Idolator's 10 Favorite Albums of 2014

Contemporary R&B is enjoying an embarrassment of riches, with innovative albums by FKA Twigs, Banks, and Kelela stretching the genre\'s boundaries. Tinashe\'s debut raises the bar yet again. Building on the momentum of the roiling summer jam \"2 On,\" *Aquarius* features a who\'s-who of names, from R&B iconoclasts like Blood Orange\'s Dev Hynes to bankable pop pros like Stargate. \"How Many Times\" is a throwback slow jam enlivened by Future\'s staccato vocals, while \"Pretend\" out-Drakes Drake with its liquid production and earworm hook. Tinashe remains the star of the show, cooing, rapping, and ruminating (via several interludes). It\'s one of the year\'s most adventurous pop records.

Mary J. Blige doesn’t fear new challenges. Over two decades, the GRAMMY®-winning R&B icon has shown herself to be a skilled collaborator who’s worked with artists and producers as disparate as Sean “Puffy” Combs, Chaka Khan, and Sting. For *The London Sessions*, Blige traveled to the U.K.\'s capital city in search of inspiration. What she found was a team of exciting young artists with roots in London’s vibrant dance music community. Written with and produced by the likes of Sam Smith, Disclosure, Jimmy Napes, Naughty Boy, and Emeli Sandé, the resulting album is one of Blige’s bravest and most refreshing releases to date.

As evidenced by her cover here of Haddaway\'s \"What Is Love,\" Canadian singer/songwriter Kiesza is a fiend for early-\'90s club music. Combine that with refined dance production (à la Disclosure), and you\'ve got *Sound of a Woman*, her sizzling debut. From the single \"Hideaway\" to \"No Love,\" the album borrows from old-school staples like CeCe Peniston\'s \"Finally\"—but the time machine doesn\'t stop there: \"Losin\' My Mind\" is sultry hip-hop à la En Vogue, and \"Giant in My Heart\" sounds like C+C Music Factory. But Kiesza slows things down, too, with slow jams like \"Piano\" and \"Over Myself\" spotlighting her powerhouse pipes. **

Having written songs for Icona Pop as part of super-producer Max Martin\'s homegrown songwriting crew, Swedish chanteuse Tove Lo steps into the spotlight on her pulsing debut. *Queen* is thematically organized around the phases of a relationship: i.e., \"The Sex,\" \"The Love,\" and \"The Pain.\" \"Talking Body\" is surging electro that celebrates physical intimacy, while on \"Not on Drugs\" Tove asserts over high-voltage EDM, \"I\'m not on drugs/I\'m just in love.\" The millions who danced to the soaring \"Habits (Stay High)\" in 2014 know how things end: \"Binge on all the Twinkies/Throw up in the tub.\" That\'s amore!