#14 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Odesza
The Last Goodbye by Odesza
One of the many reasons I like running my Top 31 in January rather than December is that it allows me to see where everyone else stands on their favorites of the year before settling on my own. It also gives me the chance to make sure I didn’t make any glaring errors (despite getting in my own way occasionally). Such is the case with Odesza, whose album The Last Goodbye made it all the way up at #14 this year. When I reviewed the KEXP Top 90.3 of 20221, and I saw that Odesza was #6, my first thought was “there’s a new Odesza album?”
The Last Goodbye, Odessa’s fourth album, and first in five years, came out in July 22, 2022, but I didn’t know that until I read about it on December 18. So I put it on, and didn’t really turn it off for quite a few days. It’s so good. The duo out of Bellingham, Washington, whose third album A Moment Apart was #31 in 2017, are predictable in their sound and predictably good with their output. Their reputation has started to precede them, as more and more stars appear to be flocking to their side to guest vocal their songs. Bettye LaVette, soul icon, sings on the title song. The Knocks perform with Odesza on “Love Letter” and Ólafur Arnalds features on the lovely “Light of Day,” shown above. (The video for “Light of Day” is gorgeous – don’t leave this page without having watched it).
Odesza are two men who met just before graduating from Western Washington University in 2012: Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, whom I’ve just learned on wikipedia are known individually as “Catacombkid” and “BeachesBeaches”. Huh. Together, they make straight-up dance-beat techno that makes you want to move. Low lows, massive crescendos, and nothing but fun from end to end. The Last Goodbye is their best album so far, and I doubt it’ll be their last.
1. The KEXP Top 90.3 of the year is often a troublesome list because it is the result of thousands of people voting on their Top 10 albums of the year without ranking. Meaning the #1 album is merely determined by how many people put that album somewhere in their Top 10. If 15,000 people think an album is not their #1 album of the year, but it’s just barely good enough to make their Top 10, then that album still has a strong chance to land at #1 because everyone included it in their voting. Ah, democracy.↩)
__________________________________________
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs
There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!
Full Album
All albums in their entirety.
Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.