A moment for revenge fantasies, odd interpolations, and psychedelic journeys.
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As with any best of list, our selections for 2023 arent a finish line but a starting point.
With over 40,000 songs uploaded to Spotify every day, further exploration is essential.
10.Super Shy, NewJeans
10.
NewJeans excels at bite-size pop short, satisfying songs that will have you quickly craving another.
(Their 2023 EP,Get Up, is six tracks and just over 12 minutes long.)
It works, though.
The five members of NewJeans bring it to life with a performance bursting with charm.
Justin Curto
9.The Devil I Know, Ashley McBryde
9.
The Devil I Know is an anthem for all of them.
J.C.
8.Angels in Tibet, Amaarae
8.
Though it wasnt released as a single, Angels feels like a mission statement.
Its a rare feat, finding an artist who so smoothly pulls off all three.
Alex Suskind
7.Year Zero, billy woods and Kenny Segal featuring Danny Brown
7.
Due props to Segal for tying these disparate performances together with an eerie, unrelenting industrial beat.
J.C.
6.Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol.
53, Shakria and Bizarrap
6.
In hindsight, a severe understatement!
A.S.
5.Black Earth, WI, Ratboys
5.
J.C.
4.Dusties, Maiya the Don
4.
Maiya the Don cuts to the chase on Dusties, one of the years most quotable singles.
If I let you near me then you lucky, she snarls four seconds in.
I aint fuckin with these dusties.
A.S.
3.A&W, Lana Del Rey
3.
She doesnt let A&W coast on that grabby lyric, though.
Yeah, dont question it: I dont know, maybe Im just like this, Del Rey demurs.
J.C.
2.Boys a liar Pt.
2, PInkPantheress, Ice Spice
2.
PinkPantheressinitially doubtedthe need for a redux to her 2022 hit single.
Thankfully, she changed her mind.
Boys a liar Pt.
With Ice Spice, Pt.
2 avoids the pitfalls.
A.S.
1.Vampire, Olivia Rodrigo
1.
Writing a debut single like Drivers License is hard enough.
Theres more deeply felt pain in her voice, as it cracks and wavers in the chorus.
Many of those selections appear above in our top ten.
Mother Nature, MGMT
Yes, MGMT are still pessimists.
I torched the fields again / And killed an honest man, sings Andrew VanWyngarden.
Now I understand Mother Nature.
You know what comes right after the dark?
VanWyngarden asks as the song winds down.
MGMT does, and it sounds wonderful.
Like their best work, Gods teeters on the edge of the abyss without falling in.
And now, Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.
But hours after the song is over, that hook is what youll still be singing to yourself.J.C.
With Doechii, shape-shifting is the point.A.S.
Eve Was Black, Allison Russell
As a songwriter, Allison Russell is unflinching.
Russell speaks directly to white supremacists on the song, even to the point where shes imagining a lynching.
What do you hope for as you watch me swing?
she asks in an aching wail.
Will the Witness Tree salvation bring?
Note the questioning crucially to Russell, the song is a dialogue.
Can you snatch my soul from me?
The approach is smoother than(clears throat)water.A.S.
But once the chorus hits, her voice switches from a scream to a murmur.
Its also a reminder that this band can surprise at any second.J.C.
The choir isnt there for spiritual authority but community, searching right alongside Mitski.
Step one: Invite your most fun friends, in this case Anderson .Paak and Latto.
Step two: Put on a good soundtrack, like Trinas slut-rap opus Pull Over.
Step three: Have fun, i.e., rap about hot girls, nice cars, and feeling yourself.
The pop-leaning Barbaric takes things a step further.
Its about time he put them all to use on record.
Ten Billion People,the first track from their new album,End, fits the dramatic-climax bill.
The opening sounds like life inside a giant machine glitchy popcorn effects, fractured percussion hits, crunchy guitars.
Ten Billion People feels like what comes after the sound of starting anew.
Even so, the song feels welcoming and familiar, complete with Duenditas soft-spoken wisdom in the bridge.
Like Woods sings, Its not gonna be a big production / Its not butterflies and fireworks.J.C.
Ivy Queen is one of the genres original stars.
Shy Boy, Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepsen didnt even know she had the Midas touch.
(Itdidseem inevitable after their previous pop-rock masterwork,Young Enough.)
Eva Hendrickss lyrics, though always the primary draw of a Charly Bliss song are still sharp as ever.
This is bouncy time-capsule music and a hopeful taste of whats to come from Gou.A.S.
Doja asks, parroting a fan.
Then her answer: Of course you bitches comparin Doja to who the hottest.A.S.
(The better for his often starkly self-hating lyrics.)
All I Do, Bully
Alicia Bognannos All I Do cuts straight to the bone.
And who better to do it with than fellow Chicago hero and beatmaker No ID?
Change your heart / Wait your turn, he roars over thundering guitars that fall in instantly.
Jay Som, who Farren says revitalized him creatively.)
He then ends the hook with a plea for connection: I need more time with you.
The sound of Cosmic Leash is him finding it anew.
Their follow-up,3D Country, is the sound of them both loosening up and leaning into chaos.
Take the combustible, messy Mysterious Love.
The flailing guitars jostle the song without warning, like the car crash described in the opening lines.
I will be the airbag / 20 pounds of glass in my eye.)
Its GEESE in all their three-dimensional wonder.J.C.
To which I say (a) Buddy,it never left.
And (b) Relax, the Hives are back.
For the Walkmen, its noteverything old is new, its old never left in the first place.
Are my love songs lies now that the love is gone?
she asks at the outset, before writing a specific song off with a devastating or whatever.
But Jorja is staying above the fray: Go head try me / Cause Im safe behind these walls.
Pinning it down is like catching a cloud.
In blending English and Korean lyrics,Yaeji seems to be in a much-needed dialogue with herself.
Were just here to eavesdrop.
In a world of toxic love tracks, Terms and Conditions is the necessary counterweight.A.S.
punctuated by DJ Drama ad-libbing for dramatic effect.
(Im watchinQueens Gambit, lookin like an extra / Different colored chess pieces hangin from my necklace.)
Heres hoping whatever he has up his sleeve afterCall Meis this much fun, too.
Every time the prolific songwriter drops the notepad and heads into the booth, she radiates star power.
Its a bisexual blunt, it can go both ways.
Where theres smoke, theres fire, and on Smoke, the source is clear.
Give a fuck about a trap.
A.S.
Raven, Kelela
Raven envelops you like a slow-moving cloud.
Its a show of vocal strength that cant be touched, let alone harmed.
Well, Ware still has the voice.
(In case you still dont get the message, the production also includes ass-clapping sound effects.)
The song was buzzy enough to snag Nicki Minaj on the remix, but the original remains queen.
Call it cloud rap by way ofMaggot Brain.
J.C.
Find Out, Liv.e
On Find Out, Liv.es internal monologue is rife with conflict.
Im steady losing my cool / Can I go on go through / Being in love with you?
she asks over flecks of saxophone and what sounds like a reverbed woodpecker effect.
A.S.
Sea Lions, Samia
Sea Lions is Samia in all her idiosyncratic glory.
Screaming porn kills love, she coos, outside your window with the Adventist.
Its vivid yet odd, the mode where she best commands attention as a writer.
J.C.
