Top Ten Albums of 2023 – Cathy Brown

We’ve asked some of our regular writers for their thoughts on the best music of 2023. You can see the thoughts of Cathy Brown below… You can read Cathy’s blog 746 Books here.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo) by U.S. Girls

Last year the kind folk at No More Workhorse allowed me to include a sneaky ‘single of the year’ listing, so I am taking advantage and doing it again. Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo) is a delicious slice of hip-hop inspired, disco-fuelled pop written from the point of view of a discarded tuxedo. Yes, you read that right, and with lyrics like

‘Oh, I’m lonely, suffocating in this plastic bag/
It’s been so long since I felt my man’,

it’s a song to raise a smile as it raises the roof.  ‘Bless This Mess’, the album by U.S. Girls that it is taken from is good, but nothing on it matches the absolute joy of this glittering disco/ funk gem that could – and should – fill any dance floor.

10. Villagers by Califone

‘Villagers’ is the eighth and most accessible album from Califone, the Chicago band fronted by Tim Rutili, whose experimental folk-rock combines elements of 70s classic radio rock with synthesisers, static and idiosyncratic instrumentation. The jarring elements that characterise his sound are still recognisable on Villagers, but they are paired back and work alongside some lovely melodic songwriting and a joyous sense of adventure. You are never quite sure where each song will end up, but the journey is worth it.

9. ’12’ by Ryuichi Sakamoto

‘12’ is the fifteenth and final album from Ryuichi Sakamoto, released just two months before his death. This collection of 12 elegiac pieces for piano and electronics, recorded in the wake of his diagnosis, is strikingly minimal. At times, you can hear the breathing of Sakamoto as he plays. The result is a subtle work of quiet grace, whose simplicity belies its emotional depth.

8. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard by Lana Del Rey

I would probably have included Lana Del Rey’s ninth studio album for the title track alone, a miniature epic that has been one of the most pleasing earworms of the year. This sweeping, self-mythologising collection of psychoamericana, where Del Rey plays with all her previous incarnations, is not without its excesses or indulgences. “I’m a princess, I’m divisive / Ask me why, why, why I’m like this,” she sings on the standout seven-minute track A&W, and on this album, she knows exactly what the answer to that question is. For an artist who could have chosen to remain decidedly mainstream, it’s a joy to listen to her odd, freaky brilliance and know she is creating exactly what she wants to create.

7. Blómi by Susanne Sundfør 

Don’t let the rather odd spoken word track that opens Blómi put you off. This album of orchestral folk-pop from one of Norway’s most famous singers features some classic songwriting, paired with Sundfør’s gorgeous vocals. Blómi means ‘to bloom’ in Norwegian and it’s a fitting term for a series of songs that are ethereal, soaring and timeless with hints of gospel and Laurel Canyon, all centred around delicate piano and shimmering electronics.

6. Dusted Beauty by Jacksonport

Jacksonport is the stage name of singer/ songwriter John Fatum, named for a small town in Wisconsin where he spent his summers growing up. ‘Dusted Beauty’ is a gorgeous, sun-dappled album of folk loveliness whose arrangements recall early Van Morrison. Fatum’s background as a jazz musician is evident in the sheer depth of sound and emotion he creates and the album is filled with comforting songs that you feel like you’ve known forever.

5. Hadsel by Beirut

It’s been 17 years since Zach Condon’s brassy Balkan folk debut ‘Gulag Orkestar’ and across the intervening five albums, he has always drawn inspiration from place. ‘Hadsel’ was conceived while he was living in an old wooden church on the Norwegian island of Hadseløya, recovering from mental health issues. Written on a 19th-century organ, the album has an almost religious feel, with Condon’s sonorous voice overlayed on itself to create a sound of both intimacy and grandeur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7bfUmQINhs

4. The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne

Julie Byrne’s long-term collaborator and ex-lover Eric Littman died during the making of ‘The Greater Wings’ and that event brings a melancholic sense of beauty to this dazzling album. Backed by piano, strings, harp and analogue synth, these songs of family, belonging and loss feature beautiful cinematic soundscapes all centred on Byrne’s formidable yet vulnerable vocals. As a tribute to a lost friend, it is perfect and as a collection of songs, it is sublime.

3. Undo the Blue by Iraina Mancini

Last year I mentioned Iraina Mancini’s ‘Undo the Blue’ as my single of the year and was not disappointed by her joyous debut album which was released in August. Her pleasingly retro sound channels 70s psychedelic soul, glam rock and bossa nova, all the while delivering song after song of pop perfection, stamped with her own infectious sound. Mancini deserves way more attention than she’s getting and the fact that seven of the songs on ‘Undo the Blue’ have been released as singles should give you an idea of the quality of her music.

2. The Record by boygenius

Supergroups don’t always transcend to become more than the sum of their parts but that is the case for boygenius, made up of Phoebe Bridges, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. ‘The Record’ might have an understated title but it brims with collaboration, commitment and talent, with each artist bringing out the best in the other. Their vocals are clean and harmonious, their songwriting wry and knowing, and songs like $20, True Blue and Not Strong Enough sound like the instant indie classics they are destined to become.

1. Javelin by Sufjan Stevens

The release of Sufjan Stevens’ tenth studio album should have been cause for celebration, but it was overshadowed by the news of his Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosis and the recent death of his long-term partner. Despite all that, ‘Javelin’ was a triumphant return to form from one of music’s most mercurial talents. Featuring masterful arrangements, striking musicality and top-notch songwriting, Stevens created an uplifting, triumphant and epic collection of songs.