The Sexiest Albums of 2020 By Nam Woon Kim (He/Him) Sexiest here speaks not so much to sex appeal but more to the base word: sex. Each album embodies sex: messy and exciting, confident and sometimes not - more interested in making you feel sexy than trying to arouse. Each artist approaches the subject in their own way, telling stories built on their perspective rather than claims of authority. Nor is the logic of the storytelling exclusive to a specific gender, sex, or sexuality. Add a generous serving of sex positivity and you’ve got some hot albums! From neo-soul to disco revival, folk to UK rap, each record is an honest exploration of all things sex that I hope resonate with you like they did with me.
however, illustrates a steadfast trust and clarity. Songs like How to Fight document the difficult process of growth, and on Volcano she boldly affirms a love for life itself. To further set the mood, I want to add that Phoenix... was created over a 10-week residency in northeastern Spain (what’s sexier than Europe?) and brought to life by an all-female ensemble. The result is a hauntingly beautiful poem on permanence and transience.
Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin - Eartheater Cathartic. Cinematic. Romantic.
Starting off with the artist on that explosive cover, Eartheater’s newest album is an ode to lovers, loving, and being loved. The fiery, volatile twin to Björk’s frosted over Vespertine, Phoenix... likewise gives oxygen to the highest highs and lowest lows of relationships. Accompanied by gorgeous production, the album is anchored by a delicate, yet at times overwhelming, soundscape constructed by layered vocals and acoustic instruments which voice and shape the pleasures and struggles described. When it comes to others, not much is certain: crushes can burst into life, fizzle out, or transform into something new entirely. Eartheater’s passion is directed inwards,
Could I play this at my wedding? It’d be a crime not to have that eightpiece string ensemble you insisted on hiring play an arrangement of Airborne Ashes.
featuring an interlude dedicated to multiplicity, a theme echoed throughout every song, græ is about the absence of sex as much as it is about sex itself. At risk of reducing it to a ‘sexy album’ I include it here. Sure, the blend of genres used contain sexy histories conventionally speaking, but there is little ‘conventional’ in how these are used to tell the narratives here. If one was to tune out the lyrics completely you’d have a catalogue of the best of what neo-soul and other intertwining genres have to offer in the department of being pleasing to the ear and heart. And that’s all good, but there’s so much on offer here. If narrative-heavy songs that tear at your heart are your thing, read no further and put græ on queue. In Bloom is the most upbeat song about mixed messages and unrequited love I’ve ever heard. You could read the song as either stubborn optimism or maybe just self-aware playfulness but either way, it’s a statement of a song.
Vulnerable. Immense. Tender.
Overall, græ reassures us that it’s okay to still be figuring everything out – Moses Sumney certainly is and his music is no less insightful for it.
Moses Sumney’s græ is a dense record that resists being put into a box – literally
Could I play this at my wedding? There’s plenty of crooning ballads and
græ – Moses Sumney
