Arwa Haider and Nick Levin/BBC:

1. Pink Noise by Laura Mvula
The first shimmer of Pink Noise via British singer-songwriter, composer and producer Laura Mvula’s livestream set in early 2021 felt like a vibrantly funky antidote to the seasonal (and ongoing pandemic) gloom. The full album proved to be a gloriously spirit-soaring return from this multi-ranging talent; Mvula has earned plenty of accolades over the past decade; at the same time, she’s been bluntly overlooked by her previous major label. Pink Noise is her third album; it highlights her extraordinarily radiant vocals and embraces ’80s synth grooves and references (on Magical, she sings of “throwing kisses in the purple rain”), yet also sounds exhilaratingly in the moment; from the vivacious pop blast of Church Gal, to What Matters (an elegantly poignant duet with Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil).
2. Montero by Lil Nas X
If any artist defined 2021, it was Lil Nas X, who proved that a black, queer and unapologetically sex-positive pop-rap artist can be a superstar. This scintillating debut demonstrates his ability to incorporate R&B and rock into his TikTok-conquering bops while collaborating with everyone from Elton John to Megan Thee Stallion.
3. Planet Her by Doja Cat
A coolly assured, hotly insistent third album from US rapper, singer-songwriter and meme supremo Doja Cat, who strikes an intergalactic pose on David LaCha-pelle’s glossy cover portrait.
4. Skin by Joy Crookes
When Joy Crookes says Skin is “an album about my identity”, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter isn’t exaggerating. Whether she’s singing about the gentrification of her south London neighbourhood on 19th Floor or the pain of seeing an ex with someone new on When You Were Mine, Crookes’ soulful debut is rich, intimate and uncommonly evocative.
5. 30 by Adele
In 2021, a number of strong albums explored themes of breaking up and moving on, including the latest works from Kacey Musgraves and Martha Wain-wright. The hugely anticipated latest instalment in Brit superstar Adele’s catalogue was widely billed as her “divorce album” and 30 certainly lays bare the heartbreak and turmoil of a marriage ending, but it also expresses a sense of personal and creative liberation from an artist who has grown up in the spotlight.
6. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power by Halsey
In late August, six weeks after welcoming her first child, Ashley “Halsey” Frangipane released this bold concept album “about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth”. Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, it swaps the singer’s previous electro-pop sound for something grungier.
7. Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra
Three seemingly different realms collide and hypnotically merge on this collaborative album from classically-trained electronic artist/producer Floating Points (aka Manchester-born Sam Shepherd), octogenarian US jazz-sax-legend Pharoah Sanders (pictured) and the London Symphony Orchestra.