What is the best indie album of the 2010s?
The 2010s brought a new emotional honesty to indie music — bedroom pop, confessional folk, sprawling art-rock, and lo-fi sadcore all flourished. From arena-ready anthems to deeply personal bedroom recordings, which record towers above the rest? Cast your vote!
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Bon Iver's 2011 second album, moving from cabin-folk isolation to lush orchestral indie pop in a stunning leap.
Modern Vampires of the City
Vampire Weekend's 2013 masterpiece, exploring mortality and faith with their most sophisticated songwriting to date.
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire's 2010 Grammy-winning double album, a wistful meditation on suburban America and lost youth.
Teen Dream
Beach House's 2010 dream pop breakthrough, all lush reverb and bittersweet nostalgia.
Currents
Tame Impala's 2015 psychedelic transformation into electronic pop, one of the defining albums of the decade.
Puberty 2
Mitski's 2016 breakthrough, raw and intense indie rock about alienation, identity, and desire.
Carrie & Lowell
Sufjan Stevens' 2015 devastating and sparse folk album about grief, childhood, and his late mother.
Teens of Denial
Car Seat Headrest's 2016 double album of confessional power-pop that brought Will Toledo's bedroom project to wide acclaim.
Burn Your Fire for No Witness
Angel Olsen's 2014 album, a raw and haunting folk-rock statement that established her as a singular indie voice.
Lush
Snail Mail's 2018 debut, a remarkably assured confessional indie rock album from a teenage Lindsey Jordan.
High Violet
The National's 2010 album, a lush and melancholic mid-life indie rock statement.
Are We There
Sharon Van Etten's 2014 breakthrough, a powerful indie rock album exploring love, loss, and self-discovery.
A Crow Looked at Me
Mount Eerie's 2017 devastating album about grief following the death of his wife, raw and almost unbearably intimate.
Stranger in the Alps
Phoebe Bridgers' 2017 debut, an emotionally transparent folk-rock album that heralded one of indie's great new voices.
Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter's 2010 album, a dreamy and hypnotic blend of shoegaze, pop, and psychedelia.
Lost in the Dream
The War on Drugs' 2014 expansive shoegaze-meets-Heartland-rock album, a slow-burn masterpiece.
Sprained Ankle
Julien Baker's 2015 debut solo album, a spare and emotionally devastating set of guitar-and-voice indie folk songs.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first!
