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.
(#8) Though she has been releasing EPs and singles for five years—and even launched her own record label—English jazz artist and producer Emma-Jean Thackray didn't make her full-length debut until this summer. That's when Yellow—designed to simulate a psychedelic drug experience through music—arrived to excellent reviews.
“Yellow scatterguns through P-Funk, Alice Coltrane, gospel, Sun-Ra, electric-era Miles Davis and '70s jazz-fusion with glee.” —Mojo
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