10 Best Albums of 2023.

Another year, and another best of list. This one for me is as eclectic as they come. A little bit of folk, country, dark country, synths and new wave, alt-pop, punk and straight-up rock. With a few noted exceptions, I don’t expect you will be too familiar with many of my picks this year. Not every list needs to be made up with a bunch of superstars!  While the likes of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts didn’t make this list, her insanely good follow up to Sour didn’t escape my attention. So, I guess that’s the first honourable mention out of the way. Others include veteran PJ Harvey’s I Inside the Old Year Dying, Spanish Love Songs’ No Joy and John Mellencamp’s Orpheus Descending. Without further ado check out some of the outstanding albums of this year and as always I hope amongst them you find something worthy of your attention. 

10. Lisa/Liza – Breaking And Mending (Orindal Records).

I generally don’t write lengthy reviews of albums here. But when I do, like in the case of Liza Victoria aka Lisa/Liza introspective eight song album Breaking And Mending, it’s almost always because I’m impressed by what I’ve heard. You can read it HERE. In a year where I’ve listened to my fair share of rock albums, it was enjoyable to hear an album as a whole that was mostly sonically only Victoria with her trusty Eastman. For the first time, maybe, Victoria has found a balance that serve as a natural evolution of her story, her fears and trauma across eight tracks. Importantly finding hope and comfort in even the hardest of times is also a thread that holds these tracks together. They are especially rewarding over repeated listening, such as Fight For You which meanders along with a beautiful and haunting pedal steel. And if I’m to highlight another track, it would have to be Tree Line, a song written by Victoria while watching a sunset and what it means to her in a spiritual sense.  

9. Anne St. Louis – In The Air (Woodsist)

A long time ago now, country music went through a deep wash, two rinse cycles and an ultra spin. In the process of drying out in the Nashville sun, countrypolitan was born as a subgenre signifying the crossover between country and pop music. Notable country musicians like Dolly Parton found success with new country, or “countrypolitan” by producing an array of country and pop crossover hits. That said, the latest in a long line of new country artists is Anne St. Louis. I came across St. Louis a few years ago, like with many of my favourite musicians (Anna Tivel and Courtney Marie Andrews), via NPR music. In recent years St. Louis has experimented with her sound, creating this time around for her second outing a more polished album. There is something about new country that puts me at ease. Sometimes the combination of pedal steel and piano and or steel guitar and drum brushes make for beautiful arrangements. On St. Louis latest album she employs those technics masterfully on tracks like Rest and Better Days. Elsewhere there’s a lot to like about In The Air. Standouts include Sad Eyes and Phone in which on the latter St. Louis yearns for the connection of a distant love. 

8. Hannah Aldridge – Dream of America (Icon Creating Evil Art).

Track by track, Nashville-based Hannah Aldridge has laid out a powerful record which is arguably unmatched among her dark-country peers. Her music drifts and intensifies on Dream of America and takes inspiration from books, movies and podcasts. There is still plenty of trademark soul searching and trauma across nine songs but maybe not as much as her previous releases. But if I am to say just one other thing about her songs and the stories she conveys to her listeners it is that you can almost really feel them.

7. Duran Duran – Dance Macabre (BMG)

Duran Duran is a band that just wont quit. We should have written them off long ago. But the fact that they are still around is a testament to their durability. In 2007 in an interview, Nick Rhodes once said, “In 1995 we covered a song called 911 Is A Joke [by Public Enemy] and we also covered [Grandmaster Flash’s] White Lines. We got really hammered at the time for daring to do such a thing but it was part of the musical melange out there and that was part of what made Duran Duran what it is.” 

The maligned album Rhodes was talking about was DD’s covers album Thank You. Such was the fallout with critics (Q magazine, in 2006, called it the worst record of all time) that all the hard work they did to resurrect their career with The Wedding Album in 1993 almost came to naught. Fast forward to 2023 and DD have dared us to throw them under the bus again with their new covers album Danse Macabre. But things aren’t so dire this time around. I am admittedly a big fan of DD (John Taylor is one of my favourite bassist of all time) and this Halloween-themed album is a real treat. It’s playfully dark with a mix of original tracks and covers, like Billie Eilish’s Bury a Friend, Rolling Stone’s Paint It Black and Talking Heads Psycho Killer. On the subject of Psycho Killer also check out Hannah Aldridge’s cover version, which she turns on its head, whereas DD stay true to their strengths giving it a gleaming new wave vibe. All in all, Dance Macabre was one of 2023 biggest surprises. Well done lads.  

6. Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Polydor Records).

As an artist in the truest sense of the word, Lana De Rey’s albums are never without a fully-realised vision. Be it her Born To Die era, defined by her song Video Games, a wistful longing pop ballad, or more recently Norman Fucking Rockwell, we cannot help but listen with rapture to Lizzy’s unapologetically melancholia. When we look at her latest Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd we’re reminded of her ever evolving artistic style. Even though her lyrics on Ocean Blvd pretty much retread old themes, there are enough new controversies and mysteries still to unpack. The biggest surprise is A & W, in which De Rey pulls out all the stops in terms of shock value with lyrics like “This is the experience of being an American whore.” 

5. Angie Mahon – Light, Dark, Light Again (AWAL)

I had difficulty this year collating a short list of Australian albums that really moved me. (Hence, no Best Australian albums list for 2023.) I struggled to relate to many of the best Australian albums critics were really enthusiastic about. Jen Cloher, The Teskey Brothers, Gena Rose Bruce and Sarah Belkner, of course, all impressed and eclipsed expectations I had for them. But standing heads and shoulders above most was Angie McMahon’s Light, Dark, Light Again. While I had hoped I would hear more of the same from her debut with her jangly guitars, instead we got an expansive cinematic experience of life-affirming lyrical lore. As much as I tried to fight it, I found myself actually embracing it more. Kudos to McMahon for taking risks sonically and brining people together with a message of hope. Most notable is the wailing exorcism of Letting Go. It’s the album’s centrepiece (strangely even though it comes very early as the opener) for a reason. It’s just beautiful. And of course, one of McMahon’s best anthems.  

4. Paramore – This Is Why (Atlantic Recording Group).

I loved Hayley Williams voice when I first heard Ain’t It Fun almost a decade ago. For the most part since then, Paramore has circled the edge of my appreciation for them. It has always had such a different sound than anything else I listen to. But when push comes to shove there really is no way of escaping their infectious pop punk. That said, what 2023 rock album is better than Paramore’s sixth studio album? A case can be made that This Is Why is one of their best and unbelievably catchy albums. Paramore has always been a band driven by angsty lyrics. This Is Why is no different. While Williams isn’t singing necessary to fans in my demographic, I can still relate to songs like Running Out of Time, The News and the album’s title track. Paramore are a different band from the one that rose to fame in the late aughts. They are a little older and a whole lot more wiser. And thats a good thing.

3. Bully – Lucky For You (Sub Pop Records).

Bully’s fourth album Lucky For You is her most potent, affecting work and arguably her heaviest and most expansive. With a statement like that I feel like I’m required to explain. I guess what I like best about Bully’s Alicia Bognanno’s noisy indie rock is the ups, downs and transitions of her songs, which are sometimes anthemic and introspect at other times. Moreover her voice is loud and raspy and key to everything she sings about. Interestingly for someone who discovered the guitar late, Bognanno sure knows her way around getting the best out of her fuzzy guitar. She’s a big fan of distortion pedals and you can hear it in those fiery guitar tones she employs on Lucky For You. The rowdy lead single Days Move Slow has been my go-to track for months. It was interestingly inspired by the death of her dog. A collection of tracks All I Do, Hard To Love and Change Your Mind are also hard to resist. Their raw energy hurtles them along until we eventually get to two strikingly poignant tracks in which Bognanno angrily blows up at everything wrong with America. 

2. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are (Roswell Records).

Dave Grohl isn’t an artist who shies away from difficult topics. Which is why Foo Fighter’s But Here We Are is an album we all need in our life right now. It’s a record that melds the Foos trademark rock chops with deep personal introspection. It makes you feel pain and joy in equal measure especially once Rest the final song fades out. Looking inward at Grohl’s grief, while also looking outwards for answers is central to understanding what this album is all about. Two songs especially come to mind. Firstly, the album opener Rescued, Grohl’s response to the death of his best friend Taylor Hawkins. And then there is The Teacher, a powerful goodbye to Grohl’s mum who also passed away in 2022. The latter in particular is a testament of the raw brilliance of Grohl. In short, But Here We Are is arguably the Foos finest record since Wasting Light (2011). 

1. Jeff Rosenstock – Hellmode (Polyvinyl Records).

It can be difficult to know where to begin with Jeff Rosenstock. He’s been releasing music for years and inhabited many lives. Before he was a solo artist, he was The Arrogant Sons of Bitches alongside his friend Joe Werfelman. Next came Bomb the Music Industry! and other ska and punk rock bands which Rosenstock happily contributed music and lyrics and earned a reputation as one the hardest working musicians in DIY punk circles. I came across Rosenstock by chance one afternoon. I was immediately introduced to his infectious punk-rock fervor on Hellmode. It’s incredible! On it he complains about himself, his situation and or the world at large and its problems. In short, every song is an anthem. Nothing is off limits, especially when everything it seems is at stake. I’m somehow reminded of Green Day when I listen to Rosenstock. His music is relevant and he just gets it. His ear (and music) is attentive to our crys. It captures everything I like about punk rock’s energy.  And if you too would like to scream like Rosenstock at the world, Hellmode makes sense to me why it should be the album of the year.