Stick Sting in Dad’s STOCKING
Our guide to the albums that will make perfect gifts for all the family
For Mam Thea Gilmore Small World Turning
The polls suggest that women, even more than men, are dismayed at the state we’re in. Gilmore addresses this, and has some fun too, with her uplifting folk-pop.
Joe Rose Class
Rose, a 61-year-old accountant, met Folkstock record boss Helen Meissner on a dating site and wooed her by singing old love songs. She was so impressed that she put him in the studio. And the story has the perfect ending: reader, she married him.
For Dad Article 54 The Hustle
If your dad is apt to bang on about Brexit, make him laugh about it instead, with the funniest disco album ever devoted to a political shemozzle.
The Police Every Move You Make
What Dad really wants is for you to spend very little on him, so he’ll be dead impressed with this find: all the original albums by a quirkily magnetic band, for cheap.
For young adults Dave Psychodrama
Today’s 20-somethings have grown up steeped in two things: hip-hop and introspection. The twain meet in the Mercury Prizewinning debut by a 21-yearold from south London, a beguiling blend of unflinching rap and easy-going tunes.
The Divine Comedy Office Politics
Most pop stars, if they went to an office, would struggle to make the tea, let alone decode the nuances. Neil Hannon captures it all with a wit and warmth.
For teens Sam Fender Hypersonic Missiles
This lad bridges the generation gap with impassioned songs that bring to mind Bruce Springsteen.
The Clash London Calling
Now turning 40, which may make you feel old – but the songs will soon make you feel young again.
For the family Holly Palmer A Family Album
America’s most under-rated singer is now the mother of Maceo, a music-loving tenyear-old with cerebral palsy. This beautiful pop-soul record captures the highs and lows of living with disability.
The Beatles The Singles Collection
A handsome box containing the greatest sequence of hits ever made by one act.
For a lover Leonard Cohen Thanks For The Dance
A posthumous album, elegantly finished by Cohen’s son Adam, is piercingly soulful and deeply romantic.
Camille O’Sullivan Camille Sings Cave Live
Nick Cave’s new album,
Ghosteen, is formidable but bleak. For a more enjoyable brush with his brilliance, try this set of his best songs, performed with loving theatricality.
For anyone who likes good music Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Eilish is a kid from Los Angeles who doesn’t so much sing a song as whisper it in your ear. Her album is the one by which we’ll remember this year.
And she is still – just – 17.
The Lilac Time Return To Us
Stephen Duffy has come a long way since he co-founded Duran Duran. The tenth album from his folk-pop band mixes comfy melodies with tart observations about the world in 2019. He may be the only living songwriter who could produce a Christmas song called The Needles.