{"id":47901,"date":"2020-12-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2020-there-will-be-better-days\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","slug":"2020-there-will-be-better-days","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2020-there-will-be-better-days\/","title":{"rendered":"2020: There Will Be Better Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a year of losses, the profound ones and the small ones. It\u2019s been a year of narrowing, of redistributing the weight of our lives. It was the year my dog and cat became my most valuable colleagues (and at the very least, it\u2019s been the best year of their furry little existences). A year of long walks, finding pleasure and presence in the way the light refracted on the Hudson River, letting the water work its magic. I spent three months watching a family of ducklings in the pond near my apartment, counting the nine tiny puffs of soft and feather each week as they grew and became indistinguishable from their duck parents, until one weekend they were gone. The pond looked empty for a month or so. But beneath the surface, the koi fish kept circling, and the pigeons stood sentry at the lip of the pond, maintaining the shared ecosystem. And soon enough, the ducks were back, even more of them this time, as if they\u2019d encountered some long-lost relatives on their flightpath. The world keeps moving. <\/p>\n

In these months, my relationship with music has been a funny one. In the beginning, I kept up with the new releases as I always have, trying to fold new songs into my life. As time wore on, I found myself leaning on old favorites, the warm grooves of routine. Only a few special albums broke through; that\u2019s the reason I only managed nine for the list this year, and why you\u2019ll see some Honorable Mentions that didn\u2019t come out in 2020 but formed the soundtrack to my life. Anything goes in this weird moment in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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1. The National \u2013 Juicy Sonic Magic (Live)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m forever grateful to all the cool people who exposed me to the National, whether it was as background noise in my office in grad school or being explained the intricacies of the chord changes in \u201cFake Empire\u201d on a blissful October night at Forest Hills Stadium. Since then, The National has become one of my most-seen live bands, and definitely some of my most-played music. So it\u2019s no surprise that this, slipping in right at the end of 2019, became a soundtrack for the cold months of an early winter leading into a long lockdown. It\u2019s a perfect blend of all the National eras, from the glitchy moodiness of Sleep Well Beast <\/i>to the propulsive driving rock of Trouble Will Find Me<\/i>, with older hits and some new cuts blended in, too. Frontman Matt Berninger \u2013 who loves diving into the crowd and teasing his bandmates and riffing with the crowd in between songs \u2013 is always at his best in a live setting, and this release is no different.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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2. San Fermin \u2013 The Cormorant I And II<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

My last live show before the shutdown was San Fermin at Brooklyn Still in early December; I\u2019d just moved back to New York that fall and was excited to dive back into the live music scene once work settled down a bit. San Fermin delivered as always, breezing through hit after hit of their orchestral pop and previewing new songs from what would be The Cormorant II. <\/i>\u201cSwamp Song\u201d turned out to be a stunner, particularly live, with its cacophony of overlapping voices and instruments and its joyous attitude of total meltdown. Meanwhile, \u201cSaints\u201d (both the album version and the acoustic release) was pure, airy loveliness even as it captured the mood of a painful breakup. San Fermin always delivers something interesting and strange, and I can\u2019t wait to see them live again someday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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3. The Weeknd \u2013 After Hours<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

As a longtime Weeknd fan, I was especially jazzed for this release, especially after 2016\u2019s Starboy <\/i>was a bit of a mixed bag. Lead single \u201cHeartless\u201d felt like a return to form, a classic Weeknd blend of bracing instrumentation and caustic lyrics backdropped by a bloody music video. But it was \u201cAfter Hours\u201d that really sold it for me, a slow-burner jammed with tempo changes and Abel\u2019s vulnerable falsetto on lines like \u201cWhere are you now when I need you most? I gave it all just to hold you close \/ Sorry that I broke your heart.\u201d And this disc was an appropriate mood setter for March when things felt most turned upside-down and a familiar voice crooning themes of devastation, shame, and destruction \u2013 but to catchy beats! \u2013 was needed more than ever.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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4.\u00a0Phantogram \u2013 Ceremony<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t listen to this one as much as I did previous Phantogram releases, but that\u2019s mostly because I was self-soothing with The National on repeat for months and new music barely snuck in. Still, this one has its excellent moments: \u201cInto Happiness\u201d is a glorious, soaring glimpse of the band at their to-the-rafters pop best, \u201cDear God\u201d is a staccato and swaggering opener, and the stripped-down \u201cGlowing,\u201d which lets the vocals take center stage. I still love Three<\/i> and Voices <\/i>more, but this one can still hang. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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5. Perfume Genius \u2013 Set My Heart On Fire Immediately<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

All of us needed something beautiful more than ever, especially when trapped indoors for the better part of the year. And Perfume Genius\u2019 latest delivered, crafting a vital, energetic, and gorgeous album. From the opening refrain of \u201cWhole Life,\u201d which spills out of your speakers in a gentle orchestral haze and intones \u201cHalf of my whole life is done,\u201d to the dance pop thrill of \u201cOn The Floor,\u201d Set My Heart On Fire Immediately <\/i>is a keen blend of erotic urgency and heady awareness of mortality. It\u2019s an album of turns and transitions, like how the whispered falsetto of \u201cJason\u201d shifts from its lovely interiority before opening up into a baroque stunner or \u201cDescribe,\u201d which is thick with churning guitars that ebb out into muted orchestration.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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6. Phoebe Bridgers \u2013 Punisher<\/i> (and the Copycat Killers<\/i> EP)<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve really adored Phoebe Bridgers since her 2017 debut, Stranger In The Alps, <\/i>as she is masterful beyond her years at crafting thoughtful, candid, often twisty lyrics (\u201cMotion Sickness\u201d is still one of my most played tracks, capturing the queasy disgust of a former mentor turned abuser with a driving backbeat that echoes the way we often cope with trauma by running away from it). On her latest release, and the accompanying EP revisiting a few of the cuts from the album, she fleshes out her sound even further, crafting arrangements that are textured and evocative. There\u2019s an Elliott Smith quality to her sound \u2013 the insularity, the muted gentleness in the instrumentation belying the dark thorniness of some of her themes \u2013\u00a0 and he\u2019s even the inspiration for the title track. Copycat Killer <\/i>inverts some of the tracks from Punisher, <\/i>stretching out the once-peppy \u201cKyoto\u201d and \u201cChinese Satellite\u201d until they becomes almost desolate in their spareness, with a certain grace to them, too. These releases are ones to come back to over and over, sinking into the soundscapes and pulling apart the origami of her imagistic lyrics. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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7. Taylor Swift \u2013 folklore<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I am, of course, biased since I eagerly devour everything Taylor Swift releases. But Folklore<\/i> is genuinely a gorgeous and thoughtful new chapter in her catalogue. For the first time, she\u2019s beginning to navigate themes outside of her own experience, zooming out to tackle substance abuse, a character-driven study of American socialite Rebecca Harkness, and healthcare workers during the pandemic. Not all of it lands, but seeing her stretch her wings at a time when most of us felt more confined than ever was a revelation. Joined by longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and bringing in the illustrious Aaron Dessner (of the National fame), these songs have a grace and an interiority that make them endlessly listenable. In particular, Swift\u2019s duet with Bon Iver (\u201cexile\u201d) is a dark, moving ode to the different perspectives each partner has on the dissolution of a relationship, \u201cMirrorball\u201d is a shimmering \u201890s-esque description of what it\u2019s like to live in the spotlight when that spotlight is suddenly turned off, and \u201cPeace\u201d is a spare, subtle closer bringing us in to some of Swift\u2019s trepidations about being in a long-term relationship when her fame is a third participant in it. For even more Swift deep diving, check out the Long Pond Studio Sessions<\/i> documentary, which finds her performing these songs live in a stripped-down form with commentary in between from her, Antonoff, and Dessner. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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8.\u00a0 Taylor Swift \u2013 evermore<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Blessed be Taylor Swift, our most productive queen of quarantine, who dropped not just one but two albums in the span of five months. I\u2019m still working my way through really getting to know this one, but it\u2019s already a strong addition to Swift\u2019s catalogue and continued evolution as an artist. evermore <\/i>retains the same crew as folklore<\/i>, even adding in the full lineup of the National and the HAIM sisters. Standouts include the sinuous lead single \u201cwillow\u201d and its gorgeous accompanying video, the pumped-up country thrill of \u201cno body, no crime\u201d with its detailed lyrics of a murder cover-up, and the haunting ode to Swift\u2019s grandmother \u201cmarjorie,\u201d a perfect an encapsulation of grief. folklore <\/i>still edges in as my favorite of the two sister albums, but that could just be because I\u2019ve listened to it so much. evermore <\/i>is still a standout and a testament to Swift\u2019s boundless talent.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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9. Glass Animals \u2013 Dreamland<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Shout-out to my best friend\/soul sister, who recommended Glass Animals many years ago to me in her infinitely good taste. It took \u2018til this past spring when I was browsing through the new releases for that recommendation to stick, and even longer still because I was initially kind of \u201cmeh\u201d about this album. Fast forward to a few months later when \u201cThe Other Side Of Paradise\u201d from 2016\u2019s How To Be A Human Being <\/i>blasted out of my speakers and jolted me into a funky, totally catchy haze. It made me fall down the Glass Animals rabbit hole and finally come back to Dreamland <\/i>with renewed interest. Songs like \u201cHeat Wave,\u201d \u201cSpace Ghost Coast To Coast,\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s All So Incredibly Loud\u201d are awesome mash-ups of R&B and psychedelic grooves with indelible choruses. The lyrics are complex and tongue-twisting yet rich with emotion, too. It\u2019s why I repeated this album ad nauseum for most of the summer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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10. Sufjan Stevens \u2013 The Ascension<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

At once dense in its arrangements and spare in its lyricism, The Ascension <\/i>feels like a natural extension of Sufjan\u2019s sound and a clear lens on the current moment. The songs themselves are filled out with glitchy, choppy bursts from drum machines and sweeping synths, while Sufjan\u2019s tender vocals create a kind of plaintive poetry: \u201cTell me this love will last forever,\u201d he intones on the atmospherically romantic \u201cTell Me You Love Me,\u201d while \u201cDie Happy\u201d consists of only those words repeated throughout a six-minute sonic breakdown. There are moments where this album threatens to swallow itself, running to almost an hour and a half, but we\u2019ve got nothing but time nowadays, so it might as well be spent in Sufjan\u2019s strange, fractured world where the best any of us can do is strive for connection.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Honorable Mentions<\/b>: Hamilton<\/i> soundtrack (my actual most played album of the year); Lana Del Rey \u2013 Normal Fucking Rockwell<\/i> (because anything by Lana Del Rey is a mood, especially this year); Glass Animals \u2013 How To Be A Human Being<\/i> (an instrumental part of my above-mentioned Glass Animals deep dive); \u201cBetter Days\u201d by Miner (as a reminder that, as the song says, \u201cThere will be better days\u201d).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a year of losses, the profound ones and the small ones. It\u2019s been a year of narrowing, of redistributing the weight of our lives. It was the year my dog and cat became my most valuable colleagues (and at the very least, it\u2019s been the best year of their furry little existences). A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":48638,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"feature_type":[5609],"class_list":["post-47901","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-best-of"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47901"},{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}