The Top 25 Albums of 2023: 20 - 16

2023 was a bizarre year, especially when it came to albums. Perhaps that came down to me exploring new musical avenues, and the lack of any music from some of my favorites, but 2023's album list is a mix of some 2022 discoveries and some new favorites. I also appreciated the album as a united art form quite a lot this year. Thus, let us look into the rules for this list.

• The albums must have been released between January 1 to December 31, 2023.
• It must contain at least four new or unique songs or at least twenty minutes.
• It can be from anywhere in the world.

Well, with that said, let the list begin!

20. The Scarlet Opera - Comedy

It has been a while since a new glam-rock showed the same potential as The Scarlet Opera. Luka Bazullka's vocal delivery sounds like a child of Freddie Mercury and Ola Salo, with all that entails. Additionally, Comedy's more or less a collection of fantastic hooks and melodic lines, and that is always welcome.

19. Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily - Love In Exile

The longer, slightly bloated follow-up to Arooj Aftab's break-out Vulture Prince, Love In Exile may be flawed, but it feels like a definitive step towards a South Asian American sound that may soon arise. The highlight here is Vijay Iyer's production, which smoothly blends with Aftab's otherworldly vocal performance.

18. Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You

The art-pop album for art-pop fans, made by a genuinely quirky and outside-the-box individual, Caroline Polachek's Desire, I Wanna Turn Into You is the rare album that improves with each listen. While the singles have been great since moment one, the b-sides such as Pretty In Possible and Blood and Butter have slowly caught up in memorability.

17. NINE.i - New Mind

Sometimes, all it takes to make a classic pop EP is to craft a bunch of fantastic hooks, and that is exactly what Vahn of NINE.i, and his co-producers did. To make New Mind all the more appealing, the electronic production is perhaps some of the best EDM in recent memory.

16. Cicada - Seeking the Source of the Streams

There are few things as magical as getting lost in the woods, trekking through nature without a care. This leisurely exploration was perfectly characterized by the Taiwanese band Cicada, releasing one of the most natural and melodic instrumentals of the year.