My Top 7 Albums of 2013

So this post is a little on the late side, since we're over half way through January now (how did that happen!). I had been meaning to do this for ages, and it occurred to me this morning that I'd never got around to it - so, with my week of freedom before classes start back, I decided it was better late than never. I attempted to choose five but it was just too difficult! So here, in no particular order, are my top seven albums of 2013!

Kodaline - In a Perfect World

I fell in love with Kodaline over a year ago when I heard All I Want on the radio in the car for the first time. I thought it was a lovely song, but didn't think much more about, until I saw Fearne Cotton tweeting about how amazing the video was. Checking out the video on YouTube cemented my love for the Irish band, who then consistently impressed me with every track I heard. This album is fantastic. From epic ''life soundtrack'' (hopefully that makes sense!) songs like High Hopes and All Comes Down To, to the upbeat summer anthems Love Like This and Brand New Day, I could listen to these guys all day. I've said before that they remind me of a mix of Snow Patrol, Mumford and Sons and Keane, with a tiny bit of Bastille and Coldplay thrown in for good measure - the perfect mix if you ask me :)

Bo Bruce - Before I Sleep

I'm sure this one is a huge surprise ;) I, as we all know, freeeaking love Bo Bruce, and this album is just beautiful. I won't go on at great length here but feel free to check out the full album review I did over on my YouTube channel during the summer. A couple of stand out tracks are Golden and Alive, but my very favourite is Lightkeeper - it's one of the most emotional songs I have on my iPod purely because of how deeply personal it is. Love this lady.

Imagine Dragons - Night Visions

With what became one of the biggest tracks of the year (Radioactive), Imagine Dragons were a band I discovered through my love of YouTube. When everyone started covering Radioactive a few months back and felt the need to YouTube all of their other songs, and fell instantly in love with them. Much like Kodaline, I've described Imagine Dragons before as a total mesh of a lot of my favourite bands of all time - there's a definite hint of The Killers and The Naked and Famous, not to mention Safety Suit and One Republic, who just happen to be next on the list.

One Republic - Native

I've been a huge fan of One Republic for a really long time, and this album is excellent. It came out in March but for some reason I was useless and didn't download it till September or October, but it has some pretty brilliant tracks on it. I love the singles If I Lose Myself and Counting Stars, but three stand outs for me are I Lived, Life in Colour and Light it Up - I've had them on repeat since I got the album. They describe themselves as 'genreless' which I suppose is a good way of putting it; I couldn't really place them in any particular category.

Katy Perry - Prism

I felt like I couldn't include this because I only got it for Christmas, but it would be a terrible shame not to! I'm a big fan of Katy P, she has some insanely good pop songs under her belt, and this album is no exception. It would actually be easer to say which songs I'm not keen on on this album rather than favourites (Birthday, the third track on the record is the one I usually skip past), but if forced to choose my favourites would be Roar (obviously), Dark Horse, It Takes Two and Choose Your Battles - they are all addictive, in totally different ways. I think this would be a brilliant album to listen to if you've not long broken up with someone, it has such a feel good ''moving on with my life'' vibe.

Taylor Swift - Red

It may not have come out in 2013, but I can't not include this because it has definitely been one of my most played albums of the year, having got it for Christmas 2012. I have to say I'm actually not the world's biggest Taylor Swift fan, but with the exception of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (one of my least favourite songs ever!) this album is amazing. It's the kind of album that I have a music video constructed in my head for each and every track - something I do a lot anyway, but this provides some excellent inspirational material for daydreaming on the bus/train/subway. I think my favourites are probably All Too Well, Holy Ground and 22, but the whole thing is fantastic.

Ellie Goulding - Halcyon

AGAIN, not a 2013 release, but how could I not include my beloved Ellie? I literally love this woman, I really do. I've been an Ellie fan since before she won the BBC Sound of 2010 award, listening to all her demos on YouTube on a regular basis. So to see how amazingly well she'd doing now I feel weirdly proud. It's always nice to see people you've listened to for a long time getting the success they deserve. Halcyon is another great record; I did worry how she would follow up Lights, which was a brilliant first album. It has such a great mix of sounds, from really soft, melancholy tracks like Explosions and Don't Say a Word, to dance anthems like her collab with Calvin Harris ''I Need You Love'', to very typically, traditional Ellie songs like My Blood and Figure 8 - she knocked it out of the park once again with this one.

So, that's it for my top 7 albums of the year - my soundtrack to 2013! What were some of your favourite albums from the past twelve months?

Thanks for reading!