The Freshman 15: 2022's Best Debut Albums

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 8, 2022

Next week, we'll release our final overall list of this year's best overall albums. But our ongoing best of 2022 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 2022, 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 6, 2022.

8 of 16 photo by Because Music

84Nymph by Shygirl

(#8) By the age of 29, English rapper/singer Blane Muise had already co-founded a record label (Nuxxe), collaborated with cutting-edge artists like Sophie and Arca, remixed Lady Gaga, and released multiple EPs and singles. What's left? How about a debut album. That set, the pop-focused Nymph, finally emerged in September, and it features production work from Mura Masa, and Arca, among others—as well as Shygirl herself.

“Ultimately, ‘Nymph’ is a climax – a culmination of years of experimental foreplay – that puts Shygirl on the map as one of the UK’s freshest voices. It honours the altar at which Shygirl was born, but gently trickles into an adjacent brook, to where we might see her next.” —DIY

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