Top Albums of 2023

Another fantastic year of music is now behind us. From rising stars turning heads to established stars making triumphant returns, fans of most genres were rewarded with compelling and impressive releases and projects in 2023. Although I listened to many, many albums in the past year, there are some that I find myself returning to the most and will continue to for years to come. Before diving into what made my top albums of 2023 so special to me, I’d like to acknowledge some honorable mentions that just missed the cut. These include: Quaranta - Danny Brown, the record - boygenius, This Is Why - Paramore, Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) - Yves Tumor, and O Monolith - Squid. All of these were fantastic albums, but there were too many more impressive projects to let them be immortalized in my best-of list. Without further ado, here are my top albums of 2023.

10. Haunted Mountain - Buck Meek

When a member of indie supergroup Big Thief announces a solo project, fans are in for a treat. Guitarist and backup vocalist for the group Buck Meek released his third album in 2023 to high critical acclaim. This alt-country, indie folk project has an alluring and welcoming tone throughout, channeling memories of simpler times and recounting the joys of getting safely lost in the world and in life. This project’s title track was one of my most played of last year, and songs like “Secret Side” or “Lullabies” are too heartfelt to be forgotten.

9. GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo knocked her sophomore follow-up out of the park with GUTS in 2023. The release of her debut studio album SOUR set an extremely high bar for such a young artist, but this release put any doubt to rest with its angsty, punk-inspired pop often outshining many of the tracks from the project that put her on the map. From the lead single ballad “vampire” to earworms like “bad idea right?” and “all-american bitch”, this album knows exactly what it wants to do, and it does it well. I’m excitedly looking forward to the GUTS World Tour this Summer.

8. Weathervanes - Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell’s ability to write and sing from the heart is unmatched in his genre. Increasingly poetic and sophisticatedly beautiful, his albums continue to impress — particularly last year’s Weathervanes — one of his best in years. These are some of the most haunting and devastating songs in Isbell’s catalog. “Cast Iron Skillet” and “Save The World” are the two I return to most often, but the entire project makes for an excellent, albeit challenging listen.

7. Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey’s continuous maturation as a singer and songwriter is increasingly impressive with every album that she releases. Ocean Blvd is likely her most evolved, elegant, and whimsical project yet, with almost every theme and sonic idea fleshed out and realized to its full potential. Each track develops naturally yet cautiously, eventually blooming into beautiful and memorable moments of their own. While some of the interludes seem superfluous to me, the core songs on this project are nearly flawless. “A&W” is one of my favorite songs of the entire year.

6. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You - Caroline Polachek

Rising art pop star Caroline Polachek flew under my radar before the release of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. While I recognized her voice and had heard songs here and there from earlier projects, I had never committed to listening to an entire album of hers. I can now say that I was far overdue to give her the attention she deserves. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is one of the greatest achievements in pop music in years. Each track is lush, ethereal, and surprisingly lyrically dense. “Welcome To My Island” is one of the best openers of the year, and the tropical aesthetics of “Sunset” and “Blood and Butter” keep me coming back for more.

5. Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan

Another rising star that I was only made aware of last year, Zach Bryan released one of the best country albums of the decade in 2023 with this self-titled powerhouse. Channeling the likes of Dylan, Cash, and Springsteen, Bryan’s nods to the genre’s roots are tasteful without registering as derivative in any way. The instrumentation is more Americana than it is Country Pop, which is a sound that I much prefer. This project has essentially been on repeat for me since its release, but “East Side of Sorrow” and “El Dorado” are the two songs I return to most often.

4. Lahai - Sampha

One of the greatest voices in R&B, Sampha, made his return in 2023 with the release of his newest album Lahai. Six years after his debut, I was very interested to see where Sampha would take his sound next, and needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed with how advanced his sound has become in such a short time. This atmospheric, hypnotic, and spiritual project has an incredible amount of complexity to its production, culminating in one beautiful song after another. “Spirit 2.0”, “Suspended”, and “Only” are some of my favorites here, but you can’t go wrong with any cut from this project.

3. That! Feels Good! - Jessie Ware

I sincerely believed that Jessie Ware would have trouble following up her fantastic 2020 album What’s Your Pleasure? after it set such a high bar for disco-inspired bangers. I was extremely delighted to be proven wrong by That! Feels Good!, which elevates the Dance Pop aesthetics she established to even greater heights. Playful, energetic, and uplifting, That! Feels Good! fires on all cylinders to get its listeners on their feet. “Free Yourself”, “Pearls”, and “Hello Love” are fantastic tracks, but “Begin Again” with its crescendoing finale is my favorite song that Ware has released yet.

2. SCARING THE HOES - JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown

In a rather sparse year for Rap and Hip-Hop, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown stood out as the trendsetting gold standard of the evolution of a genre that has somewhat stalled in the mainstream. Experimental, brash, and aggressive, SCARING THE HOES is both self-aware and referential with its humor but direct with its messaging. This project will likely be looked back on as an inflection point that allowed chaotic, eclectic underground Hip-Hop as a whole to finally find major mainstream success. “Lean Beef Patty”, “Burfict!”, and “Kingdom Hearts Key (ft. redveil)” are some of my favorite tracks on this album. This could’ve easily been my favorite album of the year if it weren’t for the triumphant return of…

1. Javelin - Sufjan Stevens

In August of 2023, Sufjan Stevens announced that his 10th studio album Javelin would be releasing in October. Immediately deemed an “indie emergency” online, the anticipation for this album was off the charts, as Stevens has established himself as an indie darling with now classic projects like Carrie & Lowell and Illinois. I could have never prepared, though, for the emotional reckoning that Javelin would cause. After the project’s release, Stevens revealed that in many ways, it was an ode and memorial to his partner who passed away. This re-contextualizes the entire project as one of loss, sorrow, and melancholy, but ultimately reminds its listeners to hold onto what they love dearly and continue to search for beauty in the darkness. Some of the best songwriting in the decade is found on the project, with heartbreaking ballads and cutting lyricism throughout. This incredible album spoke to me on a personal level, and was an easy pick as my favorite of 2023.

I absolutely love music. I always have. The albums that make my favorites lists are just some of the many projects that I almost always have in my ears. Re-visiting these projects transports me to where I was in life at the time of their release and my discovery of them. Every artist on this list is immensely talented, and I’m grateful for the art they give to the world. I look forward to what music is to come in 2024, but am more than happy to continue listening to these projects in the meantime. They are all so, so special.