Even in 2023, albums never go out of style. From diverse, globetrotting trips across genres to homogenous artistic statements, we enjoyed a multitude of song collections this year while waiting for our studio to be ready for broadcasting. Here are our picks for the year’s best:
20. This is Why – Paramore
After a five-year hiatus, Paramore returned in February 2023 with This Is Why. Formed in 2004, when lead singer Hayley Williams was only sixteen, it’s no surprise that Paramore’s sound has transformed and grown over the nearly twenty years that have passed since its inception. After the angst fueled pop-punk of Riot!, the electric guitar driven rock of Brand New Eyes, and the bubbly, new-wave inspired synth-pop of After Laughter, Paramore’s sixth studio album, This is Why, once again takes the band in a new direction. Inspired by the electronic sounds of The Rapture and the post-punk of Bloc Party, This Is Why cannot be defined by a single genre, but rather is a triumphant blend of styles, sounds, and voices. Throughout This Is Why, Paramore explores the anxiety and paranoia that have become a normalized byproduct of life in 2023. “This is why I don’t leave the house” Williams sings in the titular song over an explosive chorus filled with percussive flair. “Running Out of Time” focuses on distress on a personal level, while “The News” takes Williams’ anxiety to a global scale, embodying the distress and helplessness felt as a result of global crisis: “But I worry and I give money and I feel useless behind this computer.” The final song, “Thick Skull,” opens slowly, but erupts into chaos in a way that’s reminiscent of a younger Paramore, but one with more control and craft than ever before.
– Carly Christy
19. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is flashy, fun, and deeply introspective. After being dropped by her label in 2020, Roan came back stronger than ever in 2023. Both working with Dan Nigro, Chappell and Olivia Rodrigo share a penchant for chanting and cheering in their recent albums. Citing drag queens and midwestern teens at prom as major artistic inspirations, Chappell’s music is dramatic, emotional, and perfect for dancing. The album explores the growth of one’s late teens and early twenties, coming into her sexuality in “Naked in Manhattan” and realizing she deserves more in her relationships in songs like “Femininomenon” and “Casual.” A Midwesterner at heart, she finds community in LA gay clubs in “Pink Pony Club” but longs for home in Missouri in “California.” Her lyrics are witty and tongue-in-cheek, building a world with glittery vocals and visuals. Theatrical and beautiful, Chappell Roan’s debut album is a camp masterpiece.
– Abby Almaguer
18. Live at Bush Hall – Black Country, New Road
Immediately preceding the release of AROUSE’s #1 album of 2022, Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road’s future was thrown into a state of uncertainty when band frontman Isaac Wood announced his departure from the band for mental health reasons. The band would ultimately regroup and decide to carry on, but many had doubts on whether the band would be able to maintain their appeal without the emotional lyrics and dramatic skeletons of songs which Wood provided. Live at Bush Hall supplies fans with a collective sigh of relief, with songs just as genuine and grandiose as we’ve come to expect from BCNR. “Up Song” can be read as an upbeat tribute to Wood, with tongue in cheek lyrics like “Look at what we did together, BCNR friends forever.” May Kershaw provides vocals for “The Boy”, singing an abstract, fable-ish narrative and making the song stand out in the BCNR discography as distinctly light and beautiful. “I Won’t Always Love You” and “Dancers” both exhibit Tyler Hyde’s talent as a lyricist and vocalist. However, I believe the crown jewel of the album is “Turbines/Pigs”, with vocals from Kershaw, a 9:45 runtime, and an emotional instrumental peak that only BCNR could produce. It should be noted that members are reluctant to acknowledge the recording as a true album, stating that it was released mostly to allow them to keep touring whilst making their next true album. In the meantime however, Live at Bush Hall reignites the excitement around the band’s future, and has me giddy for the band’s next release.
– Brady Virtue
17. Never Enough – Daniel Caesar
For the past few years, a dusty power vacuum has mushroomed within R&B in the absence of a particular colorful iconoclast and only reverberated after his infamous Coachella set. Rising stars like Brent Faiyaz have gone back to the genre’s basics with mixtapes like Larger Than Life while others have relied on trap influences for relevance. Daniel Caesar is one of the only stars left unafraid to just give audiences an authentic contemporary R&B album. Opener “Ochos Rios” immediately sets the stage, tenderly acclimating the listener to the album’s soundscape. Of course, before immediately subverting that with the nocturnal digitality of the homewrecking “Valentina.” The rest of the album, barring the Kill Bill-tinged “Shot My Baby,” enjoys more acoustic instrumentation — peaking with “Let Me Go” and “Always.” Ambulatory duet “Disillusioned” boasts vocals from serpentwithfeet as a luminous commiseratory coming of age track. The project is a refreshing moonlit walk by the beach with hopes to reconnect with the waters and — by extension — life. Through the languid waves, the light greets you, imparting the clarity of its reflection upon you. I don’t know about you, but I personally can never get enough of this album.
– Ike Nnabuife
16. Lahai – Sampha
A lot has changed since Sampha’s last appearance. The angelic singer has made his fair share of cameos — from crooning over samples on Everything is Recorded’s “Close But Not Quite” to uplifting Kendrick Lamar’s bell hooks-tinged “Father Time” — but Sampha Sisay has finally completed his own introspective hiatus from the spotlight and returned with Lahai, a cerebral project soaring through the different altitudes of his identity crisis. Single “Only” leaves the listener feeling like Spider-Man, doing leaps of faith grappling closer to their personal “sun” — whether it be God, knowledge, or whatever their world revolves around. “Suspended” serves as a tacit spiritual successor to 2017’s “Blood on Me,” this time freeze-framing the anxiety of amatory vulnerability and sensations of undeservingness. Ascending from the moment of morose turbulence on “Dancing Circles,” the luminous “Jonathan L. Seagull” is a choral thesis proving the healing power of creativity and empathy. With this sophomore release, Sampha joins the likes of other urban self-care shamans like Bilal, Erykah Badu, and Solange. On Lahai, Sisay takes flight, and it’s unsure if he’ll ever return again from his migration, but we, as the rest of the flock, are able to see him flourish, and his story has brought us closer to the heavens.
– Ike Nnabuife
15. Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply Hot Between Worlds) – Yves Tumor
Yves Tumor continues to impress and establish themself as the face for truly unique art rock records. This record utilizes a more pop and electronic style, as seen in “In Spite of War” and “Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood,” to mask the themes of unrequited love and obsession, while the majority of the second half switches to a more angsty and punk style to mask feelings of anxiety and obsession, marked by rough bass riffs and choruses that come off as desperate and claustrophobic, as seen in “Operator” and “Echolalia.” The end of the record ties the themes of toxic relationships and unrequited love via gospel-like horns and bright synths to remind us that no matter the transcendental feeling toxic love may bring you, you must overcome the paralysis and blinding feeling to truly become free and fulfilled, or risk falling into the same cycle of desperation at your own expense. Truly one of the most uniquely produced and thoughtfully written records of the year.
– Alex Lopez
14. Dsx.fm – Dazegxd & Quinn
dSX.fm, the collaborative album by Dazegxd and quinn, is interwoven with immersive drum and bass elements and heavily influenced by the jungle scene. The album resonates with seamless transitions evident from the start, where the track “dSX.fm Intro” effortlessly flows into the beat of “Say So.” Demonstrating a masterful fusion of digicore, the artists skillfully balance this dynamic with lyrics exuding unwavering self-assurance. One standout track, “wait here” featuring Af1Shawty and MON, serves as a testament to the duo’s confidence and unapologetic attitude, delivering a powerful sonic narrative. Dazegxd, a talented black electronic artist hailing from Brooklyn, collaborates seamlessly with quinn, a 19-year-old originating from Baltimore, forming a diverse and complementary musical alliance. Throughout the album, Dazegxd and quinn not only showcase their adeptness in genre-blending but also their ability to craft a cohesive yet diverse sound. Their collaborative efforts encapsulate a sense of innovation, bringing fresh perspectives to the electronic music scene while celebrating individuality and skillful production. dSX.fm stands as a testament to the artists’ prowess and promises an exhilarating auditory journey for enthusiasts of electronic music and beyond.
– Izzy Furl
13. Red Moon in Venus – Kali Uchis
Upon first listen, you are instantly taken aback by the sensual, groovy, and psychedelic production. Kali Uchis’ Red Moon in Venus is an emotion-packed album that is as beautiful as it sounds. Even if you don’t understand the Spanish lyrics on “Como Te Quiero Yo” and “Hasta Cuando,” Kali’s smooth delivery perfectly conveys the theme of love and leaving a bitter ex behind on each track respectively that any listener can understand. Red Moon in Venus is a true blue R&B album that deals with themes of toxic relationships, honesty, moving on, and love that deserves recognition as one of the best albums of the year.
– Alex Lopez
12. Burning Desire – Mike
It’s rare that you get to see a coming of age story from the beginning like we have with MIKE. The 25 year old NYC-via-London-via-Jersey rapper has been dropping projects since he was 16, and has kept attention on him through the formation of his collective sLUms alongside a relentless discography of mixtapes and 7 studio albums. His latest, Burning Desire, adds a new layer to the hero’s journey – hope. After years of chronicling his struggles with alienation, blackness in America, and the border separation and eventual loss of his mother, MIKE spends the 51 minutes of Desire talking about the shine after the storm, literally. As a spoken interlude from friend and collaborator TAKA explains, the album was named Burning Desire after the first song that played after a rain delay at MIKE’s Young World festival earlier this year. Cuts like “Dambe” and “Plz Don’t Cut My Wings” bring back MIKE’s signature monotone drawl and downtrodden lyrical focus, but elsewhere on the album, upbeat hits like “Zap!” and “Sixteens” make you feel like you’ve achieved the sense of contentedness that MIKE’s preaching. Almost entirely self produced, and with only a few (standout) features from the likes of Earl Sweatshirt and newcomers El Cousteau and Niontay, the focus is kept squarely on MIKE and the viewpoint he’s taken nearly a decade to craft. He’s always been MIKE, but it finally feels like we’re on a first name basis.
– Rohan Rindani
11. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You – Caroline Polachek
Welcome to Caroline Polachek’s island. You’re in for an adventure. Ever a gracious host, she’ll greet you with a two-octave-spanning vocal exercise then summarily knock out an ‘80s-informed but futuristic synthpop jam. The island’s national anthem is probably “Bunny is a Rider.” The track is lyrically ambiguous, yet its overarching narrative — of a woman who goes off the grid to chart her own path — comes through loud and clear, backed by an eerie whistle and a dancefloor-ready beat. Björk and Kate Bush’s faces probably appear on her Mt. Rushmore, but so sonically diverse is her palette that her influences could fill a “Guess Who?” board. The theatrical strings and keys of “I Believe” evoke Very-era Pet Shop Boys, while she tips a cowboy hat to Ennio Morricone on the Latin-infused, spaghetti Western-core “Sunset.” The island’s dialect skews oblique (“Lying at the foot of a linden/In a navel ring inventing June,” from the bagpipe-sporting “Blood and Butter”), with a sprinkling of “da-da-da”s and “la-la-la”s that speak volumes. Polachek’s siren song is so good, not even Odysseus would be able to keep away from her shores.
– Nigel Becker
10. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips – Armand Hammer
I caught Armand Hammer on a sticky summer day in August, playing a free pop-up at Brooklyn’s Public Records, previewing some songs from their forthcoming LP, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. The scene felt like a block party: weed smoke filled the air; Backwoodz Studioz compatriots Fatboi Sharif, Cavalier, and DJ Haram mingled with the crowd; and the duo of billy woods and ELUCID were welcomed as hometown heroes. Their album, titled after the signs around the city’s outer boroughs, is their most communal project yet. Formed from jam sessions in Brooklyn with musicians like Shabaka Hutchins and Max Heath — not to mention beats from Haram, JPEGMAFIA, Preservation, EL-P, Kenny Segal (whose jet-setting, kaleidoscopic collaborative album with woods, Maps, deserved to be on this list), among others — the music is often bracing, clangorous, and warped. Finding the grooves in the album’s polyphony of glitch, industrial texture, and fractured jazz, woods and ELUCID are firmly in pocket, piling picturesque, mealy-mouthed raps into elliptical passages. On a record filled with ephemera, the duo and their guests (from adjunct NYU prof. Junglepussy to Moneynicca of Philly punk outfit Soul Glo) convey a piercing clarity — weary and bleak, but staggeringly vivid.
– Raghav Raj
9. Girl With Fish – Feeble Little Horse
Girl with Fish, the second full-length effort from Pittsburgh’s noise-laden shoegaze outfit feeble little horse, is not exactly an easy listen. It’s an exercise in musical whiplash, pinwheeling deftly from its densest moments, thick with distortion, to its more tender territories in the span of a single track. The opening track, “Freak”, begins with a generous bout of amplifier noise before descending into a cacophonous crash of cymbals, fuzzed out guitars and pleasantly muffled vocals. Three tracks later, “Heaven” begins as an apparent nod to the slowcore tradition established by bands like Carissa’s Weird or Tacoma Radar before quickly reaching a fever pitch of buzzing crunch. Where other shoegaze albums descend into mud, however, the vocal takes on Girl with Fish continuously shine, drifting dreamily atop each instrumental. Far from a one trick pony, this album is a lovely exploration into the creative fringes of genres that, while easy to replicate, are difficult to innovate within. Girl with Fish goes down like a can of flavored sparkling water — it’s abrasive, but refreshing. And within every sharp swallow, just for a moment, you’ll get a taste of genius.
– William Engle
8. Bewitched – Laufey
Jazz is so back, baby! On her second studio album, Bewitched, Laufey delivers rich vocals over self-written songs about love and heartbreak. Laufey’s personality shines through her charming lyricism and expressive affectation, and she expertly meshes her contemporary jazz sound with more familiar pop inspirations. Laufey grew her majorly Gen-Z audience on TikTok preceding her first album release last year, gaining popularity through her covers of standards and pop songs, citing Chet Baker and Taylor Swift as her inspirations. She continues to connect her adoring young audience to her classic sound with modern themes of dating and coming-of-age, and has amassed almost 22 million listeners on Spotify. Standout tracks include the lush and longing “California and Me,” which features the Philharmonia Orchestra, and “From the Start,” a bossa-nova inspired track detailing the pains of an unrequited crush. Included in the albums 14 track run are one standard, “Misty,” and an instrumental piece entitled “Nocturne (Interlude).” This piano arrangement features themes from the entirety of Bewitched, an addition that the artist holds dear to heart. Laufey performs this piece live at her sold-out shows, highlighting her skills as an instrumentalist as well as a vocalist. Bewitched beautifully displays Laufey’s knack for writing gut-wrenchingly reflective songs and wide musical talents, making it very clear that she is just getting started. AROUSE can’t wait to see what she does next.
– Mary Polemeni-McGovern
7. Ooh I Rap Ya – George Clanton
Ooh Rap I Ya is simply a “feel good” album. George Clanton’s unique vocals, warm synths, and punchy drum beats create a beautifully dreamy summer album that simply strives to make you feel carefree and happy. The most popular track, “I Been Young,” simply reminisces about the past and makes the listener nostalgic through its unreal production and an epic chorus. Clanton recently played at Skully’s Music Diner for Ooh Rap I Ya’s tour and brought some of the most incredible concert vibes I have ever witnessed. The crowd went feral during every song and Clanton’s personality made the show so much more frantic. He often joined the crowd, poured water bottles on people, and let some people play with his hair. Ooh Rap I Ya brings back the cheery and bright times in your life when you were still young and happy and embraces it with its hazy, chill atmosphere. With this release, Clanton has seemingly mastered production and stage presence.
– Darren Baskiewicz
6. Javelin – Sufjan Stevens
One of the faces on the Javelin cover, logic runs, has already died. Athletes look to the sky. Celebrities pose. A baby is born, puts on sunglasses, takes a class photo. The impression given is that of a life. Just out of frame, there is some invisible soul tying all these moments together. “Jesus, lift me up to a higher plane”. Javelin is shot through with elegy: the soul is dead. We are mourners following the hearse. The cut “Goodbye, Evergreen” states “Everything heaven sent/Must burn out in the end”. The tracks cut as good as anything off Illinois, soft folk piano and uber-acoustic guitar. His voice carries the same autumnal fleece. Yet here it is undercut with jarring electronic instrumentals, amplified drumbeats leering out of the dark, the potatoes to the meat. These digital scars mediate Javelin. Three years ago for Sufjan was Convocations, another project of grief, two-and-a-half hours of lonely electronic nowheres. First his father, now his partner. Now his pain has a voice. It carries more than sorrow: embedded are reflections on love, faith, kisses. Hemingway once said that all stories, if continued far enough, end in death. Javelin carries this principle to its logical end. All stories are love stories, all stories end in death, all love ends in death. Sufjan muses: isn’t that wonderful? We are blessed (jee-sus!) to tell them at all.
– Julian McLaughlin
5. The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We – Mitski
Mitski’s seventh studio album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, features Mitski’s renowned raw lyricism with a stripped down, Americana sound. This record, like all of Mitski’s, has a perpetual sense of loneliness, but this time it is accompanied by softness. Mitski explores this loneliness in contrast with human connection. In “I Don’t Like My Mind,” she sings, “here’s another memory that gets stuck/Inside the walls of my skull… waiting still/For me to be left alone in a room full of things that I’ve done” as she hauntingly shares about the pains of being alone. This pairs well with “Star,” when she says, “You know I’d always been alone/‘Till you taught me/To live for somebody.” These two songs, both so honest about their difficulties existing without codependency, contrast so completely with Mitski’s “My Love is Mine All Mine”, in which she sings about finding love within herself and how she is the only one who truly has her love. This album is an exploration of how we as people relate to others and deem where our love should be placed. Mitski’s stripped back sound, backed for the first time with a full band who she said needed to have an “Americana ” sound, makes this album feel like a journey through both life’s loneliness and pleasures. Many of these songs, such as “I Love Me After You” and “I’m Your Man” dive into the pain and ease that comes from codependent relationships and how they still bring an unexpected loneliness with them, much like the overall experience of this album.
– Kat Gallaugher
4. Unreal Unearth – Hozier
Ain’t no one doing it like he is. Hozier’s third studio album, Unreal Unearth, released in August, is similar to his previous albums in that the songs are lyrically intricate and the soundscapes are crafted beautifully, but it also stands out due to the inspiration it pulls from Dante’s Inferno, with each song on the album relates to a circle of hell. Hozier has said that he wrote these songs with inspiration from the poem, but he also wanted to make them “universal” so listeners could relate to them and the songs wouldn’t feel like a lesson about religious philosophy. Hozier also includes many references to his home country of Ireland, through mentions of myths and history, as well as the language itself, which helps make Unreal Unearth such a unique experience. The album was also influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as someone who would rather forget all that happened with the pandemic instead of seeing reminders in art, music, and in the world in general, I was very impressed with how Hozier included it in this album. In “First Time,” he describes how he owes his life “to flowers that were left here by my mother” during the days of quarantine. If you want an example of Hozier’s musical poetry, this song is it. He spends two verses describing a flower’s life using brutal imagery: being “ripped out by the stem” and then “blooming forth its every color in the moments it has left.” He expresses the comforting yet complex feeling “to share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off like all creation, the absence of itself.” Perhaps this is why Hozier (and all artists) make art: creating to spite nonexistence.
– Rosa Racevskis
3. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard – Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey’s ninth studio album is preoccupied with the meeting of beauty and depth. Like Ocean Boulevard’s tunnel, Del Rey’s legacy as America’s alt-pop poet laureate is often masked by her aesthetically-driven surface, but as Lana walks the streets of Long Beach, she lets us know that she has things to say and anxieties to quell. The tracklist pierces through the Lana Del Rey character straight to the heart of Elizabeth Grant, as she mourns her uncle on opener “The Grants,” worries about her potential as a mother on the confessional “Fingertips,” wrestles with her public persona on the epic “A&W,” and celebrates close friend and producer Jack Antonoff’s engagement on “Margaret,” a rare example of a Del Rey song that’s sung with a smile. Alongside muted, intimate production, Lana is done making sweeping statements about the world, instead focusing squarely on small moments that capture her attention, whether it’s a rainy trip to “Paris, Texas” or the titular prayer of “grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing.” The album is packed with features and collaborations, which fits with its overall theme of human connection. Del Rey’s previous work is often characterized by despondent isolation, but Ocean Boulevard proves that Lana is ready to recognize the love around her and let the light in.
– Connor Telford
2. Scaring the Hoes – JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown
From the moment you hit play on Scaring the Hoes, sensory overload dense enough to kill a Victorian child is impending as a chipmunk’d sample of Ginuwine and Mario Winans squeals from the speakers. As soon as the beat drops on intro track “Lean Beef Patty,” the tape’s anachronism is apparent as 2005-era Kanye West style sampling collides with 100 gecs percussion aesthetics. JPEGMAFIA verbally assaults the song’s targets while Danny Brown raps, trapped deep within the mix. Brown presents himself as a rap veteran accompanying Peggy on his narrative coming of age as a peaking underground artist — going on unorthodox escapades together like Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake. The dynamic duo traverse the sonic cosmos in this retrofuturist blaxploitation epic, sacrilegiously concatenating vulgarity with religion. From the drug-infused bass of “Steppa Pig” to the breakbeat instability of “Jack Harlow Combo Meal”, the album’s oddball tracklist shines as a culmination of mushrooming trends and abrasive themes in experimental hip hop over the past decade — all organized using an outdated Roland SP-404SX. As a gorgeous mess, Scaring the Hoes is a celebration of the punk ethos of hip hop as a constantly evolving game, where competitors do the most despite their limitations and unapologetically showcase their irreverent selves at the altar, apathetic to commercial sensibilities.
– Ike Nnabuife
1. The Record – Boygenius
“I want to hear your story, and be a part of it” harmonize the iconic trio of Boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, at the beginning of The Record. Opener “Without You Without Them” is the perfect tonesetter for the beauty of their connection and the love they have for one another. The Record may be Boygenius’s first album, but it is preceded by their self-titled debut EP from 2018. The Boygenius EP is important preparatory listening to The Record because there are many clear references to their previous work. Examples of this include the motif of $20 in the songs “Souvenir” and “$20,” as well as in “Me & My Dog” and “Letter To An Old Poet”. These intricacies paint a beautiful story of how the trio’s lives intersect. The trio behind Boygenius are all successful artists individually, making Boygenius a supergroup. One of the great things about listening to The Record is getting to hear all of Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus’ independent sounds intermixing and becoming one. This can not only be seen instrumentally and through production but also through the group’s beautiful songs about their friendship. “True Blue,” “We’re in Love,” and “Revelation 0” all describe the trio’s shared love for one another and their music. The group has an incredible way of making introspection and moments of melancholy seem both beautiful and extremely heavy. It all overlaps in gorgeous harmonies and the deep love they share for one another.
– Kat Gallaugher
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