Like the previous year, 2023 was one of returning, seeking some resemblance of “normal”, navigating a post-pandemic world with caution but also hope. A number of artists made literal returns as well, none more spectacularly than Everything But The Girl—on hiatus since the turn of the century, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt had both foraged solo careers worthy of their past work together. Fuse, their reunion as a duo triumphed by picking off where 1999’s Temperamental left off while also feeling fully attenuated to this moment. Its third single, “Run A Red Light”, was its most striking with an enthralling sense of space and reverberating piano chords, conveying wisdom and maturity without coming off as stodgy.
Other veterans adjusted to the times by either translating past sounds into the present (Christine and the Queens’ channeling trip-hop; Emm Gryner (along with relative newbies Molly Burch and U.S. Girls) finding solace and also inspiration in “yacht-rock”) or taking adventurous leaps into the unknown (PJ Harvey, who hasn’t ever made the same kind of album twice; The Clientele crafting an indie-pop cantata of sorts; Kylie Minogue, genuinely in sync with the latest club culture enough to put Madonna to shame.) Depeche Mode, Ben Folds, Sparks and Blur released their sharpest singles in decades while Robert Forster offered up a late-career gem that could easily serve as an epitaph: “See how far we’ve come,” he concluded in “Tender Years”, rendering it with more resonance and depth than one would ever expect from such a potential cliché.
In trying to remain an active listener, I am still devoted to finding new sounds: Yves Tumor’s hooky, onomatopoeic experimental pop, Bar Italia’s moody-yet-catchy, post-punk/college rock hybrid, Jungle’s postmodern retro-soul, Meg Baird’s dreamy, lingering, sighing extended instrumental, Gabriels’ gender-queer slant on gospel and funk and The Tubs making good old jangle-pop that’s uncommonly crisp and fresh. Corinne Bailey Rae’s Black Rainbows (here represented by the hypnotic, loping “Red Horse”) is a major advance, a challenging, far-reaching collection with a scope her previous work barely hinted at; it’s currently in the running for my favorite album of the decade. Also revelatory: Romy’s “She’s On My Mind”, its house piano hook and samba rhythm an irresistible match for her dancefloor yearning which blossoms, builds and gradually turns euphoric in the end.
2023: We Won’t Go Quietly
- Yves Tumor, “Echolalia”
- Jamila Woods/duendita, “Tiny Garden”
- Robert Forster, “Tender Years”
- Gabriels, “Offering”
- ANONHI, “It Must Change”
- Christine and the Queens, “Tears Can Be So Soft”
- The National, “Tropic Morning News”
- Bar Italia, “Changer”
- Alex Lahey, “The Sky is Melting”
- Sparks, “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is”
- Shamir, “Wandering Through”
- Emm Gryner, “Loose Wig”
- Jenny Lewis, “Psychos”
- Ben Folds, “Winslow Gardens”
- Romy, “She’s On My Mind”
- Everything But The Girl, “Run A Red Light”
- Meg Baird, “Ashes, Ashes”
- Slowdive, “Kisses”
- Molly Burch, “Heartburn”
- The Clientele, “Blue Over Blue”:
- Depeche Mode, “Ghosts Again”
- Caroline Polachek, “Welcome To My Island”
- Lana Del Rey/SYML, “Paris, Texas”
- Mitski, “My Love Mine All Mine”
- The Tubs, “I Don’t Know How It Works”
- Sufjan Stevens, “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
- Wilco, “Evicted”
- U.S. Girls, “Only Daedalus”
- PJ Harvey, “Prayer At The Gate”
- Jungle, “Back on 74”
- Jessie Ware, “Begin Again”
- Boygenius, “Not Strong Enough”
- CMAT/John Grant, “Where Are Your Kids Tonight?”
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “When We Were Close”
- Blur, “The Narcissist”
- Arlo Parks, “Purple Phase”
- Corinne Bailey Rae, “Red Horse”
- Tennis, “Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight”
- Kylie Minogue, “Padam Padam”
- Jake Shears, “Last Man Dancing”
Haunted Jukebox 