"Whether you are in the anti-Valentine's camp, happy in love or just enjoy a safe place to sob, high emotions make for hit songs and the greatest of songwriters are the ones which wear their hearts on their sleeves."
A true staple of popular music, the 'breakup album' is often up there as one of the most-consumed titles within some of our favourite artists' catalogues. Tapping into universal experiences, a great breakup album can take us on a singular journey, featuring the very best modern love songs to indulge in and take forward.
The most common expectations of a breakup album are of course an examination of a romantic relationship gone wrong, the stages leading up to this, the aftermath, and maybe even the moving on. With many known 'breakup albums', the artist's relationship may have been in the public eye, allowing the listeners to unmistakably identify or speculate the breakup theme. In other cases, the artist may deny any direct link and have instead just been inspired by the concept, or by various experiences in relationships past.
With mid-February traditionally reserved for celebrating love and romantic relationships, we delve into a selection of works which typically fit into the breakup canon (alongside some alternative further listening).
Romance is in the air but it's not always roses. We explore 10 Rough Trade Essential albums navigating love and heartache.
Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)
A constant companion for the crush of heartbreak, Joni Mitchell's fourth studio album is considered not only her magnum opus but also one of the greatest albums of the 20th century. The 10-track masterpiece, which includes A Case of You, River California, and Little Green (a melancholic ode to the daughter she gave up for adoption as a single mother in 1965) draws from several of Joni's relationships (Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and James Taylor). Although an intense sadness pervades Joni's stark revelations and soul-baring brings catharsis to those working their way through a heartbreak.
"The Blue album, there's hardly a dishonest note in the vocals. At that period of my life, I had no personal defences. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world and I couldn't pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defences there either."
Joni Mitchell, Reflecting on Blue in 1979
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (1975)
After taking time away from music following a motorcycle accident, this was Dylan's comeback album in more than one way, following his agreement of separation with his wife of 13 years. Although Dylan contests this as his direct inspiration, BOTT sees Dylan pen his most vulnerable lyrics, exploring a spectrum of emotions within a relationship on the rocks. Dylan's music reads like poetry or verses of a novel and his renowned storytelling power certainly has everything to do with his ability to portray love and pain in equal measure.
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)
Emotional turmoil turned into confessional hits. Band members Christine McVie and John McVie entered the studio at the point of divorce, Mick Fleetwood was dealing with his wife's infidelity and then a short affair with the band's heroine Steve Nicks. The drama and intra-band relationships fuelled the fire for an album of anthems, bluesy folk-inflected rock and pop which presented as a bittersweet ode to love lost and found, capturing the pain and humour of holding things together with impressive professionalism. These are songs made to relate to and belt out at the top of our voices.
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We’re Floating In Space (1997)
Wise men say
Only fools rush in, only fools rush in
But I, I can't help
I can't help falling, falling in love with you
Heart-aching space rock, the lament of a broken man. The beautifully crafted Ladies and Gentlemen, We’re Floating In Space was the third album from English space rock outfit Spiritualized. Band leader Jason Pierce aka J Spaceman had just broken up with Kate Radley, the keyboardist of the group. Deep into his heroin addiction, pain and dissociation eerily feeds into the narcotic nature of the music. Despite the sadness and the numbness, the psychedelic-sounding, floaty dream pop and gospel choir is still lifting and love-struck, something to hold onto and battle through. The interpolation of Elvis' Can't Help Falling In Love on the album's title track is one of the album's most poignant moments.
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2006)
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
I go back to us
One of the greatest breakthrough albums of all time representing the essence of heartbreak. Amy Winehouse will forever be known for baring her soul with bone-deep honesty, touching the hearts of so many with her inimitable voice. Amy's on-and-off relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil was very much in the public eye, and it was well-known that Amy considered him to be the love of her life despite their troubled time together. Addiction, dependence, betrayal and trauma, although created in a period of darkness Back To Black will forever hold a universal emotional impact, true testament to Amy's singular talent aswell as her tragedy.
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
A deeply personal exploration of lost love. The genesis of Bon Iver as a band was in fact directly influenced by multiple breakups, the break up of singer-songwriter Justin Vernon's former band DeYarmond Edison, and the recent breakup of a romantic relationship. Recorded in isolation at his father's cabin in Wisconsin whilst intending to recuperate from mononucleosis hepatitis, For Emma is an outpouring of emotion, Vernon's thrilling falsetto is shattering yet the minimalistic but multilayered soundscapes therapeutic. A space to reflect and sob in the quiet moments, pierced by raw feeling.
Sharon Van Etten - Are We There (2014)
An immediate album on the trials of love. Are We There divulges Sharon Van Etten's darkest moments, providing space for catharsis and poignant reflection. A true display of SVE's finest songwriting skills, the sincerity is remarkable on songs like Afraid of Nothing, Every Time the Sun Comes Up or Tarifa. A true sanctuary for the heartbroken.
READ NOW: Sharon Van Etten's Greatest Albums
Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps (2017)
A quietly devastating mediation on relationships. It's hard to discern which song hits the hardest in this haunting collection. From murder ballads to more canonical pop songs, Bridgers proves she is up there with the greatest American songwriters with her endearing wit and poeticism. Delving into desperate love, loneliness and family, Stranger in the Alps captures fans of gritty emo with its heaviness but could never be boxed into one genre, a devastating brand of alt-rock, folk and emo all motivated by feeling.
Lorde - Melodrama (2017)
An emotional maelstrom empowering growth, change and independence. Lorde shares the experience of living with heartbreak following her split from long-term boyfriend James Lowe. Heavily-reverbed synth sounds, a heavy beat and simplistic drum patterns frame Lorde evokes an ethereal, nighttime soundscape for her stories of heartache and hedonism. Reflecting on the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship through the lens of a party, Lorde equips fellow sufferers with the tools to adjust to solitude and move on from the past.
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour (2021)
The rise and fall of a relationship, Rodrigo spins the tales of romance gone sour. Confessional but biting songwriting with Paramore-esque angst, Rodrigo has flourished within this new era of music revitalised by emo. These are emo flavoured anthems from a Gen-Z icon, seamlessly switching from belting vocals to sugar-sweet melodies with the pop-punk petulance first laid down by her icons Hayley Williams and Avril Lavigne.
Further Listening....
Beyond straightforward ballads and broken-hearted odes, it should be acknowledged that the best music to mend our broken hearts span various genres and eras, to give us perspective on loss and love.
Fontaines D.C. have shared that their acclaimed fourth LP Romance was inspired and influenced by the theatricality of bands like The Cure whose forlorn love songs make for timeless breakup fodder. Although the album does not touch on a relationship break up, lead vocalist Grian Chatten reflects on his own behaviour in relationships, the romanticization of place, life and love a running theme throughout.
Adrienne Lenker's stunning Songs and Instrumentals feels like complicated processing of the break down of a relationship, although not necessarily your typical breakup. It is known that Lenker and fellow Big Thief band member Buck Meek got married, then separated and divorced, all while touring in 2018, but managed to work through it to remain deep friends and musical collaborators. It can be speculated this experience feeds Lenker's signature sound of stripped-down intimate atmospheres, Songs and Instrumentals laying a blueprint for how to create authentic responses to heartbreak.
Dance music can be emotional too. If you dissect the lyrics and sad melodies of Daft Punk's Discovery tells the story of unrequited love and longing. The euphoria of finding the love of your dreams but it doesn't quite add up (Digital Love) and the working out of a relationship on Face To Face. (It’s not your fault I was being too demanding /I must admit, it’s my pride that made me distant). A sad melancholy pervades the funkiness, it's certainly true the dance floor can be a space to cry.
Loneliness, despair and hysteria are common themes across Radiohead's albums but A Moon Shaped Pool is often identified as the real feels album. A foray into sad electronica for the brokenhearted, the record was released following Thom Yorke’s breakup with his longtime girlfriend Rachel Owen.