Best 20 Albums of 2023! - Kelsey

Watch our podcast to get both of our lists!! or read below for Kelsey's

20: Phosphorescent - Gabrielle Aplin

Truth be told, I have barely listened to this album since its release in January, I knew I LOVED listening to it, but as I go back to it, I’m finding that love and obsession I had for Gabrielle Aplin’s songwriting rushed back. With a soulful, earnest sound, Phosphorescent really brings the best of the “relatable women” sound we’ve been talking about for 2 years with a fresh nu-soul, light pop type of listen while packing a punch with her lyrics. And sometimes she’s truly just her best self with her voice and a guitar, there’s a melancholy feeling to her sound that keeps me so invested in what she has to say.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Wish I Didn’t Press Send”, “Good Enough”, “Call Me”

19: Hydranism - Oracle Sisters

I can’t enough of my favorite French trio, Oracle Sisters. One of my favorite discoveries of the year, this beautiful little pop album has just sat in my soul for months. Again, much like the 70s vibe of CVC, Oracle Sisters really hones in on that harmony pop of Laurel Canyon, a refreshing and light collection of songs that become ear worms. I crave the lightness that runs through the album, there’s such a meditative and soothing feeling in the harmonies that keeps me so calm. Sometimes these albums are so necessary when you listen to heavier music, this debut came at the moment I needed it and brought me out of my winter funk, and with the jangly piano I was jamming along with them.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Cigale Song”, “Hail Mary”, “Paris III”

18: Trust Your Gut - Worriers

It wouldn’t be a Kelsey list without a classic indie rock sound, and Worriers takes this spot this year. With a punk/emo-twinge on the genre, Worriers used this album to talk about heartbreak, gender expression, identity and love. The vulnerable moments in the album is where I love it most, starting with a slow burn in ‘Hold My Breath’, the song grows into this raucous guitar wall that just puts the listener immediately in the middle of the story. Worriers released two albums this year, the other being ‘Warm Blanket’, but I must say, I leaned more into the heaviness of this one.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Hold My Breath”, “I’m Not Mad”, “Losing The Thread”

17: USA - Petey

Petey comes from who knows where, I don’t remember how I found him, but by god am I SO happy I did. His mixture of LCD Soundsystem type punk-electronic-indie rock and midwest emo lyrics cuts to the core of what my chaotic brain needs. There’s a lot going on in Petey’s music, making every time I listen to him, a new adventure of what I’m going to pick up on. And that, to me, is what I LOVE in music. If I can spend hours listening to your music and still find new moments in the songs, I’ll fall in love. Petey gets this award this year.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Family of Six”, “I’ll Wait”, “Home Alone House”

16: Blame My Ex - The Beaches

A la Wet Leg with the beachy, indie rock, tongue in cheek type of music, The Beaches filled that spot in my heart this year. Their incredible release of singles, “Blame Brett” and “Everything Is Boring”, got me hooked on their sound, oftentimes I rocked out to the car by myself singing along like my life was on the line. I’ve been loving the entirety of the album together, it really allowed me to also see the artistry from the quartet. The band is two sisters and their close friends, and you feel that familiarity within their music, easily hearing how each member works in tandem. It’s so smooth that their sound just feels relaxed and easy to listen to over and over and over.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Blame Brett”, “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid”, “Everything Is Boring”

15: From The Valley - Ilsey

One of my favorite Americana/folk releases this year, Ilsey came recently into my life but I feel like I’ve been listening to her for years. With lyricism like a modern Joni Mitchell or Carole King song and a nostalgic folk sound, I’ve just fallen in love. This is Ilsey’s debut album with an iconic folk-rock producer (BJ Burton - Bon Ives, Soccer Mommy) leading the charge, the album goes through a winding road of feelings: self doubt, longing, delusion, hope, and a sense of home. Ilsey has a way of singing that makes you feel SO warm and connected, and there were moments of this album that truly made me emotional.

FAVORITE SONGS: “No California”, “Yellow Roses”, “Down to the Bone”

14: Velveteen - PONY

An album we JUST talked about, but I am such a sucker for woman indie rock that’s just a little more raucous than say the Golden Trio, PONY has been one of my favorites over the past few years, their debut album “TV Baby” was one of my favorites in 2021, bringing that punkish attitude to a lighter sound of indie rock. During their downtime between albums, the duo apparently wrote over 200 songs that were then cultivated and shaped into this sophomore album which truly explains why it’s one of the best sophomore albums of the year — they improve upon their sound, honing in on production, but allowing their personality to still thrive.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Haunted House”, “Tres Jolie”, “Haircut”

13: GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo

Our alt-pop queen returned this year with her sophomore album, and truly rocked our worlds with its nostalgic Y2K pop punk sound. Every song feels anthemic, big, and mostly just FUN. Olivia’s ability to build a song that gets people from all generations to dance along to it on social media, or sing it in the car blasting in the speakers - her pop sensibilities are just spot on.

FAVORITE SONGS: “pretty isn’t pretty”, “bad idea right?”, “get him back!”

12: Sanctuary Point - Mel Blue

There’s no world in which I don’t have some form of funky electronic disco vibes on my list. I listen to a LOT of heavy/dark music to feel the feels, but Mel Blue’s debut album brought so much sunshine and happiness into my March and I can’t stop vibing. Australian duo, the guys have just an absolute fun sense of humor which truly radiates through every song. Usually I’m a lyrics gal, but the 6:48 song, “Sanctuary Point” is purely instrumental but is one of the best electronic songs of the year, it pushes forward throughout, never a dull moment, it’s the perfect late night summer soundtrack and one of the best electro pop albums in a long time.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Sanctuary Point”, “You’re The Worst Thing to Happen to Me Since 1993”, “Cleopatra”

11: Drunk On A Flight - Eloise

“In every man I meet, I look for you” starts Eloise’s debut album, Drunk On A Flight, the debut album from the British 23-year-old. A “loose concept” album that highlights the immense emotions of breaking up, the emotional work through that humans go through to remove people from their lives. Although the sound is light and airy and as some call it “coffee shop” vibes, there’s such a depth to her lo-fi pop sound. To everyone who’s been in an exhausting relationship can relate to Eloise’s plea to leave, perfectly captured in “Tired Now” or “Therapist”, and reminds that even though there is so much love, that love doesn’t make it enough.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Therapist”, “Vanilla Tobacco”, “Drunk On A Flight”

10: It’s Never Fair, Always True - JAWNY

I admit, this album is on here because of JAWNY’s electric performance at Shabang Festival this year — his passion for his fans, the energy, the jokes (boy has got JOKES), there’s no world in which I can’t root for him. His infectious indie pop has brought such joy to everyone with “Strawberry Chainsaw”, but there are moments in the album like “everything” that has a darker tone of lyrics, and on stage he talked about his depression, his struggles with mental health and the fact that he’s now here and performing for a crowd that ADORES him, you instantly feel apart of him. His soul is so clearly bared in this album and the instrumentation is beyond catchy, it just fills me with such joy. If you get to see JAWNY live, I recommend it, he’s truly a breath of fresh air in the music industry and I love to see his success.

FAVORITE SONGS: “everything”, “lalala”, “strawberry chainsaw”

9: Masego - “Self Titled”

Masego could truly sing the dictionary and it’d still sound sexy, and in his latest album, he uses his classic smoothness to dive into new, bigger sounds. Masego has always been an artist to keep tabs on, but with this new album, it adds him to such a higher level of art and should be in the conversation with other R&B AND hip-hop icons. I really think it’s his masterpiece, it highlights EVERYTHING he is good at, late night dreamy tracks, sexy club bangers, thoughtful lyrics, it’s just SO playful and yet so artistic, really proving that art can be fun.

FAVORITE SONGS: “What You Wanna Try”, “Remembering Sundays”, “Who Cares Anyway”

8: Ten Kills The Pack - “Thanks For Trying Act I & II”

I deeeeeeply resonated with this album, and there’s a possibility it’s BECAUSE I got to talk to Sean (aka TKTP) about the album creation, and our brains are very similar in terms of listening to music and looking at the world - but this album is truly spectacular in the indie folk rock world. With an intimacy for daily life, struggles with mental health, and a song about Vincent Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, there’s a uniqueness to the way Sean put together this album. With the interludes actually propelling and using them as markers to shift in tone or lyrical content, there are these bite sized moments that has such beauty within them. There’s also a humor permeating the album, with self-deprecation and depression flavoring the music, there’s just a wholesome sound that Sean has created.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Honestly, Fuck You”, “Critics (Fifty Bucks)”, “Lying In The Grass Thinking About Death”

7: ROACH - Miya Folick

Okay I know we JUST talked about the genius of Miya Folick, but one more time, this album is a BRILLIANT pop album that is so reminiscent of Carly Rae Jepsen’s style of writing, with the catchiest hooks, there’s pure adrenaline running through. It’s one of those albums that has such a singable quality to it, wanting to break out in your shower and feel the feels. Miya’s sophomore album is her “masterpiece”, I feel like she’s spent years making a name for herself and I’ve been following since the beginning, this brings such a maturity to her songwriting, the production feels authentic without over saturating the sound, really allowing Miya to shine through.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Oh God”, “Drugs or People”, “2007”

6: Shalom - “Sublimation”

I always crave just a GOOD indie rock album from women and this year’s debut album from Shalom ticks all my boxes. In 2020 she released a three-song EP that caught the attention of famed label, Saddle Creek, which allowed her to create this beautiful album. Her story is absolutely incredible and resilient, from South Africa to New Jersey to attend Rutgers, Shalom uses her experience as a first generation, black and queer creative to write songs that really allows the listener to feel, in “Happenstance”, she talks about wanting to walk away from all of it, the need for validation while also wanting to disappear and that fear of erasure. With a stunning blend of indie rock with poppier beats, this debut really came in HOT for me — I couldn’t get enough, when it ended I felt like I needed more, and to Shalom’s credit, maybe that’s intentional. She’s a person who feels deeply, like she NEEDS to get these songs out, the urgency pulses through the album. 

FAVORITE SONGS: “Happenstance”, “Narcissist”, “Concrete”

6: ANNABEL LEE - “MOTHER’S HAMMER”

To be fair, Annabel Lee is 100% a SXSW discovery and one of the best performances of our week. I don’t normally listen to pure “rock”, but there’s something about her sound, the wild charisma, and this genuine “fuck off” attitude that has me eating up her entire album. A fiery LA dweller, Annabel’s voice is one of the strongest in the music scene right now. She uses her grit to sing insane runs of pure belting that’ll give you shivers in your soul. In a world of delicate pop singers, Annabel Lee comes crashing that party with the energy of a rockstar. Her live performance absolutely destroyed the faces off everyone in the showcase, with raucous guitars, heavy drum moments and a wildness sprinkled in, Annabel Lee is a force to reckon with and I can’t wait for more music.

FAVORITE SONGS: “UP”, “PATTI SMITH”, “SALTINE CRACKER GIRL”

5: Let’s Start Here - Lil Yachty

Never did I think Lil Yachty was going to ever be on my favorite album of the year list, but in one of the best surprises of the year, here is the era of Yachty. It’s rare an artist can do pull off SUCH a genre switch, but it still has that Yachty flavor, a little chaotic, a lot introspective. His approach to the media has also won me over, let an artist create they want and I sure support his vision right now. If it changes back to SoundCloud rap, we can move on! Honestly though, with incredible attention to detail, his collaboration on this album led to my obsession.

FAVORITE SONGS: “say something”, “reach the sunshine”, “pretty”

4: Anna B Savage - “in|FLUX”

I can’t get enough of Anna B Savage, the guttural vocals, parsed down instrumentation that then builds into wildly chaotic soundscapes, I CLING to that type of sound. She’s also one of my absolute favorite songwriters right now, her emotion pours through every syllable in every song, and really allows conversational and metaphorical lyrics to merge. This is her second album, her 2021 album, “A Common Turn”, actually broke me as a music listener, it brought out all the darkness I crave in music to this blistering barrage of sound and it’s impeccable. There’s also ALWAYS phrases of lyrics that will completely stop me in my tracks and force me to feel and that’s why this album is SO special to me. In “Say My Name”, I was destroyed by that one line, “do you think it’s hard to love you / I nod quickly / yes, yes, I think that’s true” — a gut wrenching feeling that has been a common expression in my world that I’ve never been able to fully feel or emote. 

FAVORITE SONGS: “Say My Name”, “The Ghost”, “Hungry”

3: RAYE “My 21st Century Blues”

Yeah, this is one of the best albums I’ve listened to in years. A powerful debut statement against the awful music industry for keeping her silent, the biggest and best ‘fuck you’ in music history, really. Not only is it an artistic fuck you, it’s WILDLY entertaining and worthy of the number one spot. With years to perfect her sound, the music uses itself to propel her voice, to make it known who she is as a human AND an artist. For all the horrific moments she highlights will break you, the same story over and over again yet Raye’s lyrics just devastate me, the way the emotion is everywhere in her voice. “Ice Cream Man” is my absolute favorite song of the year and it’s a mantra I want to repeat on the daily “cause I’m a woman, I’m a very fucking brave strong woman and I’ll be damned if I let a man ruin”. 

FAVORITE SONGS: ALL OF THEM. 

2: STRUGGLER - Genesis Owusu

My deep deep love for the creativity of Genesis Owusu continues with his sophomore album, ‘STRUGGLER’. Once again, Genesis builds an entire album out of one idea, this album’s being the journey of a cockroach, but really the album speaks to the isolating lockdowns of Australia during the pandemic, how sometimes you just have to realize that acts of god happen, but daily life still continues. Beautiful in theme, but what always gets me good about Genesis is his ability to be genre-less. Much like another fav, Bartees Strange, Genesis carries his music through whatever genre works for that song. So going from hyper hip-hop to ending with a pure gospel belter, I’ve joined the cult of Genesis. 

FAVORITE SONGS: “What Comes Will Come”, “See Ya There”, “That’s Life (A Swamp)”

1: Pearla - “Oh Glistening Onion, The Nighttime Is Coming”

Pearla has had my heart since this debut album release in February. I’ve talked about it nonstop and it’s one of those records where I remember the exact moment I first heard it. I remember feeling like the wind was knocked out when I heard “Effort” (my 2nd fav song of the year), there was just something SO special about the way her voice croons that brought so much emotion to my soul. The entire album is introspective, wistful, looking at the minute to minute type of feelings and letting herself feel. The alt-country/indie rock blend that the album provides gives so much depth to her songwriting and the fact that she can be either just her and a guitar or a full band + strings and the songs take on new meanings every time I listen. I adore this album, hearing her perform in a church at SXSW was one of the highlights of my year, her voice is just as stunning as it is on the album and if you listen, I hope you feel gut punched by how amazing it is.

FAVORITE SONGS: “Effort”, “Strong”, “The Mysterious Bubble Of The Turkey Swamp”