Well, who would have thought back in 1963 when I drew those first columns in my school roughbook that sixty years later I would be choosing my Album of the Year 2023 ?
When I consider all the music I have listened to over that period, I cannot help but think how lucky my generation are to have been there literally from the start of modern pop/rock music – and that the generations following have kept it all going for our continued entertainment.
I did consider that this year’s blog could be a recollection of some of those albums I have chosen over the years, but time has been a bit of a precious commodity this year, so maybe that can happen sometime in the future. Instead here I am popping up again with a selection of this year’s best albums, IMHO obviously, although to be honest 2023 has not provided the widest selection of candidates for that accolade. Indeed, there were times when my weekly examination of the new release lists became somewhat depressing, with what seemed an endless procession of singer-songwriters bemoaning their current life situation when what we really needed was a bit of uplifting after the shock of the last few years. I make no apologies for going in search of, and finding, primarily the latter!
I guess that, for someone whose blog reflects an odyssey that started all those years back with a Beatles album, a new Beatles track should have been a highlight. That it wasn’t had as much to do with today’s Social-Media-inspired butterfly hype around the occurrence, as it had about a 30-year-old Lennon duetting with an 80-year-old McCartney – just because you can do something doesn’t always mean that you should. Yeah, the track was OK, and the technology used to produce it is incredible, but that video? The Beatles were a bit zany at times, but that was when they were fresh – as was their music. It was what the early ‘sixties was shouting out for and, at the time, they produced exactly that. If I could have bottled it back then and hand it to you now, you would absolutely get it. But I couldn’t, and neither could the video producers.
For those of you new to this blog, the self-imposed criteria for my selections are that I must have a physical copy in my collection that has been purchased during the year, normally from my favourite independent record store, Sound Knowledge in Marlborough, the album’s UK release date has to be in the year being reviewed, and the list can contain no compilations or live albums. I compile a long list as the year progresses of albums that stand out from the crowd, then produce a short list for the final process.
Like all music fans, my selection process also means I tend to ‘discover’ music that I missed in previous years, and this has evolved into a regular ‘One That Got Away’ selection. That process in itself also grew during lockdowns, and I have been publishing a different annual blog dedicated to those discoveries during the year. However, this year I have decided to revert to simply including it here again, and this year’s choice is Black Acid Soul by Lady Blackbird from 2021. I purchased the deluxe version, which has an additional disc of extra tracks and remixes, but it is the original album that is the one to listen to.
Lady Blackbird, aka Marley Munroe from Farmington New Mexico, is just another example of how overnight success takes years – she was originally signed to a record label at the age of twelve in 1997. She has a wonderful soulful voice, but her renditions of some classic blues/jazz tracks are simply stunning, the best example being the first track on the album, and her first single from it – Nina Simone’s Blackbird. That she can take what is an absolute classic by one of the greatest singers of all time, and do it more than justice, speaks for itself. Add to that a selection of tracks from other genre performed in her own style, like Tim Hardin’s It’ll Never Happen Again, and it just reinforces her talent. But it is the transformation of a fifty-year-old funk classic, Wanted Dead or Alive, into a haunting ballad retitled as Beware the Stranger that is the ultimate highlight. You will definitely be hearing more of this Lady.
I have also decided to revert this year to just a top ten, so my long list of some 35 albums has needed some pretty-brutal paring-down. So away went Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori, a fairly bleak 15th studio album, although unsurprisingly-so following the sudden and untimely death of bass-player Andy Fletcher; also removed were first solo albums by Alison Goldfrapp and Tom Meighan, neither of which were really a departure from their normal bandwork. My first purchase of a Hawkwind album in some forty years, The Future Never Waits, was more interesting, although in the end it didn’t last the course, somewhat ironically. Then Stewart Copeland decided to put an orchestral score to some classic tracks on Police Deranged, but as often happens with this type of reprise, it didn’t really work.
Conversely, Jessie Ware’s That Feels Good, Natalie Merchant’s Keep Your Courage, Tempus by Skerryvore, Is It? by Ben Howard and Salt from Half Moon Run are all worth a listen, despite not making the final cut. My dose of reggae this year was fulfilled, somewhat surprisingly, by Jack Johnson who issued an album of remixes of his better tracks called In Between Dub which hogged the player during the summer. And Noel Gallagher gave us his latest High Flying Birds album, Council Skies which, although it has been a regular companion, does not reach the heights of it’s predecessor Who Built the Moon?
Which brings me to probably my most eagerly-awaited album this year, Peter Gabriel’s first studio album of new material for over twenty years I/O – which was delayed several times and finally arrived on December 1st. I am a big fan, his gigs are incredible, I have all his albums, plus several live DVDs, so why did this not go straight into the top ten? Well, for a start, it’s a double-album that isn’t a double-album; what you get are two different mixes of one twelve-track album called the Bright Side and the Dark Side, but I challenge you to hear the difference when you play both versions of individual tracks back-to-back – and anyway, why would you want to, unless all you want to do is indulge in endless commentary on forums hyped by the marketing which conveniently swerves the price point the extra disc creates. But my real reason for not shortlisting it is because, although the tracks are all new, there is no real innovation here – no Solsbury Hill, no Rhythm of the Night, no Sledgehammer, Digging in the Dirt or Sky Blue. But there are bits of them all, as though this is a reprise of thirty-five years’ work dissected and revisited. Having said that, despite arriving so late, it’s already elbowing itself onto the player regularly. And let’s be honest, if Peter took another twenty years to come up with the next one, I will probably be too ga-ga to listen to it anyway. So really, what’s not to like!?
There were some debut albums that, although not making the final cut, are worth visiting. Host are a side project by Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes and guitarist Greg Mackintosh. Their first album, IX, has more of an indie feel to it than their band’s normal heavier offerings, with hints of Depeche Mode in places – particularly on Tomorrow’s Sky. I was drawn to Boygenius, a new collaboration by American singer songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, because the latter two have each had a solo album featured here in recent years. They are billed as an ‘Indie Supergroup’, but The Record has more of a country feel to it. Haringey’s Olivia Dean was selected by BBC Introducing as their new artist of 2023, and Messy was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. It’s a good album so, for once, those portents are not simply hype.
Then there are always a couple of albums that just fall short of the final top ten. Microclimate by Me For Queen, aka Mary Erskine originally from Fife in Scotland, but now based ‘down South’, is an interesting blend of folky acoustic guitar and pared-back indie arrangements, with some interesting lyrics – ‘I’ve been counting your eyelashes while time slips away’ from the track Toothbrush springs immediately to mind. The overall sound is somewhat reminiscent of This is the Kit, particularly tracks like Exercise and Bigger than Us.
Margo Price is a country singer-songwriter originally from Illinois, but now based in Nashville. Her debut album, released in 2016, brought her a dedicated UK following, and she performs over here quite regularly. Strays is her fourth studio album, and has some great tracks on it, particularly Radio, cowritten and performed with Sharon von Etten, and Hell in the Heartland.
As I mentioned earlier, compilations are not part of the AoTY list, and they have also become somewhat of a casualty of the streaming revolution – essentially because you can make-up your own compilations as playlists. But occasionally one still pops up that is worth a listen, such as William Bell’s The Man in the Street which, as it says on the cover, is ‘the complete Yellow Stax Solo Singles 1968 – 1974’. I hadn’t realised how prolific he had been in that period, or how many I actually recognised as having been played in the clubs at the time – and after. A nice time capsule for those into the days of Memphis Soul.
So we come to that top ten, in no particular order until the top three:
Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman
It’s a long time since I purchased a QotSA album, more than fifteen years in fact, although there have only been three other albums during that time. Even so, Josh Homme is constantly popping up on other peoples’ records either as a contributor, such as on God Only Knows from last year’s AoTY, or producer – most notably on Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression and Royal Blood’s Typhoons. This album is a welcome return to form for his main band, and opens strongly with Obscenery and Paper Machete, then maintains the pace well throughout.
Gabriels – Angels & Queens
Gabriels burst onto the scene last year with a couple of EPs, eventually combined with new tracks for this debut album release, supported by an appearance at Glastonbury and a short UK tour, the Somerset House leg of which we were able to get tickets for on what turned out to be a gorgeous cloudless summer evening. They are Californians Jacob Lusk (vocals) and Ari Balouzian (violin), plus Ryan Hope (keyboards) from Sunderland. Lead singer Jacob has an incredible Gospel style with which the others gel perfectly, both instrumentally and with their joint songwriting. The album highlights are the opener, Offering, the Tina Turner tribute Glory and the outstanding Love and Hate in a Different Time.
Rodrigo y Gabriela – In Between Thoughts … A New World
This is the seventh album from this Mexican acoustic guitar duo, whose style is more rock than flamenco. Although they teamed up in the early 1990s, it was ten years before they self-released their first album then, finding opportunities limited in their home country, they moved to Europe, eventually settling in Dublin. Their second album, released in 2006, had the distinction of entering the Irish charts at number one, ahead of U2’s eventual Grammy-winning How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – I always knew the Irish have taste! Although I have caught odd snippets of their music over the years, I have never been tempted to buy an album, until this one which starts at a great pace that it maintains throughout. A good one for the car.
Romy – Mid Air
Romy Madley-Croft is the third member of The XX to release a solo album, and also the third to reach my top ten following Oliver Sims’ Hideous Bastard last year and Jamie XX’s In Colour in 2015. To say that this album is primarily a love letter to her wife would be an understatement, but it is joyful love letter making it an uplifting listen throughout. Being made up mainly with up-tempo dance tracks, it is not as obviously by a member of the band as Sims’ was, but there are still clear musical hints on some tracks. What separates this from the band’s semi-melancholic style is the collaboration with DJ Fred Again, both in the writing and production. LoveHer and The Sea are good samples.
Rick Astley – Are We There Yet?
Well, if this album is anything to go by, I hope not! Certainly one of the surprises of the year was the re-emergence of this Lock, Stock and Waterbarrel creation from the mid-eighties – particularly his Smiths covers set with Blossoms at Glastonbury this year. His early pop career was clearly helped by the huge SAW chart influence at the time, but that masked a real performer with a great voice who deserved to move on. That he didn’t was due to his own decision to retire from the music business in 1993 at the grand old age of 27! His ultimate return was due to an internet campaign by fans that won him the MTV Music Awards Best-Ever Act in 2008, even though he made it clear he would not turn up to receive it if he did win. This determination to return on his own terms brought a couple of albums of covers in the early 2010s, then albums of new material of which this is the third. His voice has matured now, with a more bluesey feel to it particularly on tracks like Never Gonna Stop and Close (Your Shoes). Point is, there isn’t a bad track on this album, and if you listen to it right through, I guarantee that won’t be your last listen.
Beverley Knight – The Fifth Chapter
I once saw Beverley Knight described as ‘one of Britain’s greatest soul singers’. Well, they were wrong – she IS Britain’s greatest soul singer, and this album, her first for seven years, simply reinforces that position. That she is not a worldwide superstar may appear to be a mystery, but actually has as much to do with her own personal choices to retain control over her career, similar to Rick’s above, as anything else. There are other similarities too – this album also does not have a bad track on it and also follows the recent trend back to albums of less tracks each of shorter duration – the old three-minute pop-song format.
Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Happy Ending
Ever since the McAlmont & Butler album from 1995, both of those protagonists have popped-up from time to time with different collaborators – and all those albums have been worth a listen, as you will have read previously. This latest, bringing David McAlmont together with former Soup Dragons front man, and now DJ, Hifi Sean, is no exception. The marketing blurb describes it as “a psychedelic electronic soul soundtrack, written and recorded at the top of an East London tower block and mixed in a beach house on the south coast. Half the album is accompanied by an eighty-piece Bollywood orchestra recorded at a film studio in Bangalore India.” Well that’s as maybe, but it doesn’t distract from what is a highly-entertaining album of diversely-varied tracks. I am not making any recommendations for individual tracks to listen to – just pick any one you like as a sample, or better still just start at the beginning and listen to the whole thing, you won’t be disappointed either way.
And so we reach the top three:
Billy Nomates – Cacti
This is the second album from Leicester-born Tor Maries who got her stage name from negative comments when she turned up for gigs on her own. That sort of commentary continued online after her excellent set at Glastonbury this year, where she performed alone on a blank stage in front of thousands of real fans with just an i-phone full of backing tracks. So bad was the abuse that she requested the BBC take down the footage. Honestly, what is the matter with people these days? Because that performance was as compelling as the album, which was my first purchase of the year months earlier and has lasted the course. Again, there are no bad tracks here, with Black Curtains in the Bag, Blue Bones (Deathwish) and the title track all worth a listen. So if you ever read this Tor, keep going gal because those fools know nothing!
Fever Ray – Radical Romantics
It was an exploration of this year’s smaller-stage Glastonbury material on BBC i-Player that first introduced me to Fever Ray – aka Swedish gender-fluid singer-songwriter Karin-Elisabeth Dreijer, originally one half of the band The Knife with brother Olof. Fever Ray appeared in 2009 as a solo-project, which continued after the band disbanded in 2014, and this is the third album under that persona. The music style will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the album contains any number of ear-worm tracks that just called it back to the player day after day, hence its position here despite a thoroughly-annoying final track!
Trevor Horn – Echoes, Ancient & Modern
Trevor Horn has been one of the best record producers in the world for more than forty years. His band credits include albums by Yes, Seal, ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, Simple Minds, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Art of Noise, Cher, Pet Shop Boys and Paul McCartney, as well as numerous hit singles. Here he has brought together some of the artists he has collaborated with, and some of the tracks he produced, to put together an album of covers probably as good as Pin Ups, the 50th anniversary of which was also celebrated this year.
It is very rare that an album that doesn’t arrive until the last month of the year storms the player and simply surpasses everything else from the previous eleven months, but this is one of those occurrences. For which I have to thank RadMac, who featured a track from it on their show one Sunday in November that got me researching, and discovering that the album it came from had not yet been released. So good was the track, and the potential in the rest of the track list, that I pre-ordered it there and then. Which was great, because this is the type of album that normally doesn’t enter my sphere of consciousness until it’s a contender for the ‘One That Got Away’.
Then again, all through my life there have been little occurrences where I didn’t recognise I was looking for something until I suddenly found it. In fact, I hadn’t realised that all year long I was picking up echoes from the past; then all of a sudden, with less than a month to go before I produced this blog, here was a CD in my hand that not only had that very title, but also lived up to all expectations.
But it wasn’t just the title because, as is always the case with music, you cannot actually specify in advance what it is you want to hear. I mean, who would go into a record shop and say to the person behind the counter – ‘yeah, what I really need is a classic Nirvana track sung as a ballad by an Irish folk singer I’ve never heard of before, but who sounds almost exactly like Scott Walker. Oh, and while you’re at it, if it could be produced by the guy in Buggles with the big glasses, that would be perfect!’ You would likely be escorted from the building by the white coats.
And yet, here it is – covers of classic tracks by different artists from the past, but mixed up in a way that only tends to happen in substance-assisted dream-worlds. I mean, Rick Astley does a Yes track; Seal sings Joe Jackson’s greatest track as only Seal can; Toyah and Robert Fripp perform Frankie Goes to Hollywood in the manner of the track title; one of the Corrs covers Billy Idol’s biggest hit a-la Clannad. It’s utterly bizarre, but it works perfectly – and there’s more. The only thing that’s wrong with this album is there are only eleven tracks on it – but even that is going back to the classic days, because that’s all that will fit on both sides of a twelve-inch piece of vinyl.
So, a year that felt, at times somewhat imperfect for what it was to me musically, still managed to end in a perfect way.
Enjoy!
I have compiled a playlist containing seventy-five of the best tracks from albums purchased during 2023, including the ones that didn’t make the shortlist. To stream the playlist on Spotify, click the logo below.
If you want to download or stream any of the individual albums mentioned, links are provided in the following table:
| Artist | Album | Stream | |
 | Trevor Horn | Echoes - Ancient & Modern |  |
 | Fever Ray | Radical Romantics | |
 | Billy Nomates | Cacti | |
 | Hifi Sean & David McAlmont | Happy Ending | |
 | Beverley Knight | The Fifth Chapter | |
 | Rick Astley | Are We There Yet? | |
 | Lady Blackbird | Black Acid Soul | |