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10. Madonna, 'Rebel Heart'
In 2015, it was strange hearing Madonna sound so… human. A cluster of cuts from the queen's 13th studio album imparted a rare authenticity and striking vulnerability typically not ascribed to music's self-proclaimed Unapologetic Bitch. Madonna caring about people's opinions of Madonna – and confessing those feelings? Yup. At least on "Joan of Arc." Madonna lifting you up, hugging your heart and making this "mad, mad world" just a little easier to cope with? Yes, that too: "Ghosttown" – also the heyday throwback "Living for Love" – reveals, for the first time in years, a deeper, more poignant pop queen.
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9. Miguel, 'Wild Heart'
Look beyond Miguel's piercing peepers, winning smirk and that perfectly coiffed just-after-5 o'clock shadow – just try real hard, you can do it – and what you'll find is a real music man. That's right: His underheard "Wild Heart" is as dreamy as he is, all SoCal Prince vibes and hypersexual playfulness (put a condom on when you listen to "the valley"), but also genuinely affecting. Highlights are the introspective, identity-questioning "what's normal anyway" and "leaves," an amping guitar-riffed wonder that hurts as much as it heals.
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8. Brandi Carlile, 'The Firewatcher's Daughter'
"I miss the days when I was just a kid," Brandi Carlile sings, sweetly, longingly. Now 30, and out and married and mothering, Carlile was self-reflective on her rustic release "Firewatcher's Daughter," living for tomorrow but remembering today and yesterday. On arguably the album's most impassioned ditty, "Wherever Is Your Heart," the Seattle-born singer-songwriter relishes being "born to roam," which is precisely what this, her first major-label-less release, does. The journey pauses in the past but lives, powerfully, in the present.
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7. Adele, '25'
"Hello." One short, simple word, but it was enough. A gift. A gif. That brief salutation brought Adele back into our lives as if she'd been gone for a lifetime. In pop years, it sure seemed that way, and the meme-worthy lyrics of her first single served as a "Hi, I'm back, bitches" moment and also a searing reminder of the heartbreak the record-breaking belter can inflict when she powers through a sad song. Like "All I Ask," a gutting assertion to an imminent ex. Like "When We Were Young," a reminder that your youth is dead, gone, bye forever. So good, though. Yes: Hello from the other side of crappy album sales, Auto Tune and general imperfection.
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6. Kendrick Lamar, 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
Kendrick Lamar changed hip-hop last year. Turned it up, down, sideways. And he even had time to team with Taylor Swift for "Bad Blood," scoring him his first No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. Not that he needed Swift – Lamar's second major-label album, "To Pimp a Butterfly," speaks for itself. And it speaks boldly, declaring painful truths about race and his own personal demons with rage-filled cinematic flair and simmering jazz flavor.
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5. Susanne Sundfor, 'Ten Love Songs'
It isn't just the ominous lure of mad love on the deliciously fuming "Delirious" – "I hope you have a safety net, because I'm going to push you over the edge" – that lands Susanne Sundfor a spot on the list. It's certainly enough, though. She ravages every word of that song with a shark's bite, and it's a magical moment among many (give "Darlings" all the vocal awards) nestled within the front-to-back brilliance of 10 love songs that are equal parts euphoric, enchanting and enraged.
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4. CHVRCHES, 'Every Open Eye'
I remember hearing CHVRCHES for the first time at a festival even before obsessing over their then-unreleased debut, "The Bones of What You Believe." The music was alive, bursting with retro shimmer and sowing the same kind of emotional catharsis of, say, Robyn. I was hooked. The disc did not disappoint, nor did its follow-up, the also-marvelous "Every Open Eye." CHVRCHES' sound is still deeply rooted in the wondrous midnight-hour sonic wheelhouse they mapped on "Bones," and, once again, to staggering effect. A slump-less sophomore album as divine as their name.
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3. Patty Griffin, 'Servant of Love'
What does the world need? Peace and Patty Griffin's voice. The former is especially apparent to anyone who, you know, is living right now, but: Have you heard Griffin's most recent Grammy-nominated release? The alt-folk phenom sings like angels must; "Rider of Days" sounds like thousands of winged beauties, soaring to the afterlife, dancing through the clouds. It's a sweet reverie, and one of the most gorgeous pieces of music this universe has ever heard. But also, it's a rare sliver of light on yet another one of Griffin's masterworks, a brooding, beautiful catharsis of a world on fire.
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2. Carly Rae Jepsen, 'E*MO*TION'
People, what gives? One of 2015's greatest unsolved mysteries, Carly Rae Jepsen's absurdly looked-over "E*MO*TION" didn't find its commercial sweet spot. And fine. Their loss. Our gain: the charming Sia-written jam "Making the Most of the Night," a punchy piece of pick-me-up pop; "Warm Blood," a cuddly come-down; and "When I Needed You," which sounds like her winning audition to be the fifth member of The Go-Go's. And on and on and on. Yes, Carly: I really really really like this.
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1. Sufjan Stevens, 'Carrie & Lowell'
On "Carrie & Lowell," Sufjan Stevens' quiet descent into the dark corners of grief and despair after the loss of his mother, the sexually ambiguous singer-songwriter says so much with so little. Leaning on minimalist atmospherics, his open-book outing sounds as if it were recorded in the late hours of the night in the quiet of his bedroom, just Sufjan's guitar and his lonely stream-of-conscious. It's powerful and potent. And it's death, and it's life. The weirdly comforting truth that "we're all gonna die" on the lullaby-like "Fourth of July" – a final exchange with his passing mother – is a stinging reality, and "Blue Bucket of Gold" feels like a dream.