We're all turning on the TV to watch the latest shows as movies this lockdown but what about when you want a break from the screen? Luckily 2021 has seen a wealth of good music and podcasts hit the airwaves. We've pulled together a list of our recommendations for your
The best albums and podcasts of 2021: The most anticipated and the best so far
NZ Herald
7 mins to read
Fans of The Beths in concert can now recreate the magic at home. Photo / Dean Purcell
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Lydia Burgham
Alien Weaponry
Tangaroa
Start limbering up your neck muscles now because Māori thrash-metallers Alien Weaponry unleash their sophomore album in a couple of weeks. It's their first since their award-winning 2018 debut Tū and judging by the new single they are not mucking about. The song, which shares the album's title, is an almost seven-minute tour de force of chuggy-groove metal, te reo chanting and ferocious riffage that sets out to hammer its environmentally conscious message into you through sheer brute power. Ka pai.
Release date: September 17
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Karl Puschmann
Courtney Barnett
Things Take Time, Take Time
After she thoroughly charmed the country on her recent and extensive New Zealand tour, anticipation for Courtney Barnett's third album couldn't be higher. Those lucky enough to have rocked along to one of her shows got an advance sampling of the direction as she debuted a handful of the new songs.
The indie fave has since dropped a couple of singles that show how she's experimenting by adding lo-fi drum machines and simple synth embellishments to her relaxed, jangly-pop sound.
Release date: November 12
KP
Taylor Swift
RED (Taylor's version)
There is plenty for fans to look forward to when Taylor Swift releases her re-recording of her 2012 album. RED is arguably Swift's most eclectic album, which saw her fully swing to pop from her previous country albums – there's the iconic bass drop in I Knew You Were Trouble and the witty singalong that is 22. But what is really worth counting down for are the tracks "from the vault" - including the long-rumoured 10-minute version of tearjerker All Too Well and new collaborations with artists including Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton, and Phoebe Bridgers.
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Release date: November 19
LB
Ladyhawke
Time Flies
NZ's synth-pop superstar Ladyhawke swoops back in with her first album in five years. We're not the only ones who have missed her glossy, 80s-tinged tunes as her comeback single Guilty Love, a collab with Kiwi pop-duo Broods, quickly clocked up more than a million streams.
We've since been treated to two more singles, the sweetly grooving Mixed Emotions and the choppy pop-funk of Think About You, and we're convinced that Time Flies is going to be one of this year's summer soundtracks.
Release date: October 8
KP
The best albums of 2021 so far
Lorde
Solar Power
(Universal)
How do you solve a problem like a Melodrama follow-up? Well, Lorde decided to disappear into the sun. It has been a lengthy wait for fans of our homegrown pop superstar, and on Solar Power she leans into her universe of summer comforts. The record makes for easy listening in its upbeat moments and her honest musings on fame are tied together with lyrics that cut deep in the way only Lorde can do.
LB
Troy Kingi
Black Sea Golden Ladder
(Triple A Records)
The release of his fifth album a couple of months back saw Troy Kingi steaming past the midway point of his ambitious 10-10-10 project, which sees the award-winning muso releasing 10 albums in 10 genres in 10 years. If he's feeling any sort of mid-race slump it's certainly not showing here as Black Sea Golden Ladder sees him barrelling headfirst into folk - a sharp turn from the 70s funk of his last record. Enlisting the help of Aotearoa's folk shaman Delaney Davidson as collaborator, the two hardest working men in showbiz have conjured up an ambitious album that muses on life while pushing the boundaries of folk to exciting and unexpected new places.
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girl in red
If I could make it go quiet
(AWAL)
Pop music is at its best when it takes risks, both in production and with songwriting. The debut album from Norwegian artist girl in red, real name Marie Ulven Ringheim, demonstrates her fresh voice and creativity. Expect to be entranced by her collection of songs that put honest lyrics about mental health to a catchy pop beat. Fans of Billie Eilish will find familiarity in the artist's work, not least because her brother Finneas lends his production skills to the opening track Serotonin.
LB
Arlo Parks
Collapsed in Sunbeams
(Transgressive Records)
British artist Arlo Parks is one of the breakout artists of 2021, and her debut album secured her a nod for UK's prestigious Mercury Prize. Parks dazzles with indie-pop tracks that feel intimate and personal, and her velvety soft voice levels off a record that goes down like a smooth cup of coffee on a rainy day.
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Crowded House
Dreamers are Waiting
(EMI)
For the first Crowded House album in 11 years, Neil Finn renovated the band, inviting sons Liam and Elroy to join him and founding bassist Nick Seymour on guitars and drums respectively.
The result is more than just a lick of paint and new fittings on an old frame. They've essentially rebuilt the band's sound from the ground up while retaining all the character and heart that saw the world fall at their feet in the first place. Full of earworms, catchy hooks, sonic subtleties, pop weirdness and a pleasing layer of guitar fuzziness the result was more than worth the wait.
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Best podcasts of 2021 so far
Though technically it was first released back in 2018, this year's true crime sensation West Cork wasn't made freely available on all podcast platforms until earlier this year, when it quickly got the attention it deserved. The story of the murder of French TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in a remote Irish village in 1996 – and the subsequent decades of public speculation as to who was responsible – is elevated by production that clearly evokes a sense of the place and the people who live there.
Equally bingeable, The Battersea Poltergeist told the story of an infamous haunting in 1950s London through an innovative mix of true crime style "investigation" and spooky dramatic reenactments. It managed to be a compelling listen for believers and skeptics alike, which is no mean feat.
Scams, cheats and hacks have been a growing trend in the podcast world this year. The Lazarus Heist was one standout example, going deep into an international cybercrime plot, while Crushed unravelled Major League Baseball's steroid era in the 1990s with surprisingly interesting depth.
The Apology Line (an art project that got out of hand) and Welcome to Your Fantasy (the wild true story of the Chippendales) were also among the year's most entertaining listens.
- Calum Henderson
• What are your favourite albums and podcasts of the year so far, and what are you looking forward to listening to? Let us know what your recommendations are in the comments section below.
