Favourite albums 2023

From Young Fathers' inspirational, messianic hip-hop, to alt rock bands kindled in the early 90s but still on fire - Blur, Teenage Fanclub, and Slowdive - 2023 was another golden year for fabulous new music.

Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
The Edinburgh trio released their 4th genre-defying album earlier this year, complimenting its eclectic soundscape with a jaw-dropping headline performance on Glastonbury's West Holts stage in the summer. With subject matter ranging from African miners destroying natural resources to gender expectations to a simple yearning to love and be loved, it was worthy of every superlative launched in its direction, passion to innovation. Scottish Album of the Year and a Mercury nominee.

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Emily Breeze, Rapture (SugarShack)
The Bristol singer/songwriter's 2nd album boldly surfs the swells of delightful, insightful leftfield pop that once initiated the term 'new wave' (catchier/more cerebral than 'punk' while shedding none of its spiky attitude.) Opener 'Ordinary Life' dwells on unfulfilled pipe dreams to 'make it' but transforms into a paean to everyday aspirations. The celebratory vibe continues throughout, melodies and catchy hooks ebbing and flowing. Slower songs like 'Part of Me' showcase Breeze's lyrical dexterity as she skewers entitlement and pop culture obsessions, while upbeat numbers such as 'Dance with the Rats' soar with optimism: "We will climb the network of filaments which scaffolds the entire universe. We will high five the aliens and receive a standing ovation from the angels as we dance in the random interplay of chemicals and electron impulses with the atoms that make us, and our planet, and our Sun, and all of the suns and the gas and dust in interstellar space." Phew.

Mitski, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
The Japanese/American artist's 7th album steps back from the upbeat/wistful synth pop of last year's Laurel Hell, widening her horizons for an expansive and even more soulful repertoire. Country-oriented slide guitars and choirs build songs into anthemic delights.

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House of All, House of All (Tiny Global Productions)
The elephant in the room is that Martin Bramah, Steve Hanley, Paul Hanley, Pete Greenway, and Simon Wolstencroft, have one obvious common denominator. They are five of that renowned and hardly exclusive club, legendary in alternative music circles: the 60+ ex-members of The Fall. The group's announcement of their intention to continue performing led to litigious noises from the late, great Mark E Smith's family, but the five were quick to quash assumptions. Far from merely living on past glories, as so many other bands from that era continue to do, they insisted they would be starting from scratch. Any fans expecting Steve Hanley to revamp the utterly classic basslines driving  'Totally Wired,' 'Prole Art Threat' et al will be sorely disappointed. House of All are a far more intriguing prospect than so many bands fixated on the neverending da capo of post-punk nostalgia. Martin Bramah has been ploughing his own marvellous furrow with Blue Orchids since leaving The Fall after their seminal Live at the Witch Trials album, released in 1979. His deadpan delivery covers scattershot bases, from Greek mythology to more traditional targets, such as the Westminster establishment in the repetitively catchy 'Dominus Ruinea.' 'Magic Sounds,' fittingly, is a paean to the simply joy of musical creativity. 'Harlequin Duke,' with its driving rhythms, swirling keyboards, slick guitar lines, and Bramah's lyrical dexterity, showcases a band whose individual talents might have been forged over years of playing The Fall's often mesmerising music, but are now using this as a springboard to move forward, not look back. 

Related blog: End of The Fall, Mark E Smith 1957-21018

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Mandy, Indiana, I've seen a Way (Fire Talk)
Mandy, Indiana don't come from anywhere near the USA's Great Lakes region. Their Parisian lead singer, Valentine Caulfield sings in French, while the rest of the band hail from Manchester. Variously described as 'modern industrial,' 'experimental' and 'noise rock,' and having supported Squid and Idles, their debut album melds electronic rhythms with mesmerising soundtracks.

Lanterns on the Lake, Versions of Us (Bella Union)
The Newcastle indie rockers' fourth album,  Spook The Herd (Bella Union 2020) was Mercury nominated, and this is a majestic follow-on. Featuring Radiohead's drummer, Phil Selway, the band have gone from strength-to-strength, producing lush dream pop, wavering between heartfelt/subtle, and full-on bombastic. Lanterns on the Lake are in exalted company on Bella Union, formed by Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie, a label whose roster includes so many masters of layered alt rock: Fleet Foxes, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, Beach House et al.

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Teenage Fanclub, Nothing Lasts Forever (PeMa)
Despite the title, the Bellshill rockers have been producing deft harmonies and wonderfully dreamy, 60s-coated indie pop, effortlessly, for decades. There's never been a below-par Fanclub release, and this, their twelfth, shows no sign of their flagging enthusiasm. I was lucky to meet the band when I got my copy signed at Assai in Edinburgh, so 2023 was a great year for this long-term member of Fanclub's fan club.

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Blur, The Ballad of Darren (Studio 13)
Back in the day, when their respective marketing teams concocted the Oasis v Blur, North v South, Britpop battle, I was always firmly in the latter camp - mainly because Graham Coxon's hugely inventive guitar lines ran rings around Noel Gallagher's plodding riffs, culled from some imaginary guidebook entitled Middle Eights for Dummies. After a lengthy hiatus, during which Damon Albarn continued to dazzle with his collaborations and Coxon went on to release eight solo albums (playing all instruments) as well as soundtracks, Blur reconvened for 'The Big Reunion UK Tour 2023.' This was a triumph, and the album they released to mark the event was a wonderful blend of melancholic and upbeat songs, from the jaggy urgency of St Charles Square, to the wistfully poignant 'Russian Strings.' "The tenement blocks come crashing down/With headphones on, you won't hear that much/There's nothing fake on earth/The strings attached to all of us/There's nothing in the end, only dust/So turn the music up/I'm hitting the hard stuff." Damon described the release as "an aftershock, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now," while Coxon added that it was important "that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention."

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Slowdive, Everything Is Alive (Dead Oceans)
The early 90s shoegazing era ushered in many bands who were the press darlings of the moment but quickly jettisoned when US Grunge and then Britpop manifested. Slowdive's brand of shimmering, atmospheric dream pop has stood the test of time, and when the band reformed to release their 4th album, Slowdive (Dead Oceans, 2017), the results were widely praised. This follow-on is equally compelling, the soundscape altering from brisk upbeat songs to haunting drones. Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead's distinct harmonies continue mastering a tightrope between subtlety and ecstasy, while the layers of guitars and keys are as captivating as ever.
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Related blog: Shoegaze: 30 years of pedal-driven dream pop

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The National, First Two Pages of Frankenstein
The National, Laugh Track (4AD)
 
When the acclaimed US alt-rock band from Cincinatti released album number nine, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, no sooner had the critics and their extensive fanbase began absorbing its exciting soundscapes when a follow-up was announced three days before its September release. This degree of prolific creativity certainly puts the likes of The Stone Roses to shame (the Manc legends managed two albums in their five-year career!)

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Arlo Parks, My Soft Machine (Transgressive)
Her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams (Transgressive, 2021) was defiantly lo-fi, but justly earned the Mercury Award for that year. This follow-up sees her flexing her creative muscles, adding further washes of contrast to her infectious brand of indie pop.

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Depeche Mode, Memento Lori (Electric Ladybody)
Electronic pop was a fledgling genre when these exponents formed in Essex in 1980. But they have taken the straightforward premise of concocting catchy synth anthems, injected with darker lyrical (and often overtly political) undercurrents to influence a dizzying array of diverse performers, Rammstein to Nine Inch Nails to La Roux. Despite the death of founder member, Andy Fletcher last year, Depeche Mode emerged from a tumultuous period to release one of their most intense albums to date.

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DJ Shadow, Action Adventure (Mass Appeal)
Album number seven reveals the Californian trip-hop legend's urge to spin funky rhythms and sonic earworms shows no sign of flagging.

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Boygenius, The Record (Interscope)
A 'supergroup' consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, who have each earned critical acclaim (Bridgers having received 11 Grammy nominations), this album is a potent, beautiful meld of their distinct styles.

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Related blogs:
Favourite albums of 2022
Favourite albums of 2021