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Nick’s Favourite Music of 2023
It’s that time of year again (three weeks into January because to hell with arbitrary deadlines) where I look back at the music I enjoyed from the previous year. Once again, I’m sticking with the single post, capsule review format I used last year, because it turns out working full-time leaves you with less time to spend on other stuff (seems pretty fucked up if you ask me).
It never feels like my listening habits are changing year on year, but it’s interesting to note the differences in hindsight. For instance, this will be the first time I don’t crown an “album of the year”. Ultimately, there wasn’t a full-length release that broke through my admittedly ridiculously high standards. That said, 17 of the songs on this list come from albums I really enjoyed listening to, and the other 3 are standalone singles, so it’s fair to say the overall quality of 2023’s music was pretty good. I had to put in the time and listen and re-listen to a lot of different artists to come to that conclusion, but it feels like I’ve gone on a similar journey for the last four years in a row now. And, because I always end up discovering plenty of new acts and settling on 20 songs that I truly love that I’m excited to share, I never feel like that time and energy has been wasted!
Below, you’ll find the list of my 20 favourite songs of 2023 (YouTube links in the headings, Spotify embed at the bottom), along with a few words about why I love each particular one. Let’s go!
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2022
Those who have followed my work for a while know that I usually start the new year with a collection of reviews looking at my favourite songs of the year. This year, I’m only doing the one post. If my experience with burning out halfway through last years’ list taught me anything, it’s that I can’t commit to the traditional series of twenty-plus blog posts when I know full well that I don’t have the time or the energy to see it through. Maybe things will be different next year. For this year, I’m happy to compromise.
Below, you’ll find the list of my 20 favourite songs of 2022 (YouTube links in the headings, Spotify embed at the bottom), along with a few words about why I love each particular one. Let’s go!
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
CONVERGE & CHELSEA WOLFE - “CRIMSON STONE”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
As previously mentioned, I had a metal heavy year. Maybe going deep on Deftones in 2020 unlocked some deep-seated desire to get absolutely pummelled by the...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9c894285eca968589a245afcb18559e/831b6b43c490f812-10/s1280x1920/a100cb40a80e9e2bd87fd9a54960df89d7fb5ebd.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
CONVERGE & CHELSEA WOLFE - “CRIMSON STONE”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
As previously mentioned, I had a metal heavy year. Maybe going deep on Deftones in 2020 unlocked some deep-seated desire to get absolutely pummelled by the music I listen to. It feels good to feel things.
In addition to listening to old stuff last year, I kept abreast of new metal releases too. Bloodmoon I was one of the most anticipated, which saw the celebrated mathcore band Converge teamed up with the equally celebrated goth singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe to terrific effect, running through the door that Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou opened in 2020. I’m not too well versed with either (beyond “Dark Horse”, which rules), but it’s a formidable combination that seems to bring out the best in both parties.
“Crimson Stone” is the album’s big climax, a massive ominous build-up that pays off with the sound of pure doom. The “I” in the album’s title suggests there’s more instalments to come in the future. Sign me up.
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
IDLES - “THE BEACHLAND BALLROOM”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Punk doesn’t have to be political, just personal.
2020 was a year where people felt the need to speak up about, well, just about everything. It’s only natural that...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c32275bbeb961547c24a73e1c8879a61/f02ab7f237f945fe-04/s1280x1920/9d7fce0f9e1ab4430fb5c3958341b62d8b31e4bc.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
IDLES - “THE BEACHLAND BALLROOM”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Punk doesn’t have to be political, just personal.
2020 was a year where people felt the need to speak up about, well, just about everything. It’s only natural that Idles wanted to be part of the conversation too, with a frontman as outspoken as Joe Talbot.
I wasn’t as down on Ultra Mono as others were. Musically speaking, it was really good, as blunt and dynamic as Joy as an Act of Resistance, but darker. Lyrically, though, it often felt half-baked.
The attempts to refute their critics were clumsy, and occasionally lapsed into condescending. The moments where they were reaching for capital-I Important statements, like “Grounds” and “Model Village”, also didn’t stand up to scrutiny. “Model Village” in particular was going over well-trod ground, with no new insights in its Middle England critique. In 2020, we were asking for more than that. Even the ironic metaphors on the fun “Mr. Motivator” had nothing on the almighty “I’M LIKE STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN! I PUT HOMOPHOBES IN COFFINS!” from “Colossus”.
It seems that the band feel the same way, and Crawler is designed as a pivot point. More varied in tone and style than any of its predecessors, Idles are honestly challenging themselves on this record. The highlight is “The Beachland Ballroom”, a slow-burn soul ballad, which is a sentence I never would have imagined typing back in 2018. Talbot puts in the most honest performance I’ve ever heard from him, without a hint of sarcasm. It’s a reminder that this is still a band that covered Solomon Burke on their breakthrough album. It’s as stunning as “Colossus” was when I first heard it, and a wholly pleasant surprise.
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
BLEACHERS - “CHINATOWN (feat. Bruce Springsteen)”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
I have mixed feelings on Jack Antonoff. As a producer, he teamed up with Lorde and Lana Del Rey to oversee the incredible Melodrama and Norman...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6463e8dc84e2b9d85a4e59225d883ffd/5e7c925268100fae-99/s1280x1920/de1ecb11d26d6b28b8a03e363f3427dbf480112d.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
BLEACHERS - “CHINATOWN (feat. Bruce Springsteen)”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
I have mixed feelings on Jack Antonoff. As a producer, he teamed up with Lorde and Lana Del Rey to oversee the incredible Melodrama and Norman Fucking Rockwell, but also the lacklustre Solar Power and Chemtrails over the Country Club.
As an artist, with his band Bleachers, he seems to want to instil a sense of earnestness in every song, but often overdelivers in a way that can be cloying. I can shrug that off when it comes to recorded songs, but not when it manifests in the downright cringeworthy live-from-the-holiday-camp performance on Saturday Night Live in January.
(I try to avoid being negative in these posts, which is why I’m not linking to it, but fucking hell the theatre kid energy was off the charts)
There are worse problems for a songwriter to have, though, and sometimes he gets the balance spot-on. Take the guitar and saxophone interplay towards the end of “How Dare You Want More” for example. Corny? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
There were two advance singles from Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night that I loved instantly (long-term readers may remember me alluding to this last year). “45” was one of them, a blistering acoustic number about leaving your hometown behind. It left a mark on me, and I like the busker energy, but I can’t shake the feeling that maybe it could have used a little more oomph, or a drumbeat.
That leaves “Chinatown”, a song that hooked me with woozy MBV-esque synths before blossoming into a titanic Bruce Springsteen pastiche. I mean, you don’t put a glockenspiel on your track unless that’s your goal (I’m looking at you too, Sam Fender), and who better to improve your Springsteen pastiche than the man himself? It’s an admission, which gives the song an edge of honesty. It’s only fair that I do likewise: I’m a sucker for this kind of thing.
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
NATION OF LANGUAGE - “ACROSS THAT FINE LINE”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
When I highlighted Nation of Language’s 2020 album as an honourable mention, I referred to it as “the best New Order album of the year”. While witty, it’s...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/af3363a044cd1ae0a030ce0c87ceda18/cc98e95ff5017ec3-43/s1280x1920/c2fb0532cdf0ad9dff3da62a02b06cfcb0d6e4d0.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
NATION OF LANGUAGE - “ACROSS THAT FINE LINE”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
When I highlighted Nation of Language’s 2020 album as an honourable mention, I referred to it as “the best New Order album of the year”. While witty, it’s a backhanded compliment in hindsight, and the band deserves more respect than that, especially when their music is scratching an itch of mine that no other band is right now.
As it happens, A Way Forward casts a wider net when it comes to inspiration (with a fitting title too). The gorgeous “Wounds of Love” finds a comfy spot in-between Kraftwerk’s softer side and OMD’s Architecture & Morality. “This Fractured Mind” is built around a synth riff so pure and perfect that I’m astonished that one of the early synth-pop bands didn’t get to it first 40 years ago.
“Across That Fine Line” starts off less confidently, sounding like the bass and drums are both ready and waiting for something else to kick things off. But when it arrives, an echoed guitar jangle that heralds the start of the chorus, it snaps everything into focus. The song loosens up, as if its finally found the one thing it needs to be complete, reflecting Ian Devaney’s lyrics about “that feeling of being on unsure footing and the thrill and confusion and possibility” of a friendship becoming a relationship. It’s a simple move, and it wins me over every time.
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
TORRES - “DON’T GO PUTTIN WISHES IN MY HEAD”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Speaking of acts that have been steadily putting out work outside of my vision cone: Torres.
“Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” is the sound of the meek...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/cb0059d553f2af7c8272b9b84d59523d/b0f52babd6b8caa4-38/s1280x1920/f85869f85c995dfa349393c8d32ae8aef282d21e.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
TORRES - “DON’T GO PUTTIN WISHES IN MY HEAD”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Speaking of acts that have been steadily putting out work outside of my vision cone: Torres.
“Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” is the sound of the meek ripples of 2013’s “Honey” coming back to my shore as big fucking self-confident tidal waves. Glorious.
![Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
TURNSTILE - “MYSTERY”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Looking back at previous winners, my “album of the year” always seemed like a mathematical decision. It’s the one with no skips. The one that, were I to grade every single...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9b9e826ae31cf95994181741c275d52/489bc6c7da742497-55/s1280x1920/932638ceb3d1d5dafd6a04d4eac288080d0df15e.jpg)
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
TURNSTILE - “MYSTERY”
[YouTube] [Spotify]
Looking back at previous winners, my “album of the year” always seemed like a mathematical decision. It’s the one with no skips. The one that, were I to grade every single track, would end up with the highest average score.
That’s probably true for this year too, but I settled on GLOW ON almost immediately for another reason: It was a reminder that the sequence of an album can make a big impact on how much you enjoy it.
Think about it. If you’re re-listening to an old favourite, do you play it on shuffle? Probably not (given the option).
It might work out well for some albums, but I can’t imagine, say, Loveless not starting with “Only Shallow” or not finishing with “Soon”. Even on albums where the tracks fade into each other (Dark Side of the Moon and Since I Left You, for example), where not-shuffling is a given, it’s the different moods and sounds of each song that propel you through the experience.
And you want to start strong. First impressions are important, so you put your strongest statement at the front. So many of my favourite songs are album openers, because they have that frame of mind. Consider:
The instant foreboding of “Colossus” and “Violet”,
The drums of “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Running Up That Hill”,
The taunting fake-outs of “Fight Fire with Fire” and “Teen Age Riot”,
The steady evolution of the xx’s “Intro” and “Perth”,
And the vocal and piano lead of Patti Smith’s “Gloria” and “Green Light”.
Isolated, they still excel as songs. But as the starting steps on a longer journey, they keep you in your seat, buckled up and ready for more.
This was my experience with “MYSTERY”. There’d been some hype building for GLOW ON but, of the advance tracks I’d heard, only “MYSTERY” had me properly engaged.
And yet, the glowing reviews kept me curious. I saw one person comment that this album could do for hardcore music what Nevermind did for grunge. That got my attention.
“I really liked that one song,” I thought, “I’ll give it a shot.”
But “MYSTERY” isn’t just a song. With its arpeggiated synth intro, brick-wall bass and drums and scorching flanged guitar solo, “MYSTERY” is a fucking opener and, after it set the table for me, everything afterwards just…clicked. The transition to track 2, “BLACKOUT”, left me stunned as the band takes the brightness of “MYSTERY” and inverses it, digging deeper into its sound.
“UNDERWATER BOI” and “HOLIDAY”, two of the singles I’d heard previously, work better as a pair contrasting each other, and “T.L.C.”, the final single I’d dismissed, works wonders as a penultimate thrashabout with its yells of “Thank you for letting me be myself”.
Of all the albums released in 2021, GLOW ON is the only one that caused me to consider what albums are, and mean, to me. Mathematics can’t dictate that.
Winner of this year’s ‘Best Album Ever’ award
[Last year’s winner]
Nick’s Favourite Music of 2021
Hello everyone. As is annual tradition, I’ve assembled a list of my Favourite Music of 2021.
Un-traditionally, however, it’s going to be a bit longer before I can write the usual blog posts about each track.
I simply didn’t give myself enough time to get everything done. I was half-way through December before I even got started. By that time in 2020, I’d already put together my final list. Oops!
So, the plan is to get those posts rolling out on February 1st. That should give me enough of a buffer to put them together. I know that there’s no real imperative for this writing exercise of mine to be out by a certain deadline, but it’s nice to be timely, and it’s nice to definitively see off a year in this way.
As I mentioned at the start, I have the list ready, and you can find it further down the page.
But first! Some honourable mentions:
black midi – Cavalcade
Black Country, New Road – For the first time
& Squid – Bright Green Field
I love all three of these bands. In theory.
The idea that three of the biggest current British bands are all working deep in the post-punk niche, with influences that span from King Crimson (bm) to Slint (BC,NR) to The Fall (Squid), is incredibly exciting to me. They just haven’t quite lived up to that promise yet. At least, not in a way that concludes in me naming one of their songs as one of my favourites of the year.
They still might though. Black Country, New Road are already releasing material from their upcoming 2022 album, and it’s shaping up to be a real contender for next years’ list.
Rap/Hip-hop in general
This is the first year since 2009 that no rap tracks made my final list. I’m a little bit embarrassed by that, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Here are five songs that caught my ear, if not my heart.
Tyler, The Creator – “Lumberjack”
Little Simz – “Woman (feat. Cleo Sol)”
Brockhampton – “Chain On (feat. JPEGMAFIA)”
Tion Wayne & ArrDee – “Wid It”
RXKNephew – “American Tterroristt”
I went on a massive Metallica binge in March (those first four albums are as good as everyone says! St. Anger is as bad as everyone says!), which might be why this covers compilation somehow became my most anticipated album of the year.
I won’t deny the absurdity of it. Does the world need 12 new versions of “Nothing Else Matters” and a Weezer take on “Enter Sandman”? Of course not. Did I still listen to the whole thing and enjoy as the ridiculously uneven rollercoaster that it is? Absolutely.
If you’re curious about some of the highlights, check out Moses Sumney’s beautifully meditative take on “The Unforgiven”, and Jason Isbell’s upbeat rockabilly stab at “Sad But True”.
Sons of Kemet – Black to the Future
Some albums, to my relief, speak for themselves. This is an unflinching and raw take on the experience of being black in 2021. The poetry is stunning and the music, granite-hard jazz, is uncompromising. If your idea of jazz is smooth elevator music that blends into the background, give this a shot. There are moments on this record that will force you to recognise the human being on the other end of their instrument.
I had a very metal-heavy year. Besides my aforementioned Metallica March Madness, I took deep dives into the back catalogues of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Slayer. I was right in the middle of an Iron Maiden jaunt before this end-of-year business, and you can bet your ass I’ll get right back to it after I’m done with it.
And the first album I bought 2021 was by Gojira, a French metal band that I’d never given much attention to. But a couple of the early singles really got me interested, and I guess it was just the album I needed at that moment. Seven months later, it still holds up.
Magdalena Bay – “Hysterical Us”
This one’s just pretty. It struck a chord with me when I first heard it, and came really close to making the final cut.
I’m glad that Lil Nas X is around. It’s good that queer kids have someone like him to look up to.
I genuinely don’t know if I’m supposed to feel guilty about it, but I kind of love this? It’s like bubblegum industrial pop? It’s the musical equivalent of being flipped off by an eight-year-old. You can’t help but smile and respect the directness.
Olivia Rodrigo – “drivers license”
I’m not made of stone. The pop music industry was built on songs with lyrics that fire up your brain’s emotional center, and this is absolutely one of them.
And now, here’s the final list of my favourite songs of the year, sequenced (as always) for musical effect:
Turnstile – “Mystery”
Sleigh Bells – “Justine Go Genesis”
TORRES – “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head”
Nation of Language – “Across That Fine Line”
Bleachers – “Chinatown (feat. Bruce Springsteen)”
IDLES – “The Beachland Ballroom”
Rid Of Me – “Myself”
Converge & Chelsea Wolfe – “Crimson Stone”
Low – “More”
Aeon Station – “Leaves”
CHVRCHES & Robert Smith – “How Not to Drown”
The War on Drugs – “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”
Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen – “Like I Used To”
Chubby and the Gang – “Lightning Don’t Strike Twice”
The Chisel – “Retaliation”
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “That Life”
Big Red Machine – “Latter Days (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)”
Jazmine Sullivan – “Lost One”
Cassandra Jenkins – “Hard Drive”
Lucy Dacus – “Triple Dog Dare”
Quite a mix! Some new faces, some returning champions and around 25% punk/hardcore volume. I’m looking forward to writing more about these songs later on.
Here’s the link to the Spotify playlist, and if you want to revisit my posts from previous years, they can all be found here using the “best of 20xx” tag.
Happy New Year! See you soon-ish.
Nick