Albums of 2023

Every year, I try to whittle down my favourite new albums into a top 10 and yet every year, I don't quite make it. At one point, my shortlist contained 32 and I could've argued a reason as to why each should be featured here. Eventually, I managed to get it down to a top 15 while still finding room for some of the others that missed out.

15) CMAT - Crazymad, For Me

In a crowded field of folky singer-songwriters this year, the Irish CMAT stood out for me for the combination of pop, Americana, witty lyrics and the concept of her 47-year old self travelling back in time to prevent herself from being in a relationship that could "ruin her life".

    If you liked this, try Mitski - The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We

14) Margaret Glaspy - Echo the Diamond

Combining bluesy rock with personal, cathartic lyrics, Margaret Glaspy's third album has the raw, nostalgic air of a basement bar in the mid 90s.

    If you liked this, try Feist - Multitudes

13) Gabriels - Angels & Queens

Confusingly released in two parts (the second of which also included the songs from the first part) the debut album from the Los Angeles/Sunderland soul trio is nevertheless brooding, sultry and full of drama.

    If you liked this, try Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy

12) Creeper - Sanguivore

If I said this sounds like Meat Loaf and My Chemical Romance made a concept album about vampires, I don't think you'd believe me but it's true. It's probably like nothing else you'll hear this year and it's glorious.

    If you liked this, try... I'm still thinking

11) The Menzingers - Some of It Was True

Now on their eighth studio album, the US punk rockers are growing up a bit. There's no less urgency in the delivery and the lyrics are as self-deprecating as ever, but they're still highly relatable as their fanbase gets older.

    If you liked this, try The Gaslight Anthem - History Books

10) Flyte - Flyte

Tender and wistful, the indie-folk duo's third album is the most minimal and intimate yet. The lyrics seem to say just enough while the music leaves you with headspace to contemplate, and this is best demonstrated on Even on Bad Days which is at turns comforting and heartbreaking.

    If you liked this, try Billie Marten - Drop Cherries

9) Anohni and the Johnsons - My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross

Much has happened since Antony and the Johnsons won the 2005 Mercury Prize with their iconic second album. Now reformed after 13 years away and with singer Anohni able to live as her authentic self, the band has released their extraordinary fifth album, a collection of soulful and sometimes uncomfortable tracks about environmentalism and LGBQ+ rights.

    If you liked this, try Christine & The Queens - Paranoïa, Angels, True Love

8) Dađi Freyr - I Made an Album

In 2020, Icelander Dađi Freyr won hearts all over Europe with the whimsical Think About Things and its hilariously awkward accompanying video and dance routine. The song was highly tipped to sweep up at Eurovision when covid-19 caused the cancellation of the contest. A year later and Dađi entered again with the equally cute 10 Years but alas one member of the band was struck down with covid, meaning they couldn't perform. In the years since, he's been working on this, his first solo album and, as expected, it's so much fun. Showcasing his trademark electropop with witty, mainly English lyrics and unusual melodies, I Made An Album is as joyful as you can expect, culminating in the frantic drum and bass of the German-language closer, Bitte. Douze points!

    If you liked this, try Duncan Laurence - Skyboy

7) Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows

You may remember Corinne Bailey Rae from the coffee-table soul of Put Your Records On or Like A Star so her fourth album, may come as somewhat of a surprise. Lurching between genres including garage rock, glam-punk, jazz and soul, Black Rainbows can be dizzying on first listen but this acts as a parallel to its theme of society needing to shut up and listen to both the hardships and successes of black culture. It's a wild and satisfying ride.

    If you liked this, try VV Brown - Am I British Yet?    

6) Everything but the Girl - Fuse

It's been almost 24 years since Everything but the Girl released their last studio album, Temperamental. Back then, the band had recently transitioned from jangly indie pop to subdued electronica and it's the latter which is evident on their comeback. It may be tempting to assume that the electronic music scene has have moved on in the intervening 24 years, leaving EBTG's sound a little outdated, but instead they've managed to make that rare record: one that's contemporary and yet instantly recognisable as the band's signature sound. Well worth the wait.

    If you liked this, try James Blake - Playing Robots into Heaven

5) Beyond the Lamplight - Beyond the Lamplight

For some reason, punk really grabbed hold of me in 2023. This self-titled pirate-punk album from Beyond the Lamplight was the most refreshing of the bunch. The band is a spin-off from folk-punk band Larry and His Flask and their sound isn't too dis-similar to the parent band. Intelligent, nimble lyrics combine with rip-roaring melodies and strong harmonies but here the chanted choruses and themes of drinking and friendship give off strong nautical vibes.

    If you liked this, try Skinny Lister - Shanty Punk

4) Nothing but Thieves - Dead Club City

Nothing but Thieves have consistently showed they're more than just a rock band. Their first couple of albums blended grungy rock with funky basslines and Conor Mason's outstanding, theatrical falsetto vocals. Their third, for me, was a mis-step: full of ideas and influences but perhaps a bit too many. But I think that's made this, their fourth LP, all the stronger. The scale of the work is bigger: it's a concept album about the titular Dead Club City. But what is that? Something from a sci-fi film? A post-capitalist wasteland? A real place? Maybe all these things. Sometimes concept albums can lead to a band getting overexcited and self-indulgent. For Nothing but Thieves, it seems to have focused the minds and consolidated their influences. It's their best yet.

    If you liked this, try All Time Low - Tell Me I'm Alive

3) Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

Another band setting out on the comeback trail this year was Fall Out Boy. With 00s emo and pop-punk fashionable again, you may assume that Patrick Stump and co would stick to what they know but that's far from the case. Right from the opening strings, you can tell this album is heading for grandeur. Yes it's a pop-punk album with lyrics about getting your heart broken but intertwined throughout are shades of rockabilly, 80s power ballads and soaring strings. The whole thing rockets along like the soundtrack to an 80s coming-of-age film and I can't wait to see it.

    If you liked this, try You Me At Six - Truth Decay

2) Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

In 2020, we were locked down and several artists turned to disco to bring joy into our lives. Jessie Ware was one of them, releasing the wonderful What's Your Pleasure to rave reviews. But how to follow that up three years later? The answer is: more of the same but with the dial fully cranked up. That! Feels Good! is a full-on celebration of everything that made disco what it was. As its title suggests, lyrically it's about celebrating yourself and enjoying whatever makes you feel good. But it's in the music where it gets interesting. As the album progresses, you're introduced to the Latin-tinged Begin Again and the hi-NRG house of Freak Me Now, mirroring how disco developed into other genres throughout the 80s and 90s. This makes it feel like a celebration, not just of pleasure, but of disco itself.

    If you liked this, try Romy - Mid Air

1) Susanne Sundfør - blómi

It's hard to describe Susanne Sundfør to anyone who's unfamiliar with her. She's a Norwegian singer-songwriter who started out making folk music, transitioned into electropop, then settled somewhere in between and added experimental sounds on top. Listening to this album is like walking into a contemporary art gallery: it's a full sensory experience. Although most of the tracks are in English (with one spoken word track in German), many of the song titles are in Old Norse. This includes the title track which translates as "to bloom", implying a sort of professional awakening. There are around three tracks (it's difficult to say) which amount to spoken-word poems over backing music. But if this all sounds very pretentious, the rest of the tracks are accessible, beautiful, soaring, soulful ballads which reach deep within and lodge themselves firmly in your very being, the highlight being the run of three tracks in the middle: fare thee well, leikara ljód and alyosha. It's like nothing else you'll hear this year. In fact, it's like nothing else you've heard since her last album in 2017. And that's why she's so extraordinary.

    If you liked this, try Lana Del Rey - Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd?

Thanks for reading this far. If 15 albums is too much to listen to, you might prefer this playlist I put together of my favourite songs from 2023 instead.