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Editor’s note: Jackson Hogan is The Bulletin’s education reporter. During his off time, he’s a light music blogger. Hogan regularly shares his musical insights with co-workers at The Bulletin, but this is the first time we’re sharing them in print. Hogan considers himself halfway-knowledgeable, and fully passionate, about pop music, however, and after immense pressure from Hogan, GO! Magazine is presenting his top 10 albums of the year. Happy Holidays!  

I’m not sure if this is just how the chips fell, or if I’m getting old, but a large majority of 2020’s best albums seemed to come from veterans, not new faces.

Not saying there weren’t some breakouts from younger artists this year. But something about 2020 spurred many older artists to make their best albums in years, or even decades.

But regardless of the artist’s age, the best albums of 2020 encompassed a variety of moods and musical styles. There should be something here for nearly everyone.

10) Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again by Kacy Hill

Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again is an intoxicating, hypnotic mix of many different sub-genres, making it hard to categorize but easy to love.

The blend of bleary synths, R&B melodies and Kacy Hill’s whispery vocals result in a perfect album to listen to as the day ends, watching the sun slowly fall behind the mountains. It may not seem like anything noteworthy on first listen, but Hill’s dream-like tunes like “Unkind” and “Palladium” won’t escape your head for months afterwards.

9) color theory by Soccer Mommy

There’s arguably no indie artist better right now at capturing the murky depths of depression than Soccer Mommy.

While the Nashville one-woman-band’s previous album explored her difficulties with romance and relationships, color theory has a more internal focus. Sophie Allison’s lyrics read like the most vulnerable, self-loathing entries in a diary, and the grunge-lite instrumentation provides a suitably gloomy backing track.

8) The New Abnormal by The Strokes

After 17 straight years of disappointment and mediocrity, New York indie-rock icons The Strokes made an off-kilter comeback this year with The New Abnormal.

The record is a perfect mix of the retro, too-cool-for-school sound The Strokes perfected in the early aughts and some new, quirky flavoring. For every straight-forward rock banger like “Bad Decisions” (which sounds like the halfway point between Billy Idol and “I Melt With You”), there’s a couple wild cards like the pulsating new wave banger “Eternal Summer.” And unlike the last few Strokes records, these experiments actually pay off.

7) Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

More than any other record on this list, Fetch The Bolt Cutters — legendary singer-songwriter Fiona Apple’s return after an eight-year hiatus — is bound to pop up on every other “Best of 2020” list. And for good reason!

Apple tweaked her typical jazz-pop sound with some thundering percussion, forceful vocals and blisteringly honest lyrics, tackling everything from sexual assault to depression to women constantly being pitted against each other. It’s a truly electrifying, one-of-a-kind album that reaffirms Apple as one of Gen X’s true geniuses.

6) Imploding The Mirage by The Killers

There are few things more satisfying than a great road trip album. And with their comeback record Imploding The Mirage, The Killers delivered just that. Nearly every track sounds like the biggest, most epic power ballad you’ve ever heard. The Killers finally achieved the perfect U2/Springsteen hybrid sound they’d always aimed for.

5) Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz

Since their 2001 debut, UK virtual band Gorillaz’s calling cards have been their eclectic nature and ability to snag top-notch guests. Song Machine delivers both of those in spades.

The 11 tracks range from swooning ‘80s synthpop to peppy Afrobeat to chaotic, punk-inflected hip-hop. And singer-songwriter Damon Albarn’s crew of famous friends showed up in full force, from Gen X icons like Beck, to current indie favorites like St. Vincent, to — in what is a massive flex — Elton John.

Every tune on Song Machine might not be for you, but its grab-bag nature ensures that there’ll be something for just about everybody.

4) RTJ4 by Run The Jewels

By this point, listeners should know exactly what to expect from Run The Jewels: hard-hitting lyrics over menacing, apocalyptic beats. RTJ4, the New York/Atlanta hip-hop duo’s fourth album, doesn’t change the formula — because why fix what isn’t broken?

However, El-P and Killer Mike’s anger at a corrupt world hit harder in 2020, the year of police brutality protests and COVID-19. The pair plan on burning the establishment to the ground, and they’re going to party hard while doing it.

3) Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa

It is absolutely criminal that the best dance-pop album since Lady Gaga’s early-10s peak was released in a year with shuttered clubs. But Future Nostalgia’s stylish retro charms are so enticing that dancing at home is a fine subsitute.

London popstar Dua Lipa rocketed into the A-list with this record, which liberally borrows from ‘70s disco and ‘80s new wave to create the most infectiously fun record of 2020. The stylish dance jams keep coming, and the homages to Olivia Newton-John and INXS classics feel effortless, not forced.

2) Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM

After a disappointing sophomore record in 2017, HAIM re-established themselves as one of indie rock’s premier outfits with their magnum opus this summer: the groovy, smooth Women In Music Pt. III.

The Haim sisters’ third album is so consistently great that even the three bonus tracks are stellar (particularly the Lou Reed-meets-A Tribe Called Quest jam “Summer Girl”). HAIM managed to conquer multiple styles of pop — silky R&B, shuffling jazz, bluesy rock, skittering new wave — and filter each of them through their ennui-drenched lens. Yet, there’s an unmistakable California sunniness to the trio’s casual tracks.

1) After Hours by The Weeknd

I was beginning to lose hope in The Weeknd. The Toronto pop megastar had always delivered great singles, but his two previous blockbuster records were stuffed with filler and failed to successfully meld The Weeknd’s two most prominent styles: ‘80s cheeseball pop jams and R-rated, murky R&B tunes.

But The Weeknd — AKA Abel Tesfaye — finally cracked the code with After Hours this spring. Tesfaye’s two modes melded together perfectly: retro pop songs like “Blinding Lights” and “Scared To Live” have a nocturnal edge behind the shiny hooks. And the gloomier tunes like “Faith” and After Hours’ title track are catchier than ever.

After Hours is exactly what I need in a big-budget pop album: a perfect balance of boundary-pushing and monster hooks. It’s not only The Weeknd’s best record since House of Balloons redefined R&B back in 2011 — It might be his best record, period.