# What is the best indie album with female lead vocals?

> Some of indie music's most powerful voices belong to women — fierce, vulnerable, poetic, and unforgettable. Which album with a female lead vocalist moved you most?

*By YPB Team · Published April 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-indie-album-with-female-lead-vocals*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Exile in Guyville**
   Liz Phair's 1993 Chicago debut, a frank and feminist indie rock landmark that rewrote the rules.
2. **Punisher**
   Phoebe Bridgers' 2020 emotionally shattering indie folk album, a defining work of her generation.
3. **Rid of Me**
   PJ Harvey's 1993 raw and confrontational indie rock album, Steve Albini-produced intensity from a singular voice.
4. **Moon Pix**
   Cat Power's 1998 lo-fi masterpiece, Chan Marshall's fragile and haunted voice over stark guitar.
5. **Puberty 2**
   Mitski's 2016 raw indie rock album about desire, identity, and alienation, one of the decade's most urgent records.
6. **Dig Me Out**
   Sleater-Kinney's 1997 feminist punk-rock landmark, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker at their most electrifying.
7. **Burn Your Fire for No Witness**
   Angel Olsen's 2014 raw and haunting folk-rock statement that established her as a singular indie voice.
8. **Lush**
   Snail Mail's 2018 debut, a remarkably assured confessional indie rock album from teenage Lindsey Jordan.
9. **Are We There**
   Sharon Van Etten's 2014 powerful indie rock album, emotionally devastating and beautifully produced.
10. **Ys**
   Joanna Newsom's 2006 harp-driven folk opus, an album unlike anything else in indie music.
11. **Jubilee**
   Japanese Breakfast's 2021 joyful and celebratory indie pop masterpiece from Michelle Zauner.
12. **The Record**
   boygenius' 2023 debut, Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus collectively at their very best.
13. **Home Video**
   Lucy Dacus' 2021 razor-sharp autobiographical indie rock album about memory and adolescence.
14. **Turn Out the Lights**
   Julien Baker's 2017 sophomore album, expanding her sparse sound with orchestration while keeping its raw confessional power.
15. **Sometimes, Forever**
   Soccer Mommy's 2022 album blending 90s indie rock with contemporary emotional intelligence.
16. **Teen Dream**
   Beach House's 2010 dream pop breakthrough, Victoria Legrand's voice the defining instrument.

Tags: music, rock, bands, indie, female-vocals