2017 has been a year. With rapid and hectic developments on both global and personal scales, musicians of all genres produced some of their best work in one of the strongest years for music in recent memory. SZA tackled liberation in one of the year’s best R&B-tinged sets, Lorde mastered a pop sound for the future on her sophomore effort, and Sam Smith came back to croon us through heartbreak. In celebration of such a rich year in music, I’ve rounded up some of the best albums of the year. Here’s the 20 of 17.

20. The Thrill of It All, Sam Smith

The voice of a thousand burning candles, fiery in its impressive range and crystal-clear delivery. Sam Smith’s dazzling debut, In the Lonely Hour, revealed the immense talent and natural stardom the singer possessed. It sounded like nothing else in the mainstream, and for that he gained respect in the form of devoted fans (and Grammys).

His voice is so recognizable that it must have been hard to come up with fresh-sounding tracks, but Smith largely found a way. The chirpy piano on choir-backed "One Last Song" sees the vocalist tripping on the same old ex, but swearing said ex off as a musical muse. The clear standout of the album is "Pray," perhaps Smith's strongest vocal delivery to date. Inspired by his eye-opening visit to Iraq, the lyrics describe a globalized epiphany of things taken for granted, the heavenly choir breaking in again with devastating effect.

The effort is more developed, his voice gliding even more effortlessly through the love and heartbreak he so earnestly defines.

19. American Teen, Khalid

Khalid hadn’t yet graduated high school when he wrote several of American Teen’s best songs. The title track is an observation on the spontaneities, dishonesties, and momentary memories that make up being a teen in the modern age.

He rose to fame with “Location,” a unique blend of rhythm and instrumentals that separates itself from the pack. Other album high point, “Young Dumb & Broke,” is a practically faultless party jam that instead moves closer to the context of today’s sound—booming bass and hi-hat accents included. Finishing track “Angels” exhibits his ability to dial it back and sing with an authentic lucidity.

With varied approaches to formulating his own sound, Khalid presents a robust debut in American Teen, a set full of astute observations and celebratory jams alike. It’s when the two begin to blur that Teen really starts to shine.

18. Something to Tell You, HAIM

The retro pop-rock sister-trio of HAIM find themselves soaking in the sun with gleeful resonance on their latest LP. Their 2013 debut, Days Are Gone, promptly propelled them into the spotlight as legitimate leaders of the vintage-sound movement. For newcomers, think of a silly-talented jam sesh sometime before 2000 in the vein of Fleetwood Mac. While their signature style has a cheerful kind of nostalgia, they consistently invent ways to keep their sound fresh and inspiring.

The music video for standout “Want You Back” is a simple one-shot take that serves as a solid introduction to who the sisters are as artists—seriously talented, but not afraid have some fun and pull off some superbly amateur dance moves. Another hit is “Kept Me Crying,” a raspy, snare-laden soul tune with some serious bite and a catchy-as-hell singalong chorus.

Stylistically unique and aesthetically sound, HAIM keeps the spirit alive on their second album out.

17. Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey

Lead single “Love” is peak Lana Del Rey. The muted guitar strums that open the blushy love song fit her misty voice like a glove. Her signature sound is so refined at this point that it’s unimaginable to hear anyone else singing such a song as good as her. Lust for Life is a mild departure from records like Ultraviolence, but a closer relative to the massive pop opus Born to Die.

Lana’s starting to explore and fully embrace crossover tracks, notably so on second standout “Lust For Life,” where she croons lovingly alongside The Weeknd in an emotive match made in heaven. There’s some experimentation sprinkled throughout the set, with the A$AP Rocky-collaborated “Groupie Love” proving an intoxicating, slow-burn success of blended vocal effects and heart-throbbing beats.

Lana Del Rey brings more earnestness on Lust for Life, her past pop culture icon infatuations blending with her newfound personal injections. She’s not so removed this time around, her writing and production aligning ever so perfectly for a new honesty that works wonders.

16. Tell Me You Love Me – Demi Lovato

There’s no doubting Demi Lovato has some powerhouse pipes—she’s steadily been inching out of the popmosphere with valiant experimentations in R&B and soul. Critics often comment that she still hasn’t found the right outlet for that incredible voice on a full-length, but her latest, Tell Me You Love Me, is Lovato’s sturdiest work yet, rendering those doubters few and far between.

The first glimpse of the set came with the energetically defiant “Sorry Not Sorry,” a rhythmic pop recipe aimed for radio, a familiar path for Demi. The following track, “Tell Me You Love Me,” puts Lovato’s voice front and center with a beat tailor-made for its raspy strength. She’s commanding as ever, and once the choir claps come in there’s no denying her progression to a sound that finally fits her best instrument.

There are more strong points than weak points, with bumpy “Sexy Dirty Love” exhibiting Lovato soaring into choruses with complete ownership over her sexuality. “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore” is a head-scratcher, only because the otherworldly vocals alone should have landed the record a Grammy nom. The uniquely-titled “Daddy Issues” is a legitimate bop that could easily be a hit if Lovato and Co. are feeling it—the beat kicks in with a silky precision that’s hard to not bop to. She keeps the momentum going with the sensual strumming of “Ruin the Friendship,” a crescendo of attraction that immediately led to pop culture freak-out over its subject matter. There’s a restrained execution to “Only Forever,” a foggy, wistful track that marks the end of the album’s strongest moments.

Lovato is finally finding her niche with new precision, her ethereal vocals soaring higher than ever against production that at last fits her potency.

13. RELAXER, alt-J

The simple string opening of “3WW” and eventual instrumental buildup to a mid-song shift is indicative of alt-J’s latest cornucopia of stylistic strategy. Joe Newman’s vocals can go from crackling authority (“In Cold Blood”) to haunting precision (“Adeline”). Most of the cuts here are slow-burns, but if you listen long enough you’ll begin to notice the subtleties leading up to the outbursts that occur halfway through most songs.

There’s also a lyrical prowess here, with evocative lines like “I watch your morning swim again / Ooh, Kodachrome blue sky / Strokes from patch to warm patch / My sweet Adeline.” Newman’s voice can go places others can’t, successfully and often devastatingly conveying a deeper sense of emotion in the way he utters each syllable.

RELAXER is a mixed bag of tempo and tune, each song often wildly expressing a personality of its own. Moments of tension are contrasted with heartfelt vocals, the set interestingly and successfully navigating a melodious canyon’s breathtaking peaks and darkened channels alike.

12. Mura Masa, Mura Masa

With smart, lush and developed production, 21-year old Alex Crossan (Mura Masa) brings a tenacious energy to his first full-length. Adopting the spirit of his native UK’s cultural diversity, the tracks are passionately ambitious and lovingly different from one another, leading to an abundance of vibrant and varied sounds.

It sounds an awful lot like the future of electronica, with high-profile collaborators bringing deserved attention to the newcomer’s talents. Album highlight “1 Night,” featuring Charli XCX, is a playfully simple groove pairing xylophone, harp and hand-claps among others in an inventive use of rhythm. He’s also got a grip on the subtle electronic dance track, evident in the restrained execution of “Second 2 None.” The structure and stylistics sound beyond his 21 years, Christine and the Queens’ vocal work pairing nicely with the drip-drop, tropic-injected beatscape.

It’s an ambitious first album for Mura Masa, its convincing execution and forward-thinking inventions are sure to attract even more high-profile collaborators for whatever project Crossan gets his hands on next.

11. Rainbow, Kesha

Rounding out the top eleven (and one of the most competitive in years, at that) is Kesha’s long-awaited full-length return, Rainbow. Although absent from music the past several years, she was not at all absent from the headlines— yet she wisely channels those life-changing occurrences and doesn’t let it define her. Instead of outwardly dissecting the darkness she could have easily fallen into, she turns inward and focuses on her growth beyond the bad—rightfully and skillfully focusing the attention on her and her music, where it should be.

The closest track to the Kesha of 2012’s Warrior is “Hymn,” a sleek pop standout with an escalating beat that makes a case to be the cleanest pop track she’s made to date. Pure pop songs are few and far between on Rainbow, however. The country twang of “Hunt You Down” and Disney-worthy arrangements of “Rainbow” are perfect illustrations of the directions Kesha can go (and be successful at) when expanding her artistic breadth and taking risks.

It’s an ambitious album with a coagulation of sounds, many of them existing new territory. There are more strings here, more vocal range, more experimentation and emotional depth. Her voice is stronger than ever—both lyrically and vocally. She’s healing and growing with each passing song, beginning with the acoustic opener, “Bastards” and continuing with the guitar-laced second track, “Let ‘Em Talk.” Her contagious laugh in the defiant “Woman” shows she’s concurrently expanded her own brand of badassery.

You’ve likely heard the mounting strength in whistle-note lead single “Praying,” but her progression as a musician shines most when observing Rainbow as an entire effort. The genre-bending set of songs, from country bars to galactic spaceships, prove the venture into new territory to be worth it. It’s her best offering yet, finally and fully exhibiting the caliber of talent Kesha has always had.

9. No Shape, Perfume Genius

Sparse arrangements, evocative vocals, powerful subtleties rich in lyrical content. Perfume Genius creates a very specific landscape on No Shape, complete with falsettos that tumble into crescendos and smoothen out into heartfelt declarations. Its leading two tracks (the tender explosion “Otherside” and joyfully rebellious “Slip Away”) are the perfect storm of all Perfume Genius has been working towards artistically, and an accurate encapsulation of the opus album. They make it immediately clear that deconstruction is not the album’s focus, but instead a glorious and flamboyant expression of love through grandiose gestures and lush instrumentals.

The album’s emphasis is on devotion and dissent in shades of sentiment, but its approach veers from Genius’ past offerings. Ironic jabs are traded with reverent love declarations, its subject content largely inspired by (and collaborated on with) Mike Hadreas’ hard-fought lover.

14. Dua Lipa, Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa’s voice is instantaneously distinct in its clarity and depth. The tropical beat of underrated album opener, “Genesis,” is cleverly built up into an energetic kind of chorus that becomes familiar throughout Lipa’s self-titled debut set.

Her radio-ready, video-viral jam “New Rules” took over the summer (and many charts, too). Earlier tracks like “New Love” keep what seems to be a deadly duo of Dua’s voice and tropical influence alive. It’s a solid combination, and nearly veers into playing-it-safe territory before standout tracks like “Last Dance” add a new kind of mesmerizing fog to the group. “Dance” has a booming snap-beat that flows fluidly into an ecstatically morphed voice loop. The sonics here make for a visually stunning music video that captures just what Dua is capable of.

It’s a solid debut from a new face already taking the global pop scene by storm.

7. Sleep Well Beast – The National

Here we have an unflinching portrait of a dark night’s thinking man—Matt Berninger’s vocals can be laid bare in confession or ascend to staggering heights on The National’s latest incredible set. The astute darkness of the album lies in its musings on individual and civil strife alike. On the title track, Berninger’s voice is gravely amidst a warbling electro-snare and bubbling percussion ensemble. It’s these sweeping instrumentals that render you in awe—likely a result of the band’s writing process.

Berninger may pen and sing a majority of the lyrics, but they are secondary chronologically—the music comes first, via bandmates Bryce and Aaron Dessner. Such a strategy proves a winning formula, evident in the quietly ferocious “Nobody Else Will Be There” and meditative “Guilty Party.”

Album showstopper “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” marriages lyrical valor and innate musical genius to create a harmoniously composed 3 minutes and 56 seconds.

The National have reached their most complete form yet on Sleep Well Beast, a shapeshifting opus of a record that reveals itself more and more with each stunning listen.

8. Rennen, SOHN

It seems contradictory at first—a chorus with bombastic crescendos one moment, a deconstructed beat amid heart-wrenching vocals the next. Austria-native SOHN became a kind of recluse in a relocation to northern California. The result is a surprisingly cohesive effort that ties together emotive dynamics with distorted perspectives and deep-pounding beats.

Midway through Rennen is “Proof” serving as the closest cut to transcribe the entire album in one single song. Slanted vocals open to a thumping beat, the combo sounding a lot like what you’d imagine tumbling down a canyon of saturated parabolic glitches would sound like. The title track “Rennen” is much sparser, with pared-down vocals laid over clean piano and eventual echoing distortions. There’s an oscillating pattern of scale and tempo beginning to emerge.

“Hard Liquor” is the opener and instant standout, perfect for hyping up and going out, but it’s ambitious tracks like “Harbour” that give you chills. Its vocal opens alone, echoed as if its desperate pleas are being shouted into an endless night ocean. The intensity flows in waves, ebbing and flowing as the storm of a chorus brews in the background. What sounds like watery leaves float into the empty spaces before the song morphs into a breathtaking final run.

Rennen is a solid collection of morphing electro-alternative tracks that not only morph in the course of one listen, but each listen thereafter. The versatility of voice-strumental alteration and ever-changing atmospheres lead the album to take on a surging life of its own.

9. All American Made, Margo Price

“Sometimes my weakness is stronger than me,” Margo Price sings on “Weakness,” the second song off her second exceptional full-length. Full of upbeat folk jams and crooned country ballads, Price isn’t afraid to consider both the state of the nation and the state of her soul.

This is where the subject matter veers from her debut. While Midwest Farmer’s Daughterprovides a glimpse into Price’s own personal life, All American Made evaluates all kinds of country—the hardships of a modern-age farmer (“Heart of America”), the inauthenticity of new-country (“Cocaine Cowboys”), and the equally All-American gender crisis (the fist-raising standout “Pay Gap”). It’s a stylistically cohesive and lyrically rich record perfect for country/folk fans and newcomers alike

8. Ctrl, SZA

“That is my greatest fear: that if I lost control, or did not have control, things would just... you know, would be fatal,” is the grainy recorded voice that opens “Supermodel,” the first track of SZA’s ambitious, unflinching studio debut. With a simple string loop amid sparse, haunting vocals, the acoustic instrumentals were admittedly new territory for Solána Rowe. The fact that she chose such a song as the album opener accurately paints SZA as a bold artist unafraid of taking risks in exploring new sonics. That is, largely, what she’d been focusing on the past few years—finding and refining her own sound. She’s a perfectionist in that sense, and her natural talent and star-power show on standouts like “Love Galore” and “The Weekend” prove that her obsessing over every synth and bass boom was well worth it.

Delving into the dynamics of relationships in the twenty-first century isn’t an uncommon subject for current artists, but there’s something different about SZA’s unflinching honesty in her observations on love and life in her many personal liberations. There are voice-overs like the one in the opener “Supermodel” sprinkled throughout, but the heart in the clips and relation to each song’s content rise above any kind of gimmick. She’s exploring all over the place here—her sound, her sexuality, her individuality—and her strength as an artist seems to grow alongside each passing minute as a result.

With a distinctive, subtlety powerful voice and unique style of sing-speak, her explorations into the urban/contemporary/R&B prove to be successful. Her hooks could easily be morphed into any successful pop song, but her new-wave sound is so true to her sense of self that it’s hard to see how any one song could exist better in any other form.

Ctrl sees the rapid growth and bloom of a rising artist in SZA, her unabashed style of writing and performing capturing the attention of both fans and critics. This is what new alt-R&B sounds like, and it sounds damn good.

6. Kid Kruschev, Sleigh Bells

Brooklyn-based duo Sleigh Bells have a tendency to run wild with their sounds. The brazen instrumentals and nonchalantly unique vocals have been central to their rise, but it’s about the only thing running through all their records that ties directly together (and even that is beginning to change with the last two albums). Although they’ve experimented before, the pop-tinge of 2016’s Jessica Rabbit and tenderness of this year’s short and sweet Kid Kruschev render the duo utterly (and likely happily) genre-less.

Derek Miller and Alex Krauss have recently forayed into a new pop sound, marking a subtle but steady shift in Krauss’ vocals. They originated in the vein of noise-pop with raucous beats and sleek vocals (“Riot Rhythm,” “Infinity Guitars”). If you’ve heard much of their previous records, you’ll recognize both familiar and new elements in their latest mini album. The blaring sounds of 2010’s Treats had Miller imagining Krauss’ voice reminiscent of “a brick with a really slick film on top of it.” The trace of pop in Jessica Rabbit saw Krauss inject a little more emotion into the vocal, with their latest effort diving further into this new idea of a cleaner sound and warmer (yet still as commanding) vocals.

Songs on Kruschev are energetically layered in electric riffs, vocal grain and sharp ambition. “Favorite Transgressions” is a boisterous callback to their earlier work, but gleefully polished and deftly executed in a new light. There are some understated acoustic elements in “Florida Thunderstorm,” a highlight so true to its title you can practically feel the swirling winds approach as the distant cumulonimbus inches ever closer. “And Saints,” album closer and inventive highpoint, is a cold, sleek synth-jab of disconsolate lyrics.

Kid Kruschev marks another bold stroke into new sounds for Sleigh Bells, but the vocals have never been stronger and the instrumentals have never been crisper, making it their strongest and most cohesive effort to date.

5. BLUE LIPS, Tove Lo

Opening with the pop song of the year, “disco tits,” Tove Lo’s second half of a double-album sets out to redefine what brooding electro-pop can sound like, and sees Lo delving deeper into her sensual emancipation and captivation with life’s rushes and downfalls. It’s likely before its time, a robust collection of slow-burns and spotless Swedish production from the queen of dark pop herself.

Split into two halves, “LIGHT BEAMS” and “PITCH BLACK” respectively, the structure and reflections of Lips are reminiscent of 2016’s masterwork, Lady Wood. Psychedelic up-tempo bops make up the first seven tracks, with the arrival of “PITCH PLACK” plunging the second half of the set into a revelatory and reflective collection of introspection. The bombastic guitar riffs of “stranger” are traded for the murky production and wailing vocals of “9th of october.”

The courageous and pulsating “cycles” is one of the strongest offerings Tove has presented to date. It contemplates over what is becoming her specialty—the rush of the high, the fades of the low, how it all affects her sexuality and cerebral state. The production here is spot-on for the subject matter, a seeping synth throb that rises and falls against otherworldly distortions. Tove exhibits some of her strongest vocals as she wails, “I'm in a cycle / Yeah, I admit it / How can I change it when I don't know when I'm in it?”

More minimalistic than Lady Wood, but still as provocative and introspective, Blue Lips is a rightful second offering. Tove Lo’s songwriting senses are second to none, her skills and aesthetics far too slept on. Her sound has never been so meticulously developed and at once boldly experimental, finding itself it to be the most cohesive album of her career.

4. Guppy – Charly Bliss

Existing somewhere between 90’s bliss pop and new wave alt-rock, Charly Bliss’ Guppy is a vibrant display of grit and gumption. The strums are sunny and biting at once, vocalist Eva Hendricks’ bubblegum register acting as a perfect contrast to the heavy-hitting instrumentals.

“I laughed when your dog died, it is cruel but it’s true,” she sings raspily on “DQ,” an incredible deep cut with other golden lines like “I'm four years above sixteen / I bounced so high, I peed the trampoline / I'm too sad to be mean / I'm gonna end up working at Dairy Queen.”

They’re readily accepting of the irony in anything bubblegum—their merch setup previously including a literal gumball machine. They rise above the average revivalist group, however, largely due to Hendricks’ blunt style of performance and remarkable, sugary screech voice. Their live performances are endearing, the band’s chemistry palatable and original.

This energetic spirit translates well into a full-length, contributing a novel, current meaning to bubblegum. It’s the high–voltage grunge of the instrumentals and the saccharine gloss executed so well by magnetic frontwoman Hendricks that makes them so helplessly dynamic.

3. Turn Out the Lights, Julien Baker

Easily the saddest and most outwardly introspective on this list, Julien Baker’s pared-down triumph centers on ambitious, heavy topics with heartbreaking clarity and powerful progression.

The instrumentals of the opener, “Over,” lay the groundwork for her vocals once they finally glide in nearly two minutes into the album. There’s a sense of transparency here—her vocals are clear, the arrangements simple and effective. It’s a beautifully composed tear-jerker, setting the tone for what’s to come.

Thematically speaking, Baker is ambitious—she’s wrestling with emptiness and self-worth, dancing around heavenly wonders and heartbreak. Production is, however, another story—the modest and thought-out backings let her vocals shine with clarity. Vocals that, as the album slowly progresses, begin to grow surer and stronger. She sounds strong and soft on the early “Appointments” and coos through regret and disappointment on “Sour Breath” before gaining a momentum in howling refrains of “The harder I swim / the faster I sink.”

Her introspections are tragic and honest, her voice wavering in the darkened depths before trying to float into some semblance of light. Her debut, Sprained Ankle, may have centered on the same demons of Turn out the Lights—substance abuse, self-worth, Divine questioning and mental illness—but the conclusion of Lights sounds much different than the gritty-dark end of Ankle. She's journeyed through the pain to find some semblance of hope.

2. MASSEDUCTION, St. Vincent

Annie Clark is here, experimenting, and better than ever. The Oklahoma native’s alt-rock precedents are beginning to morph into something different and more pop, but the pop-hook aspects are more of a sheen over the rock angst in her voice and guitar rips. Cheeky songs like “Pills” begin as pure pop bliss before exploding into glorious guitar wails. Standout “Los Ageless” sneaks in poignant observations on the city of Los Angeles and the cultures that run rampant in it. Its wicked-smart lyric lines bleed into one another beautifully as an antithesis of the later, album-defining “New York.”

Clark’s voice can boom with the blares of guitar just as well as a somber piano (“Happy Birthday, Johnny” and aforementioned “New York”). Her voice versatility benefits in the mirrored instrumental versatility—the beats and production are unified in their exploratory differences. The lyrics are consumed in heartbreak and an ensuing loss of control from strings of bad decisions. It also, perhaps more poignantly, considers the blurred lines between blissful pleasure and compliant heartache.

It’s also worth noting: with Jack Antonoff collaborating here as well, it’s a wonder he didn’t receive a Grammy nod for producer of the year—his ambitious pop strategies influenced the better part of 2017’s pop atmosphere arguably more than anyone.

St. Vincent keeps the grit that made her career in the first place, but dives headfirst into pop experimentation in a perfect blend of inventive alt-pop-rock. Her tweaked sound emancipates a part of her voice to let her fluidly slip between a commanding fierceness and agonizing despondency. Album closer “Smoking Section” is a tenacious howl of a track that exhibits the sheer strength of Annie Clark as a musician. Her rambunctious and successful foray into new territory only further proves that she’s never been better.

1. Melodrama, Lorde

An ambitious, Technicolor encapsulation of life through the lens of a house party. Showcasing the dynamic poeticism that led to the Grammy-winning success of 2013’s Pure Heroine, Lorde masterfully avoids the sophomore slump with the best pop album of 2017 in an emotive work that dives into the feelings, perspectives, actions and repercussions of life’s parties.

More precisely: before, during, and after them. She doesn’t just dwell in the heat of the moment, like most of her pop peers do—while Melodrama packs booming party tracks, it also evaluates the post-party daze in equal measure. It’s when the adrenaline dies that Lorde’s introspective, potent vocals shine through—there’s a live video of “Writer in the Dark” floating around the web in which Lorde distances herself from the mic and sings with such passion the crowd goes silent. There are many such moments tucked into the 12-track set, made especially effective through how each song is produced.

This is Lorde’s first full-length collaboration with Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, the pairing seeing more success each day (critical acclaim, Album of the Year Grammy nod, etc.). Antonoff’s signature use of blank space mixes curiously well with O’Conner’s poetic lines, making each second of tensioned silence impact just as much as every bombastic hook.

Lorde’s debut solidified her status as an old soul with a lyrical sense beyond her years, a minimalist record full of innovative rhythms, idiosyncratic observations, and a teenage over-it aura. Her follow-up instead flips the blasé of Pure Heroine into a deeply personal, meticulously produced feat that parties, revels, and uniquely reflects on the sensations of the 20-something.

That's it for 2017! May the new year bring new masterworks in alt-pop, rap-rock, and everything in between.

Oh, and because I almost forgot, here are some honorable mentions to check out: Out In the Storm– Waxahatchee, DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar, Yesterday’s Gone – Loyle Carner, Lotta Sea Lice – Cortney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Reputation – Taylor Swift, Gone Now – Bleachers, Evolve – Imagine Dragons, Sacred Hearts Club, Foster the People, hopeless fountain kingdom – Halsey, I See You – The xx

Keep an eye out for more varied content (short stories, essays, countdowns and visual studies) on a more regular basis. Also, The Mighty Type now has a Facebook page and somewhat of a merch shop. Here's to 2017 and staying mighty. *clink*

The 20 of 17: Albums of the Year