valentine's albums
[Courtesy of Interscope & Polydor/DTA Records/Capitol Records]

5 Valentine's Day albums to buy in the all-new AP shop

Valentine’s Day is upon us, and no matter how you plan to spend it, you are going to need a perfect soundtrack to fit the mood. Whether you’re smitten and in love, salty over your ex, or simply unamused by the arrival of yet another Hallmark holiday, amazing music is always the answer. With the launch of the all-new AP store, which carries an array of genre-spanning records (among many other exciting items), we are narrowing down the five must-buy Valentine’s Day albums, and chances are, there will be something tailor-made for you and how you wish to celebrate today. Shop the full Valentine’s Day collection here.

Avril Lavigne — Love Sux

Despite what the album title suggests, Avril Lavigne’s seventh studio album Love Sux is actually a triumphant listening experience that chronicles the queen of pop-punk’s journey to rediscover her sense of self-love after a series of heartbreaks and setbacks. While there are of course several emo-leaning songs to blast when you are feeling bitter about love ( “Love It When You Hate Me,” “Bite Me”) there is also a fair amount of empowering anthems that will lift you up and fill you with those all-too-familiar butterflies. 

love sux

Billie Eilish— Happier Than Ever 

When it came time for pop superstar Billie Eilish to write the follow-up to her massively successful debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? it is safe to assume that there was no fear of the dreaded sophomore slump, as Eilish clearly had more than enough life experience to pull from this time around. On Happier Than Ever, Eilish details everything from breakups and first loves to vulnerable accounts of trauma and emotional abuse. Eilish also uses facets of the record to reflect on her romantic journey so far with songs like title track “Happier Than Ever,” which serves as the album’s key breakup ballad to the album’s closer “Male Fantasy,” where Eilish invites dives into sex and sexuality.

happier than ever

Lana Del Ray— Blue Banisters 

Blue Banisters, Lana Del Ray‘s eighth studio album is undoubtedly her most inward-looking and timely release as it was written and recorded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Like so many during this time, Del Ray was in a reflective place but she analyzed the world around her as it was thrust into a state of tragedy, injustice, and uncertainty. Despite being crafted during a bleak period, Blue Bannisters is a way for the singer to reconnect with her own personal femininity and make sense of toxic relationships. Along the way, she finds agency and confidence in the process.

blue bannisters

Halsey— If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Powerthe fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Halsey, is a monolithic concept record that carries an undeniable amount of emotional weight and groundbreaking honesty. Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, Halsey documents their experience with pregnancy and childbirth throughout the record in striking detail. The album, which they describe as an effort to “reclaim autonomy and establish pride and strength as a life force for a human being” is a harrowing journey that finds the prolific artist detailing their own experience with femininity and self-love within a patriarchal and often objectifying society.  More so, Halsey navigates the unconditional love that came with her new pregnancy, while also being sure to not sugarcoat the very real pressures and fears that surfaced.

if i can't have love i want power

Kate Bush— Hounds of Love

English singer-songwriter Kate Bushs fifth studio album Hounds of Love is perhaps her most beloved, progressive, and experimental album to date. Not only did it spawn Bush’s iconic and timeless single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” which went viral in 2022 due to its placement in Netflix’s Stranger Things, but it is also a deeply ethereal record that analyzes everything from her experience with being one foot out the door of love (“Hounds of Love”) to the complexity of human connection as a whole (“Running Up That Hill”) as well as a love letter to the simple joys of youthful dream-like innocence (“The Big Sky”).

hounds of love