The 50 best female albums of the 2010s

The 2010s will definitely be remembered as a crucial decade by the future generations. It saw the rise of the streaming era which indelibly changed the whole business. Some lines have been crossed and they will never be defined again. Some terms and dichotomies, such as "indie" versus "pop", or "safe" versus "avant-garde", have completely melt in a unintelligible spectrum of concepts, expressions and niches.

In an endlessly and wonderfully variegated range of different female artists, I tried my best in order to operate a selection. It was not easy at all: critiquing albums means to evaluate different aspects concurrently, such as quality of production, smartness and effectiveness of arrangements, lyrics expressiveness, amount of creativity, overall cohesiveness. And what is even harder is try to select la crème de la crème among hundreds and hundreds of albums released among a multitude of different genres, statements and artistic interpretations.

But I did, so, without further ado, let's find out.

#50

Kesha - Rainbow (2017)

The “after a hurricane comes a rainbow” might has never been this literal. This album does not simply celebrate freedom, it truly oozes a liberation of the soul. Throughout country-esque midtempos, hippie-ish indie-rock anthems and stripped down piano ballads, Rainbow comes across as spiritual and fun at the same time, providing an enjoyable, genuine, vivid and deep-but-light listening.   

#49

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (2011)

Sharp contrasts characterize the grainy mixture of this album, defined by the alternation of electronic uptempos and minimal ballads, extricating in an unsolved aplomb between dystopia, realism and reality. A talented vocalist and some indie flavor in the instrumentals eventually happen to be the pleasant icing on a black cake.

#48

Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear (2014)

Besides representing the neat balance between the perfectly packaged but aseptic structures of This Is Acting and the acoustic, untidy, indie-reggae vibes of her previous discography, this album is, as a whole, a beautiful choir of cries hitting the soul through so many different facets (thudding Cellophane, stormy Dressed In Black, glorious Fire Meet Gasoline, frantic Free The Animal, dramaturgical Chandelier etc) without compromising Sia's amazing skills as a pop songwriter.

#47

Indiana - No Romeo (2015)

Managing to be idyllic and disquieting at the same time, No Romeo envelops and plunges the listener into a catharsis mediated by loneliness and existential disorientation, sonically adorned by arpeggios, loops and basses extrapolated from the 80s electronica world and suffused underneath an ashen and hypnotic voice.

#46

Tove Lo - Blue Lips (2017)

This swedish-synthpop gem teaches wannabes how to make music about sex without resulting cliché, thanks to a smart and engaging songwriting. Tove Lo sings in an alluring way without falling in a kind-of-whiny mode (as her vocal texture often gets into) encompassing every shade of her genre, hosting (then) trendy tropical-house as well as more industrial sonorities.

#45

Kelly Clarkson - Meaning of Life (2017)

Until before this release, I've never considered Clarkson as artistically valuable. With Meaning of Life I came to understand she was not able to have proper artistic freedom because of her previous label. This album is a bomb. Full of life, sometimes euphoric, sometimes sassy, sometimes touching, it establishes Kelly as a true diva. Imagine someone as Whitney or Aretha still alive recording a whole bunch of new songs with the current arrangement quality. You would have had a Meaning of Life 2.0.

#44

Agnes - Veritas (2012)

Another example of swedish excellence, Veritas is an album where heartbeats and the dancefloor rhythm pattern coincide exactly. High quality strings ensembles along with sparkling '90 eurosynths combine each other in a fresh formula further vivified by crystal clear vocals.

#43

Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon (2015)

An aura of timeless, sublime and solemn elegance elevates Honeymoon in comparison to its two predecessors Born To Die and Ultraviolence. All of the melancholic nuances are encrusted in a formal poise that eventually enhances each of them instead of concretizing the risk of introducing an atmo-polluting artificiality element (which is going to emerge in Lust For Life).

#42

SZA - Ctrl (2017)

In terms of production, the recurring formula is a triumph: scattered pieces of alternative electronica and retro-trip merged in an overall urban, hip-hop mood. But what makes this album a great one instead of just a good one, though, are the lyrics. There is such a heartfelt complexity in how the lyrics are eloquent, articulated and deep, that you can't do anything but listen in awe. 

#41

LP - Heart to Mouth (2018)

Interestingly enough, Heart to Mouth is an electronic album vibing as an indie, kind of acoustic soft rock collection of already heard somewhere classics. As there is some serious smartness in the execution and a lot of personal stuff going on, you may say this is one of those rare paradoxical example where "artistry" sounds unfiltered because of the presence of certain specific filters. Don't ask yourself this while listening though, just enjoy your cup of beer.

#40

Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman (2016)

Can you name another album able to merge dance and R&B, while showcasing vocals and still keep on being a pop record for mainstream purposes? Don't think so. Dangerous Woman is a well-executed ode to femininity, sexual but classy, velvety but empowering. And some sparks such as the guitar solo on the title track or the disco-funk beat of Greedy help to make it all a little bit more colorful.

Thank God Focus didn't make it to the final tracklist (otherwise this would've not been in this top 50).

#39

Grimes - Art Angels (2015)

Art Angels is of those "untaggable" situations that caused very polarized reactions at the time of its release. There is still no clear evidence of how each song here was made in order to express a conceptualism or to meet a larger, more mainstream audience. I just assume Grimes simply wanted to have some fun, as she went on to unavoidably showcase her scary amount of talent in a way to make of her album a sort of expo (as the highly similar contingency experienced by Lady Gaga's ARTPOP era, but viceversa).

#38

Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E. (2018)

The Kanye West infected production is a quality guarantee, but at the same the main artist manages not to fall behind his shadow. Teyana's vocals tune on a snug or dry texture depending on context and fluidly mix "old-school" and "new-school" formulas, breaking the spell of balance with the closing voguing hymn Wtp.

#37

P!nk - The Truth About Love (2012)

It doesn't matter if we're talking about a ballad, a midtempo, or a dance track. When the raw punk-rock spirit of P!nk's vocals marry the megalomaniac pop crafted by Max Martin and Greg Kurstin, the final risult is pure adrenalina standing as a gigantic middle finger and hitting as a burning slap. It takes just one listen to start loving even more aggressively than having sex. P!nk teaches us how much hardcore emotions can be felt and should be expressed.

#36

Kali Uchis - Isolation (2018)

This album brings the listener to the Dalì's Persistency of Memory landscapes, cradling him/her in a perpetual sonic colloid made by undistinguishable fractions of chill-wave, electrojazz, dancehall, reggae, pop, funk and tropical house music. Seductive, cohesive and ineluctable, the magnetic charm of Isolation hardly witnesses its prey running away from the next track, and the next one, and still until the end.

#35

Taylor Swift - 1989 (2014)

Match Red's lyrical quality on reputation's production quality and you'll get the most complete, iconic and inspired Swift's album to date. 1989 is also a master in versatility: it gives you both the right tracks for a sunny day radio while driving, and the right tracks for an intimate introspection with your headphones before falling asleep.

#34

Yelle - Completement Fou (2014)

It is kinda funny to state how popcorns are a recurrent aesthetic because of the recurrent use of certain synth stems called "popcorns". Actually, this record is bubbly, divinely produced at Yelle's finest (and less childish) approach to date. Completement Fou is ambivalently brilliant: on a pop level, and on a more sophisticated layer where basic geometries shape each other producing psychedelia through synesthesia.

#33

Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019)

Conceptually simpler than what it may seem, Billie's music is based on a series of little tricks set to amplify her disturbing inputs. There is no secret that she and Finneas are an unstoppable killer team. Everything on this best-seller is so well designed in order to be reciprocally and minimalistically coherent (from songwriting to production and everything around and in between) creating a perfectly manufactured kind of niche that turnt out to be the latest teen fashion phenomenon. On fleek.

#32

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (2010)

At the dawn of her career, Janelle Monae needed to prove the world she was a genius. But, as much as her debut album is so sophisticated and succesfully nerves innovative compositions into orchestral castles, you start wondering whether the heart got lost behind, or if the heart was actually touched in the most ambitious moments. And using the album's conceptual perspectives, it would totally make sense. The fact that The ArchAndroid marks the start of the decade is impressive, considering that after 10 years, it still represents one of the most unique musical crossovers.

#31

AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend (2016)

When she was a newbie, she may have established culturally as a scandinavian linking point between Kerli and Lykke Li. But she soon proved to be more than that. In a scenario where nature is nor explicitly gentle nor malefic, and everything is destined to be influenced by some kind of supernatural overlay, her limpid soprano, along with selected ambient samples, serve as a medium placing in a central point of an Y where the third tip is the listener.

#30

Florence and the machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015)

This is the album that managed to convey emotionally refined indie-pop in the glorious arena stardom vibes that helped giving a major boost in the commercial rise of the whole genre during the decade. Layers of pain and joy, euphoria and contemplation, are set to build a rich, unmistakable, fermented flavor, which does last longer than expected thanks to inner cohesivity.

#29

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (2011)

Abrasive and extremist, Strange Mercy is St. Vincent's most explicitly expressive album. The widespread aggressiveness finds its counterpart in the progressive construction of the instrument(al)s. But it's when the voice and the guitar swap their seemingly pre-assigned roles that true magic happens. .

#28

Janet Jackson - Unbreakable (2015)

Janet's typical R&B sound, infused along with funk and deep-house aromas, is intelligently contextualized in the 2010s decade. It sounds mature and personal, but that doesn't mean you have to expect a bitter listening. Instead, surprisingly, Unbreakable is so damn peaceful that it will be able to bring some quiet into your mind tangles.

#27

FKA twigs - Magdalene (2019)

Unlike LP1, Magdalene voluntarily places itself as something not just reachable but warming approachable, exploiting some of the simplest, classic archetypes (the "heartaching ballad", the "global trap") in order to connect (and to heal) the soul of a wider selection of listeners whilst still maintaining FKA twigs' goddess status of unextricable art-fi intact.

#26

Little Boots - Working Girl (2015)

Kylie Minogue meets Grace Jones in an ode (and a critic) to consumism and bureaucracy lived by a female perspective, catapulting whoever listens to the voice of the Working Girl in the meanders of a mechanical world built by a neatly self-produced scaffold of synthesizer motifs inspired here and there from the '90s trance, deep house and new wave electronica.

#25

Fergie - Double Dutchess (2017)

Most critics definitely misunderstood this album. Dualism is obviously the main theme (duh) so from its own point of view, this album is a total slayage. Fergie clearly put a lot of effort in the creation of this masterpiece, probably losing a lot of money that never came back, but you know what? The sharpness of Double Dutchess is what makes it the rawest pop record of the decade (and the most refined visual one as well).

#24

Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time (2013)

A more unique than rare example of how to incorporate grunge and ska sounds in pop structures, Sky Ferreira provides some strong statements (artistically and lyrically) extending her personal experience to a more psycho-social extent, so that every track on Night Time, My Time comes across as maybe even more relatable than it would have been if she was going to become a label-maneuvered puppet.

#23

Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019)

What made Norman Fucking Rockwell! so praised by the critics is its capacity to catch rock influences in the perpetuated sonics comfort zone representing Del Rey's brand. Fully flourished songwriting skills are dressed by this timeless crossover, for an impressive, cinematic parade of instant classics.

#22

Loreen - Heal (2012)

Not your typically sweden-signed synthpop excellence, Heal stoods thanks to its deep roots planted in trance, trip hop and epic music genres. Loreen's vocal timbre perfectly embodies what this awesome fusion needs to be sung by, and wisely embedded rhythmic layerings render each uptempo an articulated, infectious and penetrating bop, whilst slower tracks shine by a heartfelt candor.

#21

St. Vincent - St. Vincent (2014)

It's very hard to choose between her self-titled and Strange Mercy, but what probably makes this album Clark's best one is her ability to aim and reach the most polished and complex aplomb between analytical art-rock and extemporaneous, softer glimpses of intuition. That is why, to a careful listening, this definitely appears to be her most ambitious and pretentious release to date.

#20

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour (2018)

Sometimes less is more. Light and essential instrumentals occurr to valorize Kacey's impressive songwriting skills, which make her sort of a purer, poisier version of Taylor Swift. Through Golden Hour, she definitely managed to create a pleasant and pleasantly versatile record without resulting bland, insipid or commercial. When composition is so efficient, a minimal production is always the better but braver choice to do.

#19

M.I.A. - Matangi (2013)

The prickly texture of Matangi's themes and sounds is as emphasized as balanced by its minimalism. As a consequence, it hits its goals without resulting overthought and overproduced. There is a fascinating yin & yang thread that makes this album the year's wedding between orient and occident, between holy and profane.

#18

Lizzo - Cuz I Love You (2019)

Lizzo's overwhelming charisma is not enough to overshadow her immense talent. Her music is so effortlessly genial. With her breakthrough album, she offers a richely varied buffet where different music epochs and styles are mixed together in a greedy spicy sauce. In Cuz I Love You, even the most bizarre solutions sound so damn freaking cool.

#17

Dawn Richard - Blackheart (2015)

Blackheart traps and muffles the pulse of a wild, almost tribal spirit in a contemporary, techno-futuristic approach. The results are voluptuosly fascinating. There are some similarities with other avant-pop icons, but what sets the ex-Danity Kane amazon apart is that her sophomore solo masterpiece connects more easily thanks to its enveloping, mellifluous tentacles and a very clever tracklist order.

#16

Beyoncé - Lemonade (2016)

It doesn't matter how much you are (or are not) into afro-american culture, Lemonade will instantly make you feel at home. Costantly warming and widely genres-encompassing, even in the rare moments where synthethic instrumentation takes over, Beyonce's best album always shows a well done teamwork among several different valid musicians and proved to be able to age very well, unlike her other still-good-but-overrated albums.

#15

Roisin Murphy - Hairless Toys (2015)

Electronica jazz adorned by disco elements and progressive patterns make the sound of Hairless Toys hard to decipher or deconstruct. There is a deep search targeted to create some paranoia vibes perfectly suiting Murphy's voice, and bravely enough, a lot of unpredictable, stimulating volume games as well, challenging the laws of mixing and mastering with a deep talent behind the smirk.

#14

Lady Gaga - Born This Way (2011)

Aggressively ecletic and soul-liberating, Born This Way is Lady Gaga's most spectacular album, able to bestow incongruent themes a solid cohexistence (religion, society, psychology, love, sex) cultural folklores (american, spanish, german, french) sounds (metal, rock, techno, mariachi, gospel, opera, punk, jazz... and of course pop). It's not just an album with a strong identity despite a high variety. Each track has a strong identity on its own too. Everything here is about showing a strong identity.

#13

Kelela - Take Me Apart (2017)

Pretty similar, stylistically, to previously ranked Dawn Richard's Blackheart, Kelela's debut LP might be stamped as a tad better due to a more organic, fluidly homogeneous output. Finely effected during editing avoiding too many pindaric virtuosisms, Take Me Apart is enough balanced in order to keep the basic connotations of the R&B genre and to be considered one of the best R&B albums of all time.

#12

Grimes - Visions (2012)

Theatrical, personal, thoughtful and projective, Visions explores the edges of futuristic dream pop, introducing for the first time a related kind of niche and becoming the manifesto of that particular niche for years following. Taking into consideration a dazzling self-production, there is no surprise this is being included in several decade-end lists at unanimity.

#11

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Chords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (2012)

In this apotheosis of sonic expressionism there is a progressively growing tension which creates eerie atmospheres from almost nothing concrete. Moodily dense, grotesque and elusive, this album requires and obliges you to be set alone in an empty room in order to finally have access to the very worthy maximum experience.

#10

Bjork - Vulnicura (2015)

Whenever Bjork has to start a new album, the main concept may be something random that, once emerged, it is followed all the way in a "bjorkification". It can go wrong, but when it goes right, the results are gods-level masterpieces. And that's the case of Vulnicura. The strong predominance of (true) strings over electronica makes the album, along with the touching vocals, some kind of alien musicotherapy.

#9

Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste (2014)

Azealia's LP reflects her personality: as intelligent as hysterical. Unthinkable combinations of sounds work so well that your instinctual reaction is going to be WTF. Nothing here is blended or modulated. Each element is sharpened. It is like a wrestling match between urban and house, with a sprinkling of exotic contaminations. Gotta admit: she got enviable compositive skills too. If this one-of-a-kind record had had a clear thread, I would have put it somewhere in the top 5. Abrasiveness has never been so tasty.

#8

Solange - When I Get Home (2019)

While I never fully satisfactorily enjoyed A Seat at the Table as it felt a bit too overthought, Solange's sophomore release is probably the most successful experiment of fusion where past and future melt together in a new-age-ish handful of very good cannabis. There is a fluidity and a smooth funk-ish sofistication that truly renders When I Get Home an engrossing, relaxing experience, besides being the best music thing this ending year.

#7

Carly Rae Jepsen - EMOTION (2015)

Fresh, effervescent, and very modern despite an '80s obvious inspo, this high quality production pop works mainly due to a notable taylor-swift-like songwriting (the same one that garnered her the mega-success of Call Me Maybe), a contagious euphoria which makes uptempos sparkling, and even some blissful vivid synth-ballads (see Your Type). This gem should definitely be seen a model for every radio princess à la Katy Perry. That's the kind of teen-pop that never goes out of fashion.

#6

Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (2018)

With Dirty Computer Janelle finally manages to channel her superfine artistry and competences into a palpable sound. The most amazing characteristic of this album is the groove, which, as a solid foundation, allows the building of statuesque structures able to satisfy the most demanding snooty nerds, critics and radio audience too. You can definitely taste Prince's last days here.

#5

FKA twigs - LP1 (2014)

Cryptical and intimate at the same time, the apparent lack of any formal structure is what paradoxicaly makes every track fluid. Unpredictable motifs, including rhythmic and atonal aberrations are not randomly put somewhere, not only they don't distract from the beauty of her voice, they come to sting as seismic shocks at the right time in the rightest way, creating an invisible but present tissue. And when the harmony is realigned, everything becomes even more penetrating. Then the album ends. Was she reality or a beautiful mirage? both?

#4

Dev - The Night The Sun Came Up (2012)

I still can't believe this was produced by THREE people. Every single accuracy in the mixing process and the sophisticated modulation of vocal effects is astounding. The highlights are certain sonic, unintelligible metamorphoses intervening in such an effortless manner (as Lightspeed's hammering electro-house collapsing in a final futuristic phaser followed by a flute and strings fading outro, Me cohesively incorporating an indie-pop midtempo, some hip-hop quacks, a violin solo, a techno buttons madness and rummy choirs, Getaway degrading its bpm from a vanilla ballad to a dense freestyle jam). Able to sound as sweet as stark, utopian and dystopian, diabolic and vulnerable, within the same album, Dev proved to be a better fembot than miss overrated a.k.a. Robyn.

#3

Lorde - Melodrama (2017)

Vividly cinematic and synesthetic, Melodrama is a humid and cathartic musical journey inside a young adult with an intricate network of sensitivities. Impressive, expressive, dreamy, artsy AND pop, Melodrama exhibits through ingenious composition several facets of Lorde's fusses, among the following: Vocals serving as percussions, songs evolving from plaintive thuds to infectious euphoria, die-hard enveloping outros, underwater vernissages, euro uplifting bangers à la Icona Pop but with a melancholic counterpart, goosebumps piano ballads. In all of this, there is a deep mind and a deep heart (the latter kinda missing in Pure Heroine) coming across deep as a bottomless pit. Still the pit is damn overflowing.

#2

Allie X - CollXtion II (2017)

A fractal of futuristic and retro electropop taking influence from the hypnagogic wave, with molecular formulas commanded by a powerfully limpid, fervid and lyrical soprano. A great balance between megalomaniac american productions and naive flavored french-pop niches. CollXtion II finds its identity (the X) precisely in its fragmentation, calibrated with a careful use of a selection of tools, depending on the case to channel a different tendency (radio-friendly in Paper Love, fashion-ambient in Vintage and Casanova, teen in That's So Us, chillwave in Need You, reggae in Lifted, Melanie-Martinez-esque in Simon Says and so on). The moving, divine True Love Is Violent closes the album leaving your eye glossy and your ears crying mercury and gold.

#1

Ivy Levan - No Good (2015)

While being nowhere as innovative as many previously ranked positions, No Good and Levan's slaying vocals are simply perfect from beginning to end, and unforgettably strong as a whole. This album is Raw. It is Deep. Awesomely sassy in the first half. Awesomely moving in the second half. This album is timeless. Diachronically thick, classic and cinematic as an Adele's album, but oozing a superdiva personality all the way through, No Good's flavor is, despite its name, so good: evocative, ripened, noir. Swinging from swamp-inspired bangers to masterly collabs (27 Club with Diplo and Killing You with Sting), passing throughs muttering horns, receptionist ding dongs, a summer bop (Like A Glove) and sloping towards the end with immense, epic ballads (Misery, It Ain't Easy).

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What about you? Are there other female albums you found to be superfine this decade?

I have to say I can't wait to see what the 2020s got in store for us.