Photo: Dane Deaner
Did You Miss Some Music in 2022? Here´s a List of What Last Year Brought to the Table
The last two to three years have been quite hard for most human beings, but if there´s something that brings hope to the table is music. That´s why many experts in social behavior are studying what music can do to our brain, in helping cope with some of the most traumatic experiences a person can live, for example a pandemic, something that comes every 100 years, but lately seems like a more present danger than ever.
And it´s only natural that many people found shelter in those things that really “fill” the heart, and clearly music if one of them. It´s clear for many scientists that this also has catalyzed a whole new era for music and the response is quite interesting, in terms of what this new research is showing. Apparently there´s a huge connection between some resonances in music and some deep emotional and chemical receptors in our brain, linking this particular feeling present after listening to determined songs, to a pleasant response in our whole body.
This explanation has surely giving a scientific background to what many people suspected, but nobody had the clear evidence to call it a fact. Now with this in hand, there´s a crystalline explanation to what people felt and feel when listening to determined music, in particular in these years of anguish and heartbreak.
This is why 2022 has been a really interesting year in terms of musical breakthrough, presenting some really interesting advances in some of the known genres, but also some interesting surprises that will surely be a motive of conversation. Not only amongst music fans, but also between those that rarely meet and need something to talk about, well these genres and their advances in 2022 are a great way to break the ice.
The best music of 2022
There are some particular musical style that had more interesting news than others the past year, but what is clear is that there´s something new for anyone, no matter what you are looking for. For example, Americana was one of the musical genres that brought a lot to the table in 2022, with artists like Ken Brown, presenting his new album called “Different Man”, and as the title suggests, it´s a great twist for the renowned artists back to the roots of the genre, with great elements of folk, and at the same time a great fusion of rock and country. But also telling the story of him becoming a father and the path in front of him, with songs like “Bury me in Georgia” and “Thank God”, clearly in the spirit of his new life.
2022 also brought news from Willie Nelson, a long-time undiscussed champion of the genre, and a great star in the Hall of Fame of Americana, took the liberty to publish his 97th album, called “A Beautiful Time”, running back and forth in his life, with songs that will surely bring a smile to your face, like “Leave You With a Smile”, but also some in the dark humor area like Nelson has his audience used to as the song “I Don´t go to Funerals, I Won´t be in Mine”.
Last year also had a fierce battle between royalty-free music and some genres like Afropop for the social media musical crown, since the one that rules that world will surely be the winner. And even when the fighting was harsh, Afropop brought some great examples to the musical scene, like “KU LO SA” from one of the best referents of this genre, Oxlade. This song is a sensual but really subtle plead for intimacy in a form of a great song, as good as for the popular Cuban-American pop queen Camila Cabello to make a resonant push to create a hit with a catchy name referencing the word “closer”.
But indeed the “song of the summer”, or maybe, “the song of the year” award in Afropop goes to Burna Boy, with “Last Last”, another great example of what a motivated artist can do with his troubled past. Without a doubt one of the best examples of cathartic singing, calling to his lost love in a deep but catchy breakup song that will have you reliving memories.
And when they say that 2022 had some of everybody, the music experts really mean it, since there were some impressive examples in the Metal genre, like the return of Slipknot, the heavy metal sensation back from the early 2000´s, now with their seventh album, called “The End, So Far”. In this new studio album, they prove they are like those well aged wines, that when opened let you know that they really lived to the expectations, with songs like “Yen”, and “H377” or “hell” letting Corey Taylor loose with his impressive voice, like it was still 2003.
As Willie Nelson in Americana, there was also a rebirth in metal with Ozzy Osbourne coming back to the musical arena with “Patient Number 9”, in collaboration with some of the beloved musicians that shared the career with him, like Black Sabbath´s co-founder Tomy Iommi, with some great and heavy songs like “No Escape From Now”, that will transport heavy metal fans to those impressive albums Ozzy used to record back in the day.
