It’s that time of year when critics start rolling out their “best of” lists, with albums usually first out of the gate. Unlike movies, you don’t see a ton of new music releases in December, so it’s safe to lock in your favorites.
Seeing those lists pop up made me realize how little new music I’ve discovered this year. That’s been the case for awhile now, actually, in contrast to years when I’ve had a couple of dozen new releases to consider. I think there are two main reasons for the change.
The primary reason is that I shifted to working from home a few years ago, even before the pandemic. That means no more daily commute, which is where I did most of my music listening. Nowadays, I have to make the time to listen to music, new or old, and when I do, I tend to lean on things I already know and like. I will definitely seek out new releases by my favorite artists, but I’m less likely to dedicate an hour or two of precious listening time to something brand-new.
The other reason is the shift from physical media to streaming. While that move has offered me access to tens of thousands of artists I otherwise never would have encountered, it also diminishes the urgency to sample them. Back when I bought CDs, I made damn sure I listened to an album after shelling out $12 for it.
I mention all of this to explain why I won’t be offering up a personal list of the top albums of 2022. I’ll reserve my best-of content for the movies, and I’ll have a ton of it.
But over the next couple of weeks, I will highlight some of my favorite musical highlights of the year, and I’ll spend some time on the albums critics seem to agree were among 2022’s best.
Today’s selection is one of the latter. Rosalia’s Motomami was one of only two albums to show up on all three New York Times critics’ year-end lists, and it has been widely praised elsewhere.
This is the Spanish singer’s third full-length album, and one that sees her embracing a smorgasbord of genres, including flamenco, hip-hop, electropop, mambo, and bachata. As the Times’ Jon Pareles puts it, “every track morphs as it unfolds, hopping across the Americas and back to Spain, rarely giving away where it’s headed.”
It might all be a bit much for me, to be honest. It’s not exactly a passive listen. I’ve skipped around the tracklist and it really does feel like a different album from song to song, which is kind of thrilling and exhausting at the same time.
Lo que pasó a ti te lo cuento
No creas que no dolió
O que me lo invento
Así es que se dio
Yo tenía mi bebé
Era algo bien especial
Pero me obsesioné
Con algo que a él le hacía mal
Miles de cancione’ en mi mente
Y él me lo notaba
Y él tanta’ vece’ que me lo decía
Y yo como si nada
[Coro: The Weeknd]
Es mala amante la fama, no va a quererte de verdad
Es demasia’o traicionera, y como ella viene, se te va
Sabe’ que será celosa, yo nunca le confiaré
Si quiere’ duerme con ella, pero nunca la vayas a casar
[Verso 2: The Weeknd]
Lo que pasó me ha dejado en vela
Ya no puedo ni pensar
La sangre le hierve
Siempre quiere más
Puñalaítas da su ambición
En el pecho afilada, es lo peor
[Coro: ROSALÍA]
Es mala amante la fama y no va a quererme de verdad
Es demasia’o traicionera, y como ella viene, se me va
Yo sé que será celosa, yo nunca le confiaré
Si quiero duermo con ella, pero nunca me la voy a casar
[Puente: ROSALÍA & The Weeknd]
No hay manera
De que esta obsesión se me fuera
Se me fuera, ya desaparezca
Yo aún no he aprendío’ la manera
No hay manera que desaparezca
[Coro: The Weeknd & ROSALÍA]
Es mala amante la fama, no va a quererte de verdad
Es demasia’o traicionera, y como ella viene, se te va
Yo sé que será celosa, yo nunca le confiaré
Si quiero duermo con ella, pero nunca me la voy a casar
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’m impressed with The Weeknd singing in Spanish!
Looking forward to the exposure to the best music of 2022.
You’ve captured the reasons I rarely encounter new music, too. With precious listening time, I want to enjoy the music I love and get to know the new music of artists I love.
For me, the exception, largely, is new music I’m exposed to because of my young adult children who will share with me those songs and artists they anticipate I’ll enjoy. If not for them, I’d likely never know the names of any of these new artists.