At the end of each year, I like to look back and see what albums helped shape my life. This year, as I was compiling albums I really loved, I noticed the common theme amongst most of them was that they were all written and performed by women. So here are(in my opinion) 5 albums put out in 2020 by women that are just objectively good.

5). Plastic Hearts – Miley Cyrus

Over the last 10 years, Miley has been done wrong by the media time and time again. As an artist who has gone to great lengths to get recognition, she has finally found her sound with Plastic Hearts. Branding herself as a rock artist fits perfectly with her low, raspy voice and her edgy persona. The album centers around the media’s betrayal towards her in the past and her recent divorce to husband Liam Hemsworth, with tracks featuring huge names in rock music like Billy Idol, Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks. Standout songs where her voice and emotions are truly showcased are “Angels Like You,” “High” and “Midnight Sky.”

4). Gaslighter – The Chicks

To summarize, Natalie Maines could sing the phone book and I would listen. This is the perfect comeback album after a long hiatus from the band previously known as The Dixie Chicks. Maines, the frontrunner of the girl group, recently went through a messy divorce and highlights it in great detail with songs like “Sleep at Night,” “Tights on My Boat” and “Hope It’s Something Good.” The country album is an equal mix of heart wrenching ballads and upbeat diss tracks, something The Chicks are known for. The icing on the cake, of course, is Maines’ iconic voice that makes you feel her pain in an honest, almost excruciating way.

3). Give Me A Minute – Lizzy McAlpine

I “found” Lizzy earlier this year on TikTok, where she was singing a song she wrote that has yet to be released. She went viral on the app several times during quarantine, and released an album in late summer of this year. The 21 year old singer-songwriter uses simple melodies paired with poem-like lyrics to create a indie-folk sound. With songs like “Same Boat,” “Apple Pie” and “To the Mountains,” McAlpine crafted a beautiful, soothing album that I could fall asleep to…if the lyrics weren’t so relatable.

2). How To Be Human – Chelsea Cutler

Every single song on this album was on my Spotify Wrapped. Cutler, 24, has a way with words that few songwriters from this generation possess. This is clearly a breakup album, as only one song on the entire 16 track album is what I would consider “happy.” Deep cuts like “Crazier Things” and “Somebody Else Will Get Your Eyes” are paired with upbeat depressive songs like “Sad Tonight” and “Strangers Again” to make an album relatable enough to both cry AND dance to, which is a mood I stand behind any day.

1). Evermore – Taylor Swift

I realize this is a daunting one to put as my #1, since it was released four days ago and she had another album this year as well. However, as a diehard Swiftie since her country days, I can attest that there was going to be one Swift album on this list and Evermore is superior to Folklore. Evermore seems to be more cohesive and less folk than her sister album. If one thing stands out amongst all the other music I listened to this year it would have to be the lyrics. Songs like “happiness,” “tolerate it,” and “champagne problems” are all about a heartbreak I have never experienced, yet Swift manages to make me feel like I am right there feeling it all. Her extensive vocabulary and sophisticated verbiage in contrast with simple jargon seems poetic in a way that only Swift can pull off…and she makes it look so easy. Finally, the collabs on this album with HAIM, The National, and Bon Iver, combined with Jack Antonoff’s genius production and writing help make Evermore the best album of 2020.