Anonymous British music collective Sault have topped Rough Trade’s 2020 Albums of the Year List with Untitled (Black Is), the first of two politically-charged double-albums released by the enigmatic group this year. Rough Trade, the UK label that is traditionally first out of the blocks with its Top 100 Albums of the Year list, describe Sault’s record – which pipped Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher to the top spot  – as “an album that delivers equal parts grace and charge, manoeuvring through disparate sub-genres to create a magnificent medley of exaltation.” They add: “Rarely has there been an artistic statement this stirring, this staggering, this powerful.”

This year has not been an easy one. However, it has certainly underlined the importance of music and the role it has to play to unite us, heal us and make the hard times more bearable.

These are our favourite albums for 2020 x#RTTop100https://t.co/wxjLOSljGa

— Rough Trade (@RoughTrade) November 10, 2020

Precious little is known about Sault’s origins and make-up other than a handful of credited guest appearances; including Mercury Prize winner Michael Kiwanuka and Laurette Josiah on Untitled (Black Is). What is certain is that they are a prolific bunch. The Guardian highlighted this neatly in their review of Untitled (Rise), the September successor to Black Is.

They wrote: “Sault seem to use the time they save by not promoting their albums or engaging with the public profitably. ‘Untitled (Rise)’ is not only their fourth album in 18 months, it’s their second double album in just over 12 weeks. It’s a work rate that would seem remarkable at any point in pop history, but feels positively astonishing today, compounded by the fact that its predecessor gave the impression of having been largely written and recorded in response to the murder of George Floyd, less than a month before it was released.”

British-Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama comes in third on the Rough Trade list with her first full studio album Sawayama, which the label describe as “a giant megazord of monster pop, built to defeat the drab mundanity destroying our lives“. In a statement shared by Pitchfork earlier this year, the London-based artist described the album as “…about understanding yourself in the context of two opposing cultures (for me British and Japanese), what “belonging” means when home is an evolving concept, figuring out where you sit comfortably within and awkwardly outside of stereotypes, and ultimately trying to be ok with just being you, warts and all.”

Also featuring in the Rough Trade top 5 are Laura Marling’s seventh album Song For Our Daughter, which Rough Trade describe as the folk singer’s “most tranquil, clear and idyllic to date“; and Beyond The Pale, the debut LP from Jarvis Cocker’s latest musical incarnation Jarv Is… In the absence of live shows, the Pulp frontman recently announced a cinematic tour of the new record which is scheduled to begin next week.

The other UK-based acts featuring in the top 10 spots in Rough Trade’s list are Anglo-Icelandic punk-pop trio Dream Wife with their sophomore album So When You Gonna…; Geordie Rockers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (aka Pigs x7) with their third record Visceral; Hull ‘gothic shoegaze’ merchants Bdrmm with Bedroom; and Brighton quartet Porridge Radio with Every Bad, which Rough Trade praise for its “searing riffs and melodic incantations“.

Elsewhere there are nods in the Top 100 for Manic Street Preachers frontman and guitar hero James Dean Bradfield; Leicester indie-pop veterans Cornershop; Wembley-born Hollywood star and hip-hop artist Riz Ahmed; and Welsh electronicsongstress Kelly Lee Owens. The full list of Rough Trade’s Albums Of The Year 2020 (from 100-1) is as follows:

100 – Caleb Landry Jones – Mother Stone
99 – Yumi Zouma – Truth or Consequences
98 – Caroline Rose – Superstar
97 – Keeley Forsyth – Debris
96 – Monophonics – It’s Only Us
95 – Pinegrove – Marigold
94 – Khruangbin – Mordechai
93 – Rival Consoles – Articulation
92 – Clipping – Visions of Bodies Being Burned
91 – Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
90 – Destroyer – Have We Met
89 – Adrienne Lenker – Songs and Instrumentals
88 – Chats – High Risk Behaviour
87 – Bob Dylan – Rough And Rowdy Ways
86 – Denzel Curry x Kenny Beats – Unlocked
85 – Wire – Mind Hive
84 – Bent – Up In The Air
83 – Chuck Prophet – The Land That Time Forgot
82 – X – Alphabetland
81 – Slow Pulp – Moveys
80 – Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman
79 – Rudy De Anda – Tender Epoch
78 – Jason Isbell – Reunions
77 – Grimes – Miss Anthropocene
76 – Public Practice – Gentle Grip
75 – Disq – Collector
74 – Bambara – Stray
73 – Dan Michaelson – Colourfield
72 – Riz Ahmed – The Long Goodbye
71 – Cherry Pickles – The Juice That’s Worth The Squeeze
70 – The Nude Party – Midnight Manor
69 – Action Bronson – Only For Dolphins
68 – Field Music – Making A New World
67 – Bananagun – The True Story Of
66 – James Dean Bradfield – Even In Exile
65 – Max Richter – Voices
64 – Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
63 – BC Camplight – Shortly After Takeoff
62 – Sneaks – Happy Birthday
61 – Video Age – Pleasure Line
60 – Everything Is Recorded – Friday Forever
59 – Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs Of Sorrow
58 – Nicolas Jaar – Cenizas
57 – Ghostpoet – I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep
56 – Thundercat – It Is What It Is
55 – Chicano Batman – Invisible People
54 – King Krule – Man Alive
53 – Habibi – Anywhere But Here
52 – Agnes Obel – Myopia
51 – Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist – Alfredo
50 – Nick Hakim – WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD
49 – Jessy Lanza – All The Time
48 – Bob Mould – Blue Hearts
47 – Aqulies Navarro + Tcheser Holmes – Heritage of the Invisible II
46 – Dehd – Flower of Devotion
45 – Pole – Fading
44 – Shopping – All Or Nothing
43 – Mush – 3D Routine
42 – Heliocentrics – Infinity of Now
41 – Romare – Home
40 – Yaeji – What We Drew
39 – Damaged Bug – Bug On Yonkers
38 – Big Moon – Walking Like We Do
37 – Olafur Arnalds – some kind of peace
36 – Nation Of Language – Introduction, Presence
35 – Margo Price – That’s How Rumours Get Started
34 – Keleketla! – Keleketla!
33 – Coriky – Coriky
32 – Slift – Ummon
31 – A Certain Ratio – Loco
30 – Four Tet – Sixteen Oceans
29 – Courtney Marie Andrews – Old Flowers
28 – Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song
27 – Brigid Mae Power – Head Above Water
26 – Isobel Campbell – There Is No Other
25 – Run The Jewels – RTJ4
24 – Georgia – Seeking Thrills
23 – Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death
22 – Beths – Jump Rope Gazers
21 – Yves Tumour – Heaven To A Tortured Mind
20 – Hazel English – Wake Up
19 – Kamaal Williams – Wu Hen
18 – Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud
17 – Thurston Moore – By The Fire
16 – Tom Misch / Yuseff Dayes – What Kinda Music
15 – Caribou – Suddenly
14 – Idles – Ultra Mono
13 – Osees – Protean Threat
12 – Oklou – Galore
11 – Cornershop – England Is A Garden
10 – Rolling Blackouts – Sideways To New Italy
9 – Porridge Radio – Every Bad
8 – bdrmm – Bedroom
7 – Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
6 – Dream Wife – So When You Gonna…
5 – Jarv Is – Beyond The Pale
4 – Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter
3 – Rina Sawayama – Sawayama
2 – Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
1 – Sault – Untitled (Black Is)