10 Best Pop Albums Of 2018
9. Molly Nilsson - Twenty Twenty
Releasing seven albums in ten years hasn't left Molly Nilsson devoid of ideas or passion on her latest LP, "2020". Led by the soaring Days of Dust, an instantly-memorable synth-pop banger that sees Nilsson skirt around impending destruction by focusing instead on its restorative elements, the album continues the artist's nostalgia-tinged journey of self-discovery.
The music itself hasn't changed all that much from the previous release, still evocative of a European pop sensibility from decades gone by, but everything Nilsson has to say is incredibly contemporary. Too contemporary perhaps, as the album itself was inspired by a poster for the 2020 Olympic Games at an airport, and a vision of everything that could happen between now and then. Unlike other artists who look to the past for answers, Nilsson always wrangles with the now and the future, navigating anxieties, fears and desires in the moment without the benefit of hindsight.
"It was a late-capitalist night/And I'm feeling alright", Nilsson sings on the dreamy opener, Every Night is New, and that one lyric sets the groundwork for the entire album to come. Being hyper-aware of your place in the world can be overwhelming, and "2020" channels the (often contradictory) emotions that come from that into 10 spellbinding tunes.