12 best albums of 2022 | members only access

It’s been a great year for new music from veteran performers such as Bonnie Raitt; breakout newcomers, including Wet Leg; and acts with talent that reached a mid-career high, such as

Tedeschi Trucks Band. The robust market created by music fans played a key part in encouraging this. Their clout is evidenced by the fact that more than 50 major talents over 50 are still

touring to acclaim, including Willie Nelson, 85, Herb Alpert, 83, and Cher, 71. In fact, most of the year’s top-earning tours, including  Elton John, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Red

Hot Chili Peppers, and Billy Joel were powered by fans. Their fans are hungry for new music as well. Happily, a flood of albums arrived this year that are well worth a grownup's time.

Here are the dozen that rate as the best of 2022: Rude Girl Records JANIS IAN: _THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE LINE_ (JANUARY 2022) Fifty-five years after her debut album, Janis Ian, 71,

decided to bring her career to a close this year. Before she did, she created an album with the literary lyrics, fine musicianship and intimate vocals that long ago made Ian one of America’s

most frank and sensitive songwriters. From pieces about the state of the world to several about aging, to one that offers a frank assessment of her complicated friendship with Nina Simone,

Ian’s swan song offers a worthy, and moving, goodbye. Warner Music Group CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT: _GHOST SONG_ (MARCH 2022) Is there anything Cécile McLorin Salvant can’t do with her voice?

You’ll be asking yourself that as you listen to her loop-the-loop vocal workouts. Known initially as a jazz singer with a tonal resemblance to American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, Salvant,

33, now can’t be bound by any category or comparison. On _Ghost Song_, she moves effortlessly from an acrobatic cover of Kate Bush’s tricky-to-sing classic “Wuthering Heights” to an

even-more-animated-than-usual version of “Optimistic Voices” from _The Wizard of Oz_. Salvant wrote more original material than ever before, proving she’s just as dynamic a composer as she

is a chanteuse.  ATO Records MIDLAKE: _FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS_ (MARCH 2022) Nearly a decade has passed since we’ve been graced by an album by Midlake, a Texas-bred band who make some

of the most ravishing folk-rock. Inspiration came from a dream their keyboardist Jesse Chandler had in which his late father told him to record again after a nearly 10-year hiatus. The

album’s title comes from the area where the original Woodstock festival took place. Chandler’s dad attended that historic event when he was 16 and, true to that spirit, Midlake’s album has a

dreamy grace.  Redwing Records BONNIE RAITT: _JUST LIKE THAT_ (APRIL 2022) Losing loved ones is a natural part of the aging process, and for her latest album, Bonnie Raitt, 73, faced those

sorrows with defiance and pluck. In the title track and “Livin’ for the Ones,” she uses her pain to stoke appreciation. “Waitin’ for You to Blow” finds her honestly addressing subjects from

the temptations of excess while “Down the Hall” shares unexpected expressions of human kindness. Raitt’s albums are always reliable affairs, but this time she went deeper, creating songs

that fully embrace her life right now.