We finished our two-part journey through music in 2006 earlier this week, and now it’s time to delve into 2016…
It was the year that Captain America: Civil War topped the box office ahead of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Finding Dory, and Deadpool.
2016 also saw the dominance of streaming services, with the Stranger Things phenomenon launching, while the global political landscape shifted significantly as Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States and the UK voted to leave the European Union.
In sport, the Summer Olympics headed to Rio de Janeiro, Portugal won the Euros, Kobe Bryant retired from the NBA, and Leicester City shocked the footballing world as they claimed the Premier League trophy.
In the world of music, Glastonbury Festival welcomed headliners Coldplay, Muse and Adele, while Justin Bieber topped the Billboard 100 list with Love Yourself and Sorry respectively, and Drake’s One Dance, Rihanna’s Work, and Twenty One Pilots’ Stressed Out dominated the global airwaves. We also sadly said goodbye to cultural icons, Prince and David Bowie.
But which albums were we listening to back in 2016? In Part 1, we take you from January to June to see some of the records celebrating 10-year anniversaries this year…
January 2016 now feels inseparable from one moment. David Bowie’s Blackstar, released on his 69th birthday and arriving just days before his death, instantly became something more than an album. It was a parting gift, a puzzle box, a work of art that continues to be unpacked a decade on. Restless, abrasive and utterly alive, it set an emotional weight that the rest of the year never fully escaped.
Beyond Bowie, January was unusually stacked. Anderson .Paak’s Malibu fused soul, hip-hop and funk with a laid‑back warmth that would define much of the decade’s genre-blurring. Savages sharpened their sound on Adore Life, while Suede’s Night Thoughts paired post‑Britpop melancholy with a striking visual ambition.
Massive Attack returned with the dark, politically charged Ritual Spirit, Rihanna’s ANTI rewired mainstream pop expectations, and Basement’s Promise Everything brought emo and hardcore firmly back into the conversation. Bloc Party’s Hymns, Mystery Jets’ Curve of the Earth and Sia’s This Is Acting rounded out a month that felt unusually heavy for the first weeks of a year.
February leaned into scale and spectacle. The 1975’s I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It earned the Manchester band a Mercury nomination. Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo then arrived in a constant state of flux, an album that felt deliberately unfinished yet endlessly discussed.
Elsewhere, Jack Garratt’s Phase offered an introspective, bedroom-electronic counterpoint, Eric Prydz’s Opus stretched progressive house into long-form emotion, and Elton John’s Wonderful Crazy Night proved that veteran releases could still land with warmth rather than nostalgia alone.
March brought grit and confrontation. Kano’s Made in the Manor was a career-defining moment, rooted in London life and sharpened by clarity and confidence. Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression, created alongside Josh Homme, felt feral and urgent – a reminder that reinvention doesn’t have an age limit.
James returned with Girl at the End of the World, Primal Scream’s Chaosmosis split opinion with its sleek electronics, and White Denim’s Stiff doubled down on restless musicianship. Boyband breakaway Zayn‘s Mind of Mine dominated charts, while Babymetal’s Metal Resistance continued to confuse and delight in equal measure.
April may have been the most balanced month of the first half of the year. PJ Harvey’s The Hope Six Demolition Project arrived with urgency and controversy, documenting power, politics and place with an unflinching eye. Mogwai’s Atomic revisited soundtrack work with characteristic intensity, while Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack offered one of the year’s most emotionally raw records.
Indie’s favourite supergroup, The Last Shadow Puppets returned with Everything You’ve Come to Expect, all strings, swagger and cinematic excess. Parquet Courts’ Human Performance tightened their post-punk bite into something more reflective, The Comet Is Coming exploded onto the scene with Channel the Spirits, and Weezer’s self-titled “White Album” reminded everyone how effortless power-pop could sound when it clicks. Beyoncé’s Lemonade then cut across the entire industry, a cultural event as much as an album, while Travis quietly released Everything at Once.
May was relentless. Radiohead emerged from silence with A Moon Shaped Pool, all fractured beauty and uneasy calm, while Skepta’s Mercury-winning Konnichiwa felt like a watershed moment for UK grime’s mainstream recognition. ANOHNI’s Hopelessness confronted surveillance, war and identity head-on, offering no easy comfort.
James Blake expanded his emotional palette on The Colour in Anything, Kaytranada’s 99.9% soundtracked a thousand late nights, and Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book blurred gospel, hip-hop and joy in a way that felt genuinely new. Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial arrived as a generational indie statement, while Flume’s Skin, Richard Ashcroft’s These People and Catfish and the Bottlemen’s statement return with The Ride ensured the month never slowed down.
June leaned more traditional but no less busy. Laura Mvula’s The Dreaming Room expanded her orchestral pop ambitions, Jake Bugg’s On My One saw him enter reclusive mode to prove doubters wrong, and Tom Odell’s Wrong Crowd polished heartbreak into widescreen pop.
Let’s Eat Grandma’s I, Gemini quietly announced a new, adventurous voice in UK pop, while Red Hot Chili Peppers’ The Getaway paired veteran confidence with Danger Mouse’s sleek production. By the time summer arrived, 2016 had already delivered a year’s worth of defining records.
So that’s the first half of the year covered. If the first half of 2016 felt intense, ambitious and occasionally overwhelming, the months still to come would only raise the stakes. Next week, we will be back with Part 2…
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