Spark’s resident music expert and radio legend Nic Harcourt on what to make of what we heard in 2020 and what’s to come in 2021.
2020 sucked. It was a year in which a once-in-a-century pandemic took almost two million lives around the globe and decimated many industries including the live music business, with many venues closing permanently and countless others barely holding on.
But although we couldn’t see live shows, we did see a lot of superb new albums delivered by established artists like Fiona Apple, Tame Impala, The Strokes, Springsteen and Run The Jewels, and statement releases from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, US Girls, Perfume Genius and HAIM. 2020 also gave us two new albums from Taylor Swift as she discovered her inner indie kid and The Dixie Chicks dropped the ‘Dixie’ and dropped a devastating (personal and political) response to our country’s firm roots in white supremacy during this painfully divided moment in time.
No doubt these past nine months will be reflected in the music many artists have been making under lockdown. Expect new releases in 2021 from Foo Fighters, Sia, Greta Van Fleet, Liz Phair, St. Vincent , and Adele, among others and there are sure to be breakout releases from wizards we are yet to meet.
And live music? Sorry kids, even with the roll-out of Covid vaccines, it’s going to be a while before we can gather in large groups in sweaty concert halls or even wide-open spaces, but it is my belief that by late summer we will begin to see that change, and when we are able to meet again to see and feel the experience that is live music, we are going to hug each other, grieve those we have lost, and dance, a lot.
Stream my 100 favorite songs of 2020 below. Let’s do this, 2021.
