Sounds Like:  Joyful triumph.

I can’t think of a better title for this record, or a better word to describe the year I can only imagine Michelle Zauner has been having. In addition to this fantastic album, she scored a video game and had one of the most ubiquitous books of 2021, the best-selling memoir “Crying in H mart.”  She took the world by storm in 2021, and at the center is the triumphant “Jubilee.”

The only word I can use to describe this alum is infectious. It is crammed full of danceable numbers that ear worm into your brain and follow you around for the rest of the day.  Even the slower tunes still lean on perfect melodies that allow them to hold their own with more energetic numbers. There is not a skippable track here, and It’s the kind of album that I feel I could hand to anyone, and it would resonate. It’s universal appeal though stems from Zauner’s personal and honest songwriting. She’s not afraid to put her emotions all out there, and flexes her singing to fit the songs emotional core. It’s that authenticity that makes “Jubilee” the powerhouse that it is, and what makes Zauner, in all her projects, such an exciting voice to follow.

Favorite Track - it’s a tie for me. I love the opening march of “Paprika” but the albums heart is the pulsing “Posing in Bondage,” a sly track that has a lot more going on than you expect on first listen.