Another year past, another year of everyone’s favorites lists. It’s been somewhat of a meme to say “I don’t care about your Spotify Wrapped” etc etc, but I’ve always been interested in people’s end of year favorites! It’s a fun collective time for everyone to come together and reflect on what went into their brain and eyes the most that given year.
That being said, this is my little collection of favorite albums, songs, podcasts, newsletters, artists, and designers of 2022.
P.S. - This issue was done entirely on iPad Pro, as my Mac has been in for repair…so forgive the Procreate iteration of the title card.
ALBUM COVERS
Okay, full transparency—I was going to outline a few covers I loved this year but they were probably going to be pretty basic picks. Instead, I found this article from ourculture that you should definitely read instead. I’ve never seen 80% of the covers on there, look at these gems!
ALBUMS
DRAKE - HONESTLY NEVERMIND
Yes—my favorite album of the year. No surprises here, the only one being how critically and publicly panned this album was. Drake has dabbled in this chill house sound before, notably on 2017’s More Life, with “Passionfruit” and “Get It Together (feat. Black Coffee & Jorja Smith)”, which both went down incredibly well in my opinion. What he does here is nothing crazy new of course, but I really think the way his smooth voice fits over these moody dance beats is perfect for him. It may have been poor timing, and maybe if it was more upbeat, people might have liked it more, but at least 1 or 2 songs from this album have been played everyday since it came out.
Favorite Tracks: A Keeper, Massive, Jimmy Cooks (feat. 21 Savage)
NOAH KAHAN - STICK SEASON
God, I love this one… Anyone who grew up in New England will likely enjoy the hell out of this album. Noah Kahan’s gentle but pumping folk-pop is intimate, exhilarating, and loaded with nostalgia. A range of tempos and moods here, Kahan’s guitar and vocal work has me singing along at full volume to then holding back tears, thinking of raking wet leaves on a chilly autumn afternoon at home.
Favorite Tracks: Stick Season, Come Over, All My Love
HARRY STYLES - HARRY’S HOUSE
Harry’s third solo effort was not only one of my favorite albums of the year, but one of my favorite album covers too. A flowery and bouncy collection of 70s/80s tinged pop tracks make up the album, continuing his career-long homage to past decades of rock, folk, and pop.
Favorite Tracks: As It Was, Boyfriends, Cinema
…also
THE WEEKND - DAWN FM
JACK HARLOW - COME HOME THE KIDS MISS YOU
DRAKE & 21 SAVAGE - HER LOSS
POST MALONE - TWELVE CARAT TOOTHACHE
BEYONCÉ - RENAISSANCE
SONGS
DRAKE - A KEEPER
A moody deep house cut with a great vocal melody and driving production.
FONTAINES D.C. - JACKIE DOWN THE LINE
More dark and brooding post punk from Dublin’s leading group, with a killer percussion line and chorus.
HARRY STYLES - AS IT WAS
Handedly one of the biggest tracks of the year, Harry’s comeback single is overwhelmingly fun in ways his music has never been before.
…also
THE WEEKND - OUT OF TIME
NOAH KAHAN - STICK SEASON
Aside from my most played tracks, I also listened to a lot of Lil Peep this year, along with exploring Eminem’s classic back catalog, finally getting into The 1975, and probably causing lasting hearing damage to lots of Playboi Carti.
NEWSLETTERS
LAUREN SCARLETT - FIELD TRIP
“Field Trip is a fortnightly newsletter exploring design academia and culture. Mostly essays, notes and things of interest found along the way.”
Field Trip is a short and sweet design-based newsletter outlining some things Lauren is into lately, including various design musings, what she’s listening to in music or podcasts, or what she may be reading or writing about.
Absolutely *gorgeously* designed and branded, Field Trip fully made me want to start my own newsletter (the one you’re reading), and continuously inspires me to keep reading and writing about the things I love.
PODCASTS
POPCAST
THE RINGER MUSIC SHOW
DISSECT
EAR BISCUITS
DESIGNERS/ARTISTS
MIHAILO ANDIC
One of my favorite contemporary designers, Mihailo is an important figurehead in the music sector. He specializes in expressive and textured title typography and artist logos, always showing something new on his feed. He also does a lot of heavily illustrative work, flexing his wide tool belt as a visual artist and designer.
CHASE SHEWBRIDGE
Chase and I seem to have a very similar vision when it comes to composition, texturing, typography, and image treatment. I always look forward to see what he posts and how he goes about posters and other music design assets.
If you like Chase’s work, be sure to also check out Jesse Feinman.
TIN SAVAGE, AUGUST B
Some artists/illustrators I stumbled upon this year and last, this pen and paper, inky, blotty hardcore style is something I’m veryyyy much into at the moment, and have been for a bit as I’ve always loved punk and metal graphics. They fully make me want to pick up an inky pen or marker and get to illustrating some whacked out scenes with evocative and blasted out type pairings.
DAVID BAILEY ROSS
Watercolor paintings on paper of heavily distorted and textured faces of all different colors and washes, Ross’ work has made me think of how I render image in a whole new way. His work makes me think about identity, the way we present ourselves to the world, and the nature of human faces. Super inspiring!
DORA LAZAREVIC
Minimal in nature, Dora’s work appears to be inspired by various sectors of publication design. The way she controls a page is amazing, she leads your eyes all around like a true typography expert. I always love seeing what layouts she’s messing around with, as Swiss-style design has mostly always been the backbone of my personal style.
These are the things that inspired me the most this year, and I hope this coverage leads you to check out each of these creators, albums, podcasts, and whatever else I mentioned.
Thanks for reading the first (calendar) year of GLASSES, and I hope you stick around for 2023!
what a year!! wishing you a great 2023 Sam, can’t wait to see where these newsletters take us! 🤝 I’m soo excited for new music and your reviews to accompany them 🫶