Top 5 Pop Albums That Elevated The Genre in 2021: Luke Hemmings – When Facing...
Year-End Top 5
Here you have it, folks—it’s the end of the year (yikes!), which means it’s time for SLUG’s Top 5 Albums of 2021! This year, we’ve selected albums from a host of styles that have earned our applause. Wrap your hands around a mug of hot cocoa (or whatever sugar-free, dairy-free, organic substitute you’ve learned to love), get a fire started and let your eyes and ears feast on this fantastic recap of music greatness.
- Justin Bieber – Justice
- Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
- Luke Hemmings – When Facing the Things We Turn Away From
- Nick Jonas – Spaceman
- Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
Luke Hemmings
When Facing The Things We Turn Away From
Sony Music
Street: 08.13
Luke Hemmings = The Vamps x Troye Sivan
Many of the albums released in 2021 showcased the developed artistry and craft from the lockdown in 2020 forcing artists to slow down. This is exactly the case for Luke Hemmings, Australian frontman of the pop-punk band 5 Seconds of Summer. His debut solo album, When Facing The Things We Turn Away From, is categorized as alternative, but the 12-tracker perfectly hits that sweet spot of alternative pop.
The album’s thoughtful, evocative production allows Hemmings to not only showcase his own musical abilities perfectly, but makes for one of the most emotionally evocative albums I’ve ever heard. He’s coined himself an expert of emotional exploration with the escapism of “Baby Blue,” the indie vibes of “Mum” and the soul-aching sonics of my favorite track, “Slip Away.” Lyrically, this body of work is stronger than anything 5 Seconds of Summer put out, and with the accompaniment of Hemming’s haunting and precise vocals (“Place In Me” and “Repeat”) it is moving and thought-provoking all at once.
Every second of music on this album is carefully curated to evoke the exact emotions that Hemmings is trying to capture in his work. In his album summary for Apple Music, he says, “A huge goal was to have the sonics of the album reflect the feeling of the emotions that I was immersed in when writing.” It’s a goal that’s not only been accomplished, but surpassed.
On When Facing The Things We Turn Away From, Hemmings is nostalgia, dreaminess, loneliness, reflection and retrospect personified. He’s a master of emotion (and production). –Palak Jayswal