Boston artists have delivered another year’s worth of captivating new music. Below, our team shares their ten favorite local albums released in 2021.
Want to hear about more not-to-miss local albums? Check out the Globe’s collection of favorites of the year; it’s a list that many local music experts (including some of our team) contributed to.
It’s Above Me by Neemz
Though her debut album, It’s Above Me sounds more like a victory lap for local rapper Neemz. A pulsating synth propels “Awake” (which would feel at home on the Drive soundtrack) while confidence beams from “Plan A”—a sharp contrast to the bubbling anxiety of “Damaged Feelings”. But it’s the hazy, dreamy “Lifethativebeenlivin” that summarizes this record best: “I’m going far / Feeling cinematic.” — Knar Bedian
Deliberately Alive by Future Teens
On Deliberately Alive, Future Teens lean into the Paramore After Laughter aesthetic, all strong melodies and pop-rock guitar lines and introspective lyrics. Tracks like “Play Cool” and “Separated Anxiety” float on singable vocal lines that easily stick in the ears, but the album’s lead single, “Guest Room,” is the clear standout: with punky guitars layered under lyrics like, “I don’t even have a guest room yet / how can I expect to die like that,” the song lands perfectly in today’s smile-through-the-pain zeitgeist. Future Teens don’t shy from the hard parts of living, but they don’t dwell on them, either—it’s all about forward motion. — Sally Pigeon
Fieldcrest by Coral Moons
Radiating with wistful retro-rock songs, Coral Moons’ most recent LP, Fieldcrest, is a sun-bleached evocation of childhood memories. Lead vocalist Carly Kraft’s fervent vocals, intertwined with lively, bold bass groves, poignant lyricism, and melancholic instrumentation, creates a record that contemplates growing up. The somber sounds of “Other People” and the clever, percussion-driven “Beach Song” best capture the album’s longing for years gone by. — Alexis den Boggende
Unbothered by Oompa
A lyrical flamethrower by trade, Roxbury-born rapper and slam poetry champion Oompa broadens her scope with layers of new pop sensibilities on her third studio album, Unbothered. Laying down fresh R&B vocals on the cook-out park-jam, “Go” while maintaining her lyrical dexterity and clever rhyme schemes on booming club-friendly tracks like “Lebron,” Oompa has leveled up this year, as noted with recent plugs from industry kingmakers, Snoop Dogg and Def Jam Records. Since her 2016 debut album November 3rd, Oompa has been a driving force in the Boston hip hop scene; with the release of Unbothered she brings our city to new levels of national distinction within the genre. — Jared Steinberg
Really From by Really From
In Really From, the Boston-based quartet combines a multitude of genres, transforming their traditional jazz sound with punk and rock stylings. The album blends arrhythmic drummings with melodic trumpet lines and powerful lyrics performed by lead singers Michi Tassey and Chris Lee-Rodriguez. Throughout the album, they explore their identities as a band and as people of color with songs like “I’m From Here” and “Yellow Fever.” — Eleanor Dash
Tossed by Kaiti Jones
On Tossed, Kaiti Jones reveals a portrait of herself as a work in progress, rich with complexity and confusion, that asks to be met with the same gentleness and honesty that Jones herself offers up. With the lyrics of a lifelong daydreamer, this Cambridge songstress takes listeners through a wide range of inner and outer landscapes—from the sea to the desert, or from the light of a “Big Yellow Moon” to a dark bedroom. Accompanied by earnest guitar melodies, Jones’ voice is a slow burn that alights each track with an amber warmth and a quiet strength. Tossed maps questions of faith and spirituality as well as loss and connection, never pretending to have any of the answers. — Julia Bernicker
A Night at the Pool by Rocket Ship
Worcester natives Rocket Ship debut A Night at the Pool, their sophomore EP that blends pop punk and indie/alt rock with raw narratives about inner fear and struggling relationships. Rocket Ship creates stunning lyrical imagery, backed by smooth rhythm grooves and powerful vocals. A Night at the Pool delivers powerful, enthralling riffs to create a confident and catchy record. The record delivers nostalgia that conjures up a poignant reminder of years gone by, when things were a little less complicated. — Alexis den Boggende
The Trouble with Wilderness by Ben Cosgrove
A meandering and expansive album from a troubadour musician, The Trouble with Wilderness continues Ben Cosgrove’s musical ruminations and celebration of the natural world, this time taking a microscope to the often passed by minutia. It’s fitting that the album often flirts with minimalism, such as a track like “Oklahoma Wind Speed Measurement Club,” but can comfortably make a home in sweeping pianistic cascades such as “Templates for Limitless Fields of Grass.” Overall, there is so much stimulation to be excavated from The Trouble with Wilderness in its pianistic beauty, reflective recesses, and ability to cover such a range and depth of emotion, resulting in a disarming expansiveness. — Tristan Geary
Bad for Press by Van Buren
An ode to Brockton, Bad For Press is the first cumulative release from the 13-strong hip-hop collective, Van Buren. The album embodies the tensions that come from a group where every flow, every voice is so beautifully divergent. Yet that is also what makes the music so uniquely cohesive: VB’s collective ability to bounce off of one another while still maintaining their own disposition. Even on the sketch “VB Interlude,” the audience is given a glimpse into how unapologetically transparent the group is about who they are and what they represent. — Astghik Dion
Between the Richness by Fiddlehead
Fiddlehead’s latest effort Between the Richness is everything a follow-up to 2018’s Springtime and Blind could be. The band delivers on the prior album’s promise of post-hardcore mixed with emo-punk; this time with a level of polish unfound on any of their previous efforts. An indie presence makes its way into their sound, showing off the band’s dexterity as they fly through sonic highs and lows, hills and valleys, with poise. Packed with huge riffs, chaotic drum-grooves, and Patrick Flynn’s signature yell, the tracks roll right into each other in true blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fashion. It’s just that good. — Eric Gonnam