Albums That Defined My 2023: January - June
The year is coming to an end and I love seeing everyone's end-of-year lists, so I thought I’d make my own. I’m going to tell you my top 10 favourite albums from 2023. I decided not to rank them since I believe that ranking art is a little bit pointless and my favourites change all the time. Technically, these were all my favourites at different times throughout the year. The first 5 will be in this post and then there will be 5 more after New Year's.
Honey by Samia. January 27th 2023
Samia is one of the most underrated indie singer-songwriters in my opinion and her new album Honey has been with me for almost a full year now. Samia is skilled at capturing emotion and her lyrics don’t shy away from hard-hitting topics. They’re raw and vulnerable and you can hear how she is feeling as she is singing every line. The first time I heard this record I was on a plane and I remember staring at the clouds, being completely mesmerized. I’ll never forget hearing Breathing Song for the first time, which is a heartbreaking portrayal of sexual trauma that still gives me chills every time I listen to it.
The record is good at capturing happier emotions as well, there are a few songs which you can dance to, for example, Mad at Me and Amelia. Every song feels like a labour of love, that has been carefully crafted and I think that is not surprising coming from Samia. I get the impression that she cares deeply about the music she releases, which sounds like something every artist would obviously do, but in reality a lot of people are just releasing songs to go viral these days. Overall, this album is incredible and Samias' music means a lot to me. I can’t wait for the day when I finally get to see her in concert.
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek. February 14th 2023
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You stands out amongst the other albums on this list. This album is less autobiographical than a lot of the music I tend to gravitate towards. It’s more abstract, conceptual and experimental. Caroline feels like a mythical character on this album, there’s spectacle and she’s putting on a persona rather than writing songs about her “normal” life. Although I guess that’s just a genre difference between indie singer-songwriters and indie popstars. Nonetheless, Caroline Polachek is one of the best pop girlies right now, so of course she needed to be on the list.
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is bold and full of energy from the start. Welcome To My Island is a stunning intro track, it’s sexy and fun and I’ll never forget hearing it live for the first time. Other favourites on the record are Pretty In Possible, Bunny Is A Rider, I Believe and Blood and Butter. I saw Caroline Polachek at her headline show in Copenhagen, a week after the album’s release, and people knew all of the words already. I also saw her at Roskilde Festival in July. The tour has stunning visuals, and Caroline's vocals really shine in this project as well as on stage. At the shows, my brother and I made a game out of trying to try to hit her high notes. It was a lot of fun but it’s safe to say that we failed miserably.
the record by boygenius. March 31st 2023
I still can’t believe that boygenius reunited this year. They’re a supergroup that consists of indie musicians Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. Before this year, they had released one EP back in 2018. I’m a big fan of the old EP, as well as their respective solo careers. but never thought they would make more music together. Seeing them reunite and witnessing the excitement around this band was definitely a highlight of my year. When I saw them in concert I felt like a twelve-year-old fangirl all over again. Also, I don’t think I have ever seen that many lesbians in one place before and it was really, really beautiful to witness.
I love how they write about love, especially how they write about friendship. We’re In Love is one of the saddest and most heartbreaking yet beautiful love songs. It’s written by Lucy Dacus, about the band and how much they love each other. True Blue and Leonard Cohen are other examples of love songs of theirs which I adore. This record has some insane guitar solos as well, especially on $20 and Satanist, which we can thank Julien Baker for. And of course, there's Phoebe Bridgers, who is one of my favorite songwriters of all time (all of the boygenius members are on that list), a song that’s really grown on me is Revolution 0, which is also a sad one.
I’ve Loved You For So Long by The Aces. June 2nd 2023
The Aces are one of my favourite bands and have been for the past four or five years. They have been playing together since they were in school. They’re a band that you can tell has a lot of fun on stage, they play with ease and I think that comes through on I’ve Loved You For So Long. I saw them at their show in Copenhagen this summer, in a tiny venue and it was a dream come true.
I love the story behind this band and this album. They’re from Utah and grew up queer in a community which was not accepting of LGBTQIA+ people. The song Suburban Blues tells their story. In Younger, the lead singer Cristal Ramirez tells the younger version of herself what she wishes she had known at the time. I love the theme of growing up, especially growing up as a lesbian and following openly queer bands, like The Aces and boygenius, is something that I do not take for granted. Being able to see experiences that are similar to my own (but also quite different) in the art that I love is so vital and has been one of the, if not the main thing, that's made me comfortable with being a lesbian. Mental health, specifically anxiety is also a big theme on this album, for example in Always Get This Way and Solo. Overall, my favourite song on the record is Girls Make Me Wanna Die, because it’s just so much fun!
The Good Witch by Maisie Peters. June 23rd 2023
Albums are time capsules and Maisie Peters really highlights that for me. Maisie and I are almost the same age, so she happened to release this album about being 22, very close to my 22nd birthday. However self-indulgent it is, I love the feeling of growing up alongside my favourite musicians. It felt like she was giving me advice about what to expect as a 22 year old.
On the surface, this is a breakup album. But it’s about so much more than the end of a relationship. It’s about moving on and accepting that things didn’t turn out the way you wanted, leaning on your friends and choosing yourself. Maisie's storytelling is detailed and she is incredibly skilled at capturing a moment. Her writing is reflective, and mature and feels incredibly nostalgic to me. She always mentions specific places, people and details in the songs which makes you feel like you were there. The songs which I think best capture this are The Band and I, There It Goes and History of Man.
I’m seeing her in february and I’m super excited about it. Hearing a bunch of women scream the words to this album is going to be so powerful and I’m going to have the time of my life!
I hope you’ve had a nice time over the holidays, or at least an okay time. This is a hard time of year for a lot of people and if that’s you I’m sending you a hug. I’ll be back with the second half of this list in the new year <3