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One of RARB's chief goals is to provide independent and unbiased critique for the benefit of the a cappella community. At the same time, we are also adamant that RARB's content and services remain free to the community.

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RARB Picks of 2022

Welcome to RARB Picks of the Year, 2022 Edition!

Reviewers who published at least seven reviews in 2022 were asked to select one Pick of the Year and one Honorable Mention from albums that they personally reviewed for RARB. Reviewers with fewer published reviews could choose only a Pick of the Year. (Albums chosen in both categories are listed as Picks only; the full listing may be found under individual reviewers.) Reviewers could submit descriptions of their picks, but were not required to.

Reviewers were also asked to select Tracks of the Year on a similar principle, again restricted to the tracks that they personally reviewed for RARB. Reviewers could also abstain from making selections in any or all categories.

Finally, our singles reviewers and editorial staff jointly chose two Singles of the Year and one Honorable Mention.

Albums of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Tracks of the Year


Singles of the Year

Voices in Your Head (University of Chicago) – My Day Will Come

Voices in Your Head has the golden touch for releasing songs that earn critical acclaim and compilation success. My Day Will Come was a resounding pick from the RARB staff for a 2022 Single of the Year award — the group's third such accolade. TeKay was left so affected he began his review with a simple, "Well dang!" before admitting that My Day Will Come is a "mountain of a song". Speaking to the strong sonic identity the group has crafted and maintained for itself, RARB publisher Michael Marcus noted, "You can tell this is Voices in Your Head within the first few seconds." We also praised the awe-inspiring soloist Hillary Yuen and "genius" arranger Will Cabaniss, leading to an easy proclamation of Single of the Year.

Ball in the House – Ordinary Day

This "blues-style sermon" provides both the music and the words to touch audiences. This piece is a Ball in the House original written by soloist Wallace Thomas, who yearns for the respite of an "ordinary day" in the ongoing reality of everyday gun violence. Reviewer Dan Fister deemed this a "powerful song" and surmised that listeners will "feel something, if not everything". The Boston-based group is no stranger to high-impact performances, winning its first Harmony Sweepstakes in 1998 and touring across the country ever since. With Ordinary Day, we are honored to offer this torch-bearing legacy group a Single of the Year award.

Honorable Mention

Jackson Jills (Tufts University) – Everybody Wants to Rule the World

2022 was an absolutely awesome year for the Jackson Jills, who gave listeners this sassy Tears for Fears reinterpretation (plus a full-length album, too). Reviewer TeKay wrote that Everybody Wants to Rule the World is "fronted by a trio of sublime voices", a bold approach for this nostalgic mainstay that makes the Jackson Jills's version so memorable. TeKay concludes, "The swells, the breaks, the silences, the runs — it is just so much goodness jammed-packed into four minutes of music."


Rebecca Christie

Jonathan Minkoff

Elie Landau

TeKay

Kimberly Raschka Sailor

Catherine Lewis

Brian Alexander

Nicholas Wright

Kyle Yampiro

Andrew Adams

Stephen Lanza

Louis Jack Ades


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How To Get Your Work Reviewed

To have your album (2 or more tracks) reviewed by RARB, please fill out our online album registration form.

To have your digital single reviewed by RARB, please fill out our online singles registration form.

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