#13: Free Cake For Every Creature – “Talking Quietly of Anything With You”

Most year-end lists focus on albums that make broad, sweeping statements about culture in an attempt to sum up “2016 in music.” My lists always look different because I tend to dislike those albums. Instead, my favorites are like Free Cake For Every Creature’s Talking Quietly of Anything With You — small, intimate albums that carve out a little space for themselves and the listener without self-consciously trying to feel “important.”

Free Cake For Every Creature is the brainchild of Philadelphia singer-songwriter Katie Bennett, who comes from the Rose Melberg school of indie pop. Like Melberg’s first band, Tiger Trap, Talking Quietly of Anything With You has a lot of fuzzy pop songs about feelings and a youthful, energetic sound. It’s a style often reductively labeled as “twee,” but I have a soft spot for this style of indie pop, which (when done well) feels really genuine.

Bennett’s style of singing helps make the album feel more intimate; she sometimes approaches more of a whisper, like a friend who is telling you her secrets. Her sharp lyrics capture the feeling of being young and the whirlwind of feelings and experiences you have that you don’t necessarily understand yet. She’s also funny, and a lot of what made this album stand out for me was its warmth and optimism — Talking Quietly About Anything With You is kind of like a musical hug.

#14: Lorelle Meets the Obsolete – “Balance”

Balance is a fitting name for a Lorelle Meets the Obsolete album, as the duo from Mexico is all about juggling various psychedelic influences, dropping them in a pot, and brewing up a sound that is both original and familiar. When I listened to this album, I felt like I was watching a beloved old movie that I barely remembered, and all of my favorite parts were coming back to me. “Oh yeah, the My Bloody Valentine part! I love this part!” Repeat for Stereolab, The United States of America, etc.

Lorelle Meets the Obsolete uses that nostalgia and familiarity to its advantage. The opening title track starts as a normal-sounding rock song, but then has a seemingly random synth part that initially sounds out of place, then a loud guitar part that comes out of nowhere. The band does that a lot, mixing in different styles of music to surprise any listener who is expecting them to paint by numbers.

Balance starts out with that style of noisy rock, but evolves partway through with some surprisingly affecting, almost ambient pieces. “Father’s Tears” is a minimalist folk-inspired tune that sounds like something from Tender Buttons era Broadcast.”The Sound of All Things” is a spacey song with a motorik beat that builds on itself for over five minutes before fading out with an emotional coda — it’s the best example of how this band assembles memorable songs from recycled parts.

#15: Kadhja Bonet – “The Visitor”

Kadhja Bonet has a soulful singing voice that sounds like it’s from the distant past. The rest of her debut album, The Visitor, is like from a semi-utopian future, with a vast array of instruments (many of them played by Bonet herself) forming colorful, psychedelic musical landscapes. The Visitor‘s retro-futuristic vibe reminds me of parts of Janelle Monae’s The Archandroid with its combination of classical soul and legitimate weirdness.

The Visitor doesn’t quite match that album’s ambition and sprawl; it clocks in at a short 27 minutes and mostly sticks to the same style of song, with cinematic orchestral productions backing Bonet’s unique voice. It’s all very smooth and pleasant to listen to, while also being inscrutable and strange — a small, intriguing work that feels like it’s setting the stage for something larger.