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.

9 of 16 photo by Chess Club

85Lucky Me by Phoebe Green

(#7) Hailing from Manchester, England, 24-year-old pop artist Phoebe Green made her full-length debut this summer with Lucky Me, which followed a prior EP (I Can't Cry for You) and a few singles released over the past six years. Incorporating a number of genres but mainly focusing on synth pop, the set finds Green working with producers Kaines and Tom A.D. as well as Dave McCracken.

“Green’s debut foray into a full-length project highlights and accentuates her brilliant ability of penning narratives and churning out infectious alt-pop cuts.” —The Line of Best Fit

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