“California” is my favorite song of the year. As the bottom hits you around the 2:50 mark, though, you realize the past is preamble to a dark (and inviting) future. Part of the album’s glorious expansiveness is due its first song, “The Grey Ship”, which sets your expectations for the album in the neighborhood of Cat Power-esque.
My favorite album of the year was - by far - EMA’s Past Life Martyred Saints.
