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Albums that struck a chord in 2023
As the year draws to a close, here is a quick look at some of the most prominent albums that came our way in 2023.
Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus
As soon as the funky disco twang of
‘Flowers’ reached our collective ears this January, we knew Miley Cyrus was
onto something special. It was hardly a surprise then that the mega-hit
single’s parent album, Endless Summer Vacation, ended up giving the
American singer career-high recognition, including her first Grammy nomination
in the coveted Album of the Year (AOTY) category.
Released in March, the dance-pop record –
the singer’s eighth studio release – also featured guest appearances by artists
like Brandi Carlile (‘Thousand Miles’) and Sia (‘Muddy Feet’), and was among the
former Disney star’s most successful offerings since her Hannah Montana days. A
companion documentary concert special, titled Endless Summer Vacation
(Backyard Sessions), saw her performing songs from the album and sharing
insights into its creation.
World Music Radio by Jon Batiste
It may not have paralleled the high of his previous
record, 2022’s AOTY Grammy winner We Are (2021), but Jon Batiste’s seventh
album still won him much appreciation and gave him the chance to vie for the
same title at next year’s ceremony. World Music Radio – a concept album
about an interstellar being making genre-blending music and sending it out into
the cosmos – found the former The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
bandleader creating more jazz-soul fusion music. Joining him this time were an
array of guest singers, from Lana Del Rey (‘Life Lessons’) and Leigh-Anne
(‘Running Away’) to Lil Wayne (‘Uneasy’) and Kenny G (‘Clair de Lune’).
Alongside his musical output, the artist also
gave us a glimpse at his life and career in the documentary American
Symphony that chronicled a year in his life as he won awards and composed his
first symphony while his wife, Suleika Jaouad, battled leukaemia.
Guts by
Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo made quite a splash with her
debut album, Sour, in 2021. This year, her second record earned her just
as much appreciation as her first. The set saw her teaming up, once again, with
songwriter and producer Dan Nigro to explore the tribulations of life just as
she steps into her 20s.
A personal, emotive pop record, Guts
delivered more of everything – from power ballad heartache to pop punk attitude
– that her fans clearly love and that have made her so popular at such a young
age.
- and
Autumn Variations by Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran blessed (and/or cursed,
depending on your personal leanings) the world with not one but two albums in
2023.
The first was his May release – (Subtract),
the final record of his mathematical era. With production handled primarily by
the National’s Aaron Dessner – who was also Sheeran’s friend Taylor Swift's collaborator
on her recent albums Folklore and Evermore – the singer’s sixth
studio release found him sharing his emotions through some gentle folk-pop.
Its follow-up was September’s Autumn
Variations which once again saw him working with Dessner.
Both albums did fairly well on the charts,
peaking at the top in several countries. And while critics might not exactly be
enamoured with his output of late, their opinion clearly has little bearing on
the English singer’s massive popularity.
The Record by Boygenius
It’s a good thing that Julien Baker, Phoebe
Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus came together as Boygenius – a tongue-in-cheek
reference to overconfident men who think their every thought is genius – by “kind
of an accident”, because their debut album has turned out to be one of the
musical highlights of the year. The indie supergroup wowed critics and
listeners alike with The Record, a sublime indie rock offering that has
earned them acclaim and has been deemed an instant classic.
But Here We Are by Foo Fighters
After the tragic untimely passing of
drummer Taylor Hawkins, the future of the Foo Fighters seemed up in the air. But
the group has decided to soldier on without their beloved bandmate, releasing But
Here We Are, their first album since Hawkins’ passing.
Dave Grohl performed all the drums on the
album himself, with the band producing the record alongside producer Greg
Kurstin. Their grief powered this June release, with singles like ‘Rescued’ and
‘Under You’ topping the charts.
The group also eventually announced that
the Vandals and Divo drummer Josh Freese would join the band for the supporting
tour.
The Ballad of Darren by Blur
Back in the late ‘90s/early aughts, who
would’ve been willing to wager that Blur would still be here some two decades
later? But here they are, and we couldn’t be more chuffed about it.
The Britpop titans regrouped after a hiatus
and released their ninth album The Ballad of Darren – their first since
2015’s The Magic Whip – this year. And if that wasn’t enough, the group
members also delivered various side projects. Damon Albarn’s virtual group Gorillaz
unveiled their eighth LP, Cracker Island, to much appreciation, while
Graham Coxon gave us the self-titled debut record of his art pop band The Waeve.
Taylor Swift re-recordings
Tayor Swift ruled pop culture in 2023. Not
only was her Eras Tour a massive record-breaking success, but the singer also
continued to reclaim her past work by releasing the re-recorded versions of not
one but two of her earlier albums.
2010’s Speak Now and 2014’s 1989
became her third and fourth re-recordings upon their release in July and
October respectively. Each album featured new versions of all the previous songs,
plus several previously unreleased ‘From the Vault’ tracks.
Swifties were also treated to the Eras Tour
concert film that quickly became the highest grossing concert film of all time.
Barbie the Album by various artists
2023 was very emphatically Barbie’s year. The
Mattel doll was the star of the year’s most successful film, and the movie’s
soundtrack proved to be just as popular. From Billie Eilish’s dreamy ‘What Was
I Made For?’ to Dua Lipa’s funky ‘Dance the Night’ and all the fun pop ditties
in between, the album gave us some of the most overplayed ubiquitous
songs of the year, with some of the singles as well as the album itself topping
the charts in several countries.
The soundtrack and its tracks also have a
total of 11 Grammy nominations, and have made this a very successful year in
Barbie’s world.
Love in Exile by Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily
A Pakistani singer, an Indian American
pianist, and a Pakistani American multi-instrumentalist walk into a recording
studio. The result is one of the most well-received global music outputs of the
year.
Love in Exile found Arooj Aftab (who continues to be the most internationally-prominent
artist that has ever emerged from this country), Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad
Ismaily joining forces to create a mesmerizing 7-track LP full of melodious
tunes that have earned the trio critical acclaim.
By S.A.
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