The Suitesixteen – Mine Would Be The Sun (Self-Released)+
Orville Peck – Show Pony (Columbia)+
Tough Age – Which Way Am I? (Mint)
Ora Cogan – Bells In The Ruins (Prism Tongue)+
Numbing – Make Yourself Hard To Kill (Self-Released)+
Non La – Not In Love (Kingfisher Bluez)
Freak Heat Waves – Zap The Planet (Telephone Explosion)+
redress – peacebird (Self-Released)+
U.S. Girls – Heavy Light (4AD)
New Fries – Is The Idea Of Us (Telephone Explosion)
Dog Day – Present (fundog) various – Ever New (Self-Released)
Gum Country – Somewhere (Kingfisher Bluez)
Destroyer – Have We Met (Merge)
Zoon – Bleached Wavves (Paper Bag)
Rebecca Foon – Waxing Moon (Constellation)
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Born Deadly (Self-Released)
Posted: Dec 10, 2020 6:00 AM ET | Last Updated: December 10, 2020
Albums from Carly Rae Jepsen, Lido Pimienta, Backxwash, Tobi, the Weeknd, Tenille Townes and others stood out in 2020.(Supplied by the artists; design by Myles Chiu/CBC Music)
It s no secret that this year challenged the music industry in many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic forced musicians to hit pause on world tours; ongoing discussions around racism and underrepresentation made record labels and award shows rethink their use of language and categorization (to varying levels of success); and social media apps like TikTok continued to break down and rebuild the ways in which the industry operates.