Under the Radar's Top 15 Debut Albums of 2017 | Under the Radar

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Under the Radar’s Top 15 Debut Albums of 2017

Dec 31, 2017

The majority of 2017's best debut albums came from female artists or bands fronted by women, from London-based all-female indie-pop teenaged trio Girl Ray and Syria-born singer/songwriter Bedouine (aka Azniv Korkejian) to Australian indie rocker Alex Lahey and New Zealand bedroom pop artist Fazerdaze (aka Amelia Murray). Midnight Sister, Priests, and Charly Bliss are all female-fronted bands as well, on top of other women solo artists on our Top 15 Debut Albums of 2017 list. That's just the way it worked out this year.

This list was mainly culled from our Top 100 Albums of 2017 list, where we separated out the debut albums from that list and added two other titles to the end. Twelve of these artists were interviewed in our Pleased to Meet You section this year. There were other exciting new artists we interviewed in 2017 (including Marika Hackman and Jay Som) who actually released their sophomore albums this year and were thus ineligible for this list. Let's hope the artists that are on here are also able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump in years to come. By Mark Redfern

Moses Sumney

Aromanticism

Jagjaguwar

Otherworldly Los Angeles singer/songwriter Moses Sumney has been hovering on the edge of our radar for a few years now, so it's no surprise that his long-awaited debut album Aromanticism should end up on this list. What is surprising, though, is how remarkably self-assured and stunning the end result turned out to be. Sumney uses his beautifully tender voice to thoroughly explore the concept its title suggests: is it possible to live fully and not need love? From the aching dismissal of "Don't Bother Calling" to the dynamic centerpiece/mission-statement "Lonely World," this is the best debut album of 2017, and a sure sign that Moses Sumney is a true artist to watch. By Scott Dransfield