Presented in alphabetical order
Where did the first half of 2023 go? The calendar has reached July and we have already had another 6 months full of music to enjoy and reconcile with since the 2022 year-end list season. There is just so much good music getting released each week. It is an overwhelming and futile pursuit to attempt to “keep up” with all of the music being released and I have given up on that idea long ago. However, I still love discovering exciting new artists and songs, live shows, vinyl records, great playlists, record stores, and so many other parts of music culture. I can’t help but try to consume as much new music as I can. Below are my favorite 25 albums so far in 2023 in alphabetical order. It feels like it has been a great year for music already, and we still have 6 more months of music to come!
Andy Shauf : Norm—Prolific Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf returned this year with another charming chamber pop record following up on the success of Wilds in 2021 and The Neon Skyline in 2020. Norm is actually already Shauf’s eighth album under his own name, with the breakthrough record being fifth album The Party released in 2016. Hailing from Saskatchewan, Shauf also fronts the solid alt-rock band Foxwarren with his childhood buddies. Shauf continues in the tradition of severely underrated unassuming Canadian genius songwriters such as Ron Sexsmith, who also released a quality record again this year. Key Track: “Wasted on You”
Beach Fossils : Bunny—Brooklyn’s Beach Fossils were key members of the wave of lo-fi indie rock bands that made their mark on the music scene of the early 2010’s, culminating in the release of their excellent 2013 album Clash The Truth. Their 2023 album Bunny feels like a return to form of sorts, although they really haven’t ever released anything less than top quality indie rock. Some fans are even going so far as to label Bunny as perhaps the strongest record in their discography. Key Track: “Don’t Fade Away”
Boygenius : The Record—The highly anticipated full debut album by female indie rock supergroup Boygenius manages to somehow meet the sky high expectations. While not necessarily breaking any exciting new music territory, The Record is an excellent indie rock album that is clearly the work of three top-tier professionals in top-tier form. Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker are all uber-talented solo artists–and the sum is arguably greater than the parts. Key Track: “Not Strong Enough”
Caroline Polachek : Desire, I Want To Turn Into You—Polachek has been a darling of indie music circles since her days in pop duo Chairlift starting in the mid-2000s. If her obvious talent and undeniable magnetism lead to crossover mainstream success in the future, it would not be surprising at all. Latest album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You picks up right where her breakthrough 2019 debut Pang left off in terms of dynamic performances and delicious hooks. Polachek’s set at the Kilby Block Party in May was a festival highlight. Key Track: “Smoke”
Fever Ray : Radical Romantics—Eccentric Swedish electropop artist Karin Dreijer (aka Fever Ray) is back with a relatively accessible album titled Radical Romantics. Fans of The Knife and past Fever Ray releases are justifiably giddy to have new Dreijer music back in their lives for the first time since Plunge from 2017. Key Track: “Shiver”
Generationals : Heatherhead—This New Orleans duo has been putting out insanely catchy indie pop music for almost 15 years now! Their fantastic new album Heatherhead is almost certainly their strongest since Alix from 2014. Generationals have built an impressive discography full of pleasant, likable indie pop gold. They are playing The State Room in SLC on September 12 and I can’t wait. Key Track: “Dirt Diamond”
Gorillaz : Cracker Island—Another year, another brilliant Gorillaz record devised by songwriting savant Damon Albarn. Albarn has such an amazing gift for turning just about any artist collaboration into a rewarding final product. Cracker Island features such satisfying partnerships from guests as musically diverse as Tame Impala, Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, and Beck. I’ve seen Gorillaz play live twice in the past year—first in SLC at the Delta Center last fall, and then at a Coachella warmup show in April down in Las Vegas. They, of course, always put on an amazing live show featuring so many guest performers playing highlights from over two decades worth of music. Key Track: “Tormenta (featuring Bad Bunny)”
Jessie Ware : That! Feels Good!—Delightful UK dance music popstar Jessie Ware has returned this year with another fun album full of irresistible pop music. A bit of a guilty pleasure pick for sure, but I’ve been a fan since I saw her in NYC on her first US tour back in 2012 or so. Key Track: “Free Yourself”
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown : Scaring The Hoes—I normally don’t gravitate too much to the rap and hip-hop genres, but each year there are typically a few such records that I really enjoy. I stumbled onto the new album by JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown a few months ago and I’ve been surprised by how frequently I’ve been revisiting. I’ve been a Danny Brown fan for a long time and his contributions here are quality as expected. Scaring The Hoes is a fun, accessible record with intricate production, impressive vocal performances, and satisfying sample work. Key Track: “Steppa Pig”
King Krule : Space Heavy—My most anticipated album of 2023 was the latest from Archy Marshall, AKA King Krule. I’ve been slightly obsessed with Marshall and his various music projects and aliases since I heard his full debut 6 Feet Beneath The Moon in 2013, released two days after his 19thbirthday. Still just 28 years old, his fifth LP Space Heavy is likely the strongest and most listener-friendly of his career so far. Marshall is one of the most unique voices in indie music—both literally and figuratively. He and his superb band fuse rock, jazz, pop, blues, soul, and more at an elite level. Seeing King Krule multiple times this year is a high priority. He plays SLC at the Depot on September 16th. Key Track : “Flimsier”
M83 : Fantasy—French producer Anthony Gonzalez continues to churn out excellent indie dream pop with his latest record Fantasy. Over their two decade catalog, M83 has released just as many film scores as pop records, so it makes sense that all of his music enjoys an ambitious, cinematic quality. Fantasy is an exciting, playful Europop listening excursion. Key Track: “Amnesia”
Mandy, Indiana : I’ve seen a way—Mandy, Indiana are most definitely not from Indiana. The Manchester-based four piece is fronted by a French female singer who performs exclusively in her native language. Their breakthrough record I’ve seen a way contains a rewarding batch of experimental glam rock offerings. Key Track: “Pinking Shears”
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds : Council Skies—Noel Gallagher is an extremely competent and accomplished professional songwriter. At this point, there is nothing sexy, dramatic, or particularly interesting about Noel. Even his ongoing feud with his brother Liam is pretty boring and not worth much attention. The fact remains that music fans looking for high-quality, classic pop music songwriting won’t find many 2023 releases better than Noel’s latest Council Skies. Yes, it would still be nice to have an Oasis reunion at some point. However, I will gladly take many more Noel solo records of this quality without any complaint. Noel and the High Flying Birds played a great show at Usana Amphitheater in June that featured a perfect mix of Noel solo highlights and curated Oasis covers. Key Track: “Open the Door, See What You Find”
Shame : Food For Worms—The first two albums by English post-punk five-piece Shame, Songs of Praise in 2018 and Drunk Tank Pink in 2021, were both critically-acclaimed in indie music circles. Still, new album Food for Worms feels like a significant leap forward for the band. Solid, no frills English post-punk guitar goodness, including the best singles they’ve written to date. Key Track: “Fingers of Steel”
Sleaford Mods : UK Grim—The formula hasn’t changed much, if at all, for their 11th album UK Grim, but somehow English electropunk duo Sleaford Mods have released another collection of simultaneously catchy, challenging, and rewarding tracks of spoken word venom and tightly-produced beats. I saw them perform a fun live show up in Portland this spring and they delivered. Key Track: “UK Grim”
Squid : O Monolith—I am the first to admit that it can be difficult to keep track of all of the English post-punk bands. Brighton, UK five-piece band Squid have followed up their acclaimed 2021 debut Bright Green Field with another strong album O Monolith. Key Track: “Undergrowth”
The Murder Capital : Gigi’s Recovery—Another noteworthy post-punk five-piece band, but this time from Dublin, Ireland. The Murder Capital are another band that appear to have made a big leap with this latest album. Their 2019 debut When I Have Fears was well-received; new album Gigi’s Recovery features notably more confident and accomplished songwriting. Key Track: “Return My Head”
The New Pornographers : Continue as a Guest—It is comforting to know that no matter how the world changes, the Canadian power pop supergroup The New Pornographers are going to continue to deliver top-tier albums year after year. Their 9th album Continue as a Guest features more than enough AC Newman classic pop songcraft and Neko Case vocal genius to guarantee its spot among my favorites of the year. Key Track: “Really Really Light”
The Tubs : Dead Meat—Sometimes I just need a breezy jangle rock record to give me a pleasant mood boost. So far in 2023, the record I have turned to most frequently to accomplish this is Dead Meat by English band The Tubs. The album clocks in at just over 26 minutes and definitely leaves you wanting to start the record immediately back over again. Key Track: “Dead Meat”
Water From Your Eyes : Everyone’s Crushed—American indie pop duo Water From Your Eyes is newly signed to Merge Records and recently released their buzzy new record Everyone’s Crushed. Fun, off-kilter electropop. Key Track: “Barley”
Wednesday : Rat Saw God—Perhaps the year’s biggest revelation so far in indie music circles might be Asheville, NC band Wednesday and their breakout album Rat Saw God. Newly signed to Dead Oceans, Rat Saw God features confident songwriting and standout performances from frontwoman Karly Hartzman and well-known, accomplished guitarist MJ Lenderman. Due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts (The Walkmen), I missed Wednesday at the Kilby Block Party, but would definitely like to see them live ASAP. Key Track: “Quarry”
Yo La Tengo : This Stupid World—This Stupid World is Yo La Tengo’s recently released 19th album and they are approaching the completion of their fourth decade as a band! If that wasn’t all impressive enough, their new record features arguably their strongest work in a decade. Key Track: “Fallout”
Young Fathers : Heavy Heavy—Scottish band Young Fathers, one of the most exciting indie bands of the past decade, released another brilliant record earlier this year. The band and their music defies easy categorization—there are equal strands of hip-hop, soul, and indie rock. Their last two albums, 2015’s White Men Are Black Men Too and Cocoa Sugar in 2018, were among my favorite albums of those respective years—it is very likely that Heavy Heavy will claim a similar spot in 2023. Key Track: “I Saw”
Youth Lagoon : Heaven Is A Junkyard—Youth Lagoon is the resurrected music project of Boise, ID-based artist Trevor Powers. Powers released three acclaimed Youth Lagoon records in the first half of the 2010s before announcing that the project had reached its end. He then released two records under his own name in the latter part of the decade. Following some severe health problems, Powers decided to put out another album as Youth Lagoon and the result is likely the best album of his career. I was blown away upon first listen of lead advance single “Idaho Alien” and the whole record is inviting and gorgeous. Key Track: “Idaho Alien”
Yves Tumor : Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)—Like Young Fathers, the music of Yves Tumor doesn’t fit into easy genre categorization. Their latest album, titled with a long name I will abbreviate to Praise A Lord Who Chews…, careens between indie rock, electronic, goth, gospel, R&B, soul, and more over the course of its twelve tracks. Tumor has built up an impressive catalog over the past five years; 2018’s Safe In The Hands of Love, Heaven To A Tortured Mind in 2020, and The Asymptotical World EP in 2021 were all very accomplished records that deserve a revisit. Key Track: “Echolalia”
