The Freshman 15: 2021's Best Debut Albums
Next week, we'll release our final overall list of this year's best overall albums. But our ongoing best of 2021 coverage continues right now with a look at this year's top newcomers in music.
Above is our list of the 15 best-reviewed debut albums of 2021, ranked by Metascore. Note that albums must have at least 7 reviews—and be a full-length LP (or mixtape) rather than an EP—to be eligible for inclusion. Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding based on scores as of December 14, 2021.
(#9) Raised in small-town Texas but now based in Nashville, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Katy Kirby blends the religious music she was exposed to as a youth with more modern indie rock/folk references into what Texas Monthly describes as "prayer music for agnostics" on her nine-song debut.
“As a debut release, Cool Dry Place is remarkable. Katy Kirby has crafted a series of captivating indie rock-pop tracks, all centered around a voice with clarity reminiscent of Sylvan Esso or Haley Heynderickx, but swift and whimsical movements that feel all Kirby’s own.” —Consequence
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