The Best Songs of 2023 So Far: Quarter 3
The third quarter of 2023 has been the best for music so far. There have been many highlights from indie artists to legendary supergroups.
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Honorable Mentions
Everglow - Slay
Jeon Somi - Fast Forward
Kyle Gordon - Planet of the Bass Ft. Biljana Electronica
Olivia Rodrigo - Lacy
XG - TGIF
Ali Sethi, Nicolas Jaar - Muddat
A bizarre and unexpected collaboration between Chilean-American electronic-ambient producer Nicolas Jaar and Pakistani ghazal singer Ali Sethi. The hyper blend of classical Hindustani melodies and the poetry of Mirza Ghalib against the stunning and amplified electronic work of Jaar created something galvanizing and intriguing.
Conan Gray - Never Ending Song
While Conan Gray's commercial growth has been much less linear after his 2019 breakthrough, his musical output has been steady in quality. Never Ending Song, nonetheless, marks a shift in the young singer's soundscape, with him abandoning his youthful timbre for a deeper sound. Dragging you further into his sonic world are the pummeling '80s synths. Never Ending Song combines nostalgia, youthful exuberance, regret, and Conan's penchant for charisma for one of the most satisfying retro packages of the year so far.
George Clanton - Everything I Want
The opening track to my favorite album of the year so far, Everything I Want clanging blend of industrial shoegaze and George Clanton's meditative yearnings over his regrets for the past created something instantly recognizable and memorable.
George Clanton - For You, I Will Ft. Hatchie
A haunting finish to George Clanton's incredible Ooh Rap I Ya album, For You, I Will sees the artist wade in some of his most haunting production yet. Each line plays off the next brilliantly while towering choirs and haunting, minimalist refrains keep the listeners on their toes.
George Clanton - I Been Young
At the heart of one of the year's best albums, I Been Young is both an exercise in experiencing nostalgia for the past and the dangers of getting carried away in the indulgence of being stuck in a rosey-eyed version of the past. I Been Young is pure '90s in its mix of trip-hop and shoegaze, with a Tears for Fears-esque melody, aided by mature and thought-provoking lyrics where Clanton perfectly captures the pangs of growing up.
Kalifarniya - Puerto Rico
A song of recovery for the Kazakh music industry, Kalifarniya's Puerto Rico is hypnotic in its simple melodic blend. The waterfall of synths wash over the listener, just letting the percussion throb over every note. Bizarrely enough, Kalifarniya's autotune-heavy delivery proves Puerto Rico's secret weapon, mostly making each hook all the more mesmerising.
NewJeans - Super Shy
If there is one group that has provided the best transfer of PinkPantheress' drum & bass revival to Korea, it is easily NewJeans. Super Shy acts like a more upbeat retread of their magnum opus, December's Ditto. It may be repetitive, but the hooks are strong enough to lodge in your head for months.
Nine.i - Hurt
Who would have guessed that one of the most emotional tracks of the quarter would be a K-Pop boy band's electronic dance track b-side? Hurt is scarring how it utilizes cheeky, bubbling synths to well, Hurt the listener. The real highlight, however, is the instantly iconic chorus, standing tall in a fantastic EP.
Nine.i - Power Up
Perhaps one of the best examples of a rising nostalgia in pop music for the early 2010s' EDM soundscape. Power Up is hook after hook before pummeling the listener in the head with one of the catchiest choruses this year.
Nine.i - Turn It Off
Working with the legendary production team Sweetune, rookie K-Pop boy band Nine.i released easily the best track of their career so far. Despite moving to indie groups for a while, Turn It Off shows that Sweetune can still do idol pop better than nearly all their competition. The soft early '10s production merges excellently with a barge of classic melodic hooks.
Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire
As one of the most promising young American singer-songwriters, Olivia Rodrigo has made a name for herself as a teller of tales of tragic youthful passion masking, before releasing into heartache and rage. Vampire, her first song since 2021, is her best yet. Just as the song turns from a slow ballad into a rollicking musical opera, the house of cards of emotion built through the track collapses. The end result is pure musical catharsis.
Sufjan Stevens - So You Are Tired
Sufjan Stevens is one of the few singer-songwriters who can reduce anyone to a puddle of tears from normalcy within four minutes on the regular, and the emotionally destructive balladry of So You Are Tired is no exception. The song's slow build of acoustic sounds while Sufjan accepts what has happened is beautiful.
The Last Rockstars - Psycho Love
Psycho Love is not the best song that any members of the supergroup The Last Rockstars, but a collection of legends of this scale would obviously result in some gems. Psycho Love's pummeling melody lets Miyavi and Sugizo showcase their specialties over the guitar, but everyone gets to show off in this little fantastic track.
XY - Crazy Love
If you are debuting as a rock group/boy band/dance group in Japan, there is hardly anyone better to helm the composing than the legendary Yoshiki. XY find themselves in that situation, and while Crazy Love has its flaws (such as Yoshiki's complete butchering of the English language), its peaks are unrivaled this year. That melodic rock chorus is near perfection.
Zhou Shen - Free Floating
Perhaps one of the premier vocalists of our days, Zhou Shen has made a name for himself with his signature falsetto and thundering vocal range. Free Floating is another C-Drama OST hit for the young musical icon. The verses let him wear his heart on his sleeve as he always does, but the chorus allows for him to relish in the style of musical bombast we rarely see from him.
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