Spencer’s Top Ten Albums of 2023
Alright let’s do this one last time…
What a year, huh. We scrounged around for BlueSky codes (I’ve still got a few if folks want one), we fiddled around with Chat-GPT, and we realized we were Kenough. Before we put all that behind us, let’s take one more look back through the year to pick out the very best in music releases. By the way, a number of publications this year have had SZA’s most recent release, SOS, on their lists (sometimes in the number one spot!) — I won’t be doing that, for one simple reason: the album came out in 2022! Release your lists later in the year guys, geez.
Without further ado, let’s get into my top ten albums for the year!
Album #10: In The End It Always Does by The Japanese House
Amber Bain returns as The Japanese House to deliver an album chock full of soft jams. So many songs here demand you dance to them. Highlights include lead single “Boyhood”, which explores self-discovery and wanting to change with an earworm of a hook, and “Touching Yourself”, which invokes the agony of imagination when it comes to thinking about a lover you long to be with when you’re far away. Interspersing the more upbeat songs on the album with ballads, Bain manages to diversify the record’s sound while keeping the sonic themes coherent. Adding to the record are some top-notch collaborations with MUNA and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, on “Morning Pages” and “Over There”, respectively. Intimacy is a common lyrical theme to the album, with a number of songs referencing lovers or sexual encounters (e.g. “Friends” is quite directly about a threesome). And yet despite the explicit content, the album manages to be gentle in nearly every aspect. Part of that tenderness comes from Bain’s vocal quality, but her choice to go acoustic over electric, a switch from her debut, contributes too. After listening to this record, you’ll come away feeling like you’ve both read pages out of Bain’s diary and with a sense of optimism for future relationships.
Album #9: SCARING THE HOES by JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown
SCARING THE HOES is among the more unusual albums on my list this year. A collaborative project from Baltimore-based JPEGMAFIA and Detroit native Danny Brown, this album fully embraces the stranger side of rap. In the music scene, the phrase “scaring the hoes” gets invoked when someone’s put on some truly bizarre tracks, and not the popular stuff that (presumably) the ladies you may be trying to impress want to hear — as JPEG says on the album’s title track, “Stop scarin’ the hoes/Play that shit’ll have them touch they toes/‘We don’t wanna hear that weird shit no more’/‘What the fuck is that? Give me back my aux cord.’” And boy does this album deliver exactly that — some of the most bizarre beats to a rap album I’ve heard, and yet something about it just works. Highlights here include “Steppa Pig”, where JPEG cracks jokes about Twitch streamer Kai Cenat and incels, and “Fentanyl Tester”, which samples “my milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard” as an outro. If nothing else, it’s abundantly clear that Brown and JPEG are having enormous amounts of fun in the recording booth, and as a listener, you’re just there for the ride. The duo are going to be laughing — it’s your choice if it’s with you or at you.
Album #8: Lucky For You by Bully
Nothing on this list is quite as pure fun right out of the gate as Lucky For You. Alicia Bognanno is back with her fourth album as Bully, and her second as a solo act. Bully remains a near-perfect distillation of indie rock, and keeps things simple with just guitar, bass, and drums. But simplicity doesn’t prevent each song on this album from being eminently dance-able, with back to back rock anthems in “All I Do” and “Days Move Slow”. The upbeat nature of the music does often obscure the lyrical content, which deals with themes of grief, anger, and frustration with the status quo. But that dissonance isn’t a bug, it’s a feature, highlighting the energy that often accompanies these feelings. The album makes its point most abundantly clear in the final two tracks (which IMO should have been switched in order): “Ms. America” and “All This Noise”. “Ms. America” is one of the quietest tracks on the album, and Bognanno pours her heart out about whether she wants to raise a child in the world we find ourselves in, while “All This Noise” fully embodies shout-punk, yelling that she’s tired of waiting around for change. You can take your pick based on your mood as to which one feels more relatable — regardless, you’ll be rocking out all night long.
Album #7: Everything Is Alive by Darlingside
There’s nothing quite like the harmonies of Darlingside. So much so that they famously (among their fans) had to get a special mic for their live shows to try to replicate the enveloping sounds on their albums. With deeply clever lyrics and a classic americana indie folk sound, Darlingside continue to be the best in their genre. Listening to the tracks on Everything Is Alive, you’ll grin one moment from a cheeky turn of phrase, to weeping over a melancholic scene that makes you wonder how you might have changed that one moment you so deeply regret. This record is the group’s best since their magnum opus Birds Say released in 2015 — to my ear, the key is bringing back more light and fun moments to bring some levity to the album. Take the opener, “Green Light”, for example. An obvious reference to The Great Gatsby, the song begins with fervent strumming of a mandolin, and the lyrics read as a blessing, with repeated phrases starting with “may you”, wishing all the best for the listener and fully embodying the album title imbuing all things with life and meaning. Darlingside clearly wants you to look around you, notice the details of every little thing, and feel just a bit more connected and in harmony with your surroundings, all while tugging at your heartstrings just the right amount.
Album #6: the record by boygenius
The brilliance of boygenius rises directly from the strengths of its three members, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, bouncing off of each other. With three titans of what I like to call the Courtney Barnett School of Indie Rock, boygenius’s debut carries soft tunes meant to make you cry (“Emily I’m Sorry”, “True Blue”), pure bangers that demand you get up on your feet (“$20”, “Not Strong Enough”, “Satanist”), and intricate lyrics that you’ll return to again and again for close readings (all of them) — and that’s not even getting into the additional layers present for members of the LGBTQ+ community, which the band has embraced as part of their larger identity. the record marks a triumphant return for the trio and makes clear that their tremendous original EP five years ago was no accident. Paired with their new EP of B-sides entitled the rest, this album is perfect for those days when you feel a bit overwhelmed by the world, or maybe want to feel a little less alone — Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker are right there with you, and can help shepherd you through the pain.
Album #5: PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
This album pretty much came out of nowhere for me. I’d never heard of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard before this year, and so was unfamiliar with their reputation for being prolific (in 2022 alone they put out six albums). Nor was I familiar with their reputation for changing up their sound on every album. So there isn’t much that could have prepared me for this record, whose title I’ll shorten to Petrodragonic Apocalypse. Petrodragonic Apocalypse is a thrash metal concept album detailing a climate apocalypse brought about by an oil-worshipping cult that creates extreme weather events that are exploited by a coven of witches to summon a giant Gila monster/dragon, which begins to wreak havoc and can only be stopped by a large flamethrower. I know. Wild. Yet, that’s what makes this album so great — it’s fun from start to finish in its ridiculousness. If nothing else, you will feel energized from each and every song on here. The often-nine-minute-long tracks are each journeys unto themselves, and it is worthwhile trying to unpack the story of the album yourself, figuring out who each of the major players are in this world, and whose perspective you’re hearing from in each song. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if it’s up your alley, then it’s a damn good time.
Album #4: Mid Air by Romy
Since the xx released their last album, I See You, back in 2017, I’ve been missing their sound. Now, one of the band’s members, Romy, has released her debut solo album, entitled Mid Air. The album, while containing a number of similarities with her band’s previous work, takes a new life and direction of its own. Here, Romy makes a point of placing her queer identity at the center of the record. As Pitchfork reviewer Aimee Cliff notes in her review, while writing for the xx Romy often used genderless pronouns, whereas here “she” and “her” are ever-present, even being used in the titles of the opening and closing tracks, “Loveher” and “She’s On My Mind”, respectively. Lyrics like “She’s on my mind, but I wish she was under me” and “And I don’t want to hide it/Even if it hurts/I don’t care anymore/Think I’m in love with her” are particularly evocative, crafting the heart of the album while simultaneously putting it on full display. All of this plays to a backdrop of pulsing beats that would easily be at home at any nightclub. Moments of intimacy, captured beneath flashing lights, both under cover of darkness and highlighted, are the central thesis of the album, such as a moment of wanting to hide holding hands, not out of shame, but because “some things are for us” on “Loveher” or being dissatisfied with going to a party, because your love is at home and “All I really wanted was to be with her alone/It’s better with her arms around me” on “Weightless”. It all comes together beautifully on Mid Air, and will either make your heart ache or feel full.
Album #3: Euphoric Recall by Braids
Like many of the albums on this list, Euphoric Recall is primarily interested in love, and our relationship to it. And yet, Braids’s approach differs in being (mostly) abstract. Where the band has thrived in the past has been in their most ethereal and otherwordly albums, such as their sophomore album Flourish // Perish, whereas recently they have become more grounded in their subject matter, most notably on the track “Snow Angel” from their last album, Shadow Offering. You could be forgiven for thinking the trend continues here, as it opens with the most concrete track on the record, “Supernova”, which makes explicit reference to blood libel conspiracies about democrats and the “orange man”. But the album demonstrates a welcome return to form on the next track, “Apple”, and only continues to shine all the way to the closing album namesake, with the themes of newfound love becoming ever more present as the album progresses. Tying in the album artwork, depicting fresh soil and newly bloomed flowers, evoking springtime, the hallmarks of new love are everywhere. For example, on “Apple” lead singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston whispers about wanting to spend all of her money on a new lover, and how surprising this sudden desire is to her, while on “Milennia” she issues a repeated proclamation of “I love you”, as the overwhelming feeling of affection precludes any other expression of emotion. One can only hope to be driven to such lengths in their relationships, to feel the depths evoked by this record.
Album #2: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski
What a treat — Mitski delivers an album just one year after the release of the fantastic Laurel Hell, and not only is it completely different in style from her last record, but it manages to be even better. This time around, Mitski is ditching the synths and picking back up her acoustic guitar, with an indie folk sound reminiscent of her earlier albums, like Puberty 2 or Bury Me At Makeout Creek. And yet despite this return to form, her lyrics tell the kind of complex stories that made Be The Cowboy such a breakout hit album. From an alcoholic contemplating a bug stuck to the bottom of their glass on “Bug Like an Angel” or thinking about how the only thing she will always own that she can give to others is her love on “My Love Mine All Mine”, Mitski’s lyrics paint such vivid character portraits, be they of invented people or herself. Other standout tracks include “I’m Your Man”, a quiet groove that includes a pirate yo-ho refrain and ends with the sounds of a swamp at night, and “When Memories Snow”, a piano track that invokes the powerful imagery of memories crashing down like snowbanks that need to be shoveled out of the way to get anywhere. If there’s any album from this year that embodies poetry, it is The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We.
Album #1: Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek
As far as I can tell, Caroline Polachek can do no wrong. Every album she put out as part of Chairlift was fantastic, and her 2019 solo debut Pang was iconic art-pop, with the hit single “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” making waves on TikTok and elsewhere. Now, on Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Polachek comes roaring back with a perfect album that surpasses her debut, easily evading the sophomore slump. The stylistic influences on this album are eclectic, ranging from flamenco to English folk music, and yet they seamlessly mesh to create a wide-ranging listening experience no one else can come close to reaching or replicating. The album opens with Polachek welcoming you to her own island, but also warning you that you won’t be leaving anytime soon — the island is her psyche, and embodies how she views the world. Exemplifying this is the album title, sung as the chorus to that opening song. It’s one thing to want to feel desire, or to want to be desired — it’s another entirely to want to become the emotion itself, to morph into it, in essence saying that simply wanting to feel the emotion isn’t enough, could never be enough. Each track on this album is abstract, a non-literal state of being communicated through imagery and metaphor. One could endlessly peel back the layers to the lyrics, and if you ask ten listeners how they picture the songs in their mind’s eyes, you would get ten different answers.
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You contains all of this lyrical complexity, and yet is also able to be singularly danceable throughout the entire record. Whether on “Bunny Is A Rider”, the hit single that Pitchfork named the best song of 2021, or on “Billions”, the captivating anthem that Pitchfork named the 20th best song of 2022, packaged together on an album that Pitchfork named the second best album of 2023 (number one if you’re not counting SZA’s SOS which, again, came out in 2022!), Polachek marries expansive and lush backing music to her dream-like lyrics to create a soundscape like no other. Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is the best album of the year.
That wraps it up for my list this year! There were a few close cuts, like the new Queens of the Stone Age record (my top Spotify artist this year!), the Sufjan Stevens comeback, an album of club bangers from Icona Pop, Christine and the Queens’s sprawling double LP, the new bop-y Tanlines album, and two excellent releases from The National (my #3 Spotify artist this year). But alas, such is the price of confining myself to a top ten list. As always, I’ve added a playlist of my top ten albums below for your listening pleasure. And until next year, keep jamming, my friends!
