9.

MONEY - Suicide Songs

[Bella Union]

Jamie Lee has no problem being melodramatic, in fact that’s his highest stock in trade. The fact is, the man knows how to come up with preposterous, grandiose claims, but sing them in such a way that you’ll follow him to the death just because his words are so enlivening. MONEY’s first album was called The Shadow Of Heaven and started with a song called “So Long (God Is Dead).” Their second album is called Suicide Songs and starts with a song called “I Am The Lord.” You get what I mean.

The reason Jamie Lee’s lyrics and vocals work so unreasonably well is not just because he has a penchant for drama, but because the music that MONEY makes lends itself so beautifully to overstated romantic postulation. From the opening track, “I Am The Lord,” we’re treated to angelic strings exalting Lee’s claims, then in the very next song he’s cut down to size by incisive violins and clanging piano in “I’m Not Here.” Throughout the album MONEY vacillate from the heroic to the heroically lost, and they make it all sound vital. Lee has a gift for singing straight from the heart with the passion and joie de vivre of a drunk vagrant staggering around moonlit back alleys.

The result of Lee’s war cries and MONEY’s gallant, sweeping music is a set of songs so richly bloody and heartfelt that they fully justify the title Suicide Songs. Through the hopeless lope of tracks like “You Look Like A Sad Painting On Both Sides Of The Sky,” “Hopeless World” or “I'll Be The Night,” the sky might appear to be perennially grey, but the bittersweet beauty in every little glimmer of grime is not lost to Jamie Lee. Even the title track, “Suicide Song,” presents the band’s most gregarious and sing-along moment, proving that MONEY are determined leave you in solitude, even at your most desperate moment.

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Below you can see my top 50 albums of the year list.

[Click on the album art at the top to download the album]

50| Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - EARS
49| Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits
48| Daughter - Not To Disappear
47| The Avalanches - Wildflower
46| Beyonce - Lemonade
45| Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
44| Gold Panda - Good Luck and Do Your Best
43| James Blake - The Colour In Anything
42| Lambchop - FLOTUS
41| Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger
40| Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow
39| Camp Cope - Camp Cope
38| Cymbals Eat Guitars - Pretty Years
37| Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP
36| Mary Lattimore - At The Dam
35| Woods - City Sun Eater In The River Of Light
34| White Lung - Paradise
33| Solange - A Seat At The Table
32| Wild Beasts - Boy King
31| Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
30| Marissa Nadler - Strangers
29| Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat To Earth
28| Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
27| Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.
26| Whitney - Light Upon The Lake
25| Kedr Livanskiy - January Sun
24| Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing
23| Steve Gunn - Eyes On The Lines
22| Pantha du Prince - The Triad
21| Cass McCombs - Mangy Love
20| Cavern of Anti-Matter - void beats/invocation trex
19| Olga Bell - Tempo
18| Chairlift - Moth
17| Mitski - Puberty 2
16| Anderson .Paak - Malibu
15| Underworld - Barbara, Barbara we face a shining future
14| Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat
13| Savages - Adore Life
12| DIIV - Is The Is Are
11| Frank Ocean - Blonde
10| Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
09| MONEY - Suicide Songs
08| Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
07| A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
06| Nicolas Jaar - Sirens
05| Angel Olsen - My Woman
04| Parquet Courts - Human Performance
03| Preoccupations - Preoccupations
02| ANOHNI - Hopelessness
01| Blood Orange - Freetown Sound