and unexpected — events of 2022.
Joni Mitchell, who retired from touring in 2000 and suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2015, gave a surprise performance in July at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Mitchell, who turned 79, had last performed at the festival in 1969.
Mitchell is now set to headline "Joni Jam" at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington on June 10, five months before her 80th birthday. Brandi Carlile will join her, as she did at Newport.
Kate Bush, a comparative youngster at 64, saw her 1985 single, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" suddenly spring back to life after it was prominently featured in multiple 2022 episodes of the TV series "Stranger Things."
It topped the iTunes charts, 27 years after its original release, became a Top 10 radio hit in nearly a dozen countries, and introduced Bush to a new generation of young fans.
Many in that generation use TikTok as their main source for finding and hearing new music, as well as old music that is new to them.
The fact that many TikTok music video clips and memes are just 15 seconds — others last a minute or longer — has led to increasingly shorter hit songs, some of which are more like a tweet than a song.
So, it's doubly encouraging that a diverse array of artists — from Bjork, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar to Rosalia, SZA and Zach Bryan — released ambitious albums in 2022 that are complete, full-length statements. Their albums are designed to be heard in their entirety, not as fleeting audio fragments for people who think limited attention spans are a good thing.
These are 10 of my favorite albums of 2022.
Bjork, "Fossora" (One Little Indian): No other album released this year made me smile as much — or sometimes even laugh with delight — as Bjork's first new album in five years. Inspired in part by love, the death of her mother and, um, fungi the 13-song "Fossora" reveals something new and intriguing with each repeat listen.
Whether singing with a string quartet, a woodwind ensemble, Balinese gamelan percussionists, exuberantly warped electronic beats, jazzy orchestrations, or some combination thereof, this fearless music maverick from Iceland creates wondrous songs on "Fossora" that sound like nothing — and no one — else.
Rosalía, "Motomami" (Columbia): A terrifically daring musical alchemist, Spanish vocal star Rosalía draws freely from flamenco and hip-hop, bachata and reggaeton, salsa and electro. In songs that address the perils of both love and fame, she sings and raps — entirely in Spanish — with skill, wit and a stylish verve all her own.
Beyoncé, "Renaissance" (Columbia): Released with little fanfare, "Renaissance" is a vibrant homage to disco, techno, jungle, dubstep, Jamaican dancehall, New Orleans bounce, Detroit house music, U.K. synth-pop and more. Impeccably crafted and performed, it finds Beyoncé celebrating dance music's present by joyously paying tribute to its past.
Bonnie Raitt, "Just Like That" (Redwing): On her first new studio album in six years, Bonnie Raitt sounds fresh and wise, soulful and nuanced, steeped in earthy, no-nonsense musical traditions and eager to expand and add to them.
Lainey Wilson, "Bell Bottom Country" (Broken Bow): It took this Louisiana native a decade of toiling in Nashville to break through, but it was worth the wait. Her third album showcases her potent vocals and songwriting, as well as her ability to rock with fervor without losing her country.
Also worth cheering
Natalia LaFourcade, "De Todas las Flores" (Sony)
Oumou Sangaré, "Timbuktu" (World Circuit)
Scandinavian Music Group, "Ikuinen Ystävä" (Sony)
Weyes Blood, "And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow" (Sub Pop)
Ruthie Foster, "Healing Time" (Blue Corn Music)
———
